At the start of the academic year in September, no one could have predicted the devastating events and challenges abroad and in our own backyard. From students to alumni to staff—indeed, everyone in our orbit—this has been a challenging time in myriad ways. Our focus continues to be on students, to ensure that they have the resources they need to navigate this moment. This includes a recommitment to the values that enable the effective discourse so necessary to our shared academic work and to the work of intellectual leadership our students will undertake in the future.
The year ahead holds great promise. We look forward to our annual Harvard Horizons Symposium taking place on April 9 at Sanders Theatre. Selected by the Harvard Horizons Faculty Fellows, the research projects of this year’s eight scholars include the effects of maternal incarceration on early childhood well-being, environmental contamination, and workplace fatigue. I hope you will join me in celebrating these accomplished students either in person or via live stream later this spring.
More than ever, effective advising, including resources leveraged by these scholars, is essential to our students’ success at Harvard and beyond. Our ongoing work to elevate that critical aspect of the student academic experience with the findings of the Report of the GSAS Admissions and Graduate Education (GAGE) Working Group continues through the year. Efforts will include a competitive increase in our financial aid package beginning in the next academic year. I invite you to campus to connect and witness firsthand the exceptional work happening here every day; there are many opportunities to join me in Cambridge.
—Emma Dench, Dean of Harvard Griffin GSAS
