Harvard’s New President Served on Advisory Board That Advanced DEI in Higher Education

“appoint[ed] an inaugural associate dean of diversity, inclusion, and belonging”

Posted by Mike LaChance Friday, December 30, 2022 at 11:00am 1 Comment

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Would anyone be surprised if this was one of the reasons they hired her?

Campus Reform reports:

Harvard’s next president helped advance DEI recommendations in higher education

After five months of searching, Harvard University announced on December 15 that Claudine Gay will serve as the university’s next president.

According to the student newspaper The Harvard Crimson, Gay will begin serving as Harvard’s president on July 1, 2023.

Gay currently serves as the dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). As dean, Gay has navigated issues including COVID-19 and faculty diversity, The Harvard Crimson reported.

The Harvard Crimson also reported that “Gay has supported the creation of an ethnic studies department at Harvard, a longtime demand of student and alumni activists.”

During her time as dean, Gay “appoint[ed] an inaugural associate dean of diversity, inclusion, and belonging” for FAS and outlined her plan to diversify faculty.

The plan, reported on by The Harvard Crimson, mentioned other uses of the FAS budget surplus in 2021.

“Gay also discussed the ‘targeted investments’ she has made in procuring new hybrid work technology for offices and classrooms,” an article in The Harvard Crimson reads.

“Envisioning the future of the FAS, Gay said hybrid and remote work will continue to remain a part of on-campus operations, even after the University has a [sic] turned a page on the pandemic.”

Following the announcement of Gay’s new position as president, she stated that she “‘will continue to champion the value of diversity’” in response to a question “about how Harvard might navigate a post-affirmative action reality.”

Harvard is one of two universities facing a Supreme Court case over its race-conscious admissions. Campus Reform reported that Students for Fair Admissions, the organization that led the oral arguments, relied on the premise that “affirmative action policies discriminate against Asian and White students.”