July 10, 2025

To the President and Fellows of Harvard University:

We write with deep concern about the dismantling of diversity efforts at Harvard College and the FAS, an apparent capitulation to illegal federal overreach that represents a troubling submission to their coercive demands. This moment is not just about internal policy shifts, but about the erosion of academic freedom under pressure and the dangerous precedent it sets for the future of American education and democratic society. 

Diversity efforts have been the lifeblood of what Harvard stands for: Veritas. Truth relies upon a multiplicity of voices with the freedom to be heard. Harvard’s latest erasure threatens academic freedom and contributes to destroying the diversity of thought and experience essential to Harvard. Welcoming inquiry into a wide variety of lived experiences and supporting many viewpoints, particularly those that have been suppressed in the past, is a crucial underpinning of the free and open discourse necessary to Harvard’s mission and to its stated commitment to protect the rights of its students and faculty.

Harvard must ensure that all students are safe and welcome, including those of a range of backgrounds, perspectives, life experiences and geography. To accomplish this, Harvard must reinstate all initiatives, centers, and offices that support a diverse Harvard community, including the FAS Diversity Office, Harvard College Women’s Center, the Office for BGLTQ Student Life, and Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. Furthermore, the censoring of language surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion issues is not merely a nominal change. In its haste to erase language regarding “DEI" from campus, Harvard erases decades of work to address discrimination and divides on campus. This erasure also chills scholarly and public discourse and is an existential threat to academic freedom, free expression and free inquiry, replacing it with indoctrination.

Protecting the continued vibrancy of the Harvard community requires the explicit recognition of the diversity that makes the university strong. We, your diverse group of alumni, are part of that community. And these changes are attempting to erase many of us and leave us behind. We ask our Harvard leaders to see us, remember us, and know we are the very fabric of this community. We, and others both like us and unlike us, are what makes Harvard Harvard.

This is no time to step back from your refusal to allow the federal government to dictate how Harvard educates. It’s time for courage not capitulation.

Respectfully,
Crimson Courage