Last week, Harvard Medical School published an updated version of its mission statement that removed explicit references to DEI.
It’s the latest indication that among medical schools, including elite institutions, DEI is becoming increasingly toxic.
Whereas Harvard Medical School’s previous mission statement included a commitment for the school to “nurture a diverse, inclusive community,” these words are absent from the updated statement, which reads as follows: “To improve health and well-being for all through excellence and leadership in teaching and learning, discovery and scholarship, and service and care.”
Harvard Medical School has a new and improved mission statement without the DEI language.
Excellent. pic.twitter.com/O0tEZ7TZ61
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) April 16, 2026
According to remarks reported by the Harvard Crimson, Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley said that the school’s DEI commitment had been relocated, and the school had “fully endorsed our commitment to a diverse and inclusive community.”
Indeed, the Harvard Medical School’s “Community Values” page contains the follow language: “We are a diverse and inclusive community that aspires to fulfill and advance our mission through a commitment to our HMS values.”
Though this is not a complete elimination of DEI, it’s a significant shift: the statement referencing DEI in the school’s community values is descriptive, not normative, and includes no commitment.
Moreover, removing the DEI commitment from Harvard Medical School’s mission may signify at least a partial public departure from DEI as an organizing, motivating principle.
This is a reversal of the trend toward more woke mission statements that I documented in this @donoharm report. https://t.co/USIAwi8vYv https://t.co/V0dipNXVpp
— Jay P. Greene (@jaypgreene) April 16, 2026
As Do No Harm has previously shown, the rise of DEI and identity politics in medical education manifested strongly in schools’ mission statements.
That Harvard is now bucking this trend is an encouraging sign.
Additionally, last year, Harvard Medical School renamed its DEI office and removed its diversity statement, which included commitments to health equity and DEI, as well as pledges to “challenge discrimination,” “address disparities and inequities,” and “actively promote social justice.”
We’re optimistic this latest change is a sign of more reforms to come.
