Harvard will remain silent on issues that do not impact the university’s ‘core function’

Harvard University announced Tuesday that it will no longer intervene on public issues that do not impact the Ivy League’s core function, a change that follows a historic period of unrest within the famous university.

Harvard leaders announced the new policy after forming a working group in April to debate when the university should speak out.

That group concluded that Harvard has a “responsibility to speak out to protect and promote its core function,” including “defending the university’s autonomy and academic freedom when threatened.”

“The university and its leaders, however, should not issue official statements on public matters that do not directly affect the core function of the university,” the task force said in its report.

The report goes on to warn that “the integrity and credibility of the institution are compromised when the university speaks officially on issues that fall outside its area of ​​institutional expertise.”

The move comes after Claudine Gay, the first black president in Harvard history, resigned in January amid a whirlwind of controversy and plagiarism allegations.

Gay faced intense pressure following his first public statements about the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel and then after his testimony before lawmakers about anti-Semitism on campus.

Alan Garber, who replaced Gay as interim president, announced Tuesday that the university had accepted the task force’s report and recommendations, which were also approved by the Harvard Corporation, the highest governing body of the ‘university.

“The process of translating these principles into concrete practice will of course take time and experience, and we look forward to the work ahead,” Garber said.

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