Harvard University's $100 million initiative to examine its historical ties to slavery is embroiled in controversy, with researchers alleging obstruction and several key figures leaving the project. Christopher Newman, a doctoral student at Howard University, was fired from his summer internship at Harvard after he began exploring the university's connections to Antigua and engaging with descendant communities. According to Newman, he was escorted off campus by police and banned from returning after completing a bibliography for the landmark 2022 Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery report.
Newman said he met descendants of the Lloyd family—enslaved by a Harvard benefactor and trafficked from Antigua to Cambridge, Massachusetts—and raised the topic of Antigua's relevance to the university's slave trade history. He claimed his suggestions were met with silence, and his adviser failed to pass on his interest in connecting with descendant communities. Harvard declined to comment on Newman's specific case, but the controversy has extended beyond his dismissal.
Three Harvard-affiliated academics have stepped down from the Legacy of Slavery Initiative, alleging the university impeded their work. The former executive director resigned for “personal reasons,” and ten researchers working on related projects were fired. Two professors published a letter accusing Harvard of attempting to “delay and dilute” efforts to involve descendant communities in designing a campus memorial. A university spokesperson said it would “take seriously” the concerns about community involvement.
Harvard, the wealthiest university in the world with an endowment exceeding $50 billion, launched the initiative in 2022 as part of a reparations-related commitment. However, critics argue that the university's actions contradict its stated goals of openness and accountability. Newman, who specialised in African diaspora and Caribbean studies, noted that the university's 2022 report broadly referenced Caribbean ties but failed to address present-day responsibilities to nations like Antigua and Barbuda.
The exodus of researchers and the allegations of obstruction have cast doubt on Harvard's commitment to reckoning with its slaveholding past. As the university continues to invest in its endowment, questions remain about whether it will fully engage with descendant communities and address the legacy of slavery in a meaningful way.
