Harvard University’s Division of Continuing Education offers a fully online Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Leadership Graduate Certificate for $13,760.

According to the program’s website, the next term begins in Spring 2026. To complete the certificate, participants must take one course from each of the following four categories: history and context, core, leadership principles, and applied learning.

One course offered under the history category is “Riots, Strikes, and Conspiracies in American History,” while the leadership category includes options like “Gender, Leadership, and Management.”

“With a graduate certificate in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Leadership, you can become a powerful voice for strategic change within your organization. You will gain critical knowledge and skills to address bias and marginalization and to foster an inclusive corporate culture,” the program’s website states.

The website notes that, among other outcomes, coursework will help participants develop a strong understanding of history, bias, and power and privilege in the workplace; identify the opportunities and challenges of building diverse, inclusive, and equitable initiatives and policies; and learn to facilitate productive conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Harvard’s Legal Battle With Trump Administration Highlights DEI Tensions

Harvard has clashed with the Trump administration this year, with much of the controversy centered on DEI efforts. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has been working to dismantle DEI initiatives across federal agencies, private companies, and educational institutions nationwide.

Trump previously issued a two-week deadline requiring schools and universities to end the use of “racial preferences” in admissions, financial aid, and hiring — or risk losing federal funding.

Harvard, however, made it clear that it would not change its DEI efforts. In response, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding to the university, prompting Harvard to file a lawsuit.

Harvard University President Alan Garber announced the lawsuit in a letter published on the university’s website on Monday, April 21, 2025, saying the administration’s demands violate the First Amendment, disregard federal law, and jeopardize life-saving medical research.

AFROTECH™ noted that over 80 Harvard professors pledged to donate 10% of their salaries to the university for up to a year to make up for the lost funding — an effort totaling over $2 million in support, per The Harvard Crimson.

In a September ruling, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs declared the Trump administration’s funding freeze unconstitutional, per AFROTECH™.

“Their actions have jeopardized decades of research and the welfare of all those who could stand to benefit from that research, as well as reflect a disregard for the rights protected by the Constitution and federal statutes,” Burroughs wrote. The White House said it plans to appeal the decision.

Harvard Rebrands DEI Office

Also in response to the Trump administration’s actions to end DEI, Sherri A. Charleston — formerly Harvard’s chief diversity officer and now the university’s chief community and campus life officer — shared in an email on April 28 that the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging was renamed the Office of Community and Campus Life.

According to The Harvard Crimson, Charleston justified the change with a 2024 campus-wide Pulse Survey, citing that many students, faculty, and staff reported a strong sense of belonging.

“In the weeks and months ahead, we will take steps to make this change concrete and to work with all of Harvard’s schools and units to implement these vital objectives, including shared efforts to reexamine and reshape the missions and programs of offices across the university,” Charleston wrote, as The Harvard Crimson reported.