United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, March 24, 2016 As delivered. Thank you, Colonel Harper, and thank you, Lieutenant General Caslen, for inviting me today. And thank you to the Zengerle family for making this occasion possible. It is a great privilege to launch this series and I know it will have a…
Report of the Task Force on the Prevention of Sexual Assault
Dear Members of the Harvard Community, In April 2014, I convened a University-wide task force to develop recommendations to combat the serious problem of sexual assault affecting our students. Today, Harvard’s Task Force on the Prevention of Sexual Assault, led by Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and our former provost Steven E. Hyman,…
Incident at Harvard Law School
We join together as a university in deploring the defacing of portraits of African American faculty at the law school. Such acts of hatred are inimical to our most fundamental values and represent an assault on the mutual respect essential to our purposes as a community of learning and inquiry. Cambridge, Mass….
Statement: Our Harvard
September 1, 2022 Dear Members of the Harvard Community, Yesterday, a number of Harvard students gathered in support and solidarity with those at Yale, the University of Missouri, and elsewhere who have been calling for racial justice and full inclusion on their campuses. Across this University, from Longwood to Cambridge, members of our community have…
Statement on Harvard Global Institute
Dear Colleagues, Harvard University has been inherently global since its founding. Today, knowledge is increasingly shared across national boundaries, and challenges must be understood in their broadest geographic context. In order to fully participate in an ever more connected world, Harvard must leverage its extraordinary intellectual and programmatic strengths with a more intentional strategy of…
Remarks at U.S. Conference of Mayors
Roxbury Community College, October 7, 2015 As delivered. Good evening, and thank you for that introduction. I am delighted to be here tonight. I am an admirer of our host, President Roberson, who is working every day at Roxbury Community College to create pathways to opportunity for students from Greater Boston, most of them students…
Statement on the Results of the Sexual Conduct Survey
Dear Members of the Harvard Community, I write today about an issue that touches the lives of every one of us. The prevalence of sexual assault represents a deeply troubling problem for Harvard, for colleges and universities more broadly, and for our society at large. Sexual assault can devastate individuals as well as their families…
2015 Remarks at Morning Prayers
Appleton Chapel, Memorial Church, September 2, 2015 As delivered. Today, as we embark on this new academic year and as we welcome to campus individuals from a wide range of origins, backgrounds, locations, and circumstances, I would ask that we pause to recall and reaffirm our purposes and our opportunities. I often remark that for…
Statement on the passing of Harvard Corporation Member James Rothenberg
Jim was one of the best friends Harvard has ever had, and his selfless leadership, gentle wisdom, humane spirit, and boundless generosity in service of Harvard will live on always. The entire Harvard community deeply mourns his passing and extends deepest condolences to Anne and the Rothenberg family. We will miss Jim more than I…
Memorandum to President Faust from the Committee on the Oversight of Electronic Communications
President Faust in November of 2014 asked the Committee on the Oversight of Electronic Communications to consider certain issues raised by an attendance study conducted in 2014 by the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT). Please click here for a copy of the Committee’s memorandum….