April 2025

Three weeks ago, HDS announced it would “suspend” RCPI amidst budget cuts and accusations of one-sidedness. HDS also let go of Hilary Rantisi, a dedicated teacher, scholar, and mentor — and the only Palestinian American employed at HDS. In January, Diane L. Moore, the Associate Dean of the Religion and Public Life program at HDS — which houses RCPI — abruptly departed a semester before she was set to retire. One day later, RPL Assistant Dean Hussein Rashid announced his resignation, citing Islamophobia and Harvard’s interference in the RPL program.

In January, RPL Associate Dean Diane L. Moore and Assistant Dean for RPL Hussein Rashid departed unexpectedly. In a blistering resignation letter, Rashid accused Harvard of enabling anti-Muslim bias by failing to respond to “racist” and “false” statements against RPL by Harvard affiliates.

The RPL program has already seen significant leadership turnover in recent months. Its director, Diane L. Moore, announced her retirement in January, departing a semester earlier than originally planned.

And its assistant director, Hussein Rashid, announced plans to resign at the end of this year in a letter to affiliates that same month, in which he slammed Harvard for failing to respond to criticism of the program.