Religion and Interfaith Engagement at Harvard (2025)
This report offers an overview of interfaith and religious life at Harvard University, organized chronologically and thematically to reflect key moments of change, challenge, and opportunity.
The following report was written and last updated in 2025.
II. Historical Foundations of Religion and Interfaith at Harvard
III. Harvard’s Religious Landscape
V. Moving Forward: Reports and More Responses
VI. Conclusion and a Final Note
I. Introduction
Harvard University is home to a richly diverse community of students, faculty, and staff from numerous religious, spiritual, and secular backgrounds. This diversity creates both opportunities and challenges for fostering interfaith engagement and understanding across its campuses. (In this report, the terms “interfaith,” “multifaith,” and “multireligious” are used interchangeably.)
This report offers an overview of interfaith and religious life at Harvard University, organized chronologically and thematically to reflect key moments of change, challenge, and opportunity. It begins with the historical foundations of religion at Harvard—from its Puritan origins through major demographic and institutional shifts in the 20th century. It then examines Harvard’s religious landscape from the mid-1960s to October 2023, focusing on the rise of interfaith initiatives, the role of religious institutions, and the impact of increasing religious diversity and secularization.
Special attention is given to the period following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the ensuing Israel-Gaza conflict, which intensified religious and political tensions on campus. This section traces student and institutional responses, including protest movements, administrative changes, and the formation of new interfaith efforts such as the Pluralism Subcommittee. The report provides updates on Harvard’s most recent institutional changes, including the appointment of the University’s inaugural Director of Interfaith Engagement.
Finally, the report concludes with the author’s reflections and recommendations.
II. Historical Foundations of Religion and Interfaith at Harvard
A. Harvard’s Religious Roots
Harvard College was founded in 1636 by Puritan settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Its mission was explicitly evangelical, as reflected in its 1642 statement: “Everyone shall consider as the main end of his life and studies, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life.” The College’s establishment was driven by the colonists' desire to prevent an “illiterate Ministry” from leading their churches once the current clergy had passed. This conviction was captured in New England’s First Fruits (1643), the first publication to mention Harvard.
John Harvard, a Cambridge-educated English minister, played a pivotal role in the College's founding. Upon his death from tuberculosis in 1638, he bequeathed half his estate and his 400-volume library to the fledgling institution. In honor of his generosity, the College was named after him. Harvard’s original motto, Veritas pro Christo et Ecclesia (“Truth for Christ and the Church”), underscored its religious mission.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Harvard remained firmly rooted in its Puritan identity. All of its presidents during this period were clergymen, with religious orthodoxy shaping both governance and curriculum. The College’s first president, Henry Dunster, was forced to resign in 1654 after refusing to baptize his infant son, holding to the belief in adult baptism. Increase Mather, Harvard’s sixth president and the first to earn a doctorate from the College, exemplified this theological rigidity. Mather’s influential writings on witchcraft, notably his book Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits, stoked the hysteria that led to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
Religion permeated Harvard’s curriculum, which emphasized Greek, Latin, and Hebrew to enhance the study of scripture. Faculty members, including science professors like Samuel Williams in the late 18th century, regularly delivered sermons to students. Donations to the College often carried religious stipulations. For example, Paul Dudley, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, bequeathed funds in 1750 to support an annual lecture on topics such as natural religion, revealed religion, and the "Romish church." The resulting Dudleian Lecture series remains Harvard’s oldest endowed lecture, still delivered today.
Harvard also played a role in missionary activities. It received financial support from the Scottish Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, which aimed to convert Indigenous people in New England. In exchange for funds, Harvard administered missionary activities, particularly in western Massachusetts and eastern New York. Prominent missionaries, such as John Sergeant and Samuel Kirkland, carried out this work, and their journals are preserved in Harvard’s records.
In 1722, the College's first Hebrew instructor, Judah Monis, converted from Judaism to Christianity in a public baptism, a prerequisite for his appointment. This symbolic act underscored the religious conformity expected at Harvard during this era.
Despite its theological rigor, Harvard also faced internal debates over the extent of religious orthodoxy. Cotton Mather, a prominent Boston Puritan minister, criticized the College's classical education as “a vile piece of paganism.” However, President Charles Chauncy defended the College’s broad curriculum, declaring in 1655 that “all truth is God’s truth.”
As the 18th century progressed, Harvard gradually expanded its educational focus, but religious identity remained central. The founding of Harvard Divinity School in 1816, as the College's second professional school after the Medical School, was a response to the growing secularization of the College. Harvard Divinity School (HDS) has a rich history rooted in the founding of Harvard University. From its earliest days, religious education and leadership preparation were integral to the institution's mission, as evidenced by the establishment of the Hollis Professorship of Divinity in 1721 and the creation of the Divinity School in 1816 as the first nonsectarian theological school in the United States.
By the late 19th century, Harvard’s emphasis on developing Christian leaders began to wane. President Charles Eliot, Harvard’s longest-serving leader, abolished compulsory morning chapel in the 1880s, signaling a shift toward a more secular academic environment.
B. Early 20th Century: Rise in Jewish Student Enrollment and the Struggle Against Antisemitism
The early 20th century marked a significant shift in Harvard’s religious landscape with the rising enrollment of Jewish students, including many sons of Eastern European immigrants. By the 1921–22 academic year, Harvard’s student body was 21.5% Jewish, despite Jews comprising only around 3.5% of the U.S. population at the time. Many of these students came from public high schools, particularly in urban centers, reflecting broader demographic changes as Jewish families sought higher education as a path to socioeconomic mobility.
The increasing Jewish presence at Harvard, however, triggered discriminatory backlash. In the 1920s, under President Lawrence Lowell’s administration, Harvard implemented admissions policies designed to curtail Jewish enrollment. The College introduced "character-based" evaluations, which were thinly veiled efforts to limit Jewish representation by favoring subjective qualities such as "manliness" and "leadership" over academic merit. At the same time, Harvard expanded legacy admissions, giving preferential treatment to the children of alumni—predominantly Protestant students—thereby safeguarding the College’s existing religious and social dominance.
These discriminatory measures were part of a broader pattern of antisemitism in elite American universities during the era. While Harvard refrained from explicitly stating a Jewish quota, the admissions office’s practices, including geographic diversity initiatives, effectively capped Jewish enrollment. This period marked a stark contrast to the College’s growing commitment to diversity in later decades.
These patterns raise important questions about the experience of Jewish women, particularly those at Radcliffe College, Harvard’s coordinate institution for female students at the time. Founded in 1879 as the "Harvard Annex," Radcliffe provided women access to Harvard faculty and courses, though degrees were initially conferred separately. It was formally chartered as Radcliffe College in 1894 and maintained a distinct identity until its full integration into Harvard University in 1999.
