Dear Members of the HMS Community:
Today I am reminded of this excerpt from Maya Angelou’s poem, “On the Pulse of Morning:”
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.
As I reflect on the release of the final report and recommendations from the Presidential Initiative on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery, I have a mix of emotions. I commend Radcliffe Institute Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin and the initiative’s committee for their essential work in providing, for the first time, a comprehensive and transparent history of Harvard’s connections to slavery. I applaud both the committee’s recommendations for how we as a community can redress—through teaching, research, and service—our legacy of slavery, and President Bacow and the Corporation’s commitment to support implementation of these recommendations, including providing the financial resources to continue this important work in perpetuity.
I hereby pledge HMS’ commitment to actions that reinforce and advance the initial recommendations and those that will come from the implementation committee. HMS has not and will not shy away from our history, as evidenced in recent years by the dialogues presented by our Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership (DICP), the 2019 event celebrating 50 years of diversity and inclusion at HMS and HSDM, and the Perspectives of Change online exhibit, which presents the story of civil rights, diversity, inclusion, and access to education at HMS and HSDM, among other initiatives.
Since the release of our Better Together plan and anti-racism initiatives, we have made important progress, including establishing a committee on artwork and cultural representations, resulting in new artwork across our campus; instituting guiding principles on naming HMS campus features; renaming one of our academic societies in honor of Dr. William Augustus Hinton; releasing a statement of mutual respect and public discourse; and, following a comprehensive review, implementing recommendations to dismantle racism in our Program in Medical Education, to name a few.
While I am proud of our progress, there is much more we can and must do. This work is the responsibility of each and every one of us. I hope you will read the report and join us as a pollinator for racial justice and social change.
I also understand that the truths laid bare in the report are painful and may reopen wounds that are still fresh for many in our community. Let’s recommit ourselves to our mission, community values, and diversity statement. As community organizer, jazz singer, and co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund LaTosha Brown said at Harvard’s recent Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Forum, we must grant one another “grace and space” to create new opportunities and inspire the strength to move forward.
Please consider participating in and engaging with our community at these upcoming University and HMS dialogues and events, as well as others that are being planned for the fall:
- Wednesday, April 27, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Longwood community dialogue for students at HMS, HSDM, and the Chan School. This session will be introduced by Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Sherri Charleston. It will begin with a screening of the Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery film at 6:30 p.m., followed by a dialogue from 7 to 8 p.m., moderated by David Jones, the A. Bernard Ackerman Professor of the Culture of Medicine at HMS. This event is hosted by the three Longwood schools, and specifically DICP, the Program in Medical Education, and the Office of Graduate Education at HMS.
- Thursday, April 28, noon to 1 p.m. Community & Affinity Space on the theme of “Reflecting on Harvard’s History and Legacy,” via Zoom. This event is open to all members of the University community and is hosted by the Harvard Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
- Friday, April 29, 9:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. Virtual conference “Telling the Truth about All This: Reckoning with Slavery and Its Legacies at Harvard and Beyond.” This event is open to the public and hosted by Harvard Radcliffe Institute.
- Monday, May 9, 1 to 2:30 p.m. HMS community dialogue moderated by Allan Brandt, the Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine in the Department of Social Medicine, and interim chair of the HMS Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. This event is open to all members of the HMS community. Further details will be available soon.
In the days ahead, may we all find and exercise the courage that Maya Angelou spoke of so that we can reckon with our past and, together, prescribe a more equitable future.
Sincerely,
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University