Harvard University announced Tuesday that it would maintain silence on public matters not directly related to the institution’s “core functions,” months after the university’s statement on the Israel-Hamas war sparked intense controversy.
Leaders of the prestigious university, who recommended the new policy, said Harvard’s public statements on a wide range of issues and world politics “risk being seen to favor certain places or events over others.”
“And because few world events can be considered completely separate from opposing viewpoints, making official statements of sympathy risks alienating some members of the community by expressing implicit solidarity,” wrote Harvard University’s Institutional Voice Working Group. This is recommended in the report.
The report noted:[t]The university and its leaders should not make public statements about public issues that do not directly affect the university’s core functions.”
Harvard announced Tuesday that the university has “accepted” the task force’s recommendations.
“Translating these principles into concrete practice will of course take time and experience, but we look forward to the work ahead,” said Interim Chairman Alan Garber. It said in a statement.
As part of the new initiative, Harvard will no longer issue public statements about war, as it did following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February and Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.
The latter sparked outrage at the school and its former president, Claudine Gay.
Gay strongly condemned the “barbaric atrocities committed by Hamas,” but faced heavy criticism for failing to condemn 30 Harvard student groups who published a letter saying Israel was “fully responsible” for the October 7 Hamas terror attack.
The former president resigned weeks after his congressional testimony and the plagiarism allegations.
The working group was established in April to discuss when and to what extent the university should comment on a wide range of issues that are beyond Harvard’s jurisdiction.
It was found that when universities speak out, it undermines the integrity and credibility of the institution.
“We cannot speak publicly about matters outside our organisation’s area of expertise” and said any comments would inevitably come under intense pressure.
“These pressures, coming from both within and outside the university, divert energy and attention from the university’s core purpose,” the report said.
“Universities are not governments and are tasked with addressing the full range of foreign and domestic policy. University leaders are not, and should not be, selected on the basis of personal political beliefs.”
Rather than issuing a statement on a global issue, the Harvard working group suggests discussing the issue in classrooms, where debate is encouraged and no permanent positions are required.
Going forward, Harvard will use this new policy as a guide to declining requests for public statements.
The policy announcement came just days after a Harvard University commencement speaker slammed the Ivy League school for not allowing more than a dozen students to receive their diplomas.
Shruti Kumar, a Harvard senior who was selected to speak in English during the ceremony, said Harvard had demonstrated “intolerance towards free speech” by rejecting students who had participated in an anti-Israel campus camp on campus.
More than 1,000 people then staged a walkout to denounce the disqualification of the 13 students, with many chanting “release them!”
