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Tracy K. Smith ’94 Named U.S. Poet Laureate
TRACY K. SMITH ’94 has been named the new U.S. Poet Laureate by the Library of Congress, succeeding Juan Felipe Herrera. While the role doesn’t carry many specific official duties, it has traditionally involved raising awareness of, and increasing access …
A Presidency’s End
Claudine Gay’s truncated 185-day term as Harvard’s thirtieth president came undone with astonishing speed from October 7—when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, setting this and other campuses aboil—through her resignation on January 2 (see …
Issue: March-April 2024
Lessons Learned
What has the University discovered about itself from its exposure to the coronavirus? It may seem premature to speculate just a few months after the campus community largely dispersed. Yet there are apparent contradictions, important to sort out, between …
Issue: July-August 2020
Off the Shelf
Why We Vote, by Owen M. Fiss, LL.B. ’64 (Oxford, $27.95). Yale’s Sterling Professor of Law emeritus argues that the commitment to democracy is embedded within the Constitution—and secured by citizens’ right to vote, have those votes counted equally, and …
Issue: May-June 2024
Heresy
The fall’s fiscal news— weak investment performance and leadership changes at Harvard Management Company ; the cautions in the University’s annual report —prompts a look at a heretical thought about Harvard’s business model. For some years, the treasurer …
Issue: January-February 2017
News Briefs
Putting the A(RT) in Allston On February 25 , the University announced that the $12.5-million ArtLab, an interdisciplinary art-making and performance space, was preparing to open, and that curator and arts professional Bree Edwards, formerly director of …
Issue: May-June 2019
“The Promise of This New Presidency”
Claudine Gay spent part of the last day of summer and the first day of the fall semester introducing herself to the community she has led since July 1—and in doing so, building a bridge to the aspirations she holds for the University during her …
Fishing for Answers
Photograph by Ralf-Finn Hestoft Neil Shubin and Tiktaalik In 2005, parents and school officials in Dover, Pennsylvania, were locked in a courtroom debate over a school-board mandate that intelligent design be presented as an alternative to evolution in …
Issue: May-June 2008
Brevia
Commencement Voices The Harvard Alumni Association’s guest speaker on Commencement afternoon, June 9, will be actor John A. Lithgow ’67 ( Third Rock from the Sun on television, M. Butterfly on Broadway), a former member of the Board of Overseers, a campus …
Issue: May-June 2005
Harvard University’s 372nd Commencement Exercises
Harvard University’s 372nd Commencement Exercises Thursday, May 25, 2023 commencement.harvard.edu Since 1642, when just nine students graduated, Harvard’s Commencement Exercises have brought together the community unlike any other tradition still …
Issue: March-April 2023
Thinking Archaically
Romolo Del Deo ’82 knew his sculpting career was going well. In his opinion, perhaps too well—unsustainably well. He was teaching at Harvard shortly after graduating himself, receiving grants, winning awards. The whole “system” of academic art seemed to …
Issue: January-February 2024
Harvard Health Benefits: The Administration Responds
In light of strong Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) opposition to the changes in Harvard health benefits for nonunion employees unveiled September 3 , President Drew Faust sent a long message to faculty members on the evening of November 13 (see text …
Divestment Slate Achieves Place on Overseer Ballot
The Harvard Forward (HF)-backed slate of petition candidates for Overseer has been certified for the ballot, following a tally by the Office of the Governing Boards (OGB). To qualify, the five petitioners each had to submit 2,936 valid nominating …
A Special Notice Regarding Commencement Day
Morning Exercises To accommodate the increasing number of people wishing to attend Harvard’s Commencement Exercises, the following guidelines are provided to facilitate admission into Tercentenary Theatre on Commencement Morning: • Degree candidates will …
Issue: March-April 2015
Creative Vulnerability and Childish Joy
Every Thursday evening of my first semester of medical school last fall, I commuted from Longwood to Cambridge for one of my favorite classes at Harvard. “ Skills for Singing ”—a non-credit, non-graded course for introductory singers—brings together …