Harvard to no longer require diversity statements when hiring faculty

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

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

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

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

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

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

The changes at the Ivy League institution come months after the school’s then-President Claudine Gay resigned following plagiarism and antisemitism allegations.

Conservatives have long been critics of diversity statements, writings where candidates were asked to share how they would contribute or bolster to the diversity of the campus. 

Supporters of diversity statements have argued they are another way to present a range of views. 

Harvard last year said it would comply with the the Supreme Court decision to strike down race-based admissions process. 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) also said last month 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.”