Harvard University has appointed a former graduate student to a teaching role, despite his involvement in a high-profile incident where he was charged with assaulting an Israeli classmate during a campus protest.
The Incident and Legal Proceedings
Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, aged 29, began working as a Graduate Teaching Fellow at Harvard in August, according to his LinkedIn profile. This appointment comes after he and fellow student Ibrahim Bharmal were captured in a viral video from October 2023. The footage showed them accosting Yoav Segev, a first-year Israeli MBA student, during a 'die-in' protest outside Harvard Business School. The protest occurred just days after the Hamas attack on Israel.
The confrontation unfolded when Segev approached the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who were lying on the ground, and recorded them with his phone. In the video, protesters can be heard screaming 'Shame!' at Segev as he tried to navigate through the crowd, which blocked his path with keffiyehs. The protesters alleged Segev was attempting to intimidate or dox them.
Both Tettey-Tamaklo and Bharmal were charged with two misdemeanour counts of assault and battery. The incident also prompted an FBI probe. In July 2024, the charges were dismissed after both men completed a pretrial diversion program. This program, ordered by a judge, required them to perform 80 hours of community service and attend an anger management class.
Harvard's Response and Ongoing Fallout
Harvard's handling of the case has drawn significant criticism. The university dismissed Tettey-Tamaklo from his previous role as a Harvard College proctor following the protest. However, it declined to take further disciplinary action against either student during the legal process, a decision that drew heavy criticism from the Trump administration.
In May 2024, the Trump Administration suspended Harvard's ability to enrol international students, citing an unsafe campus environment created by allowing 'anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators' on campus. The White House had previously called for Tettey-Tamaklo's expulsion.
Despite this, both men graduated in good standing from Harvard in May 2024. Tettey-Tamaklo, who earned a master's degree from the Harvard Divinity School, was even named a class marshal at its graduation ceremony. Bharmal retained his position at the Harvard Law Review and received a $65,000 'public interest' fellowship.
Yoav Segev sued Harvard in July 2024, alleging the university 'refused to take any reasonable action to punish' the duo and engaged in 'misleading tactics' that prevented him from obtaining administrative remedies.
A New Role and Lack of Remorse
Tettey-Tamaklo's new position as a Graduate Teaching Fellow is a full-time, on-site role at the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus. In this capacity, his LinkedIn profile states he advises faculty on curriculum and consults on 'complex subject matter,' utilising skills in guest lecturing and teaching. Harvard teaching fellows typically earn a salary between $3,400 and $11,040.
The appointment appears to signal the university's continued stance on the matter. Notably, Tettey-Tamaklo has shown little regret for the confrontation. In a LinkedIn post two months ago, he described facing a 'high-level social lynching,' death threats, job loss, and the FBI investigation following the protest.
'I refuse to allow our advocacy for the dignity of Palestinian life and freedom to be misrepresented as hate,' he wrote. 'Until Palestine is free, none of us is.' The university has not publicly commented on the hiring decision, and it remains unclear what, if any, internal disciplinary process was conducted after the criminal case concluded.
