Working Groups Update
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Note from Dean Srikant Datar
Last year, we formed four working groups at Harvard Business School to help us tackle the difficult questions and complex challenges with which our community and the University were grappling: What constitutes hate speech and private speech, whether in person or using social media? How can we improve inclusion, including religious inclusion? How do we ensure we create an environment in our classrooms and on our campus that deepens understanding and advances learning? How do we enable faculty, staff, and students to experience HBS as a place of belonging and inclusive excellence, where they can do and be their best? The Antisemitism Working Group (ASWG) was asked to explore the experience of antisemitism at HBS; evaluate our cases and curriculum; understand responses to recent events and lessons learned; and recommend opportunities to educate and engage the community. The Islamophobia and Anti-Arabism Working Group (IAAWG) sought to deepen awareness of Islamophobia and anti-Arabism in our community, including in our programs and courses; explore the ways they are experienced at Harvard Business School; and create avenues to raise awareness, build understanding, and cultivate inclusive mindsets. The Classroom Culture and Norms Working Group (CCNWG) explored ways students and faculty can work in partnership to create a classroom, section, and learning environment that best delivers on our aspirations for robust dialogue across differences. And the Free Speech and Community Values Working Group (FSCVWG) examined how we might embrace, simultaneously, a commitment to free speech and our community values of respect, honesty and integrity, and personal accountability. The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) and the Dean’s Office worked closely with each working group. My instructions to the groups—which grew to include nearly three dozen faculty, staff, students, and alumni and engaged many more—stressed action. While some documentation and summary of the work undertaken would be important, even more vital was to implement new ideas and modify existing processes or policies right away if we were confident they would benefit our community. Put differently, we couldn’t lose sight of short-term needs even as we strived to identify important opportunities for lasting change. To be clear, our work will not be done in the short term. Our ambition is to strengthen our culture, deepen understanding, enhance our pedagogy, and ensure that every member of our community is able to fully benefit from their HBS experience. This will take time to accomplish. In the months since, these groups have taken on their work with amazing care and remarkable dedication—tackling issues that vex not just HBS but societies around the world. Easy answers were not easy to find. The groups met frequently, surveyed and interviewed more than 200 members of the community, undertook benchmarking to identify best practices, and explored potential resources. As you will see, they also did, indeed, begin to act. They curated resources to help members of the community become better educated about antisemitism and Islamophobia and anti-Arabism. They looked to see whether cases in the MBA Required Curriculum (RC) and Elective Curriculum (EC)—even inadvertently—perpetuated negative stereotypes about Jews, Israelis, Arabs, and Muslims, and offered guidance to faculty members on how to lead constructive class discussions without shying away from the difficult realities with which we want our students, as future leaders, to wrestle. They hosted and facilitated talks and panels. Additionally, working with and supporting MBA Program leadership, they looked to the start of the new terms as opportunities to clarify guidance and reset norms and expectations to enable robust dialogue across difference in our classrooms and throughout our community. These steps, while an important start, were only a start—we are aware there remains much to be done. As the working groups reflected on what they learned, they began to develop recommendations. You will find them outlined in the pages that follow, as well as a summary of the insights that served as their impetus. We have provided illustrative examples rather than an exhaustive list, using themes as an organizing mechanism. Additionally, we use excerpts and anonymized quotations to bring voices and issues to life, reflecting the commitment of the working groups to confidentiality for the members of our community who shared, with courage and candor, their experiences—many of them difficult. This is a fact worth stressing. For many Jewish, Israeli, Arab, and Muslim members of our community, the past year has been deeply painful. They have worried about family members and friends in harm’s way; have seen their culture, religion, identity, and existence questioned; have felt unsafe and unwelcome at Harvard and in other community spaces; and have witnessed actions and heard rhetoric from classmates, colleagues, and co-workers that they experienced as uninformed or uncaring. The events that unfolded, in the world and at Harvard and HBS, were inherently and inextricably personal and many in our HBS community felt their impact daily. This reality was unusual for our community. In the past, many of the challenges we have faced as a School largely united us: from economic downturns to the pandemic, we had a common obstacle to overcome. Last year, instead, the conflict exposed differences in experiences, in perspectives, and in beliefs. An important aspiration of the ASWG and the IAAWG, then, was to build understanding of those experiences, perspectives, and beliefs by sharing the voices of the community members most significantly affected. As you will see, they also reframed this asymmetry for our community as an opportunity: to ensure that Harvard Business School creates an environment where learning occurs at the deepest level—preparing students with the orientation, capability, and motivation to make a difference in a complex and contentious world. This mission orientation was crucial to me. As President Garber has emphasized, the problems that confront the University cannot be ignored. At a moment when the world is increasingly fractured and polarized, higher education is under heightened scrutiny, confidence in democracy and the strength of democratic institutions has declined, and acts of antisemitism, anti-Arabism, and Islamophobia, as well as other expressions of prejudice and bias, continue unabated, it is not a moment to stand still. Harvard must sharpen its focus on excellence in its core mission of teaching, learning, and research, because the work that happens at Harvard matters—contributing to societal progress by