Harvard's Slavery Reckoning Stalls Amid Internal Strife

Harvard University’s $100 million effort to confront its historical connections to slavery is facing internal strain, as several academics involved in related work allege obstruction and describe departures from projects tied to the initiative.

The latest flashpoint involves Christopher Newman, a doctoral student who was interning with the Harvard University Archives. Newman said he was dismissed in July 2024 and barred from campus after he raised questions about Harvard’s links to slavery in Antigua and after he engaged with descendant communities.

Newman, whose academic focus includes African diaspora and Caribbean studies, said he was accused of misrepresenting himself online and of contacting descendant communities without authorization.

Newman disputed that characterization, saying he only described himself as “working for the Harvard archives.” A university spokesperson said Newman was an intern with the Harvard Library and not part of the Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Initiative. The spokesperson added that the Legacy of Slavery Initiative is the only authorized group for descendant research and outreach.

Newman’s case comes amid other reported personnel disruptions connected to the broader body of work around Harvard’s slavery-related programs. Three Harvard-affiliated academics resigned from the Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Initiative, and 11 researchers working on related projects were terminated, according to the source material.

Academics involved in the work have argued that the university has not sustained what they describe as an “era of openness and accountability” as the initiative has progressed.

The Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Initiative issued a report in 2022 that broadly described the university’s historical ties to Caribbean islands, including Antigua. In separate public comments, two professors previously wrote in the Harvard Crimson that the university sought to “delay and dilute” efforts to connect with descendant communities during the design process for a campus memorial.

What it means is that a high-profile, well-funded institutional program is being tested by disputes over authority, process, and who can represent the university in sensitive outreach. The situation also underscores how engagement with descendant communities can become a central operational issue, not only a historical or academic one, particularly when a university is pursuing reparations-related programs and public-facing memorialization.

Key uncertainties remain unresolved in the available information, including the full basis for Newman’s dismissal and campus ban, and how the reported resignations and terminations will affect the initiative’s research and outreach capacity going forward. The internal disagreements described by academics raise questions about how Harvard will manage governance and transparency within a project intended to address historical responsibility.