Dear Harvard College Parents and Families,

I am writing to share a message we sent to our students this morning regarding Harvard College’s plans for the fall semester. The key points in that message are as follows:

• All fall courses will be held online for all students.
• In order to decrease the population of students living on campus and to ensure the safety of everyone in our community, we will only be welcoming two groups of students to campus this fall: first-year students who wish to live on campus and students from all years whose current environment is not conducive to learning for a variety of reasons. (More information can be found in the message linked to above.)
• Students, faculty, and staff who reside on campus this fall will be expected to adhere to the Residential Community Compact, which outlines protocols designed to protect the health and safety of our Harvard community, and our neighbors in Cambridge and Greater Boston.
• Fall semester courses will begin as scheduled on September 2. We will ask all students to depart campus prior to Thanksgiving, no later than Sunday, November 22.
• The number of students on campus in the spring will depend on national and local conditions.

I want to thank you for your patience as you waited to hear this decision. While some of you may be disappointed, please know that this decision was not made lightly. While many considerations led to this path forward, the guiding principle and highest priority now and always is the health and well-being of our students.

We will be gathering today at 3:00pm EDT for a panel discussion to provide you with more information about the fall semester. I hope you and your student will join us.

Thank you again for your patience and for your understanding. Especially in this challenging time, our students continue to give me great hope for the future of our nation and our world. I am so grateful for all that you are doing to help support them in their journey.

Warmly,

Rakesh Khurana Danoff
Dean of Harvard College