• Harvard celebrates our 10 Rhodes Scholars for their academic achievements. Harvard is proud to have the highest total number of Rhodes Scholars of any institution and recognizes Leverett House who alone recorded three Rhodes Scholars (a total higher than any other school).
• Six Harvard College students were recognized as Marshall Scholars for their achievements.
• 48 students were elected to Phi Beta Kappa “senior 48.”

• Harvard College launched a new prize to inspire students to reflect on the transformational nature of their Gen Ed learning experiences.
• Students were invited to the inaugural class of Rising Scholars, a year-long program offered to an invited cohort of academically ambitious incoming undergraduates.
• Six new, dedicated preconcentration advisors were appointed to the Advising Programs Office to work with first-year students from pre-orientation through concentration declaration.
• During the fall semester, we piloted a new testing center to support students with exam accommodations. In Spring 2024, all FAS departments who administer term-time exams can opt-in to use the testing center.
• We transitioned FAS course registration to a new registration system to provide students with an earlier period to register for courses, more flexibility to adjust class schedules, and the ability to set their class schedules ahead of time and therefore be more thoughtful in their planning.

• Harvard announced new launch grants to propel students into their post-Harvard opportunities.
• We created an Incoming Student Checklist in my.harvard to onboard incoming students to the College and make it easier for new students to meet required summer deadlines.
• For the first time, the College offered meals to students who stayed on campus for the winter break to eliminate isolation that students typically experience during the break because they could share their meals together.
• Harvard also celebrated the next phase of house renewal at Adams House and the design phase at Eliot House.

The College also took the next steps in Intellectual Vitality and hosted a conference facilitated by PEN America. Following the conference kick-off, the College has hosted more events designed to foster intellectual vitality among students, faculty, and staff in and out of the classroom.

• As the semester began, more than 1,200 volunteers and 74 community partners participated in the Global Day of Service.
• The Center for Public Service and Engaged Scholarship launched the Stad Fellowship program with an event featuring U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego. Stad Fellows complete internships in public service working with elected officials.
• A record-high number of applications were received for the Winternship program, and a record high 10% of the incoming first-year Class of 2027 applied to the SPARK program to lead public service projects in their hometowns.
• The College welcomed Ruby Bridges to campus to celebrate her lifetime of civil rights work.

We welcomed five new women head coaches in Athletics leading the women’s teams in crew, swimming and diving, Nordic skiing, ice hockey, and softball.

We announced new Faculty Deans for Eliot House who will begin this summer after the current deans announced they will step down at the end of the semester.

Camila Nardozzi was introduced as the inaugural Director of Intellectual Vitality Initiatives, advancing the work started at the College two years ago to promote inquiry, dialogue, and productive disagreement through skill-building, best practice sharing, and modeling in the residential and learning communities. There are also 12 Fellows in Values appointed to promote intellectual vitality in the Houses.

Chris Scanlon was hired as the inaugural Director of Leaves overseeing the development, implementation, and operation of a transparent, hands-on transition program that supports students as they depart the College and return under the leave of absence policy and as a resource and clearinghouse for all policies, procedures, deadlines, communications, and requirements related to leaves of absence for undergraduates.

Abi France-Kelly was hired as the inaugural Associate Dean of College Housing to create a vision for the future of the College residential system and to develop a strategy to achieve that vision with a focus on meeting the residential needs of our community by working to expand capacity and accessibility, by addressing year-round housing and dining needs, and by helping students to achieve the transformative educational and residential program that is distinctive at Harvard College.

We celebrated Claudia Goldin for her selection as the Nobel Prize winner in economics, the first woman to be selected for the honor solo.

Imani Perry and Jason Buenrostro were selected for MacArthur “genius” grants in recognition for their contributions to their fields of study.

Professor Eric Beerbohm (also Faculty Dean of Quincy House) was named special advisor on Civil Discourse to FAS Dean Hopi Hoekstra.

Josefine Hasbo (women’s soccer) was named a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist. She was a first-team All-American, first-team All-Ivy selection, the Ivy tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and Ivy tourney champion. She also represented her country and the program in the World Cup.

Harvard Football’s Tyler Neville was selected for the New England Football Writers Jerry Nason Award.

Harvard Baseball’s Brice Austin is taking a gap year to work with Formula 1 racing.

