It's incredible to think, after events of the past year, that we are preparing for a full return to campus in a few short weeks. At GSAS, we’ve been hard at work to make this happen, planning to reopen the GSAS Student Center, welcome a full complement of students in the residence halls, and ensure that our students have the resources they need to progress in their academic work. Yet even amid the excitement of gathering in person once again, I am mindful of the innovations in education, administration, and engagement fostered at GSAS during more than a year in the remote world and how they will shape our paths forward.
The flexibility offered by tools like Zoom and Teams enabled our staff to serve more students, some of whom may never have come physically to our offices. We launched the Scholarship Restart program, which provided researchers access to important Harvard Library materials and quiet spaces in which to do their work, while adhering to rigorous COVID-19 protocols. GSAS Student Center staff and fellows developed a robust calendar of virtual events to engage a student body around the world. And in the alumni space, our Alumni Relations team hosted a plethora of successful online events—including a “Future of” series and an expanded and well-attended Alumni Weekend—while working to connect alumni and students in new ways, such as through the Firsthand Advisers platform.
These initiatives brought alumni and students from around the world together with one another and with Harvard’s extraordinary resources in ways that simply would not have been possible to do in person. In the months ahead, we will employ these pandemic-year innovations to make GSAS community life more inclusive, enabling members to participate more actively regardless of where they live.
I know that COVID-19 continues to touch the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world. GSAS will continue to do all it can to support those in its community who have been affected—just as so many GSAS students and graduates do all they can to improve global health. As we anticipate with hope and relief a more “normal” year, we look forward to the day when people everywhere will be able to do the same.
—Emma Dench, Dean of Harvard Griffin GSAS
