Harvard Yard
'Harvard College' is the undergraduate section and oldest school of
Harvard University, founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts Legislature. The College is instructed by the
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which also instructs the
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In accordance with the American norm, the College remains the heart of the University, and people often confuse the two; therefore, see
Harvard University for more information relevant to life, academics, etc. at Harvard College. In 2006 ''
The New York Times'' wrote that "The most prestigious college in the world, of course, is Harvard, and the gap between it and every other university is often underestimated. Colleges that emphasize teaching may well offer a better education than Harvard. But it still exerts a pull on teenagers that is unmatched."
[1] The U.S. News & World Report ranking of colleges and universities describes the difference between Harvard and other top-ranked schools as "microscopically small."
[2]
History
The name ''Harvard College'' dates to
1638. In that year the ''New College,'' voted into theoretical existence two years earlier by the General Court of the colony, but still without a single building, teacher, or student, was named in honor of the deceased
John Harvard, a minister from nearby
Charlestown, who in his will had bequeathed to it his library and a sum of money. In the understanding of its members at the time, the name "Harvard College" probably referred to the first (as they foresaw it) of a number of colleges which would someday make up a university along the lines of
Oxford or
Cambridge. The American usage of the word ''
college'' had not yet developed: to the founders of Harvard, a college was an association of teachers and scholars for education, room, and board. Only a university could examine for and grant degrees; nonetheless, unhampered by this technicality, Harvard graduated its first students in
1642.
Lt Gov
William Stoughton circa
1700 overlooking one of the buildings of Harvard College, constituting the earliest known view of a Harvard building
But no further colleges were founded beside it; and as Harvard began to grant higher degrees in the late eighteenth century, people started to call it "Harvard University." "Harvard College" survived, nonetheless; in accordance with the newly-emerging American usage of the words, it was the undergraduate division of the university—which was not a collection of similar colleges, but a collection of unique schools, each teaching a different subject.
Harvard's principal governing board (which happens to be the oldest continuous
corporation in
The Americas) still goes by its original name of
"The President and Fellows of Harvard College" even though it has charge of the entire university and the "fellows" today are simply external trustees such as those who govern most American educational bodies—not residential educators like the
fellows of an
Oxbridge college. In current Harvard parlance, this governing board is frequently referred to simply as The Harvard Corporation.
Harvard College is considered to be one of the top undergraduate colleges in the
United States, and admission to it is highly desired. For the class of 2010, the College admitted 2,109 students out of 22,753 applicants for an overall admit rate of 9.3%. For the class of 2011, a record-setting 22,955 students applied and 2,058 were accepted, for a record low admit rate of 9%. Many traditions around the College exist, including the
superstitious belief that a person who touches the foot of the John Harvard statue during his campus visit is likely to be granted admission. Tour guides estimate that more than a thousand high school students touch the statue each year, the most popular location being the left foot. A few enterprising students kiss the statue, but this is generally not recommended since a popular undergraduate game is to urinate on that foot while drunk.
[3]
House system
Nearly all students at Harvard College live on campus. First-year students live in
dormitories in or near
Harvard Yard (see
List of Harvard dormitories). Upperclass students live mainly in a system of twelve residential "Houses", which serve as administrative units of the College as well as dormitories. Each house is presided over by a "Master"—a senior faculty member who is responsible for guiding the social life and community of the House—and a "
Resident Dean", who acts as
dean of the students in the House in its administrative role.
The House system was instituted by
Harvard president Abbott Lawrence Lowell in the 1930s, although the number of Houses, their demographics, and the methods by which students are assigned to particular Houses have all changed drastically since the founding of the system. Funds for the Houses were donated by
Edward Harkness, a
Yale graduate, who had previously failed to persuade Yale of its merits (though Yale later adopted a very similar "college" system). Lowell modeled it on the system of constituent
colleges of
Oxford and
Cambridge, and the Houses borrow terminology from Oxford and Cambridge such as
Junior Common Room (the set of undergraduates affiliated with a House) and
Senior Common Room (the Master, Resident Dean, and other faculty members, advisors, and graduate students associated with the House). Non-faculty members of the Senior Common Room of a House are given the title "Tutor" and aid the students with day-to-day questions and concerns.
