From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard Medical School faculty offered diverging assessments of the school’s revised mission statement, with several professors welcoming a tighter focus on patient care and research while others said the rewrite stripped out language central to the practice of medicine. HMS dean George Q. Daley ’82 unveiled the new statement on April 9, defending it as a “leaner” articulation of the school’s purpose. The previous version opened with a pledge to “nurture a diverse, inclusive community dedicated to alleviating suffering.”
The revised statement removes that language and centers the school’s work on improving “health and wellbeing,” with the diversity commitment relocated to a separate community values statement that affirms HMS as “a diverse and inclusive community.”
Several faculty members said the revision was an improvement... HMS professors Hao Wu and Joseph P. Newhouse offered similar assessments. Wu wrote that the previous statement “sounded a bit sad,” while Newhouse called the revision “appropriate.” ... Other faculty were sharply critical... David S. Jones, a professor of the culture of medicine at HMS... questioned whether political pressure had driven the revision... Christophe O. Benoist, a professor of immunohematology, said he understood the criticism but saw the changes as a strategic concession... Stephen Lory, a retired microbiology professor, said the revisions would not change the day-to-day work of the school’s labs...
Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/27/hms-mission-faculty-reactions/.
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