In order to ensure gender diversity at Harvard University, administrators are considering a mandatory gender breakdown report required of all student organizations.
In a recent email sent out to students, administrators detailed a proposal for a “Minimum Standard” that all organizations must meet in order to avoid sanctions by campus administrators. This would include the number and gender breakdown for members of clubs or student organizations, as well as governing documents attesting to a policy of nondiscrimination.
This new move is a part of an on-campus crackdown against student organizations that have historically limited membership to a single gender, such as sororities and fraternities. According to campus administrators, the “Minimum Standard” would be essential for the college to ensure that student organizations are not engaging in discriminatory practices.
“The Minimum Standard is a requirement for groups not to be subject to the social organization policy sanctions,” said Christopher M. Gilbert, the Director of Special Projects at Harvard College who serves as a liaison for organizations that are transitioning to gender-neutral. “This is because if the College is to acknowledge that a group is non-discriminatory in its membership policies, we must attest to that fact.”
In 2016, administrators at Harvard drew the ire of many current and former students when they announced that the college would begin sanctioning students who were members of unrecognized, single-gender student organizations, claiming that such organizations enact forms of “privilege and exclusion.”
“The discriminatory membership policies of these organizations have led to the perpetuation of spaces that are rife with power imbalances,” wrote Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana. “The most entrenched of these spaces send an unambiguous message that they are the exclusive preserves of men.”
Ironically, organizations that meet the proposed “Minimum Standard” are not even guaranteed access to all benefits normally afforded to recognized student organizations. In order to gain access to college-controlled facilities, club advising, offices, and resources, organizations must also commit to engage in “wellness programming” with administrators at Harvard College. Organizations that meet the wellness-programming requirement can update their status from “Minimum Standard” to “Standard for Recognition.”
