Leaders of Harvard Divinity School’s Religion and Public Life Program To Depart Abruptly

The leader of the Religion and Public Life program at the Harvard Divinity School departed suddenly in January, creating turnover at the top of an initiative that became a lightning rod for controversy over Israel and Palestine at the University.

RPL Associate Dean Diane L. Moore retired effective Jan. 27, almost a semester before her planned departure at the end of the academic year. She did not appear at an RPL webinar she was scheduled to chair that day.

One day later, her assistant dean — Divinity School lecturer Hussein Rashid — announced his planned departure in a scathing resignation letter that accused Harvard of interfering in RPL programming and condoning hate against Muslims and Arabs. Rashid will leave Harvard effective on June 30.

Controversy around the RPL program began in October 2023, when a group of RPL faculty and administrators — including both Moore and Rashid — sent a newsletter asking Divinity School affiliates to “challenge single story narratives that justify vengeance and retaliation” shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Days later, the Divinity School’s interim dean issued a statement distancing the school and the RPL program from the sentiments in the newsletter.

Since then, RPL has been a target for critics who see its leaders’ statement and its programming — which frequently includes Palestine-focused events alongside other talks on religion, conflict, and nationalism — as sources of campus antisemitism.

In a June statement, Harvard Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi described the Divinity School “almost in its entirety” and RPL “actually in its entirety” as “Hamas or Palestinian embassies.” A lawsuit filed by a group of Jewish students against Harvard in January 2024 accused the RPL program of antisemitism.

Moore will be replaced in the interim by Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs David F. Holland — who, as HDS interim dean, made the statement distancing the school from Moore’s newsletter.

Terrence L. Johnson, a professor of African American Religious Studies at HDS, is expected to start as the new RPL director.

A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment for this article, and Johnson and Moore did not respond to requests for comment.

The Religion and Public Life program was launched at HDS in 2020 at the recommendation of a faculty advisory group — led by Moore — to study religion, peace, and conflict and to improve public understanding of religion.

Harvard Hillel executive director Rabbi Jason B. Rubenstein ’04 wrote in a Tuesday afternoon statement to Hillel affiliates that “three of the most vocal anti-Zionists” have left roles at Harvard, referring to Moore, Rashid, and a former Harvard Kennedy School staff member who left over Harvard’s response to student protesters.

Rubenstein celebrated the departures as a “a type and pace of change” that he would not have anticipated even when Harvard settled two antisemitism lawsuits last month, adopting new protections for Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students.

Harvard, along with other U.S. universities, is under heightened pressure to address antisemitism complaints on campus following a barrage of directives from Donald Trump’s administration urging investigations of universities and student protesters.

In a Jan. 30 executive order, Trump directed federal agencies to issue reports on antisemitism allegations at universities and identify enforcement mechanisms. Since then, at least one agency — the Department of Health and Human Services — has launched an investigation into Harvard.

Rashid wrote in his resignation letter that Harvard had failed to adequately respond to statements against RPL by Harvard-affiliated groups, which he described as racist and false.

“I have no choice but to read them as official policy: it is OK to be racist against certain people at Harvard,” he wrote.

Rashid also criticized Harvard more broadly, claiming that the University “has consistently weaponized scholarship to further oppression” and failed to protect Muslim and Arab affiliates.

“My experience within RPL has been absolutely lovely,” Rashid said in an interview. “Unfortunately, I feel that Harvard is not the right place for me. There’s a misalignment in values and ethics, and I’m choosing not to remain here.”

In his statement, Rubenstein wrote that he was hopeful for RPL’s future under Johnson, with whom he wrote that he had a half-hour conversation.

“After months of playing defense, this conversation reignited in me a dormant sense of possibility,” Rubenstein wrote.

— Staff Writer Sebastian B. Connolly can be reached at sebastian.connolly@thecrimson.com and on X @SebastianC4784.

— Staff Writer Julia A. Karabolli can be reached at julia.karabolli@thecrimson.com.