While comprehensive data on Jewish enrollment at Radcliffe is limited, existing records indicate that Jewish women were a visible and active part of the student body. By the 1936–37 academic year, Jewish students comprised approximately 24.8% of Radcliffe's enrollment, a proportion higher than that at Harvard College during the same period. Despite this representation, Jewish women at Radcliffe often navigated a complex social landscape, balancing their academic pursuits with the challenges of antisemitism and gender bias prevalent in higher education at the time.
President Eliot’s successor, Lawrence Lowell, further transformed Harvard into a globally recognized institution, expanding its reach beyond the Boston Brahmin elite. However, religious traditions remained embedded in the campus landscape. Following World War I, Lowell commissioned the construction of Memorial Church, built opposite the Widener Library, as a tribute to Harvard students who had died in the war. The church’s imposing presence reflected the enduring, albeit evolving, religious imprint on Harvard’s campus was completed in 1932.
However, even during this era of exclusion, Harvard was also home to a handful of faculty members who boldly resisted the tide of antisemitism—particularly at the Divinity School. In the 1920s, George Foot Moore, a prominent Christian theologian, published “Christian Writers on Judaism” in the Harvard Theological Review. This work remains one of the most scathing rebukes of academia’s entrenched habits of Christian anti-Judaism. In an era when antisemitism was often normalized or ignored, Moore insisted on the need to understand “Judaism on its own terms,” rather than through the distorted lens of Christian polemics. His scholarship challenged the academic status quo, advocating for a more accurate and empathetic portrayal of Jewish tradition.
Moore’s influence was profound, inspiring future generations of scholars at Harvard to engage more rigorously with Judaism and to confront antisemitism in their work. Among his students was Harry Austryn Wolfson, Class of 1911, who became the first professor in the United States to hold a chair devoted to Jewish studies. Wolfson, a pioneering scholar of Jewish philosophy, argued that the study of Jewish thought was not merely of interest to Jews but held universal significance for all students of religion and philosophy. His work laid the foundation for the integration of Jewish studies as a vital component of Harvard’s academic landscape.
Moore’s legacy of interreligious scholarship was later carried forward by Krister O. Stendahl, an expert in the New Testament and Dean of Harvard Divinity School from 1968 to 1979. Stendahl was a leading voice in Christianity’s post-Holocaust reckoning with its antisemitic past. His commitment to promoting a more accurate and respectful portrayal of Judaism reflected the Divinity School’s evolving ethos of multireligious inclusion and historical rigor. Stendahl’s concept of “holy envy”—the idea that individuals of one faith tradition can admire and learn from aspects of another tradition without seeking to appropriate or diminish it—became a hallmark of Harvard’s approach to interfaith relations.
These scholars, though not Jewish themselves, used their academic platforms to advocate for a more honest and just portrayal of Judaism at a time when antisemitism was deeply ingrained in higher education. Their work demonstrated that true scholarship requires engaging with excluded and marginalized perspectives. Their willingness to challenge the prevailing biases of their time helped shape Harvard’s religious studies curriculum into one committed to academic excellence, historical accuracy, and interfaith engagement.
While Harvard’s history of antisemitism is undeniable, the Divinity School’s legacy of scholars like Moore, Wolfson, and Stendahl represents a countercurrent of conscience and courage. Their scholarship not only enriched Harvard’s academic community but also helped create a culture where religious diversity and difficult conversations about the past became integral to the study of religion.
C. Post-1965 Immigration Act: Growing Religious Diversity
The passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act marked a turning point in the religious landscape of the United States. In the coming decade, it began to reshape institutions of higher education, including Harvard University. The Act abolished the restrictive national origins quotas that had favored immigrants from Western Europe, enabling greater immigration from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. This influx significantly diversified the country’s religious makeup, introducing greater numbers of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim, Jain, and other religious groups into American society.
At Harvard, this demographic shift gradually transformed the religious composition of the student body, faculty, and campus culture. The Pluralism Project at Harvard notes that the post-1965 period witnessed the emergence of new religious centers —mosques, gurdwaras, temples, and meditation centers— across the United States as immigrant communities established themselves in cities and towns nationwide. These broader national patterns were mirrored on and around Harvard’s campus through the formation and expansion of student religious organizations. For example, the Harvard Islamic Society, founded in 1955, grew substantially in the post-1965 era, while groups like the Hindu Students Association emerged to serve newly visible faith communities. Chaplaincy services also expanded to include Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist representatives, offering spiritual support and fostering interfaith engagement.
This pluralism laid the foundation for Harvard’s contemporary interfaith relations. The growing presence of non-Christian religious traditions spurred efforts to foster dialogue, collaboration, and mutual understanding. This era encouraged universities like Harvard to create more inclusive policies and programs that addressed the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. Initiatives such as multifaith prayer spaces, religious literacy programs, and interfaith dialogue events became more prominent, reflecting Harvard’s evolving religious landscape.
D. Diversification and Disaffiliation: The Growing Secular Majority at Harvard
In recent decades, Harvard University has experienced a marked shift in the religious identity of its student body, increasingly defined by secular and spiritually diverse affiliations. This shift not only mirrors national trends but also reveals just how much of an outlier Harvard has become in the broader landscape of American higher education.
According to The Harvard Crimson’s Class of 2027 survey, nearly half of incoming freshmen identified as non-religious: 24.6% as agnostic and 21.5% as atheist. In contrast, a large-scale survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), covering 250+ universities, found that only about 19% of students nationwide identified as atheist or agnostic. Even when restricted to 18-year-olds, the national figure remained largely unchanged. This means atheists and agnostics are represented at Harvard at 2.5 times the national average—a dramatic overrepresentation.
The disparity is even more striking when looking at religious minority groups. While Buddhists make up only about 1% of the U.S. population and of the national first-year college student average, they represent 12% of Harvard’s incoming class. Conversely, Protestants, who constitute around 30% of college first-years nationally, account for just 6% of Harvard’s Class of 2027.
This produces unusual ratios on campus: at Harvard, a student is twice as likely to be Buddhist as Protestant. At the average U.S. college, however, a student is 30 times more likely to be Protestant than Buddhist. Notably, the Catholic student population at Harvard more closely mirrors the national average, indicating that Harvard’s divergence is especially pronounced among Protestants and religious “nones.”
Harvard’s religious chaplaincy has responded to this shift by broadening its spiritual services, including representation for Humanists, Buddhists, and other diverse worldviews. The school’s emphasis on pluralism now includes robust engagement with secular identities, redefining interfaith work as “interworldview” dialogue. These developments reflect the growing need to accommodate both the religiously affiliated and the spiritually unaffiliated, making Harvard a distinctive microcosm of America’s evolving religious (and nonreligious) terrain.
