About Our Group #

Chat Forum– Unendorsed* is a WhatsApp group that was formed in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack on Israel. In reaction to a surge of overt antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on Harvard’s campus, several alumni came together to form the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance. This WhatsApp group was created as a way for HJAA members to communicate in the Alliance’s early days.

Interest in the Alliance grew rapidly, as did the membership of the WhatsApp group. Discussion expanded beyond just events at Harvard to include the explosion of antisemitism everywhere and the war in Israel generally. In these early days, there was no vetting of the members of the WhatsApp group; anyone with the invitation link could join. What if one of these un-vetted members said something in the WhatsApp group that became public and caused embarrassment for the HJAA? Out of concern, the HJAA ended its formal relationship with the WhatsApp group, and thus Unendorsed was born.

Today, the WhatsApp group has no formal affiliation with the HJAA. They do not moderate, oversee, or endorse anything said in the group; each person speaks only for themselves.