Harvard will no longer require diversity statements when hiring faculty

Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) said Monday that it will no longer require diversity statements when hiring faculty.

FAS, the school’s largest faculty division, said it has “expanded its approach to learning about candidates being considered for academic appointments by requesting broader and more robust statements of service as part of the hiring process,” according to a statement provided to The Hill.

“This updated approach recognizes the many ways faculty contribute to strengthening their academic communities, including efforts to increase diversity, inclusion and belonging,” said a FAS spokesperson.

The decision was first shared by Dean of Faculty Affairs and Planning Nina Zipser in a Monday email to colleagues. Zipser said the change came after “several” faculty expressed concerns that the diversity statements were “too narrow in the information they attempted to collect” and could be confusing to international applicants, according to The New York Times.

“In making this decision, FAS is realigning the hiring process with long-standing criteria for tenure-track and tenure-track faculty positions,” the spokesperson said. “These criteria include excellence in research, teaching/mentoring, and service, which are the three pillars of faculty appointment.”

Harvard announced last week that it would no longer issue official statements on controversial issues, a decision that follows weeks of high-profile protests on campus, both at the school and others across the country.

The changes at the Ivy League institution come months after the school’s then-president, Claudine Gay, resigned following accusations of plagiarism and anti-Semitism.

Conservatives have long criticized diversity statements, writings in which candidates were asked to share how they would contribute to or enhance campus diversity.

Proponents of diversity statements argue that they are another way of presenting a range of points of view.

Harvard said last year that it would comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling to eliminate the race-based admissions process.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) also said last month that it would no longer require diversity statements from prospective faculty, a decision that was directed by President Sally Kornbluth “with the support of the Provost, Chancellor, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion , and all six academic deans.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story