III. Harvard’s Religious Landscape
Harvard’s Religious Landscape is shaped by the university’s highly decentralized institutional structure. Embracing the phrase “Every tub on its own bottom,” the 13 degree-granting schools operate with significant autonomy. Each school maintains its own admissions processes, curricula, faculty governance, and administrative structures. While this model allows each entity to tailor its academic and professional programs to distinct disciplinary and professional goals, it also creates institutional silos that result in inconsistent student experiences, duplicated resources, and limited coordination across the university. Each school hosts its own faith-based groups, traditions, and spaces, with a few key centers of cross-school collaboration.
Multifaith Harvard includes academic committees, schools, and projects; institutions like Memorial Church and the corps of Harvard chaplains; and multifaith student organizations, spaces for worship, and activities in undergraduate houses. The following is a glimpse some of the diverse and often diffuse centers and efforts on campus; it also recognizes that every classroom, dining room, and footpath are informal spaces of potential interfaith encounter.
A. Educational Infrastructure, Centers, and Projects
Diana Eck describes[1] Harvard’s early approach to religious studies as highly fragmented, with Christianity occupying the central position in the curriculum. Other religious traditions were loosely grouped into a residual category known as "Field I." Graduate students focusing on non-Christian religions often found their intellectual and community home within the Center of the Study of World Religions (CSWR), which functioned both as a residential and academic hub. At the undergraduate level, there was no formal concentration in religious studies until 1974; students interested in the field had to pursue a special concentration pathway to design a curriculum around religion.
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School builds on Harvard University's founding commitment to religious education and leadership, evolving into a multireligious institution that emphasizes intellectual inquiry, professional service, and religious literacy. Its goals prioritize respect for diversity, rigorous engagement with multiple religious traditions, and the preparation of leaders equipped to navigate complex issues in an increasingly interconnected and pluralistic world. HDS remains a vital intellectual and cultural hub for exploring how religion shapes and bridges differences, striving to promote peace and justice across religious and cultural divides.
This commitment to interfaith understanding and diversity underscores HDS’s guiding principles, including critical engagement with differences, interdisciplinary scholarship, and attentiveness to issues of race, gender, class, and ideology. By emphasizing inclusivity, ecological sustainability, and community-building, HDS continues to position itself at the forefront of theological and interfaith scholarship, equipping students and professionals to address contemporary challenges in meaningful ways. The Divinity School preserved the religious mission, training future ministers in the face of Harvard’s increasingly liberal arts orientation.
The Committee on the Study of Religion (Faculty of Arts and Sciences)
The Committee on the Study of Religion was established at Harvard University in 1963 as a joint initiative between the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the Divinity School. It was created to bring academic rigor and interdisciplinary structure to the study of religion across traditions.
The founding vision emphasized that religion should be studied in its historical, cultural, and textual contexts, rather than from a confessional or theological perspective. The Committee pioneered a model where religious traditions—including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and others—could be studied on equal academic footing.
The program has continually drawn on Harvard’s vast faculty expertise across multiple departments (e.g., Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Anthropology, History), enabling a truly interdisciplinary approach. Over time, the Committee has played a central role in shifting the study of religion from theology to a comparative, critical, and global academic discipline.
Graduate Program, Committee on the Study of Religion
The Graduate Program in The Study of Religion at Harvard is one of the most respected programs of its kind, administered by the Committee on the Study of Religion in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Students apply to one of several fields of study (e.g., Religion in the Americas, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies, Philosophy of Religion), but the program encourages interdisciplinary coursework and research. Core training includes methodological approaches, close textual analysis, and critical theory, preparing students for both academic and public-facing careers.
Doctoral students benefit from access to faculty across departments, deep library resources, and collaboration with Harvard Divinity School. The program supports diverse research interests while emphasizing intellectual rigor and original scholarship.
Graduates of the program often go on to careers in academia, education, public service, and other sectors where religious literacy and analytical skills are crucial.
Contributions of Diana Eck and the Pluralism Project
Founded in 1991 by Diana Eck, the Pluralism Project at Harvard has been engaged in public scholarship on religious diversity and interfaith relations, with an international reach. At Harvard, Eck's leadership has shaped Harvard's approach to religious diversity and interfaith initiatives, providing crucial resources and frameworks for dialogue across the university.
Key campus contributions include:
- Research on Religious Diversity: The Project maps and documents religious communities at Harvard and beyond, creating resources on the growth of diverse religious groups and research opportunities for students.
- Educational Initiatives: The Pluralism Project integrates religious literacy into Harvard’s curriculum, including case studies on interfaith relations which are used in courses at Harvard College, Harvard Divinity School, and other graduate schools. It also provides resources for students to engage with local religious communities, enhancing interfaith competencies.
- Public Engagement: The Project promotes public understanding of religious pluralism through lectures, events, and resources used by educators, policymakers, and religious leaders. It also addresses contemporary issues such as religious discrimination and fosters awareness through public dialogues.
- Collaboration: The Project works with various Harvard organizations and centers—with past collaborations including Harvard College Interfaith Council, Harvard Chaplains, the Center for the Study of World Religions, and many others—to organize multifaith events.
Center for the Study of World Religions (HDS)
Founded in 1957 through a donation from anonymous theosophist women, the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School was established to foster the academic and empathetic study of world religions. For decades, it played a central role in cultivating a vibrant, interfaith intellectual community through its residential model, public lectures, and interdisciplinary colloquia—most notably the Wednesday gatherings launched by Wilfred Cantwell Smith.
The CSWR also contributed significantly to institutionalizing religious studies at Harvard by funding early faculty appointments, including Diana Eck and William Graham, whose positions were later absorbed by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. This helped integrate comparative religion into the wider university curriculum.
Over time, leadership changes shifted the Center’s emphasis from student-centered community life to research-focused programming. While still an important site for scholarly inquiry—supporting initiatives on ecology, religion and healing, and global religions—its role as a training ground for graduate students in interreligious engagement has diminished.
Today, the CSWR remains a valuable resource for visiting scholars and continues to contribute to public discourse through lectures, conferences, and publications. Yet its evolving focus raises important questions about how Harvard sustains institutional support for interfaith education and community formation in line with the Center’s founding vision.
The Memorial Church
The Memorial Church at Harvard University is an interdenominational Protestant church situated in the heart of Harvard Yard. Dedicated on Armistice Day in 1932, it honors Harvard affiliates who died in World War I. Over time, it has become a central space for worship, reflection, and community gatherings, serving the entire Harvard community and beyond. As Harvard Chaplains Directory indicates, the chaplaincy includes representatives from many other faiths and spiritual traditions.
Key leaders at Memorial Church over the years have influenced campus and community life; notably, Rev. Peter J. Gomes, who served as Pusey Minister from 1974-2011, was remembered by the New York Times as “a leading voice against intolerance.”
