Harvard Law School Names Monica Monroe as Dean of Students After Interim Tenure

Harvard Law School appointed Monica E. Monroe as its dean of students on Wednesday morning, according to an email sent to HLS affiliates.

Monroe, who has served as interim dean of students since last August, will also continue to oversee the Office of Community Engagement, Equity, and Belonging as associate dean — a position she has held since February 2022.

Monroe wrote in a statement to The Crimson that her primary goal is “to provide a supportive educational environment for all students while continuing to help foster a collegial and collaborative law school community.”

In her permanent role, Monroe will oversee student advising, student organizations and journals, and foster belonging on campus “particularly among individuals with different backgrounds, lived experiences, and perspectives,” according to the email.

The appointment follows an August announcement by HLS Dean John C.P. Goldberg and Dean for Student Services Catherine Peshkin to merge the Office of Community Engagement, Equity, and Belonging with the Dean of Students Office as part of a broader restructuring of student services.

Before joining HLS, Monroe served as the assistant dean of students at her alma mater George Washington Law School and associate dean of equity and inclusion at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Monroe succeeds Stephen L. Ball ’10, who left the role over the summer to return to the private sector, according to the August email. Ball, the first Black man to serve as dean of students at HLS, had held the position since March 2022 after leaving his role as senior vice president at Wells Fargo.

Goldberg and Peshkin praised Monroe’s “commitment, sincerity, and humanity” in her work in the combined office.

“Monica has been a treasured mentor, cheerleader, and voice for countless students,” they wrote on Wednesday.

Ball declined to comment on what led up to his departure in August when reached by phone Wednesday but described 2022 to 2025 as a “historic time” to serve as dean of students.

During Ball’s tenure, he and Monroe jointly issued several emails clarifying restrictions on the use of Haas Lounge, a student space that has historically been a hotbed for protests.

In March, the pair warned students that participation in “unpermitted activities” in the lounge could result in penalties, characterizing the email as a “reminder” that the space was unavailable for group event reservations. (The email was sent roughly one hour before students were scheduled to protest U.S. President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.)

A similar email sent by the two in September 2024 prompted organizers of “DisOrientation,” an event co-sponsored by unrecognized pro-Palestine student groups, to change its event location after administrators clarified that events could not “preclude or interfere with the normal use of the Lounge as a place for personal or small-groups study and conversation.”

Ball also became involved in several disputes with student leaders. Last April, he condemned two mass emails encouraging students to falsify their racial and sexual identities on applications to the Harvard Law Review.

“It challenged me and forced me to grow in ways that I never would have imagined,” Ball said regarding his time in the role.

Monroe assumes the position amid broader changes to administrative structures at Harvard.

Harvard — alongside several of its graduate schools — has scaled back its diversity programming, including renaming its central Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging to “Community and Campus Life” in April 2025.

But at HLS, the name of the Office of Community Engagement, Equity, and Belonging has remained the same throughout Monroe’s leadership.

Ball said Monroe is entering the role during “extraordinarily complex times in the world of higher education.”

“It’s been a really tough time to be an administrator,” he added.

—Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham.

—Staff writer Sierra R. Pape can be reached at [email protected].