developing new knowledge and technologies, educating future generations, and preparing individuals for skilled careers. This is true at Harvard Business School, too. For many decades, business has been a powerful force for good in society—a remarkable engine of prosperity that has lifted millions out of poverty and created valued products and services. Now, we must prepare for a new, more complex context and future. This is the approach we are committed to taking at HBS—identifying, examining, and addressing the areas that could weaken our learning environment and community; strengthening and investing in all of our educational programs, adapting what we teach and how we teach it; and advancing strategic priorities so we can continue to realize our mission of educating leaders who make a difference in the world. The work of moving forward with the recommendations will be guided by a Steering Committee of faculty and staff leaders, chaired by Kristin Mugford in her role as Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community. This group will ensure progress toward our goals—seeking input to help prioritize among the remainder of the working groups’ recommendations, creating a timeline for next steps, and ensuring accountability by identifying how and by whom the work might best be done. The Steering Committee will partner with leaders across the School, myself included, to ensure we remain focused on achieving our strategic goals. And, it will continue to collaborate closely with our Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, and Arab community members, as well as with students, staff, faculty, and alumni. It also will look to align its efforts with the recommendations of the University’s task forces. Additionally, following Harvard’s announcement it had reached agreements to resolve litigation with Students Against Antisemitism and The Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education, we will work with Harvard to fulfill our commitments under these settlements. These include following guidance from the U.S. Department of Education in considering the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, clarifying that Harvard’s Non-Discrimination and Anti-Bullying Policies prohibit discrimination based on antisemitism and Islamophobia (including anti-Israeli, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian discrimination), contributing to an annual report that covers Harvard’s response to discrimination or harassment based on Title VI-protected traits, and training for the University community focused on recognizing and combating antisemitism. We are eager for your engagement and support. We will succeed only if we approach this work as a shared endeavor and ongoing commitment. Together, our community lives the values and norms that shape our culture and make HBS a place of inclusive excellence. This requires each and every one of us to be “all in, everyone in.” I am deeply grateful to the colleagues who served on the working groups. An important component of their effort was to build understanding—to give voice to the sometimes painful perspectives and feelings of some members of our community, so we might see the world and the events of the last year through their eyes. As I have said before, I believe feedback—even difficult feedback—is a gift. The working groups have helped me and other HBS leaders understand more fully the experiences of our community. They also thought carefully and, when needed, worked collaboratively to ensure their work would strengthen the School and move us forward. I also am grateful to each of you. We can, and must, learn from our experience. We can do better. I feel fortunate to be part of a community committed to this work and to one another.
Summary Findings, Themes, Insights, and Recommendations of the Antisemitism Working Group, Islamophobia and Anti-Arabism Working Group, Classroom Culture and Norms Working Group, and Free Speech and Community Values Working Group
January 2025 The 2023-2024 academic year was a difficult moment in Harvard’s, and Harvard Business School’s, history. Responses to the October 7 attacks in Israel and the war in Gaza exposed fissures in American society. At Harvard, and at universities across the U.S., campus life and learning were disrupted by tension, anger, and even hostility. Visible missteps in addressing and responding to these challenges attracted wide attention and created concern in the HBS community, including from alumni. HBS, for the most part, was not among the Harvard schools notable as a locus of ongoing unrest. But the HBS community was neither spared from its effects nor immune from the biases that fed it. As we look externally and into the future at the world in which our students will be asked to make a difference—to lead—we must address fundamental questions about our learning environment. How can we continue to realize our mission as the world around us changes, and to have an impact on the shape of those changes? The Working Groups share a clear conviction that the need for HBS to engage this challenge directly and with a sense of purpose is significant. We note two strategic imperatives for the School: How might we begin to foster curiosity in equal measure with judgment, both buttressed by individual empathy and sturdiness, as well as respect and resilience? How might we adapt our teaching, equip our faculty, and design the MBA Program to prepare students with the orientation, capability, and motivation to make a difference in a far more complex, more contentious, world? We heard a call to create an environment in which discussion is more open; where we prize listening over speaking, and questions over statements; and where humility and the curiosity to learn eclipse arrogance and fear. Our community wants more conversations, both inside and outside the classroom, that generate learning at the deepest level. Our students, particularly, crave greater latitude to engage with difficult questions, to discuss issues tied to their values and identity, to learn about subjects and other students in a deeper way, and to have others learn from them in a more meaningful way. Given that organizations, in the U.S. and around the world, must integrate across differences more extensively than ever before, it is crucial that our students be prepared during their time at HBS for the challenges they will face as leaders throughout their careers. How can we continue to ensure that our graduates draw on a range of talent so as to realize the immense potential of business to generate innovative solutions and create value for their organizations and communities? A number of the insights and themes that follow address or respond to these imperatives. We hope they spur both discussion and action across the HBS community.