Currently, the church is led by Matthew Ichihashi Potts, MDiv ’08, PhD ’13, who was appointed the Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church and the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals in 2021. A faculty member at Harvard Divinity School since 2013, Potts focuses his teaching on sacramental and moral theology, ministry and pastoral theology, religion and literature, and preaching. Under his leadership, Memorial Church offers a range of programs including Morning Prayers, Sunday Services, student fellowships, and pastoral counseling.
The leadership at Memorial Church predominantly reflects its Protestant heritage. Although Harvard University boasts a diverse chaplaincy representing various faiths — such as Humanist/Agnostic/Atheist Chaplain Greg Epstein or Greek Orthodox Reverend Fr. Vassilios Bebis– the church itself lacks a consistent presence of leaders from multiple religious backgrounds in its governance and decision-making processes. Unlike many of Harvard’s peer institutions, Memorial Church has not appointed an interfaith or multifaith chaplain, despite its central visibility on campus and its stated mission to serve the wider Harvard community. Before 2023, Memorial Church’s integration with university-wide interfaith initiatives appeared to be limited.
Religion and Public Life (HDS)
Originally known as the Religious Literacy Project, Religion and Public Life (RPL) was established at Harvard Divinity School in 2015. While the RPL has engaged in a range of projects, it is perhaps best known for the multifaith course “World Religions Through Their Scriptures.”
B. Multifaith Spaces
Prayer & Meditation Spaces
Prayer and meditation spaces are located across the campus; however, as of 2023, there was not a central directory and more research is needed into the use and programming of these spaces. At the Harvard Divinity School, there are three spaces, including a Multifaith Space in Swartz Hall; Harvard Medical School and School of Dental Medicine have a Multifaith prayer room and a meditation room in the Countway Library. Other Schools, including the Kennedy School, graduate Schools of Law, Design, and Education also have dedicated spaces, as do some of the residential houses. At the Harvard Business School, The MBA Class of 1959 non-denominational chapel features a terraced garden for quiet reflection, and a flexible 100-seat sanctuary enclosed by rounded concrete walls and lit by skylights and prisms. The stunning structure holds potential for convening of inter- and multi-faith gatherings, but is more regularly a venue for weddings and musical performances.
Unlike many other prayer or meditation rooms across Harvard—which often emerge through decentralized, student-initiated efforts and vary in quality or accessibility—the Interfaith and Meditation Space at Harvard Law School represents a more deliberate institutional approach. Established in the 2017–18 academic year, the Interfaith and Meditation Space is located on the second floor of Wasserstein Hall. The room is equipped with meditation cushions, prayer rugs, white oak lockers, and a frosted glass window for privacy. It provides a serene space for students to engage in prayer, reflection, or mindfulness, regardless of faith background. Access is only granted to HLS students.
The Harvard Houses
Harvard’s House system is central to the undergraduate experience, with 98% of students living in one of twelve residential Houses or the Dudley Community for non-residential students. Each House hosts 350–500 students and offers its own dining hall, common spaces, and opportunities for academic, social, and cultural engagement. While the Houses foster community and mentorship, their support for religious diversity and interfaith programming varies by House. Not all Harvard undergraduate houses have formal interfaith programming or chaplaincy structures that actively cater to religious difference. While some houses may host occasional events that touch on interfaith themes or support student religious groups informally, consistent and structured interfaith engagement varies widely by house.
At Harvard College, Lowell House and Winthrop House are leaders in consistently holding space for interfaith gatherings. Winthrop House hosts an Interfaith and Multiculturalism Committee, which offers year-round programming such as group prayer, holiday observances, and discussion forums on belief, culture, and identity. The committee invites student and guest fellows to lead programs on interfaith understanding and community-building, underscoring the College’s broader commitment to diversity and inclusion. Tufnell Park Meditation Room opened in Winthrop House in 2018 during renovations led by Faculty Deans Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Stephanie Robinson, the Tufnell Park Meditation Room provides students with a dedicated space for meditation, prayer, and quiet reflection. It reflects an ethos of wellness, spiritual care, and student agency.
Lowell House has been a site for interfaith discussions, including panels addressing topics like Islamophobia and antisemitism. While some events have faced challenges, such as cancellations due to panelist withdrawals, they underscore the House's role in facilitating critical conversations on religious diversity. Lowell House has hosted Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in the Faculty Deans’ residence. These events, led by the Harvard Dharma student group, have been well-attended, featuring traditional rituals and community gatherings. The Harvard Undergraduate Queer Interfaith Community (QUIRC) has organized events in Lowell House, such as vegetarian dinners and discussions on queer and spiritual mentorship, highlighting the House's support for inclusive interfaith initiatives. Professor Diana L. Eck, a scholar of comparative religion and Indian studies, served as Faculty Dean of Lowell House alongside her wife, Reverend Dorothy A. Austin, for two decades. Their tenure was marked by a commitment to religious pluralism and inclusivity.
C. Student Interfaith and Religious Life
Over the years, student organizations increasingly reflect the religiously diverse student population.
Christian organizations include Harvard College Christian Students, Harvard Christian Impact, Harvard Undergraduate Christian Fellowship, Harvard Undergraduate Faith & Action, Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship, Christian Union at Harvard Law, Christian Fellowship at the Harvard Business School, and many more.
Across the university, Harvard Hillel serves as a central hub for Jewish life, supporting affiliated groups such as BAGELS (an LGBTQ+ Jewish affinity group) and the Jewish Law Students Association. These groups often include members from various Harvard schools, fostering inter-school connections.
In addition to numerous Christian and Jewish organizations, groups like Harvard Dharma and the Harvard Islamic Society (HIS) have cultivated a vibrant community despite facing infrastructural challenges. Harvard affiliates have long observed the contrast between the prayer spaces allotted for these groups on campus: in 2021, an editorial highlighted these disparities, noting that Muslim and Hindu students are relegated to "disrespectfully small and inappropriately gloomy spaces".
For many years, Harvard Hillel and the Harvard Islamic Society collaborated on a groundbreaking interfaith program, Sukkat Salaam. The event, last held in 2018, featured shared meals under a temporary sukkah, storytelling, and discussions about the role of faith in participants’ lives. At the time, leaders like Asmaa Rimawi, then-president of the Harvard Islamic Society, emphasized the importance of building positive relationships between the two communities in a world where Jewish-Muslim relations are often marked by tension. One speaker likened the gathering to a “family reunion,” capturing the warmth and solidarity the event fostered. once flourished, they have long since fallen dormant.
