Tercentenary Theatre, Cambridge, Mass., August 29, 2017, Drew Gilpin Faust Welcome, Class of 2021. I was pleased to meet many of you at Visitas, and I am delighted that 1,702 of you have decided that this is where you would like to spend your next four years. We greet you as the present and the…
Letter to President Trump regarding DACA
Dear Mr. President: I write to express my deep concern about reports that the Administration is considering whether to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and to urge you to continue it as it currently exists. I also urge your Administration to vigorously defend DACA in the federal courts should its validity…
Welcoming remarks to the incoming class of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, Mass., August 25, 2017 As delivered. Thank you, Garth, for that very kind introduction. It is a great pleasure for me to stand here and welcome you all to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and every year as I do this I have a flashback to my beginning of graduate…
Statement on events in Charlottesville
“The recent events in Charlottesville have been deeply distressing. The abhorrent hatred, racism, and violence carried out by neo-Nazi, KKK, and other white supremacist groups deserve our strongest condemnation. Such actions are anathema to the values of our society and to the principles of our university community. Our deepest sympathies and condolences are with all…
Future Plans
I write today to let you know that at the end of the coming academic year, I will conclude my service as president. On June 30, 2018, I will complete my eleventh year, and the Harvard Campaign will reach its conclusion. It will be the right time for the transition to Harvard’s next chapter, led…
A message from Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow William F. Lee Regarding President Drew Faust
Dear Members of the Harvard Community, By now you have likely read President Faust’s message announcing her intention to step down as president at the end of the next academic year. My fellow Corporation members and I greeted this news with a number of emotions, the strongest of which was gratitude: for her wisdom, her vision, her…
2017 Commencement Speech
Tercentenary Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., May 25, 2017 As delivered. Good afternoon. My remarks at this moment in our Commencement rituals are officially titled a “Report to the Alumni.” The first time I delivered them, in 2008, I was the only obstacle between all of you and J.K. Rowling. I looked out on a…
2017 Remarks at ROTC Commissioning Ceremony
Tercentenary Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., May 24, 2017 As delivered. Gen. Hyten. Capt. Horten. Lt. Col. Ott. Commissionees. Good morning, everyone. I offer my congratulations on behalf of the University to these six about-to-be commissioned officers. These men and women have not just done all that was required of them to earn their Harvard…
2017 Baccalaureate Service: “The Art of Noticing”
Memorial Church, Cambridge, Mass., May 23, 2017 Greetings, Harvard College Class of 2017. What a privilege it is to pause with you for a moment, during this frenzy of Commencement week, as you prepare to join the company of educated persons. I can imagine you are wondering to what we owe this strange honor —…
“Making Its Own Forms”: Remarks at the bicentennial of the Harvard Divinity School
As delivered. Thank you, David. It is wonderful to be with all of you today to mark the bicentennial of Harvard Divinity School. Like the best birthday parties, this one has been going on for many months, celebrating the work that has engaged this remarkable school for 200 years — from its beginnings as the…