Harvard University—yes, the same “world-class institution” that can’t seem to figure out which way is up lately—has quietly hired back a former student who made national headlines for allegedly assaulting an Israeli classmate during a pro-Palestine campus demonstration. You can’t make this stuff up.
Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, 29, who was charged last year with assault and battery, is now working at Harvard as a Graduate Teaching Fellow. According to his own LinkedIn, he’s been advising faculty on “complex subject matter” since August. Apparently, accountability is not on the syllabus.
Tettey-Tamaklo—who previously snagged a master’s degree in religion, ethics, and politics from Harvard Divinity School in May—was caught on viral video in October 2023 alongside fellow student Ibrahim Bharmal accosting first-year Israeli MBA student Yoav Segev during a campus “die-in” protest just days after Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel.
The footage, now infamous, shows protesters swarming Segev while screaming “Shame! Shame! Shame!”, blocking his movement with keffiyehs as he tried desperately to escape. Protesters later claimed Segev was trying to “intimidate or dox them”—a convenient accusation when you’re the ones physically surrounding someone.
Both Tettey-Tamaklo and Bharmal were slapped with two misdemeanor charges each, prompting an FBI probe. A judge ultimately ordered them into an 80-hour community service and anger-management pretrial diversion program. By July, charges were dismissed.
Harvard refused to discipline either man. In fact, Harvard refused to cooperate with prosecutors, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Tettey-Tamaklo was briefly removed from his role as a Harvard College proctor—but Bharmal kept his position at the Harvard Law Review. And when the dust settled? Harvard reportedly let both men graduate “in good standing.”
Even better, they appear to have been rewarded: Tettey-Tamaklo was named a class marshal at his graduation ceremony. Bharmal walked away with a $65,000 “public interest” fellowship.
Only at Harvard can an assault scandal turn into a résumé booster.
As the legal battle played out, the White House called for Tettey-Tamaklo’s expulsion. Meanwhile, Segev and his legal team begged Harvard to show even an ounce of responsibility.
Instead, Harvard dug in deeper. In May, the Trump Administration took the extraordinary step of pulling Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, citing a campus environment that tolerates “anti-American, pro-terrorists agitators.”
Fast-forward to today, and Harvard is not only unrepentant—it’s doubling down by officially hiring Tettey-Tamaklo as a teaching fellow in a full-time, on-site role in Cambridge. Teaching fellows earn between $3,400 and $11,040 per semester—apparently enough gratitude money to keep someone happy after an FBI investigation.
Is he pursuing a PhD? Harvard won’t say. His LinkedIn doesn’t list it. Maybe the university prefers its “complex subject matter consultants” to operate in mystery.
Harvard and Tettey-Tamaklo have both been contacted for comment. So far—crickets.
In July, Segev sued Harvard, accusing the university of refusing “to take any reasonable action to punish” Tettey-Tamaklo and Bharmal. His complaint says Harvard “did everything it could to defend, protect, and reward” the pair, using “misleading tactics, obfuscation, and misrepresentations” that kept him from obtaining justice.
Remember when former Harvard President Claudine Gay told Congress Harvard would conduct its own disciplinary review after the criminal case?
Yeah. Still no sign that ever happened.
To top it off, Tettey-Tamaklo recently posted online about the confrontation, showing zero remorse. He described himself as the victim of a “high-level social lynching led by rich and powerful individuals, including US elected representatives.”
He says he endured death threats, job loss, housing loss, an FBI investigation, and a “relentless smear campaign.”
Yet he insists: “I refuse to allow our advocacy for the dignity of Palestinian life and freedom to be misrepresented as hate. Until Palestine is free, none of us is.”
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