Harvard Divinity School Interfaith Efforts
At Harvard Divinity School (HDS), a multitude of student organizations cater to diverse religious and spiritual traditions. Groups such as HDS Ganga (Hindu), HDS Muslims, HDS Jam Collective (a Jewish arts and spirituality group), and HDS Catholics & Friends provide spaces for worship, study, and community engagement. Interfaith initiatives like the HDS Interfaith Dinners and the Wednesday Noon Service Steering Committee promote cross-traditional understanding by organizing shared meals and multireligious services, respectively. Harvard Divinity School’s Office of the Chaplain and Religious and Spiritual Life (RSL) maintains a calendar of religious observances to promote awareness and inclusion of diverse faiths. While the calendar is not exhaustive, it offers significant potential as a resource for the wider campus.
Harvard College Interfaith Council
Founded in 2004 by students dedicated to building interfaith awareness and cooperation, the Harvard College Interfaith Council (HCIC) has fostered mutual support among campus religious organizations ever since. Initially a discussion group exploring topics such as theology, politics, and art, HCIC expanded its scope to include campus-wide social events and collaborative public service initiatives. As an umbrella organization, HCIC serves all religious groups at Harvard—whether they formally participate or not—by promoting interfaith understanding, facilitating dialogue, and supporting religious groups’ own interfaith initiatives rather than competing with them. HCIC has worked closely with a variety of campus organizations, including the Harvard Islamic Society, Harvard Hillel, Harvard Dharma, the Catholic Student Association, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship, to co-sponsor events that foster meaningful interfaith engagement. These gatherings have taken place in spaces across campus, such as Harvard’s residential houses, the Harvard Divinity School, and student religious centers, providing opportunities for both informal conversation and structured dialogue.
HCIC has also drawn on Harvard’s extensive resources, such as the Harvard Chaplains, the Committee on the Study of Religion, the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, and the Pluralism Project. At its peak, with an executive board of nine students and a membership of over 800 undergraduates, alumni, faculty, and community members, HCIC played a central role in strengthening interfaith relationships on campus. However, as a student-run organization, it is not consistently active: as of the 2023-2024 academic year, it was on pause.
From the late 20th century onward, Harvard's growing religious diversity fostered diverse and diffuse efforts. Yet as of 2023, sustained interfaith activity—without an interfaith chaplain or consistent interfaith student organization—was still emerging.
IV. After October 7
A. Campus Impact
In the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, Harvard’s campus became a site of grief, division, and reflection. In the hours following the attack, over 30 Harvard student groups issued a statement attributing sole responsibility to Israel. This declaration incited significant backlash, including doxxing campaigns targeting student signatories and widespread criticism from political figures and alumni. Harvard Hillel Student President Jacob M. Miller ’25 condemned the statement, asserting that blaming Israel for the attacks was “outright wrong” and offensive to victims. Hillel joined the widespread condemnation about the doxxing trucks circling campus, yet a feeling of fear and division continued to intensify.
On October 11, 2023 a statement from Harvard Divinity School’s Religion and Public Life (RPL) Program urged people to “challenge single story narratives that justify vengeance and retaliation”; quickly, prompted the Dean of the Divinity School distanced the institution from the RLP statement. Whether the words or the timing of the statement were at issue, with tensions high on the Harvard campus, there was a growing sense that formal statements were ill-advised—yet constructive dialogue and discussion was increasingly rare. As the violence in Gaza escalated, so did grief and distrust on campus.
Initially, there were few bridging efforts: one of the most notable was the Hotline for Israel/Palestine, established by Harvard student Shira Hoffer (’25). Hoffer, a member of Hillel and an affiliate of the College’s Intellectual Vitality committee, recognized that many students had questions about the conflict that was inflaming the campus. She assembled a group of volunteers, and took a non-partisan, non-judgmental approach. Hoffer later explained, “Our mission as a hotline is not to take a side or endorse a position. It’s not to say this or that is the answer. It’s founded on a very basic premise, which is to say to be part of a conversation, you should know what your interlocutors are saying.”
Yet for many students, conversations were fraught: students regularly reported frustration and misunderstanding, and a lack of constructive dialogue across lines of difference.
A Vigil
On December 11, 2023, a vigil organized by the Harvard Chaplains took place on the steps of Memorial Church, bringing together members of the university community in a moment of shared mourning. The interfaith gathering featured reflections from Rabbi Getzel Davis of Harvard Hillel, Muslim Chaplain Imam Khalil Abdur-Rashid, Humanist Chaplain Gregory Epstein, and Pusey Minister Matthew Ichihashi Potts. University President Claudine Gay and senior administrators were also present.
The tone of the event was solemn, centering on silence, ritual, and compassion. Potts opened the vigil with quiet resolve, noting, “It is an act of courage to stand with others. Because words fail, this will be a brief gathering with some music, more silence, and with the ritual tolling of the church bell.” That bell, which has tolled in memory of the dead for over 90 years, marked the collective grief felt across the university.
Imam Abdur-Rashid also struck a resonant note, praying not just for healing but for the marginalized students at the heart of the tension. “We especially pray for our Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students,” he said, “who have faced hatred, assault, attacks, isolation, intimidation, and threats to their lives and livelihoods.” His remarks captured a broader concern on campus: the fear and alienation experienced by many Muslim and Arab students following the attacks and the discourse that followed.
An Encampment
While the vigil was a powerful gesture of solidarity, it was far from the end of the story. As spring semester unfolded, the campus grew even more divided. In April 2024, a coalition of student activists established a pro-Palestinian encampment in Harvard Yard, protesting the university’s financial ties to Israel and calling for divestment. What began as a rally quickly became a sustained occupation, featuring over 30 tents and a rotating community of students, faculty, and supporters. The surge in pro-Palestinian activism was perceived by some as disruptive to Jewish and Israeli students. The encampment, described by one Crimson editorial as “a hub of companionship and learning across difference,” also became what one student called “an alternative spiritual hub,” hosting Friday Jum’ah prayers, Shabbat dinners, and interfaith rituals like guided meditation and henna art for the North African Jewish celebration of Mimouna.
Tensions ran high as reactions diverged sharply across campus. Some Jewish students saw the encampment as antisemitic or exclusionary; others, including groups like Jews for Liberation, viewed it as an essential act of solidarity. Meanwhile, many Muslim and Arab students reported feeling both seen and unsafe—energized by the public visibility of their cause, but wary of doxxing, harassment, and institutional discipline.
Months before, University President Claudine Gay faced intense scrutiny for her response to the crisis. Her testimony before Congress, wherein she stated that calls for genocide of Jews could be context-dependent regarding policy violations, further fueled criticism. Subsequent allegations of plagiarism compounded the pressure, leading to her resignation in early 2024. It would be the shortest presidency in Harvard’s history.
With new leadership in place, the university’s official responses to these events—ranging from public statements and policy shifts to quiet disciplinary actions—did little to bridge the divides. While the interfaith vigil may have modeled unity across difference, many months later, Harvard was still struggling to hold its center.
