This past Tuesday, activists at Harvard University crashed President Claudine Gay’s ice cream social to demand the creation of an ethnic studies department.
Members of the Harvard Ethnic Studies Coalition shouted “Hey, President Gay! We need ethnic studies today!” and eventually got to chat with the new president for a bit, The Crimson reports.
Gay has been quite sympathetic to the ethnic studies cause; in 2021 as dean she helped with the hiring of several ethic studies tenured faculty, saying those who specialize in race and ethnicity can “make the world a better, more humane, and more just place.”
Two years prior, Gay had noted the university had a “strong institutional commitment” regarding creation of an ethnic studies program.
Nevertheless, at the protest sophomore Aaryan Rawal criticized Gay for her alleged lack of accessibility.
“How many other times has the president come out to the Harvard community to speak to the students?” Rawal (pictured) said. “The reality is that even today, this wasn’t a genuine commitment to speak to students.”
As proof, Rawal noted the social was scheduled during working hours when “every single student who’s on campus [has] a job right now or they have research.”
Rawal said it was “disappointing” that Harvard “had not listened to ’51 years of student concerns’” regarding ethnic studies, and added it was “more important than ever” now that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled affirmative action unconstitutional.
In 2019, Harvard students occupied two different university buildings in as many weeks to demand an ethnic studies department, chanting “After you admit us don’t forget us” and “Want diversity? Teach our histories!”
The Crimson reported that soon after, Gay made her announcement regarding the hiring of the ethnic studies academics: “Gay’s comments Monday represent the furthest administrators have gone in recent years to acknowledge the possibility of creating [the] program.”
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education co-founder Harvey Silverglate opined earlier this year that due to her backing of “expanded DEI initiatives,” Gay is “the perfect candidate to carry forward the disastrous bureaucratization of American higher education.”
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IMAGES: Harvard Crimson, Aaryan Rawal, Harvard Ethnic Studies Coalition/Twitter
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