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Our Commitment to Community

Dear Members of the Harvard Community,

For nearly four centuries, faculty, staff, students, and researchers have come to Harvard to learn, connect, and become part of an institution dedicated to expanding the boundaries of human knowledge. With this enduring vision in mind, our commitment to building a community comprised of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences is vital to our success. In President Garber’s recent message The Promise of Higher Education, he reaffirmed that we must continue “to work together to find ways, consistent with law, to foster and support a vibrant community that exemplifies, respects, and embraces difference” and, in doing so, “also continue to comply with Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ruled that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act makes it unlawful for universities to make decisions ‘on the basis of race.’

This is the work ahead. It requires us to learn from and be responsive to our community and to reimagine our work in ways that meet our current needs and goals. It requires us to find new ways to bring people of different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives together as one community, focusing on the unique experiences and contributions of the individual and not the broad demographic groups to which they belong. It requires us to build a culture in which our differences and disagreements serve as a source of learning and growth, moving away from polarization and toward empathy and understanding.

This emphasis reflects important findings from the recently administered 2024 Pulse Survey, our first campus-wide pulse assessment since 2019. I am grateful to everyone who took the time to share their experiences, which will shape our approach moving forward. Thousands of people from across the University provided insight into what it feels like to learn, teach, work, and live at Harvard. Though a large percentage of people reported a sense of belonging at Harvard, it was telling that a lower percentage reported forming relationships with people holding different viewpoints or registered a sense of comfort expressing their opinions to others. (I encourage you to read the full report and to look at the findings in Appendix B).

What does this tell us? Here at Harvard, we have built a community of excellence composed of individuals from all walks of life. Our challenge today is to help all within that community to realize the benefits of learning, working, and living alongside others who come from various backgrounds, have had different experiences, and hold diverse viewpoints. To be sure, a vital element of the work ahead will be, as ever, to ensure that each individual in our community is free from discrimination and harassment and that all are guaranteed equal access to educational opportunities. But to build a culture of mutual respect, we must also do more. We must sharpen our focus on fostering connections across difference, creating spaces for dialogue, and cultivating a culture of belonging—not as an abstract ideal, but as a lived experience for all.

To capture this emphasis and this mission, our office will become Community and Campus Life, effective immediately. Going forward, our new Office will redouble its emphasis on:

• Providing a forum for schools to come together to share best practices on how to build a culture of belonging for all members of the Harvard Community.
• Expanding and supporting programs that give members of our community greater opportunities to engage across difference.
• Enhancing support for first-generation and low-income students.

In the weeks and months ahead, we will take steps to make this change concrete and to work with all of Harvard’s schools and units to implement these vital objectives, including shared efforts to reexamine and reshape the missions and programs of offices across the university. Much of that work is already under way in our schools. I look forward to continuing this essential work in partnership with you. Together, we can shape a Harvard anchored in excellence, animated by difference, and strengthened by shared purpose. 

In community,

Sherri Ann Charleston
Chief Community and Campus Life Officer

P.S. You can learn more about the Pulse survey findings and changes to our office in the Harvard Gazette