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Harvard ramps up social group gender crackdown, may demand statistics, ‘inclusive atmosphere’

New ‘three-tiered’ system would reward groups based on their gender makeup.

Harvard University’s administration may be preparing to ramp up its new campus-wide gender policy, with the school possibly preparing to demand that all of its social groups submit gender statistics and work toward an “inclusive atmosphere” within their organizations.

Campus groups would be ranked and rewarded by way of a new three-tiered system that would assess each group’s progress toward the goals set by the university, a report in The Harvard Crimson says.

The new policy, according to an email obtained by The Crimson, would require “gender-neutral student social groups to disclose anonymized gender breakdowns to the College in order to avoid Harvard’s sanctions.”

This represents a new element to Harvard’s sanctions-based gender policy, which had previously mandated only that campus social groups must go gender-neutral, not that they necessarily needed to fulfill a certain gender quota.

The school formally adopted the sanction policy at the end of last year and implemented it earlier this year.

The school “is also considering tying funding and use of Harvard-owned spaces to how well social organizations foster ‘an inclusive social atmosphere’,” according to The Crimson. Groups who failed in this aim would be denied the use of university funding and access to university spaces.

From the report:

“These are not finalized plans, these details are being shared as a brainstorming process to receive your feedback,” [Director of Special Projects Christopher] Gilbert wrote. “This process will be ongoing and the final plans may therefore change substantially as part of our work together.”

The College’s sanctions—which took effect with the Class of 2021—bar members of unrecognized single-gender social groups from holding student group leadership positions, varsity athletic team captaincies, and from receiving College endorsement for prestigious fellowships.

In the months following the policy’s announcement in May 2016, a wave of formerly single-gender social organizations have gone co-ed. At least seven have done so, including the Fleur-de-Lis, the KS, the Aleph, the Oak Club, the Sab, the Seneca, and the Spee Club.

According to the newspaper, the university’s “new three-level system” of ranking would reward student groups based on how well they adhere to administrative dictates. The “minimum standard,” for instance, would grant student groups recognition and exemption from sanctions, while the “standard of excellence” would offer several more benefits, including “access to College controlled space, offices, advising and research.”

Read the report here.

MORE: Harvard backtracks, yanks ‘bridge’ program, forces female groups to go co-ed

IMAGE: Gil C / Shutterstock.com

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