Harvard Faculty Eliminates Diversity Statement Requirement, Introduces Service Statement

Jun 3, 2024, 04:35 PM

Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences has announced the elimination of mandatory diversity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI) statements in its faculty hiring process. This requirement, instituted under Dean Claudine Gay, has been replaced with a 'service statement' that asks applicants to detail their efforts to strengthen academic communities, such as their department, institution, and professional societies. The decision, announced by Dean of Faculty Affairs and Planning Nina Zipser, is seen by some as a move towards promoting intellectual diversity and academic freedom. This change, communicated via email today, follows similar actions by other institutions, such as MIT, which recently banned DEI statements. The DEI statements had been required since 2019.