Admissions and early student experiences

Harvard and its Schools have implemented changes to admissions practices to build on the University’s commitment to excellence and attract exceptional students ready to engage in open inquiry and constructive dialogue. The University has also taken steps to enrich orientation and pre-orientation programming, so that during these foundational moments of a student’s educational journey, students are welcomed into an inclusive environment and can begin honing the skills necessary to engage in dialogue across difference both within and outside of the classroom, and both while at Harvard and after graduation. Highlights of the effort include new admissions questions for applicants, updated training for admissions staff, and revised orientation programs.  

Last updated December 2025 

Admissions

• Strengthening admissions processes to encourage free inquiry and civil discourse: Harvard College and many of Harvard’s graduate and professional schools have revised their respective admissions processes to ensure that appropriate value is placed on candidates’ demonstrated abilities to engage constructively with different perspectives, show empathy, and participate in civil discourse. To note a few examples, Harvard College updated its application to ask a question about a time applicants “strongly disagreed with someone.” Harvard Chan School of Public Health added a question: “Describe a specific time when you held a strong opinion on a public health–related issue but changed your mind after a conversation, class, or experience.” Harvard Graduate School of Education updated its application to ask applicants to “[d]escribe a situation when someone said or did something that conflicted” with “an important belief or value,” and examine what the applicant learned from that situation.  

• Training for admissions staff at Harvard College. In September 2025, all members of the Harvard College admissions committee completed the Perspectives Module from the Constructive Dialogue Institute and were provided an additional training to discuss applying the lessons from the module to the application review and selection process. CDI is a non-partisan non-profit that equips individuals and institutions with the skills to communicate across differences and build cultures of constructive dialogue. 

• Strengthening orientation for admissions staff at Harvard Medical School. In fall 2025, as part of the annual orientation training provided to all MD admissions faculty, Harvard Medical School leadership emphasized that the ability to dialogue across difference is a key personal attribute of applicants sought by HMS and provided information about the final recommendations of the two presidential task forces.  These changes will be part of the annual orientation provided to MD admissions faculty going forward. 

• Demonstrated leadership. The established practice across Harvard has been to seek applicants with demonstrated leadership, including leadership skills honed through faith-based organizations. In fall 2025, the admissions processes at Harvard College and several of Harvard’s graduate and professional schools were updated to reinforce the expectation that faith-based leadership is valued in the same manner as other forms of demonstrated leadership. 

• Highlighting community values.  The Graduate School of Design updated its admissions application for the 2025-26 application cycle to stress the importance of GSD’s Community Values to applicants. Harvard Business School continues its practice of stressing the importance of HBS’s Community Values to all applicants by requiring applicants to acknowledge and sign HBS’s Community Values prior to submitting an application and again before an admitted student matriculates. 

