Harvard’s eight ‘Affinity Celebrations’ include graduations based on race, sexual orientation
Before Harvard's general commencement on May 25, eight 'Affinity Celebrations' will honor students in categories including first-generation and LGBTQ students.
Harvard describes these celebrations as 'student-led, staff supported events that recognize ... the accomplishments of graduates from marginalized and underrepresented communities.'
Harvard University is honoring its graduates in identity-based ceremonies. “Affinity Celebrations“ hosted ahead of its general commencement on May 25 include ceremonies for LGBTQ, Latinx, Arab, and first-generation graduates.
“Affinity celebrations are student-led, staff supported events that recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of graduates from marginalized and underrepresented communities,” the description from Harvard’s Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (OEDIB) reads.
[RELATED: CU Boulder joins universities choosing to hold race-based graduation events]
These celebrations honor graduates in the following categories: disability, first generation, black, LGBTQ, Latinx, Arab, indigenous, and “Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, [and] Desi-American.”
In hosting these celebrations, the university aims to “provide an opportunity for graduates to honor those who have helped them achieve their milestone while centering their cultural traditions and values.”
Each celebration features “keynote speakers, performances, and cultural celebrations,” and participants “receive a regalia accessory or commemorative gift created for their affinity group.”
Affinity celebrations are a recent phenomenon, according to Harvard’s description. In 2020, for instance, “LGBTQ+ students at Harvard Divinity School and the Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences organized a University-wide virtual Lavender Celebration.”
[RELATED: UC San Diego hosts ‘Black Graduation,’ ‘Xicanx/Latinx Graduation’]
That same year, “the Next Gen initiative hosted a virtual celebration in honor of First Gen graduates,” or those who are the first in their families to attend college.
Graduations that segregate participants by identity go by several names, including the “Cultural Graduation” ceremonies that Chapman University hosted in 2021.
The University of New Hampshire, Texas A&M University, and Columbia are among the universities that have hosted segregated graduations, a list that includes more than 100 institutions.
Campus Reform contacted all relevant parties listed for comment and will update this article accordingly.
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