Harvard College Dean Khurana Affirms Importance of Free Idea Exchange

Council on Academic Freedom is a separate initiative from the group facilitated by Khurana.

As of Tuesday evening, Khurana had not joined the group, which was publicly announced last Wednesday. “Today, there are many ideas that we accept as uncontroversial, but we have to remember most of those ideas were once seen as heterodox,” Khurana said.

“We should also have humility in that what we believe to be true today may prove to be more contingent, complex, or not even true in the future,” he added.

Khurana also addressed the following topics:

Leverett House ‘Swatting’ students, citing their privacy.

Khurana expressed concern and support for four undergraduates who were the victims of a recent “swatting” attack in Leverett House earlier this month.

“In our responses, we can always do better, and we want to make sure that our students feel that they’re supported in all the ways they need to be and that we’re able to effectively work together as a team to give them that full support that we want to,” Khurana said.

Independent Student Organization Audit tion. discussed how to equip instructors to facilitate constructive debate in the classroom.

Administrators from the Dean of Students Office said in an interview with The Crimson earlier this month that they are conducting an audit of independent student organizations in conjunction with Harvard’s risk management office.

The audit comes after a twomonth Crimson investigation found that the Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative was missing thousands of dollars after the departure of its former president.

Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana reiterated his commitment to free academic exchange in an interview Tuesday.

Last week, The Crimson reported that for nearly two years, Khurana has facilitated an “Intellectual Vitality Committee” comprised of Harvard undergraduates, faculty, and alumni. The group has quietly convened to discuss what they see as a lack of free idea exchange at the College.

Khurana said the group has

“Open dialogue and the ability to express oneself is at the foundation of democracy and academic freedom,” Khurana said.

“A lot of what we have discussed is how do we strengthen active listening — how to think about skill building among teaching faculty for facilitating controversial or challenging dialogue.”

Khurana said that while several members of the committee have called on the College to release a statement in support of free inquiry, he thinks free idea exchange demands greater ac-

“If intellectual vitality was as simple as releasing a statement, that would be more easily achieved, but I think that idea belongs in the kindergarten of social thought,” Khurana said. “What we’re talking about is capacity building for democracy, capacity building for a diverse community, to recognize that we can be hard on the problem and easy on each other.”

More than 80 Harvard faculty members are members of the newly formed Harvard Council on Academic Freedom, a group dedicated to promoting values of free speech and inquiry. The

“I am so sorry that what happened, happened,” Khurana said. “It was a terrible event, and I’m upset — frankly outraged — that something like this happens on our campus, that it happens in universities, in schools all around this country.”

Khurana said the College’s response — which was criticized by some students — was informed by prioritizing student wellbeing.

The College did not release a statement on the attack for more than 48 hours, a delay that drew criticism from students.

Khurana declined to comment on how the University specifically supported the affected

“It also does not sit well with my soul that there is silence around this incident. It is not acknowledged campus-wide and was only addressed at the college, leaving the broader Harvard community unaware of what actually took place on our campus grounds,” Johnson wrote.

Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement that the University takes its responsibility to campus safety and wellbeing “very seriously.”

“University leaders have expressed their concern over the deeply troubling nature of the swatting incident that occurred on April 3, and the fear and anxiety it has caused in our community,” Newton wrote.

Two of the letter’s demands specifically concern HUPD, criticizing a “lack of transparency” and calling on the University to “immediately require HUPD to make its protocols and police reports available to students directly involved in police incidents.”

In an emailed statement Wednesday, HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano wrote that the investigation into the swatting is still active.

“HUPD’s investigation into the April 3 swatting incident is ongoing, and we are continuing to engage with the FBI on the investigation. HUPD, along with the University and the College, is continuing to review both the incident and Harvard’s response to it,” he wrote.

Newton wrote that the University, College, and HUPD are working to “identify learnings that can be incorporated into the protocols that guide first responders, the University and our Schools when incidents like this happen.”

The letter also called for changes to the University’s mental health procedures around experiences of “racial trauma.” sellers.hill@thecrimson.com nia.orakwue@thecrimson.com sellers.hill@thecrimson.com nia.orakwue@thecrimson.com

“To help tend to the trauma they experienced from the swatting incident, the four Black students affected were forced to reach out to Harvard Counseling and Mental Health Service themselves in order to receive mental health support,” the letter reads.

“When the University is aware of incidents of racial trauma, particularly those inflicted by the University itself, CAMHS should be notified by the University with the student’s contact information so they are equipped to contact the students involved in a proactive and timely manner,” it adds.

Newton declined to comment on the letter’s claim that students sought support from CAMHS themselves when Harvard did not initially reach out.

The audit was not prompted by the leadership dispute, according to Harvard spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo.

Khurana said there are many resources available to student leaders, adding that he hopes students “take advantage” of guides put out by the College’s administration.

“As we receive input from our students, as we hear from our leadership, we’re always in the process of improving our processes,” Khurana said.

In addition, the letter demanded a University-wide, in-person town hall with top Harvard leaders including President Lawrence S. Bacow, President-elect Claudine Gay, and Khurana.

Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, a Ph.D. candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School, helped organize graduate students behind the statement.

“The letter really is to honor the victims’ experience and to ensure that what they experienced doesn’t happen again,” OpokuAgyeman said.

“At bare minimum, the letter definitely asks for a conversation, and so we’ll see how that conversation unfolds,” she added.