Harvard Football Coaches Tim Murphy and Thor Griffith were honored as the Coach-of-the-Year and Defensive-Player-of-the-Year from the Gridiron Club of Boston.

Team Champions 

• Women’s Cross Country (Ivy)
• Field Hockey (Ivy regular season, tournament)
• Football (Ivy)
• Women’s Rugby (NIRA – national championship)
• Women’s Soccer (Ivy tournament)
• Men’s Water Polo (NWPC regular season) 

Ivy League Individual Champions 

• Maia Ramsden – Women’s Cross Country
• Graham Blanks – Men’s Cross Country 

National Tournament Appearances

• Men’s Cross Country
• Women’s Cross Country
• Field Hockey

NCAA Regional Individual Champion

• Maia Ramsden – Women’s Cross Country 

NCAA National Individual Champion

• Graham Blanks – Men’s Cross Country

NCAA indoor 5000m all-time record

• Graham Blanks, 13:03.78 (previous record in 2012)

12 student artists were awarded Artist Development Fellowships in spring 2023 by the Faculty Council on the Arts to undertake projects in music, drama, visual art, dance and creative writing.

The Office for the Arts established two new funding opportunities to support Arts in the Houses: OFA Faculty Deans Arts Fund and OFA House Arts Fund for Students.

The OFA started a new pilot program to enhance Art in House life through an array of courses and workshops in nine Houses, as well via the First-Year Experience.

The Office for the Arts offered a broad range of cocurricular dance classes during the fall of 2023. Among the diverse array of offerings were classes in Ballet, Hip Hop, Contemporary Dance, Soca Fusion, West African Dance, Kathak, and Bharatanatyam. All of these weekly classes were offered free of charge to undergraduates. Another highlight was the Dance Peer Mentorship Program, which pairs 1st and 2nd-year students with 3rd and 4th-year students for peer exchange. In addition, the OFA Dance program presented an assortment of workshops featuring professional dance artists from Greater Boston and beyond. Among these were: 

• Infinite Possibilities: Back 2 Skool, which featured renowned dance artists and entrepreneurs from Montreal, Los Angeles, New York City/D.C., and Boston who shared their life’s work and personal testimonies of living, creating, and activating within freestyle dance. The workshop was led by Montreal-based popping innovator HYA aka MonstaPop, was followed by a panel discussion, and closed with a mixer and vibes featuring a live DJ.
• The Dance program also presented a Workshop & Conversation with Sekou McMiller. Sekou’s "Afro Latin Jazz and Soul Experience" takes a rhythmical journey through the African American, Afro Latino and other African cultures looking at varying similarities, past intersections and exploring new and exciting fusions. Deeply rooted in the Caribbean dance and music culture (Salsa/Mambo, Cha-cha- cha, Rumba, etc...) while blending with African American Jazz, African modern dance as well as other traditional and social dances from West Africa, the Caribbean and the US.

The OFA’s Ceramics Program set historic highs for undergraduate enrollment in the fall of 2023. Indeed, College enrollment in classes and workshops is expected to near 300 this year. The program’s offerings spanned a broad range, from beginning-level wheel throwing and sculpture classes to advanced-level classes in 3D ceramic printing and atmospheric firing in wood and soda kilns. The studio engaged all levels of students in a safe and supportive environment, providing the highest level of instruction and access to equipment and materials. Fall 2023 highlights included: 

• The Winter Show and Sale, an annual staple in the Office for the Arts scene, featured more than 75 artists from the Ceramics Program. Each artist, including many undergraduates, presented an extraordinary selection of ceramic work in this sale, from functional dinnerware to sculptural masterpieces to ceramic ornaments and jewelry. 
• In this one-day workshop, Lisa Orr demonstrated her processes for making bowls, a teapot, a mug, her signature butter dish, and a lacy, stained-glass-slip-supported salt cellar. Lisa is an admirer of bisque molded pottery through the ages, and workshop participants had the opportunity to make their own relief sprig positive and catch-all using Lisa’s molds.