Early student experiences

• Pre-orientation and orientation programming. Harvard and its Schools have enriched orientation and pre-orientation programming to ensure welcoming and inclusive experiences that support all our students and foster skills for dialogue across differences. Examples include: 
  • In August 2025, Harvard College launched a new required pre-matriculation module for all incoming first year students, covering topics including what it means to live with people different from you, how to handle conflict, and what living together in community means to the University.  
  • Prior to the start of the fall 2025 term, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences sent to all incoming students information about civil discourse at Harvard, including an introductory video by a Harvard Law School Professor and deputy director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, as well as prereading for Convocation, which included emphasis on community values, difficult conversations, and how to give and receive feedback in an academic setting. 
  • During graduate student orientation in fall 2025, the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science introduced an exercise designed to allow students to reflect on their areas of difference and probe areas that bring them together. SEAS further affirmed its commitment to model bridge-building, civil discourse, and constructive engagement with others of different backgrounds/views. 
  • In August 2025, the Graduate School of Design expanded its orientation programming to include a new required learning module “Embracing Community Values Across Difference.”  The orientation programming also included a new workshop, “Cultivating Community Connections.”  
  • At Harvard Business School, the MBA student orientation program includes multiple sessions including “Creating a Session Culture,” “Learning Leadership Skills,” and “Learning at HBS,” which emphasize disagreeing respectfully. In addition, each section has a faculty Section Chair who meets with the section throughout the first year, including several times in the first weeks, to help foster students’ skills for engaging across difference. All Harvard Business School first-year students also attend a required session on “Dialog for Understanding” led by an expert in negotiation and value-based conflict and dialogue. 
  • In fall 2025, Harvard Divinity School introduced a new session to its orientation program—Open Dialogue, Scholarship and Teaching: A Faculty Panel—in which faculty from a variety of fields and religious backgrounds spoke to the importance of constructive disagreement and open dialogue for scholarly excellence. 
  • During Harvard Graduate School of Education’s 2025 Welcome Day activities, the Dean launched the HGSE Dialogue Across Differences initiative, designed to help all community members practice active listening and inquiry, engage productively with challenging ideas, and disagree respectfully without devaluing others. 
  • Harvard Kennedy School’s pre-orientation and orientation communications emphasizes the importance that HKS places on the principles of generous listening and constructive dialogue. During fall 2025 orientation, HKS students participated in a comprehensive program on constructive disagreement led by an HKS faculty member expert in the subject-matter and a session on “Exploring Community.” 
  • At Harvard Law School, fall 2025 JD orientation programming included a three-part “cultivating community” series including sessions on “Cultivating Community: Choosing our Purposes in Conversation” led by faculty experts from the HLS negotiation program, with a focus on civil discourse in and out of the classroom.  
  • In fall 2025, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine revised the combined MD/DMD orientation, Introduction to the Profession, to explicitly address community expectations, promote constructive dialogue, and prevent discrimination or exclusion. The updated orientation also includes foundational curriculum elements that encourage and model bridge‑building, civil discourse, and constructive engagement, as well as information about key School and University policies. 
  • In 2024, Harvard Medical School updated its orientation to include a session for all master’s degree students focused on civil discourse. HMS Master’s students also receive orientation training in constructive dialogue and cultural humility, and these trainings were part of the orientation programming again for 2025.  For HMS PhD orientation, all facilitators attend a training session that emphasizes civil discourse and constructive engagement with individuals of different backgrounds. This session is in preparation for the culture and community workshop which all PhD students attend to establish and foster a supportive community for each PhD program. 
  • The Harvard Chan School of Public Health student orientation in August 2025 included a session focused on HCSPH’s Principles of Citizenship and its values of community, inclusion, and belonging. Led by the School’s chief community and belonging officer, the program, “Stronger Together: Belonging as a Collective Process,” focused on building a culture of belonging by exploring the structures, practices, and relationships that shape HCPSH’s community culture. 

• Training for student-facing personnel. Harvard College and many of Harvard’s graduate and professional schools have implemented new training programs for staff to assist them in facilitating constructive dialogue. 
  • In the 2025-26 Academic Year, the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will offer student-facing staff “Dialogue Facilitator Training” and student leaders “Foundations in Constructive Dialogue” from the Constructive Dialogue Institute. 
  • The Harvard Graduate School of Design Community, Impact, and Opportunity Office provided a workshop to student-facing personnel, “Dialogue Over Division: Embracing Disagreements in Community,” focused on bringing people together to learn how to navigate different viewpoints constructively.  Additionally, in August 2025, GSD held required training for Resident Advisors designed to build skills on supporting students and fostering learning across differences. 
  • In June 2025, Harvard Law School Human Resources and the Office of Equal Opportunity offered the Negotiation Workshop: Navigating Difficult Conversations for HLS staff and hosted an interactive session in October 2025 on “Managing Conflict – Both Internal and External – with Internal Family Systems,” which included experiential exercises that focus on conflict resolution and promoting mutual understanding. 
  • Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine are partnering with the Constructive Dialogue Institute beginning in early 2026 to offer foundational training to student-facing faculty/staff and students. 
  • In fall 2025, Harvard Radcliffe Institute began implementing its updated student engagement strategy, which includes explicit emphasis on constructive dialogue. 
  • In summer and early fall 2025, student-facing personnel and School leadership at Harvard Chan School of Public Health participated in intensive workshops from outside experts on combatting antisemitism and anti-Islamic bias. One session was led by Project Shema and the other was led by ING (Islamic Networks Group), organizations that respectively are focused on addressing contemporary antisemitism and promoting better understanding of Muslims. Participants included senior representatives from multiple academic departments, Human Relations, the Office for Student Affairs, the Office for Student Services, the Office for Community and Belonging, the Office of Communications, the Office for Career and Professional Development, the Office for Development and Alumni Relations, the Office for Faculty Affairs, and the Dean’s Office, among others. 
  • The Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has revised its staff orientation to affirm its commitment to model bridge-building, civil discourse, and constructive engagement with others of different backgrounds/views.