Harvard Medical School rebrands DEI office to 'Culture and Community Engagement'

Harvard Medical School has renamed its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) office “to better reflect its work going forward,” according to a recent announcement by officials. 

The Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership is now the Office for Culture and Community Engagement (OCCE). The school published the new office’s web page, with the header “Our website is evolving.”

The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine George Daley announced the change in a public message on Wednesday. The message notes that the school is “navigating in an ever-morphing environment that requires frequent adaptation.” 

Daley also cited a recent campus-wide letter from Chief Community and Campus Life Officer Sherri Charleston stating that the university was renaming its DEI office and would no longer fund identity-based graduation ceremonies. 

[RELATED: New Idaho law aims to curb DEI at public universities]

That letter “reflects Harvard’s ideals and priorities, and it reinforces much of the work HMS has been doing all along,” said Daley.

Dean for Diversity and Community Joan Reede will continue to run the new office, which will have two goals: “providing opportunity and access to help individuals thrive” and “collaboration and community-building.”

It’s unclear from the message what exact changes the school has made to the office besides the name. 

Daley explained that, “Importantly, OCCE’s events and programming will continue to support the mission and values of HMS and Harvard, and collaboration with colleagues across the Longwood Medical Area will also continue.”

Campus Reform asked the medical school whether the new office’s mission is different from its prior one. A spokesman pointed back to Daley’s letter and said “We have no additional information to share at this time.”

Harvard has been tinkering with its DEI policies and practices over the course of recent months in response to substantial federal pressure. 

[RELATED: Wichita State scraps identity-based graduations due to state and federal policy changes]

The Trump administration paused over $2 billion in federal funding to Harvard on April 14 after the university initially refused to abide by Trump’s Jan. 21 anti-DEI executive order.

“We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement,” President Alan Garber said in response. “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”

The university challenged the decision in court and rebranded its DEI office a few weeks later in early May.

Similarly, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) also announced that it was renaming its DEI office on May 22.

Campus Reform contacted Joan Reede for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.