March 25th Intellectual Vitality Event
Please join Harvard Alumni for Free Speech, the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard, and FAIR for a special online event (via Zoom).
Wednesday, 3/25/26, 1-2pm ET
Building a Culture of Dialogue: A Conversation with Harvard's Intellectual Vitality Initiative
Key members of the Harvard University and Harvard alumni community will discuss the initiative’s origins, guiding principles, and evolving impact, including ongoing efforts to strengthen intellectual diversity and open inquiry on campus.
Moderated by John Evangelakos, Director and President of Harvard Alumni for Free Speech (HAFFS). Panelists include:
Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard, Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at HKS, and Director of the Democratic Knowledge Project-Learn research lab at HGSE.
Edward J. Hall, Director of Undergraduate Studies at Harvard, Norman E. Vuilleumier Professor of Philosophy, and Co-President of Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard (CAFH).
Monica Harris HLS '91, Executive Director of Fair for All (FAIR) and author of The Illusion of Division.
Ari Kohn '26, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Intellectual Vitality Student Advisory Board.
Intellectual Vitality at Harvard
In the early 2020s, a group of Harvard College students came together to reflect on the importance of fostering a campus culture of respectful dialogue and mutual understanding — values essential not only for students, but for the broader Harvard community.
These conversations became the impetus for the Harvard College Intellectual Vitality initiative, an effort that calls upon members of the Harvard community to maintain a spirit of intellectual vitality by cultivating an attitude of humility, respect, and genuine curiosity toward each other and to learn from one another. Read the commitment here.
Since its founding, the Intellectual Vitality initiative has been integrated into many aspects of the Harvard experience, from Visitas programming, a first-year orientation module, Expos writing classes, Gen Ed courses, syllabus templates, and fellowships for tutors and proctors to programs with the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics and the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning.
Learn about the scope of work at the Intellectual Vitality website and join their mailing list for updates.