Harvard Probes Students Over Viral Videos of Larry Summers

Harvard is quietly scrutinizing two seniors who helped thrust Larry Summers' ties to Jeffrey Epstein back into the spotlight. Sources tell the New York Times that the university has opened a confidential disciplinary investigation into students Rosie P. Couture and Lola DeAscentiis after they posted TikTok videos of Summers addressing a Harvard class about his relationship with Epstein, the convicted sex offender whose emails with Summers were released by Congress last month.

The students, who've been involved in feminist causes and are set to graduate this spring, had publicly taken credit for helping force Summers to step away from teaching. Now, they're declining to comment; Harvard, meanwhile, wouldn't discuss the case. The inquiry now centers on whether the pair broke campus rules by attending a course they weren't registered for, as well as recording and publicizing it without permission—both prohibited under college policy, which Harvard says is meant to protect privacy and open discussion.

The first video showed Summers, a former Harvard president and US Treasury secretary, telling the class he felt "shame and regret" about his relationship with Epstein and would step back from public roles but continue teaching, per the Times. After the clip spread widely and drew calls for his firing, Summers announced he'd stop teaching. A second video captured his replacement, economist Robert Lawrence, telling students they would miss Summers' "insights and his wisdom," prompting someone out of frame to shout, "No we won't!"

Both clips were posted on TikTok and picked up by major news outlets, intensifying pressure on Harvard as it navigates campus speech battles. An initial allegation that the students' conduct amounted to bullying has been dropped, one source said. Potential penalties range from a private warning to enforced withdrawal, sources say. Under the school's procedural policies, the students are barred from talking about the investigation beyond family, lawyers, or college officials; attorneys can't directly participate in the internal proceedings. Some Harvard students, meanwhile, are pushing for Summers' tenure to be revoked, or for him to resign.