YES, we are ZOOMING on Thursday, April 18, 2024 @ 2:00 PM EASTERN TIME !!
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU PLAN TO PARTICIPATE AND I WILL SEND YOU THE LINK ON APRIL 16.
Ms. Ara Gershengorn, an attorney in Harvard’s Office of the General Counsel will speak to us about changes in Harvard’s admissions’ philosophy and process as a result of the July 29, 2023, U.S. Supreme Court decisions addressing the legality of race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions programs. I had asked William R. Fitzsimmons H’67, Harvard’s legendary Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid (since 1986), if he would provide us with someone to speak to us on this subject … and he asked Ara who has been involved in addressing these changes since the Supreme Court’s decision … and she has graciously agreed.
Of course, I hope that many of you will participate on April 18 in this discussion about a process that operates today in a context that is astoundingly different from the era in which we were admitted to Harvard. Some of you will recall our discussion about this topic on October 5, 2023. A few of you have been … and continue to be interviewers of candidates for admission; as such, you have a special perspective. I hope that some of you will join us as well.
Be aware that you can bring yourself up to date by accessing a couple of available resources. I would recommend that you refresh first with the October 3, 2023, Harvard Gazette article, “Weighing the Future of Harvard Admissions”, with then, President Claudine Gay, Dean Fitzsimmons and Joy St. John, the College’s Director of Admissions. Cf. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/10/weighing-the-future-of-harvard-admissions/.
You might also be interested in the March 28, 2024, results of the most recent admissions process: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/03/college-accepts-1937-to-class-of-2028-admissions/ though understand that the admissions office does not have access to the racial composition of the Class of 2028. (Apparently, that information will not become available until matriculation of the Class this fall.)
Please note that there are many other issues pertaining to candidates for admission (legacy and donor offspring, athletes, the poor, non-US citizens, etc.) that may be of interest … and we can pursue those at some point. But, Ara will NOT be speaking about these issues.
Please let me know if you have any questions, etc.
