Dear Harvard College students,

As we near the completion of the academic year, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all the people that have made our work possible and have made my first year as Dean so deeply fulfilling.

I am so thankful to the talented Harvard College staff for staying focused through uncertain and difficult times and for working so hard and so joyfully on behalf of undergraduate life. I am also grateful to the faculty who dedicate their time and energy to creating an excellent and deeply engaging academic experience. Finally, I want to thank you - the students - for being so welcoming and patient with me as I navigate this new role.

We should close this academic year with pride and optimism, because we accomplished a lot and the state of our campus is strong. The College will produce an annual report over the summer that tracks and reports our progress more systematically, but until then I want to highlight a few initiatives and accomplishments that this community should be especially proud of.

This year, Harvard College students earned eight Rhodes Scholarships, six Schwarzman Scholars, and four Marhsall Scholarships, among many other awards and recognitions, continuing our extremely strong academic performance. You can read more about these achievements and many more on the College News page here.

We also made several improvements to the Harvard College student experience. We brought hot breakfast sandwiches to the dining halls, made laundry free and improved the funding of the Student Activity Fee to make it fairer and more sustainable, raised more than $275,000 for house life through the Housing Day challenge, and provided expanded swipe access to faculty so they can join you for meals in the dining halls.

Harvard’s residential model is so important to the undergraduate experience. While we’ve taken on a generational effort to renew the houses, with Eliot now close to completion, my attention is increasingly turning to the first-year experience. We recently opened Annenberg Hall 24/7 during reading periods and exams to mirror the experience of house life, and I have noticed how full it’s been and how important it is to create spaces for students to connect, study, and thrive in their first year. I will be thinking a lot about this over the summer, and I would love to hear your ideas for how we can build community in the first year. Please use this link to share your reflections and feedback.

One of the great joys of being Dean is the opportunity to speak with so many members of our community about their experiences and hopes for Harvard College. This year I participated in more than 150 events and conversations with the Harvard community, ranging from panels in Sanders Theatre to open forums with students in the houses and dining halls and everything in between. Hearing regularly from you and from the broader Harvard community is an essential part of my job. I come away from these many conversations with a sense that Harvard College is healthy and thriving. The students I speak with are deeply engaged in intellectual and social life on campus.

Building a strong and supportive campus culture is a collective responsibility, and achieving it is a collective reward. I am so proud to be your Dean. Thank you for trusting me to steward the College through the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

I hope the summer brings you rest and relaxation, and perhaps some adventure. I shall eagerly await your return to campus as a student or an alum.

In partnership,

David

David J. Deming 
Danoff Dean of Harvard College