Referring to the final line of Harvard's 181-year-old alma mater as "non-inclusive," the Ivy League university's Presidential Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging has decided that the time has come to change the revered lyrics.
The school's official anthem, "Fair Harvard," which has been endorsed by the university since 1836, contains a line referencing Puritans -- the sect of Protestants from England who established the world-renowned academic institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1636.
Is 'Fair Harvard' unfair to minorities?
According to the Presidential Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging, the final stanza of the alma mater, "Be the herald of Light and the bearer of Love, Till the stock of the Puritans die," implies that the school's mission applies only to those of a specific ethnic group.
The Boston Globe reports that the co-chairwoman of the task force, Danielle S. Allen, is opening the door for students to submit a new line to replace the "offensive" one.
The competition was announced by Professor Allen on Wednesday, during the "Afternoon of Engagement on Inclusion and Belonging" held at the school's Sanders Theatre. The task force was created by university president Drew Faust last September to identify and remedy causes of academic and social "isolation."
But it's not just the verbiage of the Harvard anthem that the task force has an issue with -- it's also the performance.
Straight outta Cambridge
Allen's Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging is also appealing to the university to ditch the stodgy, traditional performance of "Fair Harvard," which is routinely played prior to sporting events and other school functions, and encourage the performance of the time-honored alma mater in an edgier format, such as rap or spoken word.
The task force's website assures the Harvard community that the new version of the alma mater isn't intended to replace the traditional school anthem, but would serve as an acceptable alternative.
"Let’s take old things that we admire, and have some fun with them," said Allen to the Boston Globe.
This isn't the first time Harvard amended the school anthem in order to make it more inclusive.
In 1998, a similar student competition was held in order to make "Fair Harvard" gender-inclusive. As a result, the words "thy sons to thy Jubilee throng" were changed to "we join in thy Jubilee throng."
The alma mater was composed in 1836 by Harvard alumnus Samuel Gilman.
