Rabbi Getzel Davis To Lead New Presidential Initiative on Interfaith Engagement

Harvard announced a new presidential initiative on interfaith engagement on Wednesday, accepting recommendations from two University task forces on bias against Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian affiliates to increase pluralistic programming at the University.

Getzel Davis, a longtime campus rabbi who worked at Harvard Hillel for 12 years, will serve as the initiative’s inaugural director. Davis suddenly left Hillel in March, catching many students by surprise and stating that the needs of his young family “were calling more urgently at this moment.”

But now, he will take the reins of the presidential initiative, which is intended to “foster respect for diverse identities, build relationships between communities, and encourage cooperation for the common good,” according to its website.

Davis will oversee an inaugural “First-Year Religious Ethical and Spiritual Life Fellowship,” a paid program for College freshmen to “proactively” promote religious pluralism on campus and learn how to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia. Participants will receive a $500 stipend and be eligible to apply for grants to start their own interfaith initiatives.

Additionally, Davis and the College’s Dean of Students Office are working to add programming around religious pluralism to Harvard’s pre-orientation and orientation programs for freshmen.

Davis declined to comment on his selection to the role. A University spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday evening.

Some existing programming, including Interfaith PhotoVoice — an exhibit of student perspectives on religion, ethics, and spirituality — and a series of interfaith events called Pluralism Passports will also fall under the purview of the new presidential initiative.

University President Alan M. Garber ’76 expressed excitement for interfaith engagement and Davis’ selection as director in an interview with the Harvard Gazette, a University-run publication.

“Creating a community in which every person at Harvard can thrive means expanding opportunities for individuals to know, understand, and appreciate one another,” Garber said. “Rabbi Davis is a good listener and a great collaborator.”

When Harvard’s task forces on antisemitism and Islamophobia released their reports in April, they both urged the University to adopt a central hub for pluralism efforts in response to their findings of a campus climate marked by fear and exclusion.

A joint subcommittee between the two task forces detailed two potential options for doing so: either by majorly revamping the then-Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations into a Harvard Foundation for Pluralism, or by creating a new University-wide pluralism center.

With Wednesday’s announcement, Harvard opted for the latter option, creating a separate institutional effort toward religious pluralism. But the University also closed the existing Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, reassigning their staff — along with employees from the Office of BGLTQ Student Life and the Women’s Center — into a broader “Harvard Foundation.”

Even as Harvard — facing pressure from the White House — has worked to strip mentions of race and gender in student programming, it has spent the past semester doubling down on programs related to religion and ideology. New guidance on the University’s nondiscrimination and antibullying policies, released in January, focused almost exclusively on religious discrimination and the Israel-Palestine conflict — with comparatively little discussion of race- and sex-based bias.

Several other religious leaders at Harvard, including the University’s Muslim chaplain, Imam Khalil Abdur-Rashid, praised Davis’s appointment in the Gazette announcement.

“To have someone in the Office of the President that is devoted to fostering interfaith programming is innovative, strategic, and forward-looking,” Abdur-Rashid told the Gazette. “I think his presence as director of interfaith engagement is a win for Harvard, a win for the chaplains, and a win for our students.”

Harvard’s humanist chaplain, Greg M. Epstein, told the Gazette that Davis “has also been a wonderful champion of friendship and understanding between religious and nonreligious communities.”

—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.