B. Institutional and Interfaith Responses
In January 2024, then-Interim President of Harvard, Alan Garber, created two task forces to address the campus climate. They would come to be known as: The Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias and the Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias. They were tasked with: “examining recent history and current manifestations of bias; identifying the root causes of and contributing factors to bias-based behaviors on campus; evaluating evidence regarding the characteristics and frequency of these behaviors; and recommending approaches to combat bias and to mitigate its impact on campus.” By May 2024, a “Pluralism Subcommittee” was active. This joint structure, bridging the two committees, was intentionally designed to “move beyond siloed approaches” and instead “develop frameworks for shared learning and community-building” (ASAIB Report, p. 206). The subcommittee, co-led by Dr. Danielle Allen and Dr. Ali Asani, would examine institutional infrastructure around interfaith engagement, religious literacy, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
While the work of these committees would take months, a few key interfaith and bridging efforts continued:
Rabbi Getzel & Imam Abdur-Rashid -- Muslim & Jewish Dialogue
Harvard’s Muslim Chaplain Khalil Abdur-Rashid and Campus Rabbi Getzel Davis led an interfaith discussion on mental resilience on February 27, 2024, at Fong Auditorium, exploring how Jewish and Islamic traditions approach well-being. Davis introduced the Jewish concept of geneivat da’at—a prohibition against deception—linking it to modern concerns like misleading advertising and social media. He encouraged mindfulness in digital consumption and suggested a “technology sabbath,” a day free from screens.
Abdur-Rashid discussed the Islamic perspective on mental health, emphasizing that wellness begins with thought rather than action. He outlined five common obstacles that hinder translating good intentions into actions, including procrastination and resignation. The event was the first in a two-part series on resilience, with a follow-up session on physical resilience scheduled for April 27. Davis noted that the series aims to highlight the broader role of faith in fostering inner strength and communal care.
This discussion was just one facet of a broader effort by Davis and Abdur-Rashid to address the deepening fractures on campus in the wake of the October 7 attacks and the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Previously, Muslim and Jewish students often shared meals at Harvard Hillel and collaborated on events like Sukkat Salaam, a joint Sukkot celebration. That collegiality was disrupted by the geopolitical tensions, leaving many students feeling isolated, fearful, and hesitant to engage across religious lines.
In response, the two chaplains began meeting weekly, mourning together, sharing meals, and building a personal friendship rooted in empathy, psychological insight, and shared values. This relationship became the cornerstone of their interfaith leadership, offering a visible example of unity through difference. “It’s scary for some people who want to cancel other narratives to suggest that two people who are legitimately different could care about each other,” Davis reflected. Abdur-Rashid added, “One’s identity is important, but one only knows oneself through the discovery of others.”
Their partnership is not simply symbolic—it reflects an adaptive approach to interfaith leadership. Recognizing that students were too wounded to immediately embrace formal interfaith programs, they focused instead on internal healing, community care, and quiet support. As noted in a report by Interfaith America, this kind of flexible, relational leadership—centered on shared values and real human connection—is critical to navigating complex campus dynamics during moments of deep polarization.
Despite initial setbacks in launching interfaith events like joint meditations and dinners, signs of progress began to emerge. The two co-led a public interfaith vigil outside Memorial Church, contributed a joint benediction at Commencement, and supported campus-wide initiatives like the “Good Neighbor” dialogue series. These efforts underscored a shared commitment not only to spiritual care but also to civic healing. “Being able to be friends across difference or to be in relationship with people who are different from us is important for future leaders,” Davis remarked.
Discussing Religious Pluralism
While interfaith events and initiatives were limited across the university in the 2023-2024 academic year, on April 10, 2024, a panel discussion about pluralism was co-sponsored by the Committee on the Study of Religion and the Pluralism Project. At the event, covered in “The Case for Pluralism,” Diana Eck emphasized the critical need for interfaith dialogue to address polarization. Eck and Ali Asani highlighted the urgency of moving beyond entrenched binaries toward pluralism, with Asani advocating for a university-wide case-method course on pluralism to equip students with the tools to engage respectfully with diverse perspectives. Asani reflected on the dangers of rigid categorization, noting how such binaries fuel conflict and undermine community. He called for greater collaboration between task forces addressing antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias, emphasizing shared values of respect and bridge-building. Other panelists stressed the importance of sitting with irreconcilable differences while fostering understanding and community.
Memorial Church – Pluralism Passports
In the new role of Memorial Church Multifaith Engagement Fellow, Abby McElroy developed Pluralism Passports. A Harvard College initiative designed to encourage engagement with the University’s religious, ethical, and spiritual diversity, participants are encouraged to attend interfaith and tradition-specific events, often with a travel buddy, and to collect stamps to mark experiences. Sample events include Harvard Hillel’s Intercultural Shabbat: “A welcoming dinner fostering dialogue and community” and Jewish-Christian Bible Study: “A collaborative exploration of sacred texts from two traditions.”
Harvard Kennedy School – Candid and Constructive Conversations (CCC)
In the wake of rising polarization — especially sharpened after October 7 — the Candid and Constructive Conversations (CCC) initiative at Harvard Kennedy School is working to make disagreement a strength, not a stumbling block. Led by Professor Erica Chenoweth and rooted in research by Julia Minson, CCC equips students, faculty, and staff with the tools to navigate hard conversations with empathy, humility, and respect.
Born out of a school-wide climate assessment (2022–2024), CCC aims to shift the culture at HKS by making constructive disagreement a core leadership skill. With participants from deeply diverse backgrounds, the initiative recognizes that honest, respectful dialogue isn’t just idealistic — it’s essential to public leadership. Flagship programs like “Agree to Eat” (a community meal with layered conversation prompts) and “Dialogue Circles” (intimate, facilitated discussions on polarizing issues like religion, war, and elections) have become central to this mission. Feedback shows that participants consistently feel more heard and more curious afterward.
CCC leadership is committed to turning discomfort into growth — pushing the HKS community beyond echo chambers and into spaces where shared humanity outweighs ideological division. As co-leaders Pratyush Rawal (Indian) and Armughan Syed (Pakistani-Swiss-American) describe, building bridges isn’t abstract — it’s personal, and it's possible.
Harvard Divinity School – Interfaith Friends and Multifaith Council
In fall 2024, HDS Religious and Spiritual Life launched the Interfaith Friends Initiative. This program pairs students from different religious or non-religious backgrounds to foster one-on-one connections through at least three informal meetings per semester. Activities can include sharing personal stories, attending each other’s spiritual gatherings, or casual coffee chats. The initiative aims to build empathy and understanding through personal relationships. This program was organized by Chaplain Intern Kyle Belanger MTS ‘25 and Kerry Maloney.
