Harvard consolidates DEI offices under new ‘community’ branding
Harvard University has announced it will consolidate several cultural and identity-based offices into a single Office of Culture and Community.
Harvard said that it consolidated offices like the Harvard College Women’s Center, the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, and the Office of BGLTQ Student Life.
Harvard University announced it has consolidated several cultural and identity-based offices into a single Office of Culture and Community.
In a message to the campus community that has been shared with Campus Reform, Harvard said that it consolidated offices like the Harvard College Women’s Center, the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, and the Office of BGLTQ Student Life.
“All College services remain available to every student,” the announcement continued. “In this work, we set the conditions where we challenge each other’s ideas in the pursuit of learning while embracing the rights and responsibilities that membership in our pluralistic community demands.”
The three offices collectively employed around 50 staff members, including student interns, according to The Harvard Crimson. Now, staff from the centers will be assigned to the newly established “Harvard Foundation.”
Founded in response to progressive activism, Harvard’s Women’s Center and BGLTQ Office promoted gender and LGBT advocacy through identity-focused programming, panels, and activism.
Campus Reform has recently reported about Harvard’s overall scaleback of its DEI policies across several of its schools.
For instance, the Harvard Graduate School of Education eliminated its DEI office and removed its chief diversity officer as part of a budget restructuring amid stalled federal funding. Staff were reassigned to other departments, and leadership cited a move toward a “distributed model for DEI.”
Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences also renamed its DEI offices as part of an ongoing rebranding campaign. “Diversity” and “equity” were removed from web pages and job titles, replaced with terms like “community” and “culture.”
Additionally, Harvard Business School, Harvard Divinity School, and Harvard Medical School dropped their formal DEI offices, rebranding them around “community” and “belonging.” Job titles and web content were updated to reflect the shift.
Campus Reform reported in April that the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding to the university after the school rejected demands to eliminate its DEI programs.
The freeze followed an April 11 letter from multiple federal agencies accusing Harvard of civil rights violations and outlining conditions for continued funding, including dismantling DEI initiatives. Harvard President Alan Garber refused the terms, contending they were unconstitutional.
