After earning degrees in nuclear engineering and political science from the University of Florida in 2013, Diego Garcia Blum took a job at a multinational corporation that engaged in uranium mining and enrichment, spent fuel recycling, and nuclear logistics. He also volunteered as a community organizer with the Human Rights Campaign, a major LGBTQ advocacy group.

It was the volunteer work — at a time when the United States was vigorously debating marriage equality — that spoke to Blum’s heart and led him to a career in community building. In 2019, he enrolled at Harvard University, where he chaired the LGBTQ Caucus and served as Student Body President while earning a master’s degree in public policy.

After graduating, Blum got the job offer of a lifetime: the chance to serve as the founding director of the Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program at Harvard’s Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights.

I spoke with Blum a few weeks ago to review the program’s accomplishments in its inaugural year. It turns out his engineering degree didn’t go to waste. Blum has run the program with clockwork precision, organizing training workshops and webinars, launching a research fellowship program, hosting informative podcast episodes and interviewing more than 2,000 activists in 170 countries around the world.

A Dream Job

“It’s my dream job,” Blum told me. “Academic institutions have such a pivotal role in helping LGBTQ activism grow. Studying activism, learning from its history, and making that accessible to people is something that a university like Harvard has never done before. And so it’s an incredible journey.”

It’s also a fraught time in higher education — and especially at Harvard. The Trump administration has threatened to cut off federal research dollars and to bar international students from attending the Ivy League school. In response, Harvard has filed suit, vowing to fight for academic freedom.

“It should raise alarm bells because this is what authoritarians do; they try to limit what academics can teach,” Blum explained.

“Stand with Harvard,” he added. “We’re in a difficult fight.”

Last week, Harvard rebranded its student DEI office, renaming it the Office of Culture and Community. And it took down — at least for now — websites for its women’s center, LGBTQ student life and intercultural affairs. Are these the first steps toward a settlement with the Trump administration? Or is the university standing down in the face of White House pressure? Time will tell.

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