As a research university and nonprofit institution, Harvard University is focused on creating educational opportunities for people from many lived experiences. 

Recommendation IV of the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery (“H&LS”) states: “Recommendation 4: Identify, Engage, and Support Direct Descendants. We recommend that the University endeavor to identify the direct descendants of enslaved individuals who labored on Harvard’s campus and of those who were enslaved by Harvard leadership, faculty, or staff. The University’s acknowledgement of direct descendants’ lineage, through a Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Remembrance Program, is a vital step in its quest for truth, reconciliation, and repair.” 

“We further recommend that, in recognition of this lineage, the University engage with these descendants through dialogue, programming, information sharing, relationship building, and educational support. Through such efforts, these descendants can recover their histories, tell their stories, and pursue empowering knowledge.”

HNMCP has been engaged to map out the process for devising an ethical framework for the work unfolding under the University’s guidance, to identify stakeholders and vital elements of such a framework, to identify and assess any other resources relevant to this, and good steps to adopt and, as necessary, revise such a framework.