The University’s pace accelerates from summer’s relative somnolence to full-bore fall activity as students and faculty members return to Cambridge and Boston for the new academic year. Among highlights scheduled early in the fall semester are:
- Freshman Convocation, Harvard Yard, September 1, convening at 3 p.m., with expected remarks by President Drew Faust, Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean Michael D. Smith, Harvard College dean Rakesh Khurana, dean of freshmen Thomas Dingman, an undergraduate speaker, and the president of the Harvard Alumni Association;
- President Faust at Morning Prayers, Appleton Chapel in Memorial Church, September 2, 8:45 a.m.; in keeping with recent custom, the president begins the term;
- Dean Khurana at Morning Prayers, Appleton Chapel in Memorial Church, September 4, 8:45 a.m.; and
- “Managing the Impact of Climate Change,” a panel discussion, participants to be announced, Sanders Theatre, October 7, at 4 p.m.; in the run-up to the global climate conference in Paris, a successor panel to last April’s event, showcasing Harvard expertise.
Among the possible events, or those not yet formally scheduled, are:
- an opening of the year address by and forum with President Faust, who has previously held such campus events, often in the form of a conversation with an interlocutor, to brief the community on the year to come (read reports on the 2014, 2013, and 2010 forums);
- a status report on the $6.5-billion Harvard Campaign, which has recorded considerably more than $5 billion in gifts and pledges; and
- the annual fall report on investment results for the University endowment, overseen by Harvard Management Company.
During the term, look for news on:
- the release of the University’s findings in response to its administering of the Association of American Universities’ sexual-assault survey;
- further developments in the University’s reformulation of employee health-benefit programs—a subject surrounded by much controversy last year—with changes, if any, to be disclosed before the annual open-enrollment period begins in November; and
- continuing contract negotiations with the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers, whose members engage in essential work across the University.
On the construction front:
- Harvard and Cambridge continue their dialogue about the proposed renovations of the former Holyoke Center that will convert its lower-level spaces for more public use as the reconstituted Smith Campus Center takes shape; and
- with 2016 as the target date to begin constructing the new engineering and applied sciences facility in Allston, the University will presumably have to initiate the permitting and regulatory process soon, and thus unveil designs for the complex—the academic anchor for new Harvard development beyond the Business School.
The wildest of wild cards (subject to events presumably far beyond University control) would be a visit to campus by Xi Jinping, the powerful president of the People’s Republic of China—an appearance that could overshadow other fall programs. President Faust met with him when she was in Beijing on University business last March, and extended a standing invitation then. President Xi is scheduled to be in the United States during September, with a busy itinerary including a state visit at the White House with President Barack Obama and events in New York for the anniversary of the United Nations. (Beyond Faust’s formal invitation, of course, President Xi has a sentimental attachment to Harvard College, as a parent of a recent undergraduate.) Stay tuned…
Finally, the home football campaign begins at the Stadium, under the lights, September 26 at 7 p.m., against Brown.
