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As the Trump administration targets Harvard’s diversity programming, it remains unclear whether affinity celebrations for this year’s Commencement will occur as usual.

Several affinity group leaders said they have yet to hear from the Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging — which coordinates the celebrations — regarding the status of this year’s affinity celebrations. Outreach to affinity groups typically occurs around early April, according to affinity group leaders and previous years’ speakers.

But events like Harvard’s affinity celebrations have drawn fire from federal officials who accuse them of violating civil rights law, including in a February letter from the Department of Education, which warned grimly that “many American schools and universities even encourage segregation by race at graduation ceremonies.”

A University spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on the status of this year’s celebrations.

Last year, Harvard hosted ten affinity celebrations for the Class of 2024 — including celebrations for Arab, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, first-generation, low-income, and Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Desi graduates, as well as LGBTQ+ graduates, Jewish graduates, veterans, and graduates with disabilities.

While the celebrations are promoted as events co-hosted by affinity organizations alongside the OEDIB, several student and alumni leaders pointed to the OEDIB as the main organizer behind the celebrations.

The uncertainty and lack of communication regarding the celebrations comes as Harvard faces a multibillion dollar federal funding freeze for refusing to submit to the Trump administration’s demands, which included dismantling diversity programming across the University.

But Harvard’s leaders — including University President Alan M. Garber ’76 and College Dean Rakesh Khurana — have maintained their support for diversity initiatives, calling them integral to the University’s academic mission. On Monday, Harvard sued the Trump administration over the federal funding freeze, accusing the White House of punishing the University for “protecting its constitutional rights.”

Still, current affinity group leaders said they have yet to receive any notice from the OEDIB regarding organizing or hosting celebrations — leaving it unclear whether this year’s celebrations are happening or not.

Several Latinx student groups, as well as the Harvard Latino Alumni Alliance, have received “zero information” about whether the Latinx affinity celebration will happen, according to Fuerza Latina co-President Sarita Plata ’27.

“Currently, the Latinx affinity graduation is up in the air,” Plata wrote in an email statement last Sunday.

“The ambiguity of the graduation raises questions and concerns from the Latinx community,” she added. “For many, the Latinx graduation is an extraordinary moment.”

Kristen G. Shipley, a Harvard Business School graduate who was honored during the 2024 celebration for Black graduates, said communication from the OEDIB went out around late March to early April of last year to invite graduates to apply for speeches.

Shipley added that as someone who attended a historically Black college, “finding and connecting with the Black community at Harvard was really important to me.”

For many other Harvard affiliates, the affinity celebrations are an important way to celebrate graduates’ achievements in the context of their backgrounds and shared experiences.

Plata wrote that receiving the Harvard Latinx stoles, which are given out during the affinity celebrations, represents “the sacrifices we and our parents have made to be at Harvard.”

“It represents our strength and power to persevere,” she wrote. “In an institution where Latinxs are historically underrepresented and marginalized, the Latinx graduation advocates for Latinxs to take up space.”

Oluwatosin “Tosin” Odugbemi, a speaker at the 2024 Black affinity celebration, said the event allowed her and other Black graduates to “reflect on this big accomplishment,” talk about specific struggles, and “do the specific dances and things that belong and are fostered in a certain culture.”

She added that there is “misinformation” surrounding the purpose of the celebrations.

“No one’s getting a special graduation. It’s just a party, right?” Odugbemi said. “In the end, it’s just a party to celebrate the specific group.”

Katherine Necochea Tinco, the graduate student speaker at the 2024 Indigenous affinity celebration, said that these celebrations were about “bringing community together.”

“It was a wonderful time to be in community and be with other graduates, our families, and everyone — from mentors to professors — that celebrated us,” Necochea Tinco said.

Armughan-e-bu T. Syed, who spoke at the 2024 APIDA celebration, said the celebrations are a signal that graduates and affiliates of various backgrounds are “welcome” and “have a part to play in shaping how these institutions function.”

“My hope is that these celebrations continue,” Syed said. “My hope is that the University and the larger community sees value in celebrating these — in creating celebrations that uplift communities.”

—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.