Harvard Abruptly Sacks Entire Slavery Remembrance Team, Refuses to Say Why

Harvard University has abruptly laid off the entire staff of its Harvard Slavery Remembrance Program (HSRP), the team working to identify the direct descendants of individuals enslaved by Harvard affiliates.

The work will be handed over by the university to American Ancestors, a genealogical nonprofit previously cooperating on project research as an external partner.

The decision, which took effect immediately on Thursday, was made without prior notice to employees. HSRP Director Richard J. Cellini and research fellow Wayne W. Tucker told The Harvard Crimson that employees were blindsided by the move, learning of their termination less than an hour after Cellini himself was informed.

The announcement follows a recent trip by HSRP researchers to Antigua and Barbuda, where they identified hundreds of individuals enslaved by Harvard affiliates between 1660 and 1815. The HSRP team had already identified over 300 individuals enslaved by Harvard affiliates and 100 living descendants.

The sudden disbanding of the team has raised concerns, particularly given past allegations by Cellini that Harvard administrators sought to limit the number of identified descendants. "Today Harvard fired me. So now we know," Cellini to the Crimson, referencing his September claim that the university faced a choice between dismissing him or allowing HSRP to continue its work without interference.

Harvard has declined to provide a reason for the layoffs.

The layoffs coincide with President Donald Trump's first week in office, where his administration has focused in part on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs with a wide-reaching executive order. Several major companies have already acquiesced, with META, Walmart, Target, Amazon and McDonald's announcing plans to scale back DEI initiatives. Educational institutions that receive federal funds—as Harvard does—are named in the order as well.

In a press release, University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. praised Cellini's contributions but emphasized that American Ancestors would now take over efforts to trace the enslaved and their descendants. "Now it is time for American Ancestors to take the lead in what will be a systematic, scholarly sustained effort," Gates said.