Harvard University provides caste as protected class for pupil staff

Harvard University has added caste as a protected class for all graduate and undergraduate pupil staff.
The historic addition marks Harvard as the primary Ivy League college to have caste fairness safety in its non-discrimination clause for unionised pupil staff. This resolution will influence greater than 4,900 pupil staff at Harvard and the encompassing Harvard neighborhood, Equity Labs stated in a press release.
With this addition, Harvard joins UC Davis, Colby College, Brandeis University, and a number of other different universities the place college students, school, and workers face caste-based discrimination, Equity Labs stated.
“Driven in partnership with caste-oppressed community members, this win is part of a larger national movement for caste equity that aims to protect caste-oppressed students, workers, and communities across the country,” it stated.

In a press release, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, govt director at Equality Labs, stated the braveness of the Harvard Graduate Student Union and the inter-caste and interfaith coalition of neighborhood and college students who helped make this win attainable is inspiring.
These leaders have labored tirelessly to make this win occur whereas additionally supporting college students experiencing caste discrimination, she stated.
“With the incredible support of Equality Labs as well as the Harvard Anti-Caste Coalition, the Harvard Graduate Students Union has become one of the first higher education labour unions to have secured protections against caste discrimination in a collective bargaining agreement,” stated Aparna Gopalan, Harvard Graduate Student Union Organizer.

“This also marks the first time Harvard or any Ivy League institution has officially decided to include caste as a protected category,” she stated.
Raj Muthu, a Dalit alumni of Harvard University, stated this win is a small however vital step in guaranteeing that there’s at the very least an avenue of recourse for college students like him who’ve skilled caste-based discrimination on the premier college and that the well-being of caste oppressed college students matter.
“From derogatory comments about the intellect of oppressed caste students, to proudly narrating their activism against affirmative action in India prior to their admission into Harvard to a complete cultural monopoly of South Asian/India celebrations, the deep sense of alienation, humiliation, and social exclusion I experienced made me constantly vigilant and worried about the consequences of being outed as a Dalit in Harvard’s South Asian circles,” Muthu stated.