Advertisement

After Trump’s Demands, Dean of Students Says College Diversity Offices Have No Plans To Cut Programming

{shortcode-59803c8aa0ee57875dff002243ecc224457846b3}

Harvard College Dean of Students Thomas G. Dunne said in an interview with The Crimson on Tuesday that he does not expect the College’s diversity offices to be affected by the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Less than a week after three federal agencies conditioned Harvard’s federal funding on cutting its DEI programs, Dunne said the DSO was “operating in the arena right now with the same plans that we had at the start of the year.”

The three offices — the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, the Office of BGLTQ Student Life, and the Women’s Center — are all housed under the DSO’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion team.

The Trump administration’s demands to Harvard on Thursday asked the University to ax its DEI programs as the government reviews nearly $9 billion in funding commitments to Harvard and affiliated hospitals.

Advertisement

“DEI programs teach students, faculty, staff, and leadership to make snap judgments about each other based on crude race and identity stereotypes, which fuels division and hatred based on race, color, national origin, and other protected identity characteristics,” the letter read. “All efforts should be made to shutter such programs.”

But Dunne said he anticipated programming and events associated with the College’s diversity offices would continue as usual because they serve the entire student body.

“Those are events that are open to all students and so our expectation is that we continue the programs that we always have done,” Dunne said. “All students can and should be engaging with these centers.”

However, the fate of Harvard’s diversity offices will likely be decided by Harvard’s top brass: the Harvard Corporation and University President Alan M. Garber ’76, who must craft a response to Trump’s ultimatum. If Garber and the governing boards concede to the White House, the DSO may have little choice but to shutter its planned events — and potentially entire offices.

At the interview, which took place three days after Harvard announced that three international students’ visas had been revoked, Dunne said the DSO was developing a plan to ensure the College is “a supportive community” for international students.

The DSO met with international student leaders on Monday to discuss how to ensure international students can be supported by their Harvard peers — and how to keep Harvard’s students informed, Dunne said.

Dunnes said the College is looking for ways to make sure international students’ advising networks — including tutors, proctors, and Peer Advising Fellows — can address their emotional needs.

“If students need places to convene and support each other as students, we want to support that,” he said.

The DSO is also considering ways to help fund and organize events in collaboration with international student groups.

But Dunne said that “Harvard has to follow the law” on immigration enforcement.

Students should abide by “long-standing procedures” set by the Office of General Counsel for requests from law enforcement, Dunne said. The OGC’s guidance recommends that students contact the OGC and Harvard University Police Department if law enforcement officers ask them for documents or for access to nonpublic spaces.

Dunne also said the College is working to ensure international students are connected with advisers at the Harvard International Office, who can answer international students’ questions about their visas that may involve “individually specific processes and circumstances.”

“The best course of action is to get students connected with the people who are best suited to give that sort of information and directives to students,” he said.

Rising immigration fears have amped up the demands placed on the HIO during the season when staff are already working to prepare international students for status changes when they graduate, Dunne added, saying staff had put in “Herculean efforts to respond.”

—Staff writer Hiral M. Chavre can be reached at hiral.chavre@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @h_chavre.

—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at darcy.lin@thecrimson.com.

Tags

Advertisement