Nine of the Houses are situated south of Harvard Yard, near the busy commercial district of
Harvard Square, along or close to the northern banks of the
Charles River, and so are known colloquially as the River Houses. These are:
★
Adams House, named for several alumni of that name, including U. S. President
John Adams;
★
Dunster House, named for Harvard's first President,
Henry Dunster;
★
Eliot House, named for Harvard President
Charles William Eliot;
★
Kirkland House, named for Harvard President
John Thornton Kirkland;
★
Leverett House, named for Harvard President
John Leverett;
★
Lowell House, said to be named for the Harvard-affiliated
Lowell family in general (but the most obvious reference is to Abbott Lawrence Lowell);
★
Mather House, named for Harvard President
Increase Mather;
★
Quincy House, named for Harvard President (and sometime mayor of
Boston)
Josiah Quincy III;
★
Winthrop House, more officially called ''John Winthrop House'', named for two famous men of that name:
Massachusetts Bay Colony founder
John Winthrop and his great-great-great-grandson
John Winthrop, 2nd Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy
The remainder of the residential Houses are located around
Harvard's Quadrangle (or "the Quad", formerly the "Radcliffe Quadrangle"), in a more
suburban residential neighborhood half a mile (800 m) northwest of Harvard Yard. These housed
Radcliffe College students until Radcliffe merged its residential system with Harvard. They are:
★
Cabot House, previously called ''South House'', renamed in 1983 for Harvard donors
Thomas Dudley Cabot and Virginia Cabot;
★
Currier House, named for Radcliffe alumna Audrey Bruce Currier;
★
Pforzheimer House, often called ''PfoHo'' for short, previously called ''North House'', renamed in 1995 for Harvard donors Carl and Carol Pforzheimer
There is a thirteenth House,
Dudley House [1], which is nonresidential but fulfills, for some graduate students and off-campus undergraduates (including members of the
Dudley Co-op) the same administrative and social functions as the residential Houses do for undergraduates who live on campus. It is named after
Thomas Dudley, who signed the charter of Harvard College when he was
Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Tentative plans have been proposed for expanding the House system using land owned by Harvard in
Allston, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from the River Houses. Suggestions include moving the Quadrangle Houses to Allston and building up to eight new Houses there. It has not yet been decided whether any of these proposals will be adopted.
Harvard's residential houses are paired with
Yale's residential colleges in sister relationships; see the
Harvard-Yale sister colleges article for more information.
Famous alumni
Architecture
★
Philip Johnson
★
Buckminster Fuller (expelled)
Baseball
★
Eddie Grant (baseball player) {Killed
World War I}
Business
★
Sumner Redstone
★
Bill Gates (did not graduate)
★
Steve Ballmer
★
William Randolph Hearst (expelled)
Fictional
★
Thurston Howell III
★
Charles Emerson Winchester III
Literature
★
James Agee
★
Wallace Stevens
★
T. S. Eliot
★
John Dos Passos
★
E. E. Cummings
★
William S. Burroughs
★
W. E. B. Du Bois
Performance Arts - Music, Theater & Film
★
Leonard Bernstein
★
Rivers Cuomo
★
Matt Damon (did not graduate)
★
Jack Lemmon
★
Hill Harper
★
Tommy Lee Jones
★
Conan O'Brien
★
Natalie Portman
★
Joshua Redman
★
Mira Sorvino
★
Michael Stern
★
Yo-Yo Ma
Philosophy
★
Henry David Thoreau
★
Ralph Waldo Emerson
★
George Santayana
Politics
★
John Hancock
★
John Adams
★
John Quincy Adams
★
Theodore Roosevelt
★
Franklin Roosevelt
★
John F. Kennedy
★
Edward M. Kennedy
★
Henry Kissinger
★
Al Gore
★
Elbridge Gerry
For more information, see
List of Harvard University people.
Core curriculum
Harvard requires all undergraduates to fulfill "the core," which requires students to take courses in 7 of 11 academic areas (such as Moral Reasoning and Social Analysis); each concentration exempts students from four. In 2006, Harvard announced it would change this policy, making the academic areas broader, although it is unclear how and when the system will change.
Concentrations
Majors at Harvard College are known as concentrations.
As of 2005, Harvard College offered 41 different concentrations:
Joint concentrations with a primary and secondary departmental focus are allowed by many departments provided the student can demonstrate how he/she intends to combine the subjects meaningfully. In April
2006, as part of a curricular review plan for College students, a Harvard faculty meeting approved for the first time the institution of secondary concentrations, known as
minors at most other schools.
Other special concentrations include the Mind/Brain/Behavior Interfaculty Initiative, a certification program in
Neurosciences run jointly by the departments of Anthropology, Biochemical Sciences, Biology, Computer Science, History of Science, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology. In 2005, Harvard College and the
New England Conservatory began offering a joint 5-year program for a combined Harvard
Bachelor's degree and NEC
Master of Arts.
