In response to recent controversies over antisemitism and pro-Palestine protests on campus, Harvard University has announced a new policy, stating that the institution should no longer “issue official statements about public matters that do not directly affect the university’s core function.”
This decision marks a departure from an earlier stance taken last April when interim President Alan M. Garber and interim Provost John F. Manning established the Institutional Voice Working Group. This group was tasked with developing strategies for when Harvard should address social and political issues and determining who should speak for the institution.
Noah Feldman, co-chair of the group, explained, “The main point of the report is that the University’s leadership can and should speak out on anything relevant to the core function of the University, which is creating an environment suitable for free, open inquiry, teaching, and research.”
“That environment is threatened these days, and we need to defend it,” he continued. “At the same time, the University as an institution should not make official statements on issues outside its core function. Harvard isn’t a government. It shouldn’t have a foreign policy or a domestic policy.”
The policy change follows significant criticism Harvard has received in the last several months regarding its response to antisemitism on its campuses. Last January, former Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned amid allegations of plagiarism and after her comments at a Congressional hearing where she refused to explicitly condemn antisemitism and acknowledge that it violates Harvard’s code of conduct.
Additionally, Harvard faced backlash for its lack of a strong stance on pro-Palestine protests and its silence after over 30 student groups blamed Israel immediately after the October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 innocent Israeli civilians.