Understanding Antisemitism
Understanding antisemitism is vital to countering antisemitism. Widely-used definitions include: -International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA): “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” As part of the agreements Harvard made to resolve litigation, the University follows guidance from the U.S. Department of Education in considering the definition of antisemitism endorsed by the IHRA. -Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism: “Antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews (or Jewish institutions as Jewish).” -Anti-Defamation League: “The belief or behavior hostile toward Jews just because they are Jewish. It may take the form of religious teachings that proclaim the inferiority of Jews, for instance, or political efforts to isolate, oppress, or otherwise injure them. It may also include prejudiced or stereotyped views about Jews.” Antisemitism is a form of hatred that has exposed Jews for centuries to systematic abuse, expulsion, second-class status, and death: there are now only 15.7 million Jews in the world (0.2% of the total world population), as more than one-third of Jewish people have been killed in the last century. Hatred toward Jews often takes the form of whatever is currently demonized in society, often in diametrically opposite ways (e.g., hatred for being powerful and powerless; hatred for exercising conspiratorial control over financial resources and for surreptitiously leeching resources from others). There has been a significant and frightening rise of antisemitism over the past few years, with too-common examples of activities and actions to demean, harass, intimidate, and harm Jews, and to demonize Zionism and delegitimize Israel globally. What happens outside of HBS transmits to our campus, reverberating with almost every member of the HBS Jewish community in part through personal connections with those harmed or living in the communities targeted, in part through the shared history of Jews and the centrality of Israel to their identity, and in part from the ignorance of so many in our community about the history and prevalence of the antisemitism that fuels this violence to this day. Against this backdrop, in the aftermath of October 7 and the University’s response to it, the HBS Jewish community felt a profound sense of dismay, unease, distress, and fear. While HBS took early, explicit, and extensive efforts to directly support Jewish students, faculty, and staff, some Jewish community members experienced a breach of trust, pointing to mishandled situations, missed opportunities, silence by non-Jewish faculty and staff in response to troubling episodes, and hesitation at crucial junctures as shortfalls on the part of the School. Others were surprised and disturbed by what they saw as too few in the HBS community willing to truly become educated about antisemitism, Jewish identity, or the Middle East conflict, and fewer still who would confront or speak out about this form of hatred. In the future, while efforts to combat hatred and religious intolerance of all types should be central to the HBS agenda, an instinct toward even-handedness must be balanced with a thorough understanding of the distinctive perils of antisemitism. The School must take up efforts to address bigotry and hatred of any sort and be alert to the specific attention and measures required to combat antisemitism.
