Jeannie Suk-Gersen on D.E.I., free speech on Harvard’s campus, and the ways in which Israel’s siege of Gaza has complicated these already complex topics.
After a fall semester of blistering criticism for its handling of campus protests of the Israel-Hamas war, the university wants faculty to adopt a “content-neutral” plan for addressing classroom disruptions this semester. Still roiled by controversy over its handling of campus protests related to the Israel-Hamas war, Harvard University wants faculty to plan for how they’ll address possible classroom disruptions this semester. “Students on other campuses have started the semester with walkouts,” Amanda Claybaugh, dean of undergraduate education, wrote in an email to faculty Sunday, the day before classes started for the spring semester. “I’d encourage you to think about how you’d respond should a protest occur in your course.”
Harvey Silverglate outlines reforms he'd seek if elected to the Board of Overseers at Harvard, including the abolition of “speech codes.” (Students need to be educated, not coddled.)
The university’s initial statements had acknowledged that there was in fact a war happening in the Middle East and that members of our community had families and friends who had been killed or were living in extreme danger. This latest statement, on the other hand, sought to ban the chanting of words in a time of war without mentioning the war itself.