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…
The Political Economy of Cost Control on a University Campus
The Clark Kerr Lecture, Delivered April 20, 2017, The University of California at Berkeley Introduction Few issues in higher education have commanded more attention in recent years than escalating costs. Indeed, it is hard to pick up a newspaper these days without reading about yet another increase in tuition (typically in excess of the rate…
Aftermath: War, Memory and History
Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam, March 23, 2017 As delivered. President Dat, Rector Sen, students, faculty, distinguished guests — thank you for your very warm welcome and your generous hospitality. For more than three decades before I became president of Harvard, I worked as a scholar and teacher of…
Statement on the passing of David Rockefeller
“David was a visionary leader, an extraordinary philanthropist, and a devoted friend,” said Harvard President Drew Faust. “His passion for Harvard was infectious, and his commitment to the arts, to experiential learning, and to increasing knowledge of other cultures has made a lasting impact on the University and the thousands of students and scholars who…
Killing a Program That Brings History to Life
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Sept. 17, 1862, was the bloodiest battle day in United States history. More Americans — some 3,600 — died as Northern and Southern armies clashed at the Battle of Antietam, in western Maryland, than on any other single day before or since, even more than on Sept. 11. One hundred and fifty years…
We Are All Harvard
Dear Members of the Harvard Community, Last Friday’s executive order imposing restrictions on travel to the United States has provoked uncertainty and escalating anxiety among many people in our own University and others. Although the situation remains in flux and doubt, I write to share information about resources available to students and faculty and to…