Background on Arab and Muslim Bias
Arabs and Muslims represent a diverse population globally, with around 430 million Arabs, primarily residing in the Middle East and North Africa, and over 1.8 billion Muslims, comprising about 24% of the world’s population. Islam, the most widely-practiced religion worldwide, spans ethnicities, nationalities, and cultures, extending beyond the Arab world to regions such as South Asia, Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and many countries in the West. Arab identity and Muslim identity are often erroneously conflated, ignoring the substantial number of non-Arab Muslims and non-Muslim Arabs. Additionally, Islam and Arabic culture are often conflated with political ideologies or regimes perceived to be at odds with Western modernity. In reality, Islam is as varied and vast as the Muslims who practice it, as are Arabs, just as every culture or faith tradition is. Stereotypes, for decades reinforced in popular media, portray Muslims as inherently violent, oppressive to women, and intolerant of other religions. To understand the perspectives and experiences of the HBS Arab and Muslim community, particularly our students and young alumni, it is important to recognize they come from over 20 countries and a variety of backgrounds. Some grew up and studied in countries with a Muslim or Arab majority while others grew up or attended college in post-9/11 America. Their experiences in the U.S. vary in part based on whether they are identifiably Arab in name, appearance, or speech. Many Arab and Muslim students arrive at HBS with the concern that others at HBS will view them as second-class members of the community. They feel they lack power and voice, a perspective reinforced by what they see as a lack of representation in faculty, staff, and cases; stereotypes in classroom discussions; and practices that fail to fully accommodate religious practice. Despite the diversity within our Arab and Muslim community, a common theme emerged: a plan to stay quiet. Even with assurances of confidentiality, most members of this community chose not to share their experiences at the School. We believe this was the result, in part, of the breach of trust they felt following the HBS and Harvard responses after October 7. In their eyes, actions taken or not taken by the University exacerbated their fears they were not equal members of the Harvard community. Many felt threatened and unprotected. Additionally, some reported being ostracized socially by peers and friends, and were surprised by the absence of empathy from classmates and faculty members. They feared they would be judged, and that any expression of concern about Gaza would be equated with antisemitism. Future efforts at HBS should increase cultural understanding of Arabs and Muslims, enabling stereotypes in classroom discussions to be addressed and rebutted. Additionally, steps should be taken to help the community learn about and value diverse religious practice, and foster inquiry and discussion. Finally, HBS should take active steps to help Arab and Muslim community members feel welcome and valued, and policies and practices should be reviewed to ensure that Arab and Muslim students’ needs and perspectives are understood.
Increase a Sense of Belonging through Education, Intentional Inclusion, and RepresentationA recurring theme across the working groups was the feeling of invisibility or exclusion experienced by Jewish, Muslim, and Arab community members. While HBS wants every member of our community to feel valued, the lived experiences of these individuals after October 7 revealed gaps between these ideals and day-to-day reality. Jewish and Muslim students, faculty, and staff expressed belief that their identities were misunderstood or ignored, leading to feelings of isolation. Additionally, many Jewish, Muslim, and Arab community members shared experiences of frustration when seeking accommodations or support, citing inconsistencies in how they felt their needs or requests were handled compared to other groups on campus. These concerns underscore the importance of intentional and proactive actions, especially during difficult times, to build a more inclusive and representative environment where everyone feels welcome and that they belong. Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arabism have no place at Harvard Business School. Voices from the Community
“I felt that if I had been a Christian I would be met with acceptance and respect. If I had been Hindu or Buddhist or Jewish I would be met with curiosity but as a Muslim, I was met with hostility.”
"Post October 7, I was shocked by the hatred that lay beneath the surface, and surprised by how little non-Jewish [community members] know about Judaism and Israel."
"It’s exhausting having to explain my religious needs every single time. Sometimes I just stop asking because I feel like it’s not worth it anymore."
Recommendations and Examples of Actions Underway Education on antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arabism: Multiple working groups identified the goal of equipping every member of our community with the understanding and tools needed to identify and combat stereotypes, and to enable them to foster collaboration across religious and political differences. To make progress, faculty, staff, and students must embody self-awareness, curiosity, and humility; by fostering these qualities, individually and collectively, we can take personal responsibility for learning and change.
Broader representation and engagement: The ASWG and IAAWG suggested taking steps to more intentionally recognize religion as an axis of identity and to enhance a feeling of community among applicants, staff, and alumni—shifting our mindset from accommodating difference to taking proactive actions. While our staff teams have established processes to accommodate the very diverse needs in our community, here, too, seeking opportunities to be more proactive in these efforts will strengthen a sense of belonging. Additionally, the IAAWG recommended creating and implementing strategies to recruit and retain Arab and Muslim faculty members. At HBS, while there is significant student and alumni representation, it is a particular challenge for students who see little representation of these identities among the faculty. The IAAWG also proposed developing a student recruitment strategy that reflects an increased and diversified view of both domestic and international Middle East, Arab, and Muslim communities.
