In a significant policy shift, Harvard University has announced that it will no longer mandate diversity statements for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).
This decision comes after months of critique from esteemed faculty members and prominent donors.
The university will now request a "service statement" from applicants seeking tenure-track positions, as highlighted by Steven McGuire, a fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. This statement will provide an opportunity for potential tenure-track professors to detail their "efforts to strengthen academic communities, e.g. department, institution, and/or professional societies."
Previously, the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statement required applicants to outline their "efforts to encourage [DEI] and belonging." However, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard informed Fox News Digital that it has "expanded its approach to learning about candidates being considered for academic appointments by requesting broader and more robust service statements as part of the hiring process."
The university's statement further explained that "In making this decision, the FAS is realigning the hiring process with long-standing criteria for tenured and tenure-track faculty positions." These criteria encompass excellence in research, teaching/advising, and service, which are the three pillars of professorial appointments.
However, the decision has sparked a debate. Harvard Kennedy School historian Khalil Gibran Muhammad criticized the move, arguing that the elimination of DEI statements from the application process "may discourage applicants who are the strongest supporters of DEI to not apply for a job at Harvard given the broader context for this change," as reported by The Boston Globe.
On the other hand, former Harvard Dean Lawrence Summers lauded the decision. "I am glad to see that Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Science has ended the practice of requiring diversity statements and replaced them with statements on university service," Summers wrote. He added that this shift should signify a "major pivot towards emphasis on academic values and away from identity in appointment decisions," and that "Harvard is finding its way back towards the right core values."
Christopher Rufo, an anti-DEI activist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, described the decision as a "small victory" in a post on X Monday. "This is a small victory, but a signal that our campaign is gaining momentum," he wrote. "We will not stop until the entire DEI apparatus is dismantled and salted over."
This decision by Harvard follows a similar move by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which recently became the first elite school to eliminate DEI statements from its faculty hiring process. A university spokesperson informed Fox News Digital that "requests for a statement on diversity will no longer be part of applications for any faculty positions at MIT." The decision was supported by the schools president, Sally Kornbluth, the Provost, Chancellor, and all six academic deans.
Kornbluth stated, "My goals are to tap into the full scope of human talent, to bring the very best to MIT, and to make sure they thrive once here." She added, "We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they dont work."
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