(RNS) — A program at Harvard Divinity School is the latest casualty of the ongoing tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war, with the departure of two administrators and the cancellation of a class on Israel-Palestine.
Diane L. Moore, the associate dean of the Religion and Public Life program at the Harvard Divinity School, was scheduled to retire at the end of the school year in May but departed suddenly in January. A spokesperson for the divinity school would not comment on why she left early or whether she was fired. Moore could not be reached for comment.
Then, earlier this month, the assistant dean for the Religion and Public Life program, Hussein Rashid, wrote to his students that he too was resigning at the end of the semester. In the letter, Rashid, who is a Muslim American, accused the university of tolerating racist and defamatory statements against the program without challenging or disputing them.
“Since I was a student here decades ago, I have been acutely aware of the anti-Muslim bias (amongst other racisms and discriminatory attitudes that exist here),” Rashid wrote. “That bias has only gotten worse and Harvard is not a space where I choose to spend my time. I have no interest in supporting an institution of white supremacy that actively seeks to harm me and mine.”
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