As delivered. Thank you, Susan, for those generous words, and thanks to everyone for that generous welcome. Heartfelt congratulations to you, our graduates, and to your families for the hard work and many accomplishments that have brought you to this day. I am especially grateful to John Lewis for sharing his inspiring words and presence…
2018 Remarks at ROTC Commissioning Ceremony
TERCENTENARY THEATRE, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. Secretary Carter, Lt. Col. Godfrin, Lt. Col. Ott, Capt. Horten. Commissionees. Families and friends. Last January I received a mysterious package in the mail. I opened it to find a gift from a Marine Corps captain who had been commissioned here on this stage in 2010. Capt. Shawna Sinnott wrote to…
2018 Baccalaureate Service: “To Catch Fire and Light the World”
Memorial Church, Cambridge, Mass., May 22, 2018, Drew Gilpin Faust Greetings, Harvard College Class of 2018! And congratulations! What a privilege it is to be here with you today, in this hectic, joyous, scary, hopeful, and glorious week, as you prepare to pass through the gates into the company of educated persons. Four years ago,…
Remarks by Drew Gilpin Faust at the Close of The Harvard Campaign
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, Mass., April 14, 2018, Drew Gilpin Faust May Harvard be as wise as it is smart,as restless as it is proud,as bold as it is thoughtful,as new as it is old,as good as it is great. With these words, these five lines of fervent aspiration, we marked the public launch of this…
Harvard Kennedy School Campus Transformation Ribbon Cutting
Wexner Building, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Mass., December 1, 2017, Drew Gilpin Faust Thank you. That means so much to me. And it means so much to me to be here today with all of you to celebrate this extraordinary milestone for the university and for the Kennedy School. At a time when reasoned public…
“Liberty and Learning.” Remarks by Drew Faust at Your Harvard: Washington, D.C.
National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., November 13, 2017, Drew Gilpin Faust Thank you, T.K., for that very kind introduction. It is always such a pleasure to be with an energized group and such a large group of Harvard alumni. And it’s a special privilege to join with you tonight here…
“Getting Closer”: Remarks for the Bicentennial of Harvard Law School
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, Mass., October 26, 2017, Drew Gilpin Faust Thank you, Richard, and thank you for all the hard work that has gone into planning this extraordinary day and this extraordinary Bicentennial. What a pleasure it is to mark Harvard Law School’s 200th year. Thank you all for this deeply inspiring and meaningful celebration. As…
2017 Remarks at Morning Prayers
Appleton Chapel, Memorial Church, Cambridge, Mass., August 30, 2017, Drew Gilpin Faust Good morning. Before I begin my prepared remarks, I would like to ask all of us to take a moment to think about the people in Texas and now Louisiana. To take a moment to pray for them, silently, and to also think…
Freshman Convocation Address to the Class of 2021
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…
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…