The Multifaith Council at HDS began organizing collaborative service projects each semester to address local community needs. In Fall 2024, their efforts focused on collecting and donating coats, socks, and other warm-weather essentials for homeless shelters in the area. Each year or semester, the Council selects a different goal, encouraging interfaith teamwork and community service while fostering mutual respect and collaboration among diverse religious groups.
V. Moving Forward: Reports and More Responses
Office of the President’s Building Bridges Fund
In January 2025, Harvard's Office of the President launched the Building Bridges Fund to promote community building among affinity groups and encourage dialogue on interfaith and intercultural issues. Inspired by recommendations from two Presidential Task Forces addressing antisemitism, anti-Israeli bias and anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian bias, the initiative offers grants of up to $5,000 for student-led projects. Guidelines included: “Promotion of principles such as fostering relationships between diverse affinity groups, combating discrimination and hate, encouraging intellectual excellence, and advancing constructive interfaith and intercultural dialogue” and “Awareness of and collaboration with existing programs to avoid duplicating current efforts.”
Settlement of Lawsuit and Incorporation of IHRA Definition of Antisemitism
In January 2025, Harvard University announced the settlement of legal claims alleging inadequate protection of Jewish students by agreeing to incorporate the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism (IHRA) into its nondiscrimination policies and specifying that targeting Zionists is prohibited. Opinions on the IHRA definition of antisemitism vary widely. Supporters argue that adopting the definition strengthens protections for Jewish and Israeli students, ensuring they are treated with the same urgency as other marginalized groups. Critics, however, express concerns that the definition conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism, potentially stifling free speech and academic inquiry. Student activists, such as those from the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, view the move as an attempt to suppress support for Palestinians, while others, like Harvard junior Violet Barron ‘26, argue that protecting Zionists under the policy is akin to policing speech rather than combating antisemitism. Meanwhile, legal advocates behind the lawsuit maintain that the settlement does not restrict political speech but rather addresses discrimination against Jewish students.
Reports from the Presidential Task Forces
In late April 2025, the Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias and the Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, Anti-Palestinian Bias released their reports. The Harvard Crimson helpfully summarized key takeaways from the nearly 500 pages of reports.
The Pluralism subcommittee, composed of members from both task forces, recommended structural changes including a university-wide Center for Pluralism—a move intended to create “an institutional home for pluralism as a lived practice” (p. 210).
Further proposals included:
- Dedicated prayer and reflection spaces, improved scheduling around religious observances, and increased funding for student-led interfaith and cultural initiatives.
- Expanded coursework like “World Religions Through Their Scriptures,” which “builds deep understanding of religious traditions from within and encourages student reflection on values and difference” (p. 214).
- Policies and mediation resources to address Islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian bias with the same seriousness as other forms of discrimination.
A significant shift occurred when the term “anti-Palestinian” was added to the name of the anti- Muslim/anti-Arab Task Force. The report acknowledges this change was prompted by community feedback and reflects “an overdue institutional reckoning with how Palestinian perspectives have been marginalized” (p. 208).
Diana Eck summarized the subcommittee’s vision powerfully: “Pluralism is not just about symbolic gestures or celebration of diversity—it must be embedded in policies, practices, and student life” (p. 215).
These recommendations align with broader findings from both task forces. The ASAIB Report stresses that combating antisemitism must happen “in concert with the fight against all forms of hatred,” and that “repairing trust requires a shared investment in pluralistic community” (ASAIB Report, Executive Summary). Similarly, the Anti-Muslim/Arab/Palestinian Task Force report emphasizes that “genuine belonging can only be achieved through shared institutional support for multiple, sometimes conflicting, narratives” (Anti-Muslim Bias Report, p. 18).
The 2025 Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias recommends the creation of a central hub for pluralism efforts. Such a center would connect pluralism practices across disciplines and enhance programs like interfaith collaborations and cultural events. The envisioned center would serve as an institutional anchor for practices of pluralism on campus, integrating the academic enterprise of the University, including campus expertise on issues of inclusion, belonging, and pluralism, with the administrative functions that support these areas. The establishment of a centralized pluralism center would also address infrastructural disparities faced by religious student groups. It emphasized pluralism not simply as a value but as an actionable framework— “a proactive commitment to engaging across difference, anchored in Harvard’s mission of excellence and belonging.”
While the reports offered a path forward, they also spoke to the urgency of this work. This was affirmed by a 2024 Pulse Survey, which revealed a decline in the sense of belonging among Jewish and Muslim students, with both groups reporting lower levels of comfort in expression compared to their peers.
Creation of Campus and Community Life & New Anti-Harassment Coordination
In response to the divisions on campus, and under significant political pressure, Harvard has consolidated and reorganized several campus wide initiatives. This includes the launch of the Center for Campus and Community Life (CCL). “We promote full participation for all by cultivating a culture of mutual respect and belonging throughout the University. To achieve this, we collaborate with schools and units across Harvard to share best practices, support and expand programs that encourage engagement across differences, and support comprehensive pathways for participation for all members of the Harvard community.” Based in the Office of the President at Harvard University, CCL sponsors The Culture Lab Innovation Fund (CLIF), an incubator for projects that foster and support community. It offers a range of resources, notable student-led efforts such as Our Harvard, and updates on the President’s Bridge Building Fund. The CCL also highlights key multifaith resources on campus, including the Harvard Divinity School multifaith calendar and the Harvard Chaplains page.
The new Office for Community Support, Non-Discrimination, Rights and Responsibilities (CSNDR) aligns two previous offices dealing with community conduct and gender equality. CSNDR will focus on sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, bullying, and the responsibility of all members of the Harvard community.
While many on campus are optimistic about the potential of these new organizational structures, many express concern about the lack of transparency over the dissolution of long-standing campus offices and organizations.
Appointment of Director of Interfaith Engagement
In July 2025, Rabbi Getzel Davis became the University’s inaugural Director of Interfaith Engagement. Rabbi Getzel Davis’s transition into the role marks both a continuation and an expansion of his work on campus. Having served for more than a decade in Harvard’s chaplaincy—including roles at Harvard Hillel, as campus rabbi, and in senior leadership for religious and spiritual life—Davis has built deep relationships across faith, ethical, and secular communities. After stepping away from his prior Hillel work earlier in 2025, he took the opportunity to reflect, consult with stakeholders across the university, and articulate a broader vision for interfaith infrastructure that extends beyond any single religious community.
