Harvard plans to hold a plethora of “graduations” for students in a segregated manner; Harvard University’s Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging however, calls them “affinity celebrations.”
Students will be segregated by the following “celebrations”:
Disability Celebration,” a “Global Indigenous Celebration,” an “Asian American, Pacific Islander, Desi-American (APIDA) Celebration,” a “First Generation-Low Income Celebration,” a “Jewish Celebration,” a “Latinx Celebration,” a “Lavender Celebration” — which refers to LGBT students — a “Black Celebration,” a “Veterans Celebration,” and an “Arab Celebration.”
A note on the sign-up form shared with NR by a current student informs registrants that the “Celebration Recognizing Arab Graduates, the Celebration Recognizing Jewish Graduates, and the Celebration Recognizing Veteran Graduates are being planned in collaboration with student groups and campus partners.”
The university will also hold the actual graduation, deemed a central commencement ceremony, for students of all backgrounds. National Review reports that ironically, “The only publicly available mention of affinity celebrations on any Harvard website is published on the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ page. The note does not mention the specific events or groups recognized, simply describing them as “student-led, staff-supported events that recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of graduates from marginalized and underrepresented communities.”
Harvard’s affinity-group celebrations came under fire in 2023 after the Manhattan Institute’s Christopher Rufo posted the schedule on his X account and noted that the university had deleted the page from its website. He also mentioned in his post that white and Jewish students were the only two groups without their own events, though Harvard has now added Jews to the list, according to National Review.
Representative Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), the chairwoman of the Education and Workforce Committee, told NR she thinks the affinity celebrations are simply divisive.
“Graduation ceremonies should unite students,” Foxx said. “Instead, Harvard is dividing its student body even further by playing into identity politics and radical DEI ideologies.”