Dear Harvard Chan School community,
It has come to our attention that a swastika was placed by an unknown person on a bulletin board on the fifth floor of the Kresge Building today. We are shocked and outraged to have seen such a symbol of hatred within our own building. The symbol has been removed and we are investigating to determine whether it is possible to identify the perpetrator. We ask that anyone with relevant information please contact Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Meredith Rosenthal (mrosenth@hsph.harvard.edu) immediately.
Regardless of whether a member of our own community or someone visiting or working in the building placed the mark there, we wish to make it clear that hate and its symbols have no place within the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We condemn any attempt to subvert the School’s bedrock commitment to inclusion and belonging and we affirm our dedication to fighting oppression and discrimination—whether subtle or overt—wherever they appear.
I have asked Meredith Rosenthal to organize a gathering tomorrow to express solidarity against this and all such hateful expressions.
Sincerely,
Michelle A. Williams, ScD
Dean of the Faculty
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