Student organizations
Harvard has hundreds of student organizations. Every spring there is an "Arts First week", founded by
John Lithgow during which arts and culture organizations show off performances, cook meals, or present other work; in 2005 over 40% of students participated in at least one Arts First event. Notable organizations include the student-run business organization
Harvard Student Agencies, the daily newspaper ''The Harvard Crimson'', the humor magazine the ''Harvard Lampoon'', the a cappella groups the Din & Tonics and the Krokodiloes, and the public service umbrella organization the
Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA).
Media and campus publications
The ''Harvard Lampoon'' "castle" with its characteristic rooftop ibis and its purple and yellow door
★ ''The
Harvard Crimson'' is United States' second oldest daily college newspaper and is doordropped to student rooms.
★ ''
The Harvard Advocate'' is the oldest continuously published college literary magazine. Famous past members include
T.S. Eliot and
Theodore Roosevelt. Microsoft CEO
Steve Ballmer was once Business Manager.
★ The ''
Harvard International Review'', one of the most widely-distributed undergraduate journals in the world with 35,000 readers in more than 70 countries. The HIR regularly features prominent scholars and policymakers from around the globe.
★ ''The
Harvard Lampoon'', an undergraduate humor organization and publication founded in 1876 and rival to the Harvard Crimson. The magazine was originally modelled on the former British satirical periodical ''
Punch'', and has outlived it to become the world's oldest humor magazine.
Conan O'Brien was president of the ''Lampoon''. ''The
National Lampoon'' was founded as an offshoot in 1970.
★ Radio station
WHRB (95.3FM Cambridge), is run exclusively by Harvard students, and has purchased space on the Harvard campus in the basement of Pennypacker Hall, a freshman dorm. Known throughout the Boston metropolitan area for its classical, jazz, underground rock, blues, and hip-hop programming, and its seasonal "Orgy" format, where the entire catalog of a certain band, composer, or artist is played in sequence.
★ The ''
Harvard Interactive Media Group'' publishes a quarterly academic review devoted to
media studies and
video games.
★ The ''
Harvard Political Review'', a quarterly undergraduate publication of U.S. and international politics founded in 1969 by
Al Gore.
★ The ''
Harvard Asia Pacific Review'', a semi-annual journal on the Asia-Pacific region features articles written by academics such as
Ezra Vogel and
Larry Summers, polital leaders such as
Christopher Patten and
Jiang Zemin, and culutral figures such as
I.M. Pei and
Jackie Chan.
★ ''
The Harvard Independent'', an alternative weekly with news, sports, and features.
★
Harvard Radcliffe Television produces the world's oldest and longest running college soap opera, Ivory Tower
[2], and is the only television organization on campus.
Community service organizations
★
The Phillips Brooks House Association is an umbrella community service organization operating in Phillips Brooks House of
Harvard Yard, consists of 78 program committees and over 1,800 student volunteers, and serves close to 10,000 clients in the Cambridge and Boston area.
Political organizations
★ The
Harvard Institute of Politics, a non-partisan living memorial to President John F. Kennedy that promotes public service and provides political opportunities to undergraduates.
★ The
Harvard College Democrats, the largest partisan political group on campus.
★ The
Harvard Republican Club, one of the largest groups on campus and the nation's oldest college political group, founded in 1888.
★
Harvard Model Congress, the nation's oldest and largest congressional simulation conference, provides thousands of high school students from across the U.S. and abroad with the opportunity to experience American government first-hand.
★ The
Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations, the campus's major student group focusing on Asian politics and business.
Musical groups
A cappella groups
★
Harvard Krokodiloes, an all-male a cappella group, Harvard's oldest
★
Harvard LowKeys, mixed vocal, both male and female
★
Harvard Din & Tonics, an all-male a capella group founded in 1979
★
Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones, mixed vocal, both male and female
★
Harvard Callbacks, mixed vocal, both male and female
★
Harvard Opportunes, mixed vocal, both male and female
★
Radcliffe Pitches, all-female a cappella group founded in 1975
★
Fallen Angels, all-female
Choral groups
★
Harvard University Choir, the oldest university choir in the nation, formally established in 1834 but in existence since the eighteenth century, performs the oldest Christmas Carol Services in continuous existence in North America.
★
Harvard Glee Club, the oldest college chorus in America, founded in 1858.
★
Radcliffe Choral Society, founded in 1898, an all-women chorus.
★
The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum is a select mixed-voice choir formed in 1971 when Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges merged.
★
The Harvard Radcliffe Chorus is the largest mixed choir at Harvard University and has a diverse membership consisting of faculty members, staff, community members, and both undergraduate and graduate students. HRC was founded in 1979 and continues to perform twice a year as of 2005.
★
The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, is the largest multicultural organization in the College and focuses on the music and art of the black Diaspora.
Orchestras and bands
★
Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra, founded in 1808.