The OFA’s theater staff continued to support a rich array of College Theater productions throughout the fall semester. These included performances at Agassiz Theatre and in the Houses. For each show, the OFA provided design and technical production assistance, as well as artistic counsel and, in some instances, visits with guest artists. A few highlights among many were:

• Footloose, a collaboration between the Asian Student Arts Project (ASAP) and ¡TEATRO!, centered pan-Asian and Latine identities. The production investigated Ren's diasporic journey and themes of intergenerational trauma presented in Bomont's familial community.
• White House Princess, an original musical comedy written and composed by Harvard seniors Maureen Clare and Charlotte Daniels, premiered at the Agassiz Theater in October 2023. The show was mentored by the OFA’s professional staff, and it played to packed houses every night of the run.
• In addition, a keynote conversation with playwright aziza barnes kicked off the annual Black Playwrights Festival, organized by Harvard BlackCAST and the Office for the Arts. barnes' play BLKS won the 2020 Antonyo Award for Best Play and nominated for a 2020 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play.

The many orchestras and choruses affiliated with the OFA had a prolific fall. Harvard’s vast and varied music scene offered multiple opportunities for students in both the curricular and co-curricular realms. The Office for the Arts oversaw and supported several professionally led instrumental and choral ensembles, including the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, Harvard Choruses, Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, Jazz Bands, the Jazz Combo Initiative and others; plus student-led ensembles including the Bach Society Orchestra and River Charles Ensemble. Students also led a range of music groups and appreciation societies, from Early Music to a cappella, plus rock/R&B, hip-hop and electronica, as well as ensembles that perform the music of ethnic cultures worldwide. Highlights included:

• Harvard Choruses and Cambridge Common Voices presented Comfort and Joy: A Community Choral Concert, a program of traditional carols and motets, popular songs and jazz standards. Over 200 singers participated and included an audience singalong.
• The lights of Sanders Theater illuminated the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) on the evening of Nov. 11 for the semester finale of the orchestra’s 216th season. Under the direction of music director Federico Cortese, the program featured a myriad of student artists, such as assistant conductors Isaac A. Newman ’25 and Yizhe Sun ’25, and violin soloist Paloma So ’27, highlighting the invaluable role student artists play in the college’s art scene. (excerpt from Erlisa Demneri’s article in The Harvard Crimson).

The Office for the Arts at Harvard ArtsBites program invited undergraduates to enjoy an informal lunch and conversation with writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, the Norton Lecture Series speaker for 2023-24 at the Mahindra Humanities Center. Nguyen discussed the topics of identity, writing and family life – and its impact on artists. A second ArtsBites featured Connie C. Chin ‘79, co-founder of the Harvard/Radcliffe Modern Dance Company, former professional dancer, and currently CEO of Global Arts Live and 585 Arts. In this student-led conversation, Chinspoke about her multifaceted career - from dancing in New York City with notable choreographers such as Bill T. Jones and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, to an MBA and work in the corporate sector, to now leading a major presenting organization for the performing arts in Boston.

The OFA launched the first semester for the inaugural OFA Artist-in-Residence at Cabot House: novelist, playwright and theater artist Aislinn Brophy ’17. Brophy is embedded in House life and is holding writing sessions as well as advising on theater events. She has also done several readings from her YA novel How to Succeed in Witchcraft.

Drummer, composer, producer, educator and justice advocate Terri Lyne Carrington received the Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Award November 27 at Paine Hall at Harvard University. The free event was produced by the Office for the Arts in partnership with the Harvard University Department of Music. The event featured comments by Vijay Iyer, professor of music at Harvard, a performance by student musicians from the Harvard and Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, a Q&A with Carrington with singer Somi Kakoma, and the presentation of the award by Jack Megan, director of the Office for the Arts, and Carolyn Abbate, chair of Harvard University Department of Music.

The OFA hosted a screening of the Hulu special The Other Black Girl, and student-led conversation with the creative/writing/show-running team of alums: Rashida Jones ‘97, Jordan Reddout Wilhoit ‘10, Gus Hickey ’11 and Adam Fishbach ‘06.

Harvard writers contributed richly to the arts scene with creative reflections posted to the OFA Arts Blog. Here are a few examples:

• Connected to Artistic Lineage by Isabel Haro ‘24
• Heritage and Discovery in Berlin by Tamar Sella ‘25
• A House, A Family, A Village and Memory by Anne-Charlotte Gillard '25
• Getting Out of the Way of Art by Chase Melton '25