For its upcoming 2024 Commencement exercises, Harvard University will segregate its celebrations based on a variety of factors, including race, gender and religion.
The Ivy League school in Boston, Massachusetts, is allowing its notorious Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program to divide graduating students into categories, according to information obtained by the National Review.
Seniors who are ending their time at the university are able to register for individual Commencement ceremonies that fit their ethnicity, religious beliefs, “gender identity” and even socio-economic status. While the 2023 Commencement exercises featured a similar set of “affinity celebrations”—the details of which were publicized in December by Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute—this year’s gatherings are to include one for Jewish students.
This year, Harvard is once again permitting its students to observe graduation day with a series of “affinity celebrations.” https://t.co/nOYbeZKYAh These celebrations allow students to separate themselves from each other based on their racial and ethnic identities, and then,…
— The Real Mike Rowe (@mikeroweworks) April 5, 2024
As Rufo pointed out, White and Jewish students were the only groups left out during last year’s segregated graduation ceremonies.
According to the National Review, Harvard’s 2024 “affinity celebrations” groups include Asian American, Pacific Islander and Desi-American (APIDA), Disability, Global Indigenous, First-Generation Low-Income, Jewish, Latinx, Lavender (for students who embrace gender ideology), Black, Veterans and Arab. Additionally, there will be a general Commencement event that welcomes all students.
The sign-up form, which was provided to the outlet by a current student at the university, also details that the Arab, Jewish and Veteran ceremonies “are being planned in collaboration with student groups and campus partners.” However, the only information about these celebrations that is available to the public is a note on the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences website.
Even so, this page does not detail that there will be segregated events for various groups but only describes the “affinity celebrations” as “student-led, staff-supported events that recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of graduates from marginalized and underrepresented communities.”
The news comes after a surge in antisemitic rhetoric on college campuses as American tensions rose with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. During a House Education Committee investigation on the matter, Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) described DEI programs at American universities as “a failure to protect Jewish communities” on campus.
He further questioned Claudine Gay—who resigned from her position as Harvard’s president at the beginning of this year amid a plagiarism scandal, following the Congressional hearings—about whether she agreed with separating students “based on their color.”
Gay replied during the inquiry that she “oppose[s] segregation, to which Owens said he did, too, but called the academic leader out by saying “it’s happening on your campus.”
