History

The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging was established in 2018 after considerable input from community members and research on best practices. Below outlines the timeline of events that led to the creation of the office and the steps we have taken thereafter.

October 2022- February 2023 Facilitated Conversations, Focus Groups, and Data Walk programs were conducted with stakeholder groups within the SEAS community responding to the Campus Climate Survey
October 2022 Report from the Second SEAS Campus Climate Survey was released 

May 2022

Paula Nicole Booke joins the SEAS community as the second Assistant Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging

April 2022

SEAS’ Second Campus Climate Survey was administered

September 2021

SEAS DIB Launches the DIB Fellows Program

September 2021

SEAS DIB launches the Post-Baccalaureate Program

September 2019

SEAS Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Strategic Plan released

May 2019

SEAS Committee on DIB presented a strategic plan to Dean Doyle

September - December 2018

Community discussions about the climate survey results

September 2018

SEAS Campus Climate Survey Report was released 

August 2018

Alexis J. Stokes was hired as the Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and the Office of DIB was established

June 2018

SEAS Committee on DIB submitted its first set of recommendations to Dean Doyle

April 2018

SEAS Campus Climate Survey was administered

November 2017

SEAS Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging was established

September - November 2017

During her first months at SEAS, she conducted a listening tour to begin learning about the SEAS priorities, goals and concerns as they relate to making the school a more diverse and inclusive place for students, faculty, staff and researchers. She met with members of the community and compiled a list of strengths, challenges, and opportunities. The report can be found here.

August 2017

Alexis J. Stokes, the SEAS Diversity and Inclusion Engagement Launch Senior Manager, started through the Harvard University Administrative Fellows Program.

June 2017

The task force submitted a report that highlighted current initiatives to increase the representation of females and underrepresented minorities across the SEAS community, and presented recommendations to improve diversity and inclusion in the School. As part of a continuous, long-term process of building and improving a culture of openness, caring, and community at SEAS, Dean Doyle implemented two of the recommendations for immediate action: hire an Administrative Fellow to develop long-term interventions and retain and expand the Task Force to include members of the undergraduate, graduate, faculty, and postdoctoral researcher populations.

February 2017

Dean Doyle echoed that commitment when he named the SEAS Diversity Task Force in the spring of 2017. SEAS' task force was charged to “examine our current diversity ethos and suggest how we may improve it as well as serve as conduit to the University Task Force.”

September 2016

President Drew Faust’s Presidential Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging was convened to ensure “that Harvard continues to attract the most talented people from all walks of life and creates an environment where we can be our best selves.”