Faculty of Arts and Sciences Diversity Dean Position Left Vacant For Nearly Two Years

Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences has been without an associate dean for diversity, inclusion, and belonging for nearly two years after Sheree M. Ohen left Harvard for Amherst College in April 2023.

Despite the vacancy, the FAS has not begun looking for Ohen’s replacement. FAS spokesperson James M. Chisholm declined to say whether the school plans to fill the position at all in the future.

The FAS Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging’s website has also been stripped of the names of its staff, which were listed as recently as December 2023. Several links on the website also no longer lead to valid pages, including the “News” page and a page listing the office’s faculty liaisons.

Over the last year, the FAS has distanced itself from previous diversity policies amid criticism that they were at odds with academic freedom.

In June, the FAS stopped requiring candidates for faculty positions to submit statements describing their commitments to diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Instead, finalists are now asked to write statements on “efforts to strengthen academic communities” and on promoting open classroom discussion.

At the time, Nina Zipser, the Dean of Faculty Affairs and Planning, said the school remained committed to its principles of diversity and inclusion but framed the change as allowing the school to balance those principles with other considerations.

The deanship has been left vacant as diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at universities across the country have been attacked by critics in Washington.

On just his second day back in the White House, President Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring all universities that receive federal funding to eliminate their race and gender-based diversity programs. A few days later, he named several vocal critics of university DEI programs to leadership roles in the U.S. Department of Education.

The deanship has been occupied for less than three years since its inception. Ohen, who joined the FAS in Sept. 2020, was the first person appointed to the position.

—Staff writer William C. Mao can be reached at william.mao@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @williamcmao.

—Staff writer Veronica H. Paulus can be reached at veronica.paulus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @VeronicaHPaulus.