Following advocacy efforts from the African American Student Union (AASU) and AfricaGSD at Harvard University, Harvard GSD Dean Sarah Whiting has unveiled a list of steps the school will take as it works to address institutional failures on issues of anti-racism and racial equality.

In the aftermath of the nationwide protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that have prioritized a renewed focus on dismantling racist policies and practices across the country, student activists with AASU and AfricaGSD published a 13 point memo demanding that Harvard GSD "actively institutionalize anti-racism and acknowledge that pedagogy has a cultural obligation." The letter asks GSD to "restructure all courses at the GSD to include Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) voices," hire more Black faculty, staff, and administrators, reform how the school curates its guest critic panels and lecture series, and retrain its staff to understand racial dynamics in the United States, among other demands.

In response, Whiting has published a six point commitment marking a first step in the school's efforts to make these necessary changes. 

Whiting writes, "On behalf of the GSD community, I apologize that we have not served our Black community members better, historically and at present. I resolve that the school will make progress, not just with words, but with actions. I propose that we work together as a community, including our faculty, students, staff, and alumni, to enact real change."

The first measure includes establishing a shared anti-racism agenda as pertaining to issues of hiring, visitors, communication, and curricula "for all departments and programs across the school" that will be communicated via a "permanent page on the school’s website that includes our shared values as well as resources that advocate for racial understanding."

The second entails creating "specific programming for new student orientation and training for new faculty and staff to educate all members of our community on the specific racial context of the United States, as well as of the immediate Boston area, and how to better engage in race-related discussions and actions inside and outside the classroom." These topics, Whiting explains, will be included within the introductory core curriculum of every program at GSD.

The third aims to immediately establish a GSD Gift Fund in support of anti-racism that will help meet some of the funding-related goals AASU and AfricaGSD have made. "It is our hope to engage our alumni and friends with a strong call to action that addresses the immediate needs of the GSD’s Black community, and leverages this moment in time to create systemic change," Whiting writes.

Next, Whiting commits to identifying "new ways of recruiting and retaining students of color writ large, with specific efforts to recruit and retain Black students, faculty, and staff, including but not limited to expanding our numbers of Black speakers and visitors to our classes; establishing close relationships to the HBCUs; strengthening our outreach to Black communities in the Boston area; expanding Design Discovery and Design Discovery Young Adult; expanding our Community Service Fellowships; and proactively cultivating a strong network of Black professionals, alumni, and students."

Additionally, the school will "expand faculty bias training beyond search committees to include bias issues related to grading and awards" in addition to creating a new graduation prize for a student who has tackled "issues of equity in a sustained way throughout their years at the GSD," as well as establishing a new annual prize for a faculty member who has also engaged and "made a demonstrable  impact" on these issues. 

Lastly, Whiting pledges to "review these measures annually to ensure that we are indeed remaking the school into what we want it to be."