Religious accommodations and awareness: Students from both Jewish and Muslim backgrounds report having struggled to secure consistent religious accommodations, such as kosher and halal food and prayer space. Additionally, absence policies for religious holidays and scheduling for religious observance (including midday prayers) lack clarity or do not always provide the needed accommodation. Finally, Muslim members of the community expressed a hope for mindfulness about events where alcohol will be served—ensuring there are alternatives, and for students, that section dues are spent responsibly.
Strengthen Open Inquiry and Constructive DialogueHBS is the world’s leading practitioner of the case method. Teaching the skill of engaging in or leading candid, open, thoughtful, reflective dialogue on challenging issues and questions is central to the School’s identity. Yet students consistently express fear that they will be criticized by other students for revealing their views on controversial subjects. An October 2024 Required Curriculum (RC) pulse survey showed that 35% of students are somewhat or very reluctant to speak up and give their views on controversial issues in the classroom, with 90% of those students citing as a concern that, if they did, other students might criticize their views or make critical comments about them afterwards (as opposed to only 13% who expressed concern that a professor would say their views were wrong). Both the CCNWG and the FSCVWG felt the School could do more to enable effective dialogue across difference— “examining how we might get better and stronger as a community by developing the skills and disposition to discuss the most difficult issues in ways that are respectful, thoughtful, and honest.” All the working groups identified this as a goal best achieved through aspiration rather than discipline. In a related vein, “silence” was a word that surfaced often across the working groups. Individuals related how it could feel too risky to speak up or speak out and how the resulting cumulative silence itself would become a source of pain. Because personal reputation is a cherished asset at HBS, community members worry that the potential cost of well-intended speech outweighs its benefits.
Voices from the Community
"Strange to be in business school and to speak in hushed tones. You don’t know who you might say something to who is going to misrepresent what you said."
"Many students feel it is unsafe to speak about sensitive issues in the early weeks of the program; they need time to develop a sense of belonging and validation."
Recommendations and Examples of Actions Underway Equipping faculty: HBS’s use of the case method gives faculty members larger influence on classroom culture than more traditional lecture formats—they lead complex discussions and grade each student on participation. When faculty members express personal views (including on social media) in a way that limits other viewpoints, avoid or mishandle sensitive topics, or allow stereotypes or bias to go unchallenged, the implications on the classroom culture can be significant. They are sending signals—intended or not—about which ideas and values are favored in class. Similarly, faculty members who are unaware of or insensitive to the experiences and perspectives of a diverse student body can cause individuals to feel isolated and, as a result, make them less willing to engage. How we develop faculty may necessitate careful thought and additional effort as we look to sustain the promise of the case method into the future. There are immense learning benefits for our students as we further equip our faculty to foster greater curiosity in the way they teach using the case method. The working groups recommended a variety of measures, all of which were launched before the start of the 2024-2025 academic year:
Equipping students: Faculty and students alike shared a sense that true dialog across difference is not always the norm in the MBA Program, and that the School has missed opportunities for students with different perspectives and life experiences, particularly on sensitive or charged issues, to share their views with each other and learn from doing so. Students may fear saying the wrong thing and offending their classmates or alienating their faculty member, and the size and length of many MBA classes may make deep discussion on challenging topics difficult. The CCNWG hoped more might be done, both early in the MBA Program to model examples of student disagreement on challenging issues, and longer term to consider structural changes to facilitate constructive dialog.
Equipping staff: The FSCVWG noted that this year, on our campus and across the country, individuals are having a hard time engaging with one another in ways that are respectful and productive. With the focus on the classroom, staff can sometimes feel overlooked, leaving managers to try to navigate differences among their teams at work. Providing more education and training opportunities would be helpful.
Amplify the School’s Commitment to Community ValuesHBS Community Values—respect, honesty and integrity, and personal accountability—are highly visible within the HBS community: they are signed by new students before they matriculate, hang in every classroom, and are shared frequently with staff and faculty. In the aftermath of October 7, however, all the working groups reported hearing from members of the community a concern that these values were not consistently communicated or upheld. HBS was seen as observably different from the rest of the University in its climate, care, and responsiveness toward Jewish, Israeli, Arab, and Muslim members of the community. Nevertheless, a gap existed, both in how the School responded (both institutionally and at an individual level) when Community Values were tested and in consistently putting these Values into practice in our classrooms. As one example, the FSCVWG pointed to the confusing use of two terms, “community values” and “community standards,” and a lack of clarity about the conduct or processes that would fall under each. These challenges were compounded by the confidentiality of the disciplinary process. Members of the community were unsure whether the School’s disciplinary processes were actively and effectively addressing alleged Community Values violations, and the extent to which those who were found to have violated the School’s policies were being held accountable for their actions. They looked for reporting mechanisms that might help communicate the number and nature of issues arising on campus, as well as build awareness of and confidence in the School’s processes. Voices from the Community
"Right now, perception is that [our Community Values] either aren’t being followed or they’re not good enough."
