Websites serving Harvard undergrad women, minority and LGBTQ students taken down, Crimson reports

CNN

12 hours ago

Websites for Harvard College centers serving minority and LGBTQ students and women vanished Wednesday, The Harvard Crimson reported, marking the continued unraveling of diversity initiatives at the nation's most prestigious university as it faces fresh pressure from the Trump administration.
Websites for the Harvard College Women's Center, the Office for BGLTQ Student Life and the Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations now redirect to a page for an Office of Culture and Community, the student newspaper reported.
That office – which promotes '(e)xposure to and learning from different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences,' its site states – was announced internally just Wednesday as a replacement for the soon-to-close diversity office for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which encompasses Harvard College, the undergraduate school and university's PhD programs.
The White House welcomed the development, viewing it as a goodwill gesture one official described Thursday as 'good news.'
In a letter to Harvard President Alan Garber on Thursday, alumni group Crimson Courage expressed disappointment with 'the dismantling of diversity efforts at Harvard College and the FAS,' calling it a threat to academic freedom and the university's core values. The group called on Garber to reinstate diversity initiatives to 'ensure that all students are safe and welcome.'
'This is no time to step back from your refusal to allow the federal government to dictate how Harvard educates,' Crimson Courage said. 'It's time for courage not capitulation.'
Also Wednesday, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services notified the New England Commission of Higher Education that Harvard is 'in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws and therefore may fail to meet the standards for accreditation set by the Commission,' according to a joint statement.
That statement followed a June 30 finding by the Trump administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism that Harvard was in 'violent violation' of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities receiving federal funding.
The new Office of Culture and Community is part of an effort to 'break down silos, ensuring all members of our community are connected, supported, and empowered,' Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi Hoekstra told colleagues Wednesday in a memo to which a university spokesperson directed CNN for information about the disappearance of the Harvard College website.
As for its accreditation, Harvard 'continues to comply with the New England Commission of Higher Education's Standards for Accreditation, maintaining its accreditation uninterrupted since its initial review in 1929,' the spokesperson said Thursday in a statement.
'Antisemitism is a serious problem and no matter the context, it is unacceptable,' the statement said, adding the university 'has made significant strides to combat bigotry, hate and bias.'
The moves Wednesday come amid a monthslong fight between Harvard and the Trump administration, which has sought to coerce the school to make changes that adhere to its more conservative ideology and less than a month ago suggested a deal was in sight. Other US universities have faced similar pressure from the White House and met at least some of its demands.
At Harvard, the White House since April has frozen billions of federal dollars and threatened to yank more if Harvard does not comply, accusing the university in part of failing to adequately combat antisemitism and curb diversity practices – designed to advance racial, gender, class and other representation in public spaces – it decries as 'illegal and immoral discrimination.'
Harvard in April announced it would rename its central diversity office from the Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging to the Office of Community and Campus Life.
It also has acknowledged antisemitism is an issue, and two school task forces in late April released a pair of internal reports – one on its handling of antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias, and the other of anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian bias.
Its antisemitism task force, among other proposed changes, recommended updating the admissions process to focus on the need to work alongside people of differing viewpoints and be prepared to accept disagreements. Harvard should also 'become a hub for antisemitism research' and dedicate a faculty member to its study, the task force said.
'We remain committed to ensuring members of our Jewish and Israeli community are embraced, respected, and can thrive at Harvard,' its spokesperson added Thursday.
Meantime, Harvard continues to battle the Trump administration in federal court on two fronts: In one, it seeks to claw back the frozen federal funds, with a hearing set for July 21; in the other, a judge has indefinitely blocked the White House's effort to revoke Harvard's ability to enroll international students, who make up about a quarter of its enrollment.