One year later, Harris took a job as a lecturer and the Associate Dean of Students at Howard University. In 1963 she ceased her role as Dean, but stayed on as a lecturer. Concurrently, from 1962–65, she worked with the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union. As her skills as an organizer bloomed, Harris also became increasingly involved in the Democratic Party. In 1963 she was elevated to a full professorship at Howard, and President John F. Kennedy appointed her co-chairman of the National Women's Committee for Civil Rights. Her co-chair was Mildred McAfee Horton.