What's in a Name? Harvard Renames Its DEI Office in Obvious Move to Appease Trump

In this episode of "The No Longer Hallowed Halls of Academia"...

In a blatantly transparent attempt to appease President Donald Trump and his just war on DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) which metastasized throughout the federal government, multiple major corporations, and university campuses across America during the disastrous four years of the Biden administration, Harvard University announced in a Monday email to to community members that its DEI office has been renamed the Office of Community and Campus Life, according to The New York Times on Monday.

Before we continue, as I asked in the headline, what's in a name? We'll get to the answer to the question with respect to Harvard's announcement by the end of the article.

As I write, the Ivy League school's DEI website has not been rebranded to reflect a name change.

Sherri Ann Charleston, whose previous title has reportedly been changed from chief diversity officer to chief community and campus life officer, wrote in a Monday email, according to The Harvard Crimson:

In the weeks and months ahead, we will take steps to make this change concrete and to work with all of Harvard's schools and units to implement these vital objectives, including shared efforts to reexamine and reshape the missions and programs of offices across the university.

Interesting Timing

The announcement of the name change comes just a week after Harvard announced it had filed suit to stop a federal freeze on more than $2.2 billion in grants, saying that the university would defy Trump's demands to crack down on antisemitic protests and harassment on campus.

Instead of Fighting Antisemitism, Harvard Sues Trump Admin—and Some Jewish Students Are Appalled

Then Harvard President Alan Garber told NBC News last Wednesday that the university had "no choice" but that the school change certain policies to continue to receive federal funding, adding:

We are defending what I believe is one of the most important linchpins of the American economy and way of life — our universities.

Unfathomably stupid, illogical logic.

Defending the university? How so? By refusing a demand to stop the raging antisemitic, pro-Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas on the very campus this over-educated fool claims he's trying to defend? Please.

Here's more, via The New York Times:

The decision follows similar reorganizations across the country by universities, which appeared to be aimed at placating conservative critics who have attacked diversity offices as left-wing indoctrination factories.
The Trump administration also opened another front in its fight with the university on Monday, accusing the Harvard Law Review, an independent student-run journal, of racial discrimination in journal membership and article selection.
In a news release announcing that the law review was under investigation, Craig Trainor, the Department of Education’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said the journal “appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as, if not more, important than the merit of the submission.”
Responding to the announcement, Harvard Law School emphasized its commitment to ensuring that programs it oversees comply with the law, but pointed out that the journal is legally independent. A similar claim against the Harvard Law Review was dismissed in federal court in 2019.

Now, let's get back to that question. So, yeah, what's in a name?

As we've seen uncountable times in the past, from the government to the corporate world to the education system to our private lives, words without demonstrably relevant actions are worse than no words at all.

I'd normally go with the "trust but verify" admonition in a case like this, but given the issue at hand, including the beyond-smugness of the no longer hallowed halls of academia, I'm going to pretend I'm from Missouri and simply end with Show Me.

The nation’s elite academic institutions have lost the plot and become full-on indoctrination centers.

Trump is fighting back.

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