Who wants ice cream? At this point, pretty much everyone

A downpour didn’t stop staff, faculty, and students at the Center for Astrophysics from gathering around an iconic summer visitor: the ice cream truck.

Dozens of people lined up at the window of Alex Ice Cream 2 Thursday during an event organized by the Department of Astronomy. Attendees ordered popsicles and ice cream sandwiches to enjoy with colleagues and friends — some for the first time in more than a year.

Shmuel Bialy and Griffin Hosseinzadeh, outgoing postdoctoral scholars at the Harvard College Observatory, were there celebrating their final days on campus, while Victoria DiTomasso, a doctoral student in astronomy, was returning to her on-campus office after a year and a half of working from home.

“It’s been nice to come back and be able to have a little bit of socialization, a little bit of time in the office, and kind of ease back in before the semester really gets going,” said DiTomasso.

“The early part of the semester is a really important time to set a culture that can carry on,” for the months and years to come, said Daniel Eisenstein, professor of astronomy and chair of the department. “Building new relationships really is best done in person, and out of those relationships comes the next generation of research projects and colleagues and friends.”