Harvard Spends a Year Reviewing Its Decor, Finds Too Many Portraits of White Men – Opinion

At Harvard, they’re out to right the wrongs of outdated decor.

A revision’s been recommended by the Faculty of Arts and Science’s (FAS) Task Force of Visual Culture and Signage.

According to the 21-member group’s near-30-page report, the “exclusion embedded in the current visual culture…perpetuates a too-narrow understanding of our institution’s past, present, and future.”

After more than one year of investigation, the verdict was rendered December 6.

The Harvard Crimson noted that the study was ordered to promote racial justice.

FAS Dean Gay sent out an email in September 2020 describing the initiative.

The institution’s core commitments to truth and knowledge should be reflected in how and where they memorialize events and individuals. However, symbols and imagery should be authentic representations of the present and help us feel welcome and connected.

Robin E. Kelsey, Task Force Chair and Dean Arts and Humanities at the University of Michigan spoke to the Crimson about inclusion.

“We don’t want Harvard to be a place where you have to be someone from a particular part of society with a particular background in order to feel comfortable walking around on our campus, and I think we can do much more to make this a campus truly accessible to all of our community members and our visitors as well.”

And who is being left behind?

21 out of the 23 portraits in the freshman dining area depict white men.

The hall was pegged particularly for the probe, per Dean Robin, because “so many undergraduates” named it “a space that very much affects them and their sense of belonging…”

Harvard Magazine reaffirms pigmented perversity

Dean Claudine] noted that among the top priorities for change are three “high-impact” spaces on campus: the Faculty Room, Annenberg Hall, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student center in Lehman Hall. These are places where the FAS community gathers; “They are also spaces,” the report said, “whose visual culture is dominated by homogenous portraiture of white men.”

Improving America’s visuals may be a growing trend.

In June, I offered “In the Battle for Inclusion, U.S. Navy Employs the Weapon of Interior Decorating.”

Thanks to my coverage

The war machine known as the United States Navy is fighting for our freedom — to be included. …

An Office of Naval Intelligence staffer purportedly “raised a concern about how the artwork on display throughout the [National Maritime Intelligence Center] did not represent the diversity of people serving in the Navy.” …

The new art-seeking group will confer with a historian in order to “identify…artwork from the Navy History and Heritage Command’s Navy Art Collection.”

It’s also collected works which “acknowledge the contributions of Hispanic, African, and Native Americans to our Navy and the Nation.”

Even general architecture’s getting a review:

Harvard: Why do these images show white men? They were integral to the creation and growth of Harvard.

Did the university just boost some blanched male toxicology for fun?

As for everyone needing to “feel seen, heard, and be able to thrive,” it’s an interesting idea.

Long before the advent of electricity, humans were running naked in woods.

People will eventually get paired up.

One man built his home and family.

This was not about becoming hungry or ill.

It seems to me the notion of “feeling seen” is an unnatural one, brought on by life online.

Also potentially at play: contemporary culture’s surging narcissism.

However, such is the beauty of life.

Harvard thinks it can do better.

Sheree Ohen, newly appointed FAS associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, was one of the almost two dozen participants.

One day, maybe every campus will be equipped with an Office of Feeling Seen.

For now, an Ivy League icon’s getting a modern makeover so everyone feels fantastic.

That’s Harvard — a very loving place:

And for any who suspect the school’s just being anal, it wouldn’t be the first time:

-ALEX

 

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