Sexual Assault Allegations at Harvard Prompt Push for More Diversity Initiatives

Sexual Assault Allegations at Harvard Prompt Push for More Diversity Initiatives

Expect other schools to eventually follow Harvard’s lead on this. Diversity committees will be all the rage.

Campus Reform reports:

Harvard uses sexual assault allegations to push for more diversity initiatives

Harvard University’s anthropology department is creating eight committees on diversity-related initiatives.

On May 29 and June 5, the Harvard Crimson reported on allegations of sexual misconduct against three Harvard anthropology professors. In response, the anthropology department instituted a comprehensive infrastructure to “conduct a year-long self-study that will allow us to identify our strengths and weaknesses and make meaningful and lasting departmental improvements so that we may reach our full potential.”

Eight subcommittees were established to oversee various aspects of the department’s self-evaluation. The mandates of the committees extended far beyond sexual misconduct, however.

In fact, they are largely focused on diversity-related initiatives.

For instance, the “Diversity in Student Concentrators, Graduate Admissions, and Faculty Recruitment and Promotion” subcommittee will review “the historical data on diversity across all department constituencies… [and] make recommendations for improvement, with explicit expectations and benchmarks.”

The “Community Building and Inclusion” subcommittee will look at how to achieve “inclusiveness and cohesion” while evaluating the use of university resources for certain activities within the department.

A third committee will “conduct a full evaluation of the undergraduate and graduate curricula,” evaluating its “commitment to diversity and inclusion.”

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