Harvard released the findings of an external review into the University s police department Tuesday that recommended both long-term, philosophical reforms and immediate procedural changes to the department.
University President Lawrence S. Bacow announced the external review in June on the heels of public outrage over Harvard University Police Department officers monitoring a Black Lives Matter protest in Boston and longstanding criticisms of the department’s culture more broadly. The review was conducted by 21CP Solutions, an organization comprised of law enforcement experts who help to reform policing.
In the report, 21CP offered two primary recommendations. The first urges the University to engage in a “community-driven,” “stakeholder-informed” process of redefining public safety at Harvard.
Harvard will permanently close four University Dining Services facilities and lay off the employees at each location, according to Harvard Campus Services spokesperson Michael D. Conner.
The four operations impacted include the Heights restaurant in Smith Campus Center, CGIS Café in the Center for Government and International Studies, the Observatory Cart, and the Culinary Support Group kitchen. The CSG kitchen serves as the central kitchen for HUDS, providing the various soups, sauces, salads, and pastas used across all of Harvard’s dining halls.
The announcement entails the layoff of 17 workers at the CSG kitchen, a point of contention for many HUDS workers, some of whom are already facing potential layoffs after Executive Vice President Katherine N. Lapp announced last month that the University would stop compensating contracted workers whose work had been idled by the pandemic.