The Harvard University president, vice president, provost, and 15 deans signed an email reaffirming the institution's commitment to diversity after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action on Thursday.
The Supreme Court ruled that the race-conscious admissions policies practiced by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The ruling was 6-3 against UNC and 6-2 against Harvard. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself from the Harvard case due to conflicts of interests.
"We write today to reaffirm the fundamental principle that deep and transformative teaching, learning, and research depend upon a community comprising people of many backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences," reads internal email to Harvard University, which was obtained by National Review.
The email states that "diversity and difference are essential to academic excellence" and "to prepare leaders for a complex world, Harvard must admit and educate a student body whose members reflect, and have lived, multiple facets of human experience."
"Harvard must always be a place of opportunity, a place whose doors remain open to those to whom they had long been closed, a place where many will have the chance to live dreams their parents or grandparents could not have dreamed," the letter states.
A cert petition filed by the Students for Fair Admissions, Inc., argued that an African American applicant in the fourth-lowest academic decile has a higher chance of acceptance than an Asian American applicant in the top decile, while an Asian American student in the fourth-lowest decile has less than a one percent chance of acceptance.
"For almost a decade, Harvard has vigorously defended an admissions system that, as two federal courts ruled, fully complied with longstanding precedent," the internal Harvard letter states.
Although the letter affirms "We will certainly comply with the Court's decision," it adds that "In the weeks and months ahead, drawing on the talent and expertise of our Harvard community, we will determine how to preserve, consistent with the Court's new precedent, our essential values."
Dean of Harvard Law School John F. Manning signed the letter. Justice Elena Kagan, who served as the Dean of Harvard Law School for nearly six years, did not recuse herself. Justice Kagan joined Justice Sotomayor's dissent in the Harvard case and Justice Jackson's dissent in the UNC case.
The letter is also signed by Provost Alan M. Garber, Executive Vice President Meredith Weenick, Dean and President-Elect Claudine Gay, and a host of other deans.
Douglas Elmendorf, Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, sent an email to the Kennedy School faculty and students, writing "I urge you to read the joint statement by Harvard University's senior leaders." He included a registration link for an upcoming webinar with "faculty experts" on Friday, July 21. The panel will be moderated by Adjunct Lecturer Sarah Wald and feature Professors Chris Avery, Cornell Brooks, Khalil Muhammad, and Deval Patrick.
The Harvard Law School Office of Community, Engagement, Equity, and Belonging sent an email inviting law students to attend a Zoom panel Thursday with Professors Guy-Uriel Charles, Benjamin Eidelson, Jeannie Suk Gersen, Randall Kennedy, and Martha Minow.
"Today is a hard day, and if you are feeling the gravity of that, I want you to know you're not alone," Dean and President-Elect Claudine Gay wrote in an email, which included a link to a video of her speaking. Harvard University posted the video on YouTube after the Supreme Court released the decision.
That email was also sent to alumni by the Vice President of Alumni Affairs & Development Brian Lee.
"The Supreme Court's decision on college and university admissions will change how we pursue the educational benefits of diversity, but our commitment to that work remains steadfast," Gay says in the video. "It is essential to who we are and the mission we are here to advance."
"Our students have the chance to put their ideas into conversation with other points of view, experiences, and perspectives," Gay said.
In 2023, the Harvard Crimson annual survey of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences found that more than 77 percent of surveyed faculty identified as either "very liberal" or "liberal," while 2.5 percent identified as "conservative" and less than 1 percent as "very conservative."
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