"It’s one thing to talk about respect and accountability, but if there’s no follow-through, it feels empty. We need to see action, not just statements."
"Are our values for all times and all places—or sometimes and some places?"
Recommendations and Examples of Actions Underway Provide clear statements about the importance of Community Values: The CCNWG noted that the Community Values are a “nonnegotiable requirement of our educational model” and recommended reinforcing them in even small ways.
Explore how we might use communications to support our Community Values in times of challenge: Silence from leaders can be misunderstood. The voices of individuals—especially faculty, staff, and student leaders—are important tools to support and live our HBS Community Values. We need to further clarify speech guidelines for HBS leaders in the context of Harvard’s new Institutional Voice principles.
Redesign the annual Community Values Report: The FSCVWG recommended demonstrating accountability for violations of policy by simplifying the presentation of data and clarifying the categories. It also suggested creating a new report for cases involving bias, discrimination, and harassment.
Mobilize HBS’s Intellectual and Educational CapabilitiesHBS occupies a unique position as a global leader in business education, with the ability to shape not only its own students’ development and leadership trajectory but also broader global perspectives on leadership and society. However, the working groups found that the curriculum does not fully reflect the diversity of identities and cultures present in the world of global business. Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, and Arab identities, when represented in cases or discussions, can reinforce outdated or harmful stereotypes. Moreover, there is insufficient exploration of the connections between business, religion and spirituality, and global politics, which are increasingly relevant in today’s interconnected world. By leveraging its intellectual resources and platform, HBS can broaden these discussions and contribute to a more nuanced understanding of cultural and religious diversity in business. The School must explicitly equip students to identify and address intolerance they are likely to encounter in their professional and personal lives. Building a culture of empathy, understanding, and eagerness to discover will help reduce bias and reverse the tendency toward silence. Additionally, as an educational institution, HBS should look to create a rich portfolio of co-curricular and campus-wide learning opportunities for faculty, staff, and students. It should apply and leverage a wide range of tools to enhance these efforts. Voices from the Community
"It’s frustrating to see how little Jewish representation there is in cases, especially given Israel’s prominence in the business world. Why is Israel only discussed when the topic is conflict?"
"Arab countries have rich business cultures that are barely touched in the classroom. Instead, we’re painted with one brush—as if our identity is just tied to war and extremism."
Recommendations and Examples of Actions Underway
Deepen understanding: The roots and history of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arabism are not widely understood, nor is the Middle East conflict. Jews expressed a hope that the community might be better educated on Jewish identity. Similarly, Arabs and Muslims sought deeper understanding of how Islam and Arabic culture are not at odds with Western modernity. Both the ASWG and the IAAWG recommended developing notes and cases and finding ways to embed their continued inclusion in the curriculum.
Case development and class discussions: The working groups recommended more cases and class discussions in the MBA curriculum that normalize and provide positive examples of Jewish, Israeli, Arab, and Muslim identities and business leadership, and that avoid tropes and harmful stereotypes. They also suggested implementing processes to understand the aggregate picture we paint of different identities in the RC and redressing stereotypes and tropes in our cases. To be clear, this is not a call to omit unvarnished realities in case discussions. There is a renewed commitment to bring factual realities into the classroom in ways that bring light, invite open exchange, and equip students to address those realities in constructive ways.
Community and co-curricular activities: Identify programming and materials that can help educate students, faculty, and staff; model dialog across difference; and offer opportunities for discussion.
Strengthen Practices for Crisis Response and Communications, and Clarify Policies and ProceduresThe wave of events, actions, and reactions following October 7 was felt to have exceeded Harvard’s and HBS’s communication capabilities, both internally and externally. While the School’s community messages later that month were appreciated, members of the extended HBS community—faculty, staff, students, alumni, Executive Education participants, class guests and visitors, and the many other constituents who engage with the School on any given day—expected more communication, whether in response to emails they had sent or, more proactively, in the form of notes or statements. This became particularly important as public media channels shared information and misinformation that painted a negative picture of HBS and Harvard. Moreover, constraints related to messaging and limited transparency around decision-making at the University after protests, the encampment, and other disruptions led to a sense that policies were being applied and procedures followed inconsistently—favoring one segment of the community over another—or not at all. This concern was felt more strongly for matters involving bias and religious observance. Both the ASWG and the IAAWG pointed to the need to highlight, clarify, and communicate key policies and procedures. Voices from the Community
"There was a prolonged and damaging communication vacuum."
