Harvard will remain neutral on controversial public issues

Harvard University has announced that it adopts a policy of institutional neutrality and will refrain from publishing statements on matters of public policy.

The new policy was put in place after the faculty-led Institutional Voice working group produced a report on the campus open investigation that indicated staff’s desire to move away from the activism in which the school had engaged in recent years. The Oct. 7 attacks brought these issues to the forefront as donors and employees argued over how the university should respond.

A policy preventing the university from issuing official statements on controversial issues has gained support from the university’s top governing body and its new interim president, Alan Garber. Staff, including administrators, trustees, deans, department chairs, and faculty boards, will be asked to avoid making public statements on behalf of the university on matters with which reasonable people would disagree.