Strategic Planning Update

HDS campus and Swartz Hall in autum

Swartz Hall on the HDS campus / Photo: Justin Knight

In the fall of 2024, Dean Marla Frederick initiated a collaborative process, working closely with faculty leaders, to develop the next strategic plan for Harvard Divinity School (HDS). This five-year strategic plan is intended to guide decision-making and financial stewardship for the future of HDS, a multifaith, pluralistic institution that has grown in both size and scope since its founding in 1816.

Through surveys, interviews, workshops, and open conversations, HDS working groups have been engaging with the community to collect information and insights over the past several months. This process has reflected a spirit of deep reflection, meaningful dialogue, and collective purpose. The School’s strategic plan—to be finalized at the end of this academic year—will help HDS meet the highest standards of academic excellence, ensuring that in this multi-religious space, students and scholars are able to research, write, teach, and learn about the most complicated matters of religion from diverse perspectives.

As part of this process and in alignment with a recommendation by the Association of Theological Schools issued in the spring of 2024, Dean Frederick assembled a Religion and Public Life (RPL) review committee comprised of highly regarded scholars from peer institutions to evaluate and provide recommendations in the following key areas:

In March of 2025, the RPL review committee received candid feedback from HDS faculty, staff, and students. The committee recommended substantial adjustments to the structure and programming of RPL. Specifically, two recommendations inspired changes that will be implemented in the next academic year. First, to pause the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative (RCPI) in order to rethink its focus and reimagine its future. Second, to better integrate the MRPL degree program into HDS. These changes coincide with long- and short-term budgetary issues related to RCPI’s loss of financial support and additional reductions to the School’s budget that will take effect next fiscal year. 

Further recommendations from the committee will help guide the leadership of Terrence L. Johnson, Charles G. Adams Professor of African American Religious Studies and Professor of African and African American Studies (FAS), who was appointed the new director of Religion and Public Life in September of 2024 and will assume the position on July 1, 2025.

“I am deeply grateful to our faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends, and the review committee for sharing their expertise, ideas, and aspirations throughout these planning processes. It is vital to pause and reflect on our programs and offerings to ensure that they reflect the rigorous intellectual standards of the University,” said Dean Frederick. “These efforts will help shape the future vision of HDS rooted in its mission to educate students of religion for thoughtful and ethical leadership, professional service, and ministry for many years to come.”