Progress on Actions

With the start of Academic Year 2025-26, Harvard University continues to advance its fundamental commitment to being a community in which everyone can thrive in the shared pursuit of our mission of excellence in teaching, learning and research. This commitment includes ensuring that all members of the University’s Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities feel welcome at Harvard and can pursue their academic endeavors and campus life free from hate, bias, and discrimination. This work has required robust anti-discrimination policies and conduct standards that are rigorously upheld, along with efforts to foster an academic environment that promotes diverse viewpoints, vigorous debate and civil discourse.

Under the leadership of President Alan M. Garber, who assumed office in January 2024, Harvard has taken substantive steps to strengthen the culture and climate on campus. These efforts include creating a stronger environment for constructive dialogue and viewpoint diversity, and working to clarify, update and make more consistent and effective the University’s disciplinary policies and procedures, as well as the understanding of rules and expectations for use of campus spaces.

These efforts have also benefitted from the work of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias. The Task Force released preliminary recommendations in June 2024, with President Garber’s administration beginning implementation related to those recommendations at that time. In April 2025, the Task Force released its final report, with President Garber’s commitment to continue to advance recommendations included in that report.

As part of its efforts to keep the community informed, Harvard maintains a more comprehensive list online of actions to combat anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian bias and strengthen campus climate. This substantive and ongoing work across the University includes:

Academic Life

• New Course Offerings at HDS: HDS has added courses on American Muslim Polity and Islamic Chaplaincy and Ministry to the 2025-26 academic year.
• Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Adoption of the Classroom Social Compact. Following the January 2025 recommendations from the FAS Classroom Social Compact Committee, faculty voted in March 2025 to adopt handbook language for students and instructors outlining expectations for classroom behavior to advance academic freedom, engagement of a range of viewpoints, and a vibrant learning environment. The expectations go into effect in the 2025-26 academic year.
• Israeli/Palestinian guests at Harvard Law School (HLS). Through the Roger D. Fisher Fellowship in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, HLS is hosting experts working on Israeli/Palestinian conflict resolution during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.
• “Middle East Dialogues” and similar programming at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS). HKS will continue to organize a set of co-curricular activities with speakers from Israel, Palestine, and the broader region through which students can explore a diversity of perspectives on the Middle East.

Strengthening Campus Climate and Promoting Respectful Dialogue

• Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue. In October 2024, Harvard adopted open inquiry and constructive dialogue principles and supported School-based initiatives that reinforce the free exchange of ideas, rigorous discourse, and empathy for all members of the Harvard community.
• Faculty Training in Constructive Dialogue. HDS has instituted faculty training in constructive dialogue for this fall, 2025, utilizing Bok Center personnel and resources.
• Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Constructive Engagement Working Group.In Spring 2025, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health launched a Working Group on Constructive Engagement, with representatives from students, staff, trainees, and faculty. The working group is charged with developing practical recommendations for sustaining healthy pluralism at the School by nurturing an inclusive culture, encouraging open inquiry, and building capacity within all segments of the community to engage respectfully across differences.
• Course evaluations. In summer 2025, Harvard College and many of Harvard’s graduate and professional schools undertook a review of the course evaluation processes to ensure evaluations appropriately elicit feedback from students as to an instructor’s ability to encourage competing viewpoints and create a classroom environment broadly conducive to learning.
• Institutional Voice Principles. In May 2024, Harvard adopted its Institutional Voice Principles and will not “issue official statements about public matters that do not directly affect the university’s core function” as an academic institution. Institutional statements on matters not related to the university’s core functions risk creating an environment counter to the university’s mission of being a community where open inquiry, debate and the careful weighing of evidence is embraced in classrooms and other settings. The University can and will continue to speak out on matters relevant to its core function, such as free and open inquiry, teaching, and research.
• Community and Campus Life. In April, 2025, Harvard launched Community and Campus Lifethe new Community and Campus Life (CCL) office and replaced the former Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging) with a focus on building a culture of belonging for all members of the Harvard community. CCL supports and expands on programs that encourage engagement across differences.
• Student pre-orientation and orientation programs. Harvard and its Schools have taken steps to enrich orientation and pre-orientation programming to ensure welcoming and inclusive experiences that support all of our students and foster skills for dialogue across differences.
• Building community and dialogue skills. Harvard has enhanced its “welcome back” programming to strengthen inclusion for students, faculty, and staff at the University. In addition, Members of the Harvard College Class of 2028 completed the Perspectives Program in partnership with the Constructive Dialogue Institute, which equips students with skills to engage productively across different perspectives and life experiences.
• Viewpoint diversity initiative. In April 2025, President Garber committed to accelerating the work to establish a University-wide initiative to promote and support viewpoint diversity.
• Reviewing admissions processes to encourage free inquiry and civil discourse: Deans are working with their admissions teams to review how their respective admissions processes currently evaluate and value candidates’ demonstrated abilities to engage constructively with different perspectives, show empathy, and participate in civil discourse. For example, in August 2024, Harvard College updated the Class of 2029 application to ask a question about a time applicants “strongly disagreed with someone.” The prompt also asks students, “How did you communicate or engage with this person?” and “What did you learn from this experience?”
• Interfaith Engagement. In July 2025, Harvard announced a new university-wide initiative for interfaith engagement. Through the lens of interfaith engagement, the University seeks to foster respect for diverse identities, build relationships between communities, and encourage cooperation for the common good.
• New Permanent Muslim Prayer Space.  In August 2025, the University announced the establishment of a permanent prayer space for its Muslim community. A room on the Smith Campus Center’s second floor will be designated as a permanent musallah, a prayer space for Muslim affiliates to gather for daily worship and reflection. A space previously utilized for Muslim prayer will now be dedicated to Hindu worship, to accommodate the growing number of Hindu students on campus.
• Inclusive scheduling and event planning resources. In December 2024, Harvard launched a webpage that includes a multifaith calendar, a glossary of religious observances, and suggestions for inclusive catering.
• President’s Building Bridges Fund. In the 2024-25 academic year, through the President’s Building Bridges Fund, the University funded and launched student-led projects to promote a culture that fosters community among affinity groups and encourages constructive dialogue on interfaith and/or intercultural issues.

