News and Notes: Following email threat, Harvard dean says communication could have been better
Daily Princetonian StaffAfter racially charged death threats were emailed to several hundred Harvard affiliates in early October, the Dean of the College at Harvard Rakesh Khurana was critical of administrators for failing to communicate quickly and efficiently with faculty and students during the incident, according to the Harvard Crimson. An hour after acceptingresponsibility for the lack of communicationduring an interview with the Crimson, Khurana sent out an email to undergraduates that said administrators could do a better job of communicating with students in such situations. The email death threat that was sent out included a racial slur and disproportionately targeted women of Asian-American descent, the Crimson reported. In his email to students, Khurana called the threat “despicable” and said the emails, which directly targeted Asian and Asian-American students, created a campus environment of fear and anxiety. The Harvard University Police Department's investigationinto the source of the threat is still ongoing, although the Crimson reported that a spokesperson issued an advisory message saying the emails originated overseas and do not pose a credible threat to the campus. In the aftermath of the incident, students have gathered several times for community conversations to discuss the threat and associated communications.