★
Harvard Bach Society Orchestra, founded in 1898 as "The Musical Club of Harvard University", is Harvard's chamber orchestra.
★
Harvard University Band, which plays at football games.
★
Harvard Pops Orchestra, known for their fun performances and innovative repertoire
★
Harvard Mozart Society Orchestra, founded in 1984 and performs often with
Robert Levin
Theater and dance
★
The Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club is an organization that connects smaller campus theater groups and supports all campus productions. The HRDC directly oversees productions within the Loeb Theater, which it shares with the nationally acclaimed
American Repertory Theatre. The HRDC also organizes seminars and workshops to connect students with professionals in the field.
★
Hasty Pudding Theatricals, known informally simply as The Pudding, is a theatrical student society at Harvard University, known for its burlesque musicals. They present original student-written and -composed musicals with near-professional production values. Formed in 1795 as a fraternity, the Pudding has performed a production every year since 1891, except during World Wars I and II. Each production is entirely student-written. Although the cast remains all-male (with female parts performed by actors in drag), women participate in the productions as members of the business staff, orchestra, and tech crew.
★
The Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players, founded in 1956 is an independent, nonprofit student theater group, dedicated to performing comic opera.
★
The Immediate Gratification Players (IGP) and
On Thin Ice (OTI), Harvard's two undergraduate improv troupes, are among the oldest collegiate
Improvisational comedy groups in the nation. Unlike many college troupes, both groups' constitutions require they present all campus shows free of charge.
★ Harvard blackC.A.S.T. (Community and Student Theater) is Harvard's theater group dedicated to black theatrical production and fostering a black theater community on campus. Past productions include ''Amen Corner'', ''Before it Hits Home'', and ''The Colored Museum.''
★ The Harvard-Radcliffe Dance Company
★ The Harvard Ballet Company
★
The Harvard Ballroom Team, one of the largest national collegiate ballroom teams
★ The Harvard Ballet Folklórico de Aztlán
★ The Harvard Intertribal Indian Dance Troupe performs Native American powwow dances.
★ The Harvard Pan-African Dance and Music Ensemble is dedicated to raising awareness of the depth and diversity of African expressive culture through the performance of dance and music from all over the continent.
★
The Harvard Crimson Dance Team
Academic organizations
★
Harvard College Stem Cell Society A student group dedicated to raising awareness about the ethics, politics, and science of stem cell research.
★
Women in Science at Harvard-Radcliffe
Athletics
According the university, Harvard is home to the largest Division I intercollegiate athletics program in the U.S., with 41 varsity teams and over 1,500 student-athletes.
[3] Harvard is one of eight members of the Ivy League, along with
Brown University,
Columbia University,
Cornell University,
Dartmouth College,
Princeton University,
The University of Pennsylvania, and
Yale University.
[4]
Harvard and Yale enjoy the oldest intercollegiate athletic rivalry in the United States, the
Harvard-Yale Regatta, dating back to 1852, when rowing crews from each institution first met on
Lake Winnipesaukee,
New Hampshire. Harvard won that contest by two boat lengths. Since 1859, the crews have met nearly every year (except during major wars). The race is typically held in early June in
New London,
Connecticut.
Better known is the
annual Harvard-Yale football game, known to insiders of both institutions as simply, "The Game." It was first played in
New Haven, Connecticut, in 1875. Harvard won the initial contest 4-0. In recent years, The Game is always played on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, making it one of many significant games played on "Rivalry Day."
Recent news
★ As of Sept 12th 2006, it was announced by the University that a change in policy regarding admissions deadlines would take place. Starting in 2007, the University will eliminate its
early action program and set a single application deadline of January 1st.
[5]
Sibley's Harvard Graduates
★ Harvard Librarian
John Langdon Sibley published 3 volumes of biographies of Harvard Graduates from 1873 to 1885 covering the Classes of 1642 to 1679 and left a posthumous fund to the
Massachusetts Historical Society to continute this project: Clifford K. Shipton published 14 volumes covering the Classes of 1690 to 1771 from 1933 to 1975; In 1999 the 18th volume was published covering the Classes of 1772 to 1774.
★ Begining with Class of 1820 Regular CLasses Reports were published.
External links
★
List of Harvard BA Graduates Class from 1642 to 1782
★
List of Harvard BA Graduates Class from 1783 to 1886
★
Harvard University
Notes
1. ''The New York Times'', ''The Week in Review: Harvard Ends Early Admissions and Guess Who Wins'', 17 September 2006
2. ''USA Today'', ''Does the Harvard brand matter anymore?'' 17 September 2006
3. ''Harvard Crimson'', ''The Truth About John Harvard'', 18 September 2006
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