Policies, Procedures, and Training

• Guidance on protest and dissent. In January 2024, the President and Deans issued new “Guidance on Protest and Dissent” (endorsed by the Corporation) that clarifies and makes more explicit rules regarding protest and dissent at Harvard. This includes making clear the conditions under which demonstrations and protests are and are not permitted. For example, demonstrations and protests are not permitted in classrooms and other spaces of instruction; libraries or other spaces designated for study, quiet reflection, and small group discussion; dormitories, residence halls, or dining halls where students live and take their meals; offices where the work of the University is carried out; or other places in which demonstrations and protests would interfere with the normal activities of the University. On the other hand, demonstrations and protests are allowed in many other spaces, provided they meet certain time, place, and manner requirements.
• Campus use policies. In August 2024, the University announced, and the Harvard Corporation endorsed, updated Campus Use Rules that clarified, strengthened and harmonized existing regulations, publishing in one place clear guidelines that are intended to facilitate awareness of community expectations, productive use of space and appropriate enforcement of policies. These rules and guidelines enhance community safety and accountability and include that when asked by a university administrator or a Harvard University Police Department officer a protest participant must show identification when asked to do so and must remove their face masks when showing identification.
• Reviewing and updating disciplinary procedures, and centralizing discipline in cross-School matters. In April 2025, Harvard’s governing boards empowered the President to call on a faculty panel of the University Committee on Rights and Responsibilities (UCRR) to investigate, find facts, and impose discipline in cross-School cases involving alleged violations of the University-wide Statement on Rights and Responsibilities (USRR) or Campus Use Rules. This builds on steps taken regarding the UCRR in July 2024 that established procedures to standardize fact-finding investigations for incidents involving students from two or more Schools.
• Establishment of Office for Community Support, Non-Discrimination, Rights and Responsibilities. In August 2025, Harvard announced the creation of the Office for Community Support, Non-Discrimination, Rights and Responsibilities (CSNDR), which works with the Harvard community to foster an environment free from discrimination, interpersonal violence, and the impacts of such harm. CSNDR is comprised of three teams – the confidential Sexual Harassment/Assault Resources and Education (SHARE) Team, the Prevention Team, and the NDAB (Non-Discrimination and Anti-Bullying) and Title IX Compliance Team, providing for greater efficacy, access, and integrated resources for the entire Harvard community.
• Title VI Office. In August 2025, Harvard affirmed that the CSNDR is Harvard’s Title VI office and clarified that the University’s Non-Discrimination policy complies with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) guidance regarding Title VI.
• Title VI-Focused–Staff Members. In June 2025, Harvard hired a new staff member to serve as the University’s Title VI Coordinator and Deputy for Compliance.

• New community education on preventing and responding to bias and harassment. In August 2025, Harvard launched a required new e-learning course for students, which contains comprehensive information about the University’s Non-Discrimination Policy, Interim Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy, and Interim Other Sexual Misconduct Policy, as well as information about available resources and supports. The course includes training and information on how to recognize and respond to forms of bias and harm, including antisemitism, Islamophobia, sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct, and other forms of bias. Training for staff will launch on September 8.
• Action Plan for Local Designated Resources (LDR) Training. Harvard has prepared an action plan and training program for personnel charged with reviewing and evaluating complaints of discrimination to strengthen Harvard’s response to complaints of discrimination, which will be implemented during the 2025-26 Academic Year.
• Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Training. In the 2025-26 academic year, SEAS will hold programs on antisemitism and Islamophobia for staff, which will include historical and cultural context. The programs will be LinkedIn Learning Trainings developed by outside experts.
• Antisemitism and Anti-Islamic Bias Training at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. In August 2025, student-facing personnel and school leadership attended in-person, intensive workshops led by outside experts on combatting antisemitism and anti-Islamic bias. Student leaders will take similar workshops in fall 2025.

More information on Harvard’s previous and ongoing work to combat antisemitism, strengthen campus climate and foster constructive dialogue on its Actions and Commitments page.