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Pressure from Washington, donors, and anti-DEI forces continues to threaten Harvard and the soul of higher education. But the Coalition is standing up, exposing the terrible impact of the new guidelines given to alumni interviewers this year; continuing the fifty-four year struggle to establish an Ethnic Studies department at Harvard; and providing support to student organizations as money to support and celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion is reduced or eliminated. 

In these perilous times, we need to elect Harvard leaders who will hold fast to the University’s 2025 commitment to an “environment that values diversity, promotes an inclusive culture, and establishes a profound sense of belonging for each member of our community.”

 

As we have since 2016, the Coalition for a Diverse Harvard is – after exhaustive research and review – endorsing 6 Overseer candidates and 3 Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) Elected Director candidates​

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 In ballot order

OUR 2026 ENDORSEMENTS

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Overseer Candidates

• Arti Garg PhD ’08

• Teresa Hillary Clarke AB ’84, JD ’89, MBA ’89

• Nadine Burke Harris MPH ’02

• Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena LLM ’98

• Philip L. Harrison AB ’86, MAR ’93

• Salvo Arena LLM ’00

Elected Director candidates (click on each name to learn more)

• Mia Esther Alpert AB ’99

• Yoshiko “June” Nagao AB ’96

• Jimmy Biblarz AB ’14, JD ’21, PhD ’23

 

Read the candidates' responses to the Diversity Questionnaire here.  We are proud to be joined in our endorsements by these extraordinary organizations:

First Generation Harvard Alumni

Harvard Alumni for Black Advancement

Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance

Harvard Black Alumni Society

Harvard Gender & Sexuality Caucus

Harvard Latino Alumni Alliance

Harvard Progressive Jewish Alumni

To reach our endorsements, as in prior years, our Candidate Review Committee spent weeks:

• Researching each candidate

• Reviewing their Diversity Questionnaire responses

• Reviewing the Overseer candidates’ Harvard Magazine questionnaire responses

• Individually interviewing Overseer candidates 

• Reviewing candidates’ ballot bios.

In addition, we reviewed the Harvard Crimson’s articles about each of the nine Overseer candidates, and the Elected Director candidates’ responses to three questions from the Harvard Alumni Association.

The Coalition for a Diverse Harvard will not retreat from our mission: to fight for diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice. We have endorsed those we believe will best support our collective vision for Harvard and will work to prevent further harm. 

Please VOTE online or by mail. To vote online (it's super easy and quick), look for a 4/1 email from Harvard 2025 Elections with the subject "Voting is now open . . . " If you can't find your ballot, check spam. Problems? Email harvard@electionservicescorp.com and copy us (harvardcoalition@gmail.com) with your name, degree, and graduation year. Completed ballots must be received by 5 pm EDT on May 19.

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With thanks,

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Margaret M. Chin, Kristin R. Penner, Emily Van Dyke, Itzel Vasquez-Rodriguez and Michael Williams

Directors, Coalition for a Diverse Harvard

#RenameTheOverseers

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The 2026 Candidate Review Committee

 

Joseph Barretto A.B. '97, Jane Sujen Bock A.B. '81, Laura Dumbach A.B. '84, Harold Lewis A.B. '85, Erica Scott-Adjei A.B. ‘06, David Van Taylor A.B. '83, Emily Van Dyke A.B. '03, MPH '09, Itzel Vasquez-Rodriguez A.B. '17, Michael Williams A.B. '81, Rashid Yasin S.B. '12 (with thanks to NanaYaa Dwomoh A.B. ‘27, Lulit Hailu A.B. ‘27, David Lewis A.B. ‘25, and Brianna Scott, CDH Assistant).

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