In this new capacity, Rabbi Davis is tasked with implementing Harvard’s presidential initiative on interfaith engagement, aimed at advancing religious literacy, building bridges among diverse belief systems, and integrating interfaith dialogue more centrally into campus life. He will coordinate programs such as the First-Year Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life Fellowship and collaborate with other campus units to embed pluralism into orientation, student life, and curricular initiatives. Through this shift, his role evolves from advising and programming within a particular faith community toward shaping campuswide culture around mutual respect, shared understanding, and pluralistic engagement. Pluralism Passports are now listed as a joint initiative of the Presidential Initiative on Interfaith Engagement and the Harvard Chaplains.
Development of New Muslim and Hindu Prayer Spaces
For many years the basement of Canaday Hall, a freshman dormitory, was the site of both Hindu and Muslim prayer spaces. The growing number of students in both faith traditions has made this an unacceptable arrangement. The Muslim prayer space was too small, even for daily prayers. The much larger weekly Friday prayers were and will continue to be held in Lowell Hall. The Canaday Hindu prayer space has also become much too small for the growing number of Hindu students.
In August 2025, Harvard opened a dedicated prayer space for Muslim students: the permanent musallah is located in the Smith Campus Center. The Harvard Islamic Society and the University’s Muslim Chaplain, Imam Khalil Abdur-Rashid, celebrated the announcement.
With the establishment of the dedicated musallah in the Smith Campus Center, the previous Muslim prayer space in Canaday Hall will be renovated to provide a larger space for the Hindu community.
Progress and Looking Forward
The new musallah and new larger Hindu prayer space were among the accomplishments noted in the Progress Report of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias. Other accomplishments in academic life included new course offerings and invitation of experts on Israel/Palestine conflict resolution; building capacity for on-campus dialogue through training, working groups, and a range of other resources; and new policies, procedures, and trainings, including programs on antisemitism and Islamophobia at Harvard graduate schools.
Both Task Forces detailed clear recommendations for action. President Garber has affirmed the University’s commitment to substantive and ongoing work across the university.
VI. Conclusion
This report highlights a few key public, sustained, and institutional efforts toward engaging religious diversity, secularism, and interfaith dialogue. This includes the presence of formal initiatives such as interfaith centers, chaplaincies serving multiple worldviews (including secular or Humanist), and consistent programming that indicates an institutional commitment. The depth of specific religious groups at each of the 13 schools was out of the scope of this report. Rather, the goal is to focus on institutions that are actively shaping the pluralism and interfaith field with publicly visible and sustained efforts.
Harvard University stands at a critical juncture in the evolution of its interfaith and religious life. From its Puritan roots and complex history of religious exclusion to the vibrant pluralism and deep fractures of today, the university’s journey reflects both remarkable progress and persistent challenges. The events of October 7, 2023, the war in Gaza, and their reverberations across campus, brought longstanding tensions into sharp relief, exposing gaps in institutional infrastructure, student trust, religious literacy, and interfaith engagement. Yet, they also catalyzed new forms of courage, collaboration, and care—from grassroots rituals of resilience to high-level proposals for systemic change. This report, written in the 2024-2025 academic year, has been updated with recent developments. It, like the university’s work on pluralism is a work-in-progress.
A Final Note: Reflections and Recommendations
Harvard University already has the intellectual tools, the historical foundations, and the human talent to lead in the domain. What it needs now is courage, coordination, and sustained commitment. As the Pluralism Subcommittee noted, we do not yet have the culture and practices necessary to support the pluralism we claim to value—but we have everything required to build them.
Building on the findings of the Presidential Task Forces and the Pluralism Subcommittee, it is clear that Harvard must take deliberate, structural steps to embed pluralism into the fabric of university life. As outlined in the report, a university-wide center for pluralism could serve as the institutional anchor for interfaith and intercultural work across Harvard’s decentralized schools, ensuring that pluralism is not treated as a reactive measure in moments of crisis, but as a sustained, proactive commitment. Faculty leadership must be central to this initiative, not only to ground pluralism in the academic mission of the University, but also to ensure that the rich scholarly traditions on pluralism—ranging from William James to Diana Eck—are translated into meaningful practice on campus.
This structural investment must also be accompanied by an expansion of religious and interfaith infrastructure across all schools. As this report and the Task Force findings both underscore, inadequate prayer and reflection spaces—especially for Muslim and Hindu students—undermine any claim to inclusion. A pluralistic campus must provide visible, dignified, and accessible spaces for all traditions. Alongside this, Harvard might follow the lead of other peer institutions to establish a formal Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life, to ensure coordination and support for chaplaincy, interfaith initiatives, and faith-based student needs. This office would collaborate directly with the proposed center for pluralism, aligning resources and ensuring that religion and worldview are treated as vital dimensions of diversity.
Equally important is the need to institutionalize pluralism within teaching, professional development, and student leadership. Faculty, staff, and student leaders would benefit from regular, structured training on pluralism, constructive dialogue, and the University’s core values—particularly the often-overlooked fifth value: “responsibility for the bonds and bridges that enable all to grow with and learn from one another.” The post–October 7th period revealed how few such bonds exist across roles and identities. As such, building those relational muscles must become a core competency at Harvard. These educational efforts should be reinforced by curricular initiatives—such as a university-wide case-method course on pluralism—and expanded offerings like World Religions Through Their Scriptures, to equip students with tools to engage across deep differences.
Student-led efforts also deserve renewed investment. This might include a pluralism fellows program and engagement of students in the development of new initiatives. Reviving beloved, yet dormant, interfaith programs and organizations would send a powerful signal that these relationships matter, and that the University is willing to invest in rebuilding trust where it has frayed. These grassroots efforts must receive equal support from above. For example, a Presidentially sponsored dialogue series, developed in collaboration with faculty and students, could model civil disagreement on difficult issues—transforming polarization into opportunities for growth and mutual understanding.
What truly unfolded on Harvard’s campus was not only a crisis of politics and identity, but a deeper revelation of relational fragility. The absence of sustained relationships across religious, cultural, and institutional lines was laid bare—students, faculty, staff, and administrators were often not in meaningful dialogue with one another, leaving a vacuum where mutual understanding and trust should have been. This breakdown underscored the urgent need for infrastructure that prioritizes relationship-building as the foundation of a pluralistic community.
This report underscores that interfaith engagement at Harvard is no longer a peripheral concern—it is a central dimension of student well-being, campus climate, and institutional integrity. This report affirms that pluralism is not passive coexistence but active engagement—a process of listening, learning, and living together across difference. It is the work of bridging communities, addressing past harms, and cultivating spaces where complexity is embraced rather than erased. Harvard has the resources, expertise, and responsibility to lead in this arena—not only for the sake of its own community, but as a model for higher education institutions worldwide. Whether the university will meet this moment depends on its willingness to invest in a future where every student, regardless of belief or identity, is seen not as a threat to unity, but as essential to it.
-Report by Nevia Selmon, M.T.S. 2025
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes from Diana Eck are based on interviews with the author on February 21 and March 13, 2025.