President says there should be no more “official statements about public matters that do n’t directly impact the university.”
Under an administrative plan announced on Tuesday, Harvard University will no longer get sides on contentious common problems.
The change comes in response to criticism of the school’s handling of hatred, its first reaction to the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israel, and its decision to travel a symbol on campus in support of Ukraine in the conflict with Russia.
According to The Crimson student paper, interim president Alan Garber made the recommendation in an email sent on Tuesday based on suggestions from an institutional words working group.
Garber claimed that both he and the Harvard Corporation accepted the advice of the university group to forbid the school’s leaders from issuing “official statements about common matters that do not directly affect the school’s primary work.”
The school compromises its “integrity and trust” when it” speaks formally on matters outside its administrative region of expertise”, a , review by the working group states.
According to the report,” there will be instances where reasonable people will disagree on whether a particular issue is or is not directly connected to the university’s core function” ( p. 2 ). ” The university’s policy in those situations should be to err on the side of avoiding official statements”.
Several times, the report states Harvard is not a “neutral” institution, because it “values open inquiry, expertise, and diverse points of view” in the pursuit of truth.
However, the working group believes that a policy that restricts institutional statements on contentious topics” serves those values.” Taking a side undermines “inclusivity” and subjects administrators to intense pressure from competing outside parties, the report states.
The Crimson reports more:
The report’s carefully worded language also gives administrators the flexibility to issue statements when they feel like doing so, even though it will serve as a document Garber and future University leaders can refer to when they are under pressure to do so.
Administrators should not “propose on behalf of the university or beyond their domain expertise” or “extend their zone of expertise unreasonably,” the statement stated. However, the statement clarified that some centers and clinics should continue to support specific policies.
The working group suggests that Harvard leaders clarify when scholars make personal statements about contentious topics.
The policy will apply to the president, provost, deans, and heads of departments, centers, and programs, as well as university governing boards and faculty bodies, according to the report.
The change seems to have a lot of faculty backing. According to a recent Crimson poll, two-thirds of Harvard faculty want the university to implement an institutional neutrality policy.
Harvard and other Ivy League leaders have faced criticism in recent months for their responses to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, antisemitism, and pro- Palestinian protests on campus.
Former Harvard President Claudine Gay faced particular outcry after she released a statement last fall that neither the Hamas terrorist attacks nor the anti-Israel statement that dozens of student organizations signed, according to The College Fix.
Later, New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik questioned Gay about why the university did not fly the Israeli flag on campus in 2022, according to The Fix.
Gay, who later resigned, said the decision was made by her predecessor” as an exception to a longstanding rule”. She claimed that unless Harvard is hosting a visiting dignitary, the” standard protocol” is to fly only the American flag.
MORE: Harvard, Penn lose major donors after botching response to Hamas invasion of Israel
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