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Harvard will hold its 40th Cultural Rhythms celebration next spring without major changes to programming despite the closure of the office that previously hosted the annual festival, according to Harvard Foundation Senior Director Habiba Braimah.
Braimah, who previously led the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, which hosted Cultural Rhythms for the past 39 years, wrote in an email that “recent organizational changes at Harvard have not significantly altered the programming, structure, or administrative oversight of Cultural Rhythms.”
The Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, along with the Harvard College Women’s Center and Office for BGLTQ Student Life, was shuttered and incorporated into an office under the new Foundation this summer as part of Harvard’s removal of diversity programs.
“The newly restructured Harvard Foundation will lead the planning and execution of the event with the same level of care, intentionality, and commitment to supporting student organizations,” Braimah wrote.
Harvard College Dean David J. Deming said in an early October interview that Cultural Rhythms would continue despite the restructuring, but plans for the event remained largely under wraps. The Foundation first announced next year’s festival, which will be held from March 30 through April 4, to students in an Oct. 22 Instagram post and newsletter inviting readers to audition for the festival’s showcase and submit nominations for the Cultural Impact Award.
According to Braimah, the planning for the Cultural Rhythms festival is currently underway, with confirmation of the honoree and review of student performances actively occurring.
The announcement — which followed the typical audition timeline — assuaged concerns from some student leaders that changes at the Foundation could spell the end for Cultural Rhythms as they knew it.
Paola Y. Lee-Vega ’26, co-president of the Harvard Undergraduate Candela Latin Dance Troupe, said she first confirmed that Cultural Rhythms was returning for another year when she saw the Foundation’s Instagram post. Until then, Lee-Vega said she, and other leaders of cultural dance groups initially “had some doubts about whether or not it would be able to go on in the current conditions.”
“We knew that the Foundation, or the role of the Foundation, had now shifted, and with everything that’s been happening, we weren’t sure whether or not they were still going to do the same event as every single year,” Lee-Vega said.
Robyn M. Boyland ’26, president of The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, said that following the closure of the Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, the status of Cultural Rhythms was unclear to Kuumba going into this semester.
“We were all scared,” Boyland said. “We were like, ‘What’s gonna happen to Cultural Rhythms?’”
Braimah wrote in her statement that the Foundation is “especially mindful of honoring the history and spirit of the event” as it prepares to host next year’s festival.
“Cultural Rhythms remains a signature celebration of student cultural expression, and its core traditions and purpose are unchanged,” she added.
Cultural Rhythms typically features a fashion show, a food festival, and a panoply of student dances. Along with Kuumba and Candela, groups including the Harvard Undergraduate Philippine Forum, Omo Naija x Wahala Boys, the Harvard Undergraduate Asian American Dance Troupe, and Harvard Undergraduate Bhangra — among others — have taken the Cultural Rhythms stage in the last two years.
On the festival’s last day, following the student showcase, the Foundation has historically honored a high-profile guest with its Artist of the Year Award. Previous winners have included Becky G, Issa Rae, and Lady Gaga.
This year, the honor was renamed to the Cultural Impact Award to “broaden the scope of distinguished figures recognized for making a positive impact in their communities and beyond,” according to Braimah.
The decision to close the College’s three diversity offices and fold them under the Office of Culture and Community, part of the new Foundation, came amid University-wide structural changes to diversity and cultural programming.
The closures took place following demands from the Trump administration to eliminate all DEI programming, with billions of dollars in federal funding on the line.
For at least some students, the changes proved disruptive. Several dozen student employees of the offices lost their jobs. And in a survey conducted by the Harvard Undergraduate Association last week, which drew responses from about an eighth of the student body, 63 percent of respondents said they felt less support from the OCC than from the three diversity offices it replaced.
—Staff writer Alexander W. Anoma can be reached at alexander.anoma@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AnomaAlexander.
—Staff writer Chantel A. De Jesus can be reached at chantel.dejesus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @c_a_dejesus.
