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Updated June 6, 2025, at 12:42 p.m.
The Harvard Medical School renamed its diversity office and announced changes to several major diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on Wednesday in the latest rollback of diversity infrastructure at Harvard.
In a morning email to affiliates, HMS Dean George Q. Daley ’82 wrote that the changes were part of an effort to “adapt to the ever-evolving national landscape” and “better reflect” the school’s work going forward.
Daley announced that the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership would now operate as the Office for Culture and Community Engagement, with a continued focus on “opportunity and access” and “community-building.” He also wrote that the Office of Recruitment and Multicultural Affairs, which is part of the school’s Program in Medical Education, would be absorbed into the Office of Student Affairs as part of a broader leadership transition.
But among the most significant changes was the quiet removal of HMS’ multi-paragraph diversity statement — a document that had outlined a sweeping commitment to social justice, antidiscrimination, and health equity. The now-deleted text included pledges to “challenge discrimination,” “address disparities and inequities,” and “actively promote social justice.” It also included committing the school to acknowledging “the strengths and weaknesses of our history” and to prioritizing “diversity and inclusion” in the development of school policies and practices.
Daley did not directly mention the removal of the statement in his message. But he wrote that HMS would convene a new committee to “review and recommend updates” to the school’s guiding principles.
“Any changes will be announced following the completion of the committee’s work,” he wrote.
Daley did not specify when the committee would be formed or who would serve on it in his message.
The sweeping changes come just over a month after Harvard rebranded its central Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, now titled the Office for Community and Campus Life, amid intensifying pressure from federal agencies to dismantle DEI initiatives or risk losing billions in federal research funding.
The decision to rename the OEDIB drew criticism from students and faculty who saw it as a retreat from Harvard’s public commitment to diversity. University President Alan M. Garber ’76 acknowledged that some interpreted the move as a political concession, but defended it as a reflection of evolving institutional priorities.
“The work of that office is shifting in important ways,” Garber said in an interview last month. “The title no longer fits the mission or the work of the office.”
But the changes at HMS appear even more far-reaching than the University-wide renaming — and the Wednesday move is a sign that the OEDIB rebrand may just be a start.
As part of the Wednesday moves, HMS also took down a webpage detailing funding for student affinity groups, previously administered through ORMA and the Office of Student Affairs. That page had outlined a formal application process for identity-based student groups to receive up to $1,500 annually for programming, and included specific eligibility criteria and a definition of affinity groups.
In a statement after this article’s publication, a HMS spokesperson wrote that recognized student groups, including affinity groups, are still able to access funding through the PME Office of Student Affairs.
The newly launched OCCE website provides little insight into the office’s structure or staff. A placeholder message pledges to “update this space over the next few weeks” but no program details are included beyond a handful of broadly framed initiatives. Among them are Opening Doors, a speaker series featuring long-serving faculty, and Community Gatherings, informal events meant to promote connection across the HMS community. None of the programs specifically focus on racial or ethnic diversity — and all are more broadly targeted than the school’s past DEI programming.
The changes at HMS mark the most far-reaching shift in diversity programming at any Harvard school so far, but they are not the first.
In April — just days before the OEDIB was renamed — the Harvard Divinity School revised its diversity statement, removing language that described its work as “rooted in love” and committed to building an “anti-racist and anti-oppressive” institution. The updated version emphasizes pluralism and belonging, omitting references to systemic racism and restorative justice.
The substantive rollback of DEI programming comes as Harvard faces a widening net of federal investigations, many of which accuse DEI initiatives of promoting racism or undermining meritocracy, and a White House that wields the word “diversity” as an insult.
In late April, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission launched a Title VII investigation into the University, alleging discriminatory hiring practices based on race and sex dating back to 2018. In particular, the EEOC cited internal data that showed increased hiring of women, nonbinary individuals, and people of color in 2023.
Harvard is also under investigation by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services for potential violations of Title VI — which prohibits discrimination based on race and shared ancestry in federally funded programs and activities.
The now-deleted HMS diversity statement had previously pledged to “advance diversity and inclusion in recruitment, hiring, retention and promotion” and to “continuously monitor” progress toward equity.
On Wednesday, that language disappeared.
Correction: June 6, 2025
A previous version of this article misstated the name of the Office for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Partnership. In fact, the office’s name did not include the word “equity.”
—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.
