Dear Harvard College Parents and Families,

Thank you to all of you who took time out of your day yesterday to join me along with Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh, Dean of Students Katie O'Dair, and Registrar/Co-Director of Harvard College Emergency Management Mike Burke for a discussion on our planning process for the fall semester. It was a great opportunity to share some of the challenges we are confronting, while addressing questions that students submitted to us. But yesterday was only one part of our continued engagement throughout this process.

In the message below which will be shared with students today, we ask for their ideas and creative solutions for the fall. We hope that you will click on the form provided and share your ideas as well. Your input is critical to helping us succeed during these unprecedented times.

Lastly, if you were unable to join yesterday, a link to the video of our discussion is also provided.

Thank you, and I look forward to our continuing work together throughout the summer and beyond.

Warmly,
Rakesh

Dear Harvard College Students,

Thank you to so many of you who attended our town hall yesterday afternoon. For those of you that were unable to join, you can view the recording of the event. As we shared yesterday, we miss our students on campus and are working to navigate the fall semester with our primary guiding principle which is the health and safety of our entire community. We are thinking of every aspect of academic, residential, and social life and working to ensure that Harvard College continues to be a vibrant place of learning, exploring, and transforming. We must work together to create opportunities for connection, whether remote or on-campus with new limitations.

We know the fall student experience will be different, and we need your engagement in a number of areas. The months ahead will require us all to work together - it is up to us to create a new, collective culture that understands and leans into the challenges we face. There are many complexities ahead, and we want to focus on how we can respond to them.

We must work to build a culture where physical distancing measures are respected and adhered to, because it is our shared responsibility and what our community requires to protect the health and wellbeing of all of its members. We want to hear from you about your ideas for how to create a culture that all students can support, and how to foster connections in a variety of ways. Please share your ideas and creative solutions in this form for ways to create a connected community and culture where we can all thrive.

We are working with students – the Undergraduate Council, House Committees, First-Year Social Committee, student organizations leaders, student interns, arts and public service group leaders on how we can engage in the fall. A number of College areas would like to hear from you as they plan:

• The Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations - harvfoun@fas.harvard.edu
• Harvard Serves Everywhere: Virtual Volunteering - publicservice@fas.harvard.edu
• The Student Organization Center at Hilles (SOCH) - soch@fas.harvard.edu
• The College Events Board and Student Engagement - studentengagement@fas.harvard.edu
• The BGLTQ Office - BGLTQ@fas.harvard.edu

Our community needs your energy, your ideas, and your leadership now more than ever. And as we continue this conversation together, we will continue to value our shared goals, our shared responsibilities, and our shared humanity.

Warmly,

Rakesh Khurana
Danoff Dean of Harvard College