Harvard College Dean Khurana Affirms Importance of Free Idea Exchange

Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana reiterated his commitment to free academic exchange in an interview Tuesday.

Last week, The Crimson reported that for nearly two years, Khurana has facilitated an “Intellectual Vitality Committee” comprised of Harvard undergraduates, faculty, and alumni. The group has quietly convened to discuss what they see as a lack of free idea exchange at the College.

Khurana said the group has discussed how to equip instructors to facilitate constructive debate in the classroom.

“Open dialogue and the ability to express oneself is at the foundation of democracy and academic freedom,” Khurana said. “A lot of what we have discussed is how do we strengthen active listening — how to think about skill building among teaching faculty for facilitating controversial or challenging dialogue.”

Khurana said that while several members of the committee have called on the College to release a statement in support of free inquiry, he thinks free idea exchange demands greater action.

“If intellectual vitality was as simple as releasing a statement, that would be more easily achieved, but I think that idea belongs in the kindergarten of social thought,” Khurana said. “What we’re talking about is capacity building for democracy, capacity building for a diverse community, to recognize that we can be hard on the problem and easy on each other.”

More than 80 Harvard faculty members are members of the newly formed Harvard Council on Academic Freedom, a group dedicated to promoting values of free speech and inquiry. The Council on Academic Freedom is a separate initiative from the group facilitated by Khurana.

As of Tuesday evening, Khurana had not joined the group, which was publicly announced last Wednesday.

“Today, there are many ideas that we accept as uncontroversial, but we have to remember most of those ideas were once seen as heterodox,” Khurana said. “We should also have humility in that what we believe to be true today may prove to be more contingent, complex, or not even true in the future.”

Khurana also addressed the following topics:

Leverett House ‘Swatting’

Khurana expressed concern and support for four undergraduates who were the victims of a recent “swatting” attack in Leverett House earlier this month.

“I am so sorry that what happened, happened,” Khurana said. “It was a terrible event, and I’m upset — frankly outraged — that something like this happens on our campus, that it happens in universities, in schools all around this country.”

Khurana said the College’s response — which was criticized by some students — was informed by prioritizing student wellbeing. The College did not release a statement on the attack for more than 48 hours, a delay that drew criticism from students.

Khurana declined to comment on how the University specifically supported the affected students, citing their privacy.

“In our responses, we can always do better, and we want to make sure that our students feel that they’re supported in all the ways they need to be and that we’re able to effectively work together as a team to give them that full support that we want to,” Khurana said.

Independent Student Organization Audit

Administrators from the Dean of Students Office said in an interview with The Crimson earlier this month that they are conducting an audit of independent student organizations in conjunction with Harvard’s risk management office.

The audit comes after a two-month Crimson investigation found that the Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative was missing thousands of dollars after the departure of its former president. The audit was not prompted by the leadership dispute, according to Harvard spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo.

Khurana said there are many resources available to student leaders, adding that he hopes students “take advantage” of guides put out by the College’s administration.

“As we receive input from our students, as we hear from our leadership, we’re always in the process of improving our processes,” Khurana said.

—Staff writer J. Sellers Hill can be reached at sellers.hill@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @SellersHill.

—Staff writer Nia L. Orakwue can be reached at nia.orakwue@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @nia_orakwue.