Dear Harvard College Students,

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. I look forward to the opportunity to take a break, spend time with my family, and reflect on what I am most grateful for.

Circumstances are different this year, of course, and it would be easy to look back on 2020 and focus only on the tragedies—more than a million lives lost to Covid-19, the killing of Black men and women by the police, and the fiercely divisive presidential race. While we can’t look away from the work ahead, I am trying to take solace this week in the many things I am thankful for.
 
I am enormously thankful for the many frontline workers who are keeping our communities running, here at Harvard and across the country. And I am grateful for the scientists and researchers who have been working to create a safe and effective vaccine since the early days of the pandemic. We are a global community sharing one planet, and our interdependency has perhaps never been clearer than it is now.

Above all, I am thankful for the way that our community has come together to help each other over the last nine months. Students across the globe are engaged in classes every day, learning together even while at a distance. Those of you who spent the fall on campus understood the importance of the guidelines put in place to keep us healthy, and I cannot tell you how thankful I am for your compliance. I know that it has been difficult to stay engaged over Zoom, to be apart from your friends and professors, and to weather the many stresses of these past months. But I believe there is light shining at the end of this tunnel, and I believe this community is resilient. I am looking forward to the day when we can come back together.
 
The pandemic has also given me a chance to reflect on my gratitude for some of the small pleasures in life, such as taking a moment out of my day to water the plants, or going for a short walk to give my eyes a rest from the endless stream of Zoom meetings. I’m more conscious than ever of the pleasure I take in chance encounters with a friend or neighbor, even from a distance and through a mask. I hope that wherever you are this semester and during the holidays, you have been able to find joy in your daily routines as well. 

I wish you and your loved ones a safe, peaceful, and restorative Thanksgiving.

Semper veritas,
 
Rakesh Khurana
Danoff Dean of Harvard College