Harvard renames its DEI office, conceding on Trump demand

Harvard University, while publicly resisting demands of the Trump Administration that Harvard President Alan Garber called "beyond the power of the federal government," appeared to make a concession on Monday.

In an email that went out to the campus community on Monday, which was obtained and reviewed by MassLive, the head of the office formerly known as the "Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging" announced that effective immediately, the office would now be known as "Community and Campus Life."

"We must sharpen our focus on fostering connections across difference, creating spaces for dialogue, and cultivating a culture of belonging — not as an abstract ideal, but as a lived experience for all," wrote Sherri Ann Charleston, formerly Harvard's Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Officer.

She signed the email as Chief Community and Campus Life Officer.

The change comes amid an intense crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programing at the federal level, with the Trump Administration issuing executive orders to end such programs at all public K-12 schools, an action that has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge .

In higher education, the Trump administration has threatened to revoke accreditation of colleges and universities in part over diversity, equity and inclusion programs that an executive order signed last week states are "unlawfully discriminatory practices."

• Read more: Trump's demands of Harvard have only grown. This is where they stand

Among the Trump Administration's demands in an April 11 letter to Harvard was the "discontinuation of DEI."

"The University must immediately shutter all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices, committees, positions, and initiatives, under whatever name, and stop all DEI-based policies," the letter read.

Other demands included:

• Allowing the government to audit the viewpoints of students, faculty and staff and forcing the university to hire people

• Giving leadership power to those "most devoted" to enacting the changes in the letter, and stripping it away from those who aren't

• Forcing the university to deploy campus police to enact "discipline" on students who disobey policies approved by the government

• Sharing all hiring data with the government, which would be subject to an audit

• Preventing admission of international students the government deems "hostile" to "American values"

In renaming the office, Charleston referred to findings in a campus survey on inclusion and belonging called the " Pulse Survey ." In an article discussing the survey's findings in the Harvard Gazette, Harvard's official news outlet, Charleston revealed that it was Garber's decision to rename the office.

"I started in 2020 as the chief diversity and inclusion officer, leading the Office for Diversity, Inclusion, & Belonging. Given the high-level outcomes of the last Pulse Survey, President Garber decided to rename the portfolio to Community and Campus Life to align with its current focus — building community and increasing belonging," Charleston is quoted as saying.

Charleston said in her Monday email to the campus community that her office's primary objectives would be:

• Providing a forum for schools to come together to share best practices on how to build a culture of belonging for all members of the Harvard Community.

• Expanding and supporting programs that give members of our community greater opportunities to engage across differences.

• Enhancing support for first-generation and low-income students.

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Read the original article on MassLive .