"HBS should consider having a response team ready to help community members who are front-line responders; moving faster; being willing to say ‘we don’t know;’ and taking time off of ordinary programming to have an educational intervention."
Recommendations and Examples of Actions Underway Enhance communications with stakeholders: The ASWG urged supplementing the School’s crisis response resources to ensure there was sufficient capability to respond to events and to communicate regularly and effectively with the School’s key stakeholders. Templates, talking points, and other systems and tools were recommended to ensure follow-up could happen consistently and effectively.
Clarify the School’s policies and resources: All the working groups emphasized the importance of updating policies and making them easier to find and understand; clarifying who to contact should concerns arise; and highlighting resources and support available to members of the community who may need it. The FSCVWG, for example, noted the need to update the electronic communication policy to reflect the prevalence of social media, and the ASWG and IAAWG pointed to the need for more clarity around participation in campus protests.
Create a conducive campus environment: Ensuring and communicating the safety of the HBS campus and community was highlighted as a recommendation by the ASWG and IAAWG.
Address New Challenges Posed by Social Media and Online CommunicationSocial media plays a central role in the lives and day-to-day experiences of many members of the HBS community, enabling them to build and sustain relationships, promote their personal brand, extend teaching and learning, and enhance community. However, it has also become a space where harmful rhetoric and bias can spread quickly. Faculty, staff, students, and alumni all expressed concern about social media posts and their impact, especially on the learning environment, but also in other School and School-adjacent contexts: What is the role of HBS in addressing hate posts in an alumni chat group? How should MBA alumni respond to hateful rhetoric from a section-mate in a group email? What if a staff member uses the School’s electronic channels to share content that is experienced as biased or politicized by co-workers? How should faculty weigh the potential impact of using social media, including to post their views about world events, on students and the learning environment? Uncertainty about what constitutes free speech—a core value of the University—and whether action could or should be taken by the School in response to content that might be deemed personal or private only compounded the challenge. The ASWG, IAAWG, and CCNWG all pointed to ways social media deepened divisions and how online behavior diminished the community’s ability to engage in constructive dialogue. Our goal should be to devise and inculcate new approaches to social media that make our institution a force for understanding, co-existence, and collaboration across divides. Voices from the Community
"It’s incredibly difficult to sit next to someone in class when the night before, they posted something on Instagram advocating for violence against my people. How am I supposed to learn with them after that?"
"The way people act online is completely different from how they act in person. It’s disheartening to see my peers say things online that I would never hear them say out loud."
"The way my HBS classmates are responding to October 7 on social media makes me want to disconnect from HBS and not go to reunion. I have lost a lot of HBS friends over their views. Have turned down wedding invites—cannot do it."
Recommendations and Examples of Actions Underway
Clarifying guidance: All the working groups stressed the importance of the University-wide Statement on Rights and Responsibilities and its core commitment to freedom of thought, open inquiry, and free speech—in the words of the FSCVWG, “even when speech is odious, even when it makes members of our community uncomfortable or offends them.” Their recommendations included finding ways to balance this commitment with the School’s community values, consistent with the School’s role as an educational institution, and recognizing the impact of such speech on the School’s learning environment.
Final Thoughts Moving forward, it would be easy to focus on action items that are straightforward and within reach which, if completed successfully, would redress pain points and build momentum. But this could crowd out the high impact but more difficult efforts and initiatives. Enduring transformation will not be achieved overnight. The School must balance near- and long-term actions to show commitment and demonstrate progress so that, over time, significant and lasting change can be realized. The co-chairs of the workings groups—Joe Badaracco, Keem Belo-Osagie, Joshua Margolis, Kristin Mugford, Clayton Rose, Debora Spar, and Suraj Srinivasan—are grateful to the faculty, staff, students, and alumni who served on, shared their thoughts with, or in other ways contributed to our efforts. Harvard Business School is, and should be, held to a high standard. We are hopeful that our work and the actions we pursue today and in the future deepen understanding, foster curiosity, enhance learning and the learning experience in our classroom, and make our community ever better. |
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