Elections are open for the 2024 HAA Board of Directors and the Harvard Board of Overseers. Below, we have recommendations to provide. Note that this year’s candidates were all selected by the HAA Nominating Committee.

All Harvard alumni with an email on file with Harvard should have received an email entitled “Voting is now open for 2024 elections” from Harvard 2024 Elections (harvard@mg.electionservicescorp.com) with a link to an online ballot. Paper ballots were mailed by April 1st, and alumni can vote either online or via paper ballot (if they haven’t opted out of paper mailings).

Voting will close at 5p ET on May 14, 2024.

We encourage all alumni to participate in the election - voting for even just one candidate who shares your concerns or values can make a difference during this pivotal time for our university. To learn more about the role of the boards and the election process, visit the Harvard elections website.

Our Evaluation Process

In an effort to evaluate candidates and provide recommendations to our members, FAIR HA+ and Harvard Alumni for Free Speech (HAFFS) paired up to share a questionnaire with candidates covering the following issues of mutual interest: free speech, institutional neutrality, viewpoint diversity, and mandatory EDIB (equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging) statements.

We received 7 responses from the Overseer slate of 8 candidates. Links to the completed questionnaires can be found here and are also outlined below. Note that we did not evaluate candidates for HAA Elected Director as no responses were received by our deadline. We did receive a response from Adrian Blake as linked below, and encourage you to review. We will post any additional HAA ED candidate responses if/when received. 

In addition to reviewing Overseer responses to our questionnaire, we consulted with HAFFS and the 1636 Forum, two alumni groups also seeking to advance free speech and academic freedom on campus (we encourage you to join/subscribe to both). Please note that both groups will be providing their own evaluations and/or recommendations separate from FAIR HA+.

See updated recommendations/endorsements from HAFFS and the 1636 Forum.

Lastly, to ensure that we understand the candidates more broadly, we reviewed the Coalition for a Diverse Harvard’s questionnaire responses and endorsements, candidate priorities published in Harvard Magazine, and the Crimson’s endorsements.

The Principles Behind Our Evaluation

FAIR HA+ supports the mission of FAIR, which is “dedicated to defending civil rights and liberties and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity. As an advocate for open discourse and debate, FAIR is committed to celebrating our shared interests and values, and advancing Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of equality for all—without exception.” 

For us as a Harvard chapter, this vision translates into defending freedom of expression and intellectual freedom on campus while promoting civil discourse and viewpoint diversity. This also means standing up against efforts to view and classify individuals first and primarily by identity groups, as well as against discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexuality, religion, or political persuasion. 

Our Recommendations

Since the current Overseer slate of candidates do not fully align with FAIR’s principles, we won’t be endorsing candidates. In evaluating responses, however, there are areas of common ground with enormous potential to engage in civil discourse, deepen our mutual understandings, and provide new opportunities for Harvard. 

For this election, we encourage our FAIR HA+ alumni community to:

• Take a close look at Tim Ritchie for Overseer as his views align on some key issues including free speech, viewpoint diversity, civil discourse, institutional neutrality, and a broad commitment to diversity of all kinds. Note that Ritchie is being recommended by HAFFS.

• Review all Overseer candidate responses to our questionnaire:

  • Modupe Akinola

  • Theodore D. Chuang

  • Danielle Feinberg

  • Ming Min Hui

  • Scott Mead

  • Tim Ritchie

  • Juan Sepúlveda

• Review HAA Elected Director candidate response(s) to our questionnaire (will be added if/when received):

  • Adrian Blake

• Review Overseer candidate responses to the Coalition for a Diverse Harvard’s questionnaire, which focuses on issues of interest or concern around DEI, post-affirmative action, and Ethnic Studies. 

  • For those not familiar with the proposed Ethnic Studies department, we encourage you to watch the Coalition’s video, “What the Hell is Ethnic Studies?” 

  • From the election site: “As a central part of its work, the Board [of Overseers] directs the visitation process, the primary means for periodic external assessment of Harvard’s schools and departments.”

• Vote in this election! Again, voting for even one candidate can make a difference.

• Nominate candidates for 2025. Nominations for the 2025 slate of Overseers and Directors are open until May 31, 2024—nominate here. The nominations, which go directly to the HAA Nominating Committee for consideration, are taken very seriously. Providing nominations are an instrumental part of Harvard’s election process.

Looking Ahead

We are incredibly grateful to each candidate who took the time to respond to our questionnaire, and look forward to working with those elected on the issues of most concern to our alumni community.

Despite the challenges that Harvard and other institutions of higher education are facing, we are heartened by the awareness these challenges have brought to so many fellow alumni, from issues surrounding free speech and civil discourse to issues around equal treatment and equal protection.

As always, thank you for spreading the word about our chapter—we continue to attract FAIR-minded members of the Harvard community. The courage to think freely and independently in the pursuit of truth sets our FAIR HA+ members apart and brings us together at this pivotal moment for education and our civil society.