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2020: Students came together and approached then Dean Khurana to develop a plan for facilitating cultural change in the college, calling for renewed “Intellectual Vitality.”
Lamont Library displays Intellectual Vitality
In the Spring 2026 semester, the Intellectual Vitality Student Advisory Board and Lamont Library collaborated on an informational exhibit about Harvard’s Intellectual Vitality Initiative.
Located on the main staircase, second floor landing, the exhibit showcases Intellectual Vitality’s goals, the movement’s history at the College, and its impact on the community. Featured below is a digitized version of the exhibit.
Now on display
Intellectual Vitality’s exhibit at Lamont Library. Photo by Natasha Chamitoff '27.
What is Intellectual Vitality?
The Harvard College Intellectual Vitality Mission Statement describes a community-wide responsibility to uphold intellectual vitality and foster a “spirit of rigor, charity, and open exploration in classrooms, student organizations, and social interactions.” Ultimately, it confirms the necessity of testing core ideas to achieve growth in wisdom and understanding.
The hierarchy of needs
Intellectual Vitality envisions itself as part of a pyramidal relationship: a foundation of social trust and shared culture makes it possible for community members to cultivate intellectual virtues, which in turn facilitate productive civil discourse. Photo by Ari Kohn '26.
The mission features five key pillars for transformational discourse:
- A spirit of open and rigorous inquiry
- Recognizing the importance of giving and receiving criticism of ideas without extending these critiques to people themselves
- Engagement with and sincere consideration of competing views
- Cultivate in ourselves an attitude of humility, respect, and curiosity toward each other
- Strengthen our perspectives and reconsider foundational assumptions about the world, society, and our place in it
Institutional History of Intellectual Vitality
From 2020 through the present day, IV is committed to making a profound difference in the lives of those at Harvard. Scroll through its history:
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2021–2023: Senior survey data confirms student and faculty concerns that fewer than 30% of graduating seniors felt able to “be their authentic selves even with their closest peers” in all areas of the College experience.
Fall 2023: Camila Nardozzi is appointed Director of Intellectual Vitality and in collaboration with the Safra Center for Ethics, the initiative launches the Fellows in Values Engagement (FiVES) program in all residential communities.
Spring 2024: IV launches formal programming like the “Books Open, Gates Unbarred” (BOGU) series and begins a grant program for student, faculty, and staff proposals to encourage civil discourse across the college. Photo by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy.
Fall 2024: The Student Advisory Board is established and chaired by Ari Kohn ‘26 and Victoria Wilson ‘25. The Faculty Advisory Board is established and chaired by Norman E. Vuilleumier Professor of Philosophy Ned Hall. Photo by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy.
2025 – 2026: IV hosts discussion events on topics such as Harvard’s adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism; what is friendship; the limits of moral disagreement, and the definition of the good life.
Intellectual Vitality in Action
Throughout the academic year, Intellectual Vitality holds free events open to all members of the Harvard community to attend, and continues to feature new opportunities to engage.
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IV has become a foundational part of Visitas, sponsoring the years-long tradition of a debate between the Harvard Democrats and Harvard Republicans. Photo by Mae T. Weir of the Harvard Crimson.
In a new series called Berg Banter, IV hosts a productive argument about a hot topic during brain break on every Tuesday at Annenberg dining hall. Photo by Khaya Dryden-Peterson '29.
IV helps provide financial support to student organizations on campus already doing intellectually vital activities and projects.
In one much-loved IV event format, professors share their thoughts on a controversial topic before students continue the conversation with the faculty and each other over dinner.
As part of their Books Open, Gates Unbarred (BOGU) series, Intellectual Vitality invites thoughtful authors to present a recent book and open up to discussion and questions among attendees.
The Intellectual Vitality exhibit at Lamont Library remains on display until December 2026.
To stay updated on Intellectual Vitality at Harvard, follow them on Instagram, join their newsletter, and sign up for their listserv.
