Commencement 2019
A collection of stories covering Harvard University’s 368th Commencement.
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Campus & Community
Colonial North America at Harvard Library
A digitized collection from 14 repositories around Harvard University contains almost 650,000 images of handmade materials from the 17th and 18th centuries. Here’s a peek.
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Campus & Community
Dolores Huerta receives Radcliffe Medal
Dolores Huerta, labor organizer and civil rights activist who has devoted her life to lifting up others, was awarded Radcliffe’s highest honor Friday.
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Campus & Community
Shining Commencement moments, captured
Not lost amid Harvard’s definitive ritual of revelry and accomplishment were the 6,665 graduates and their families, whose years of labor and sacrifice led them to the day.
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Campus & Community
What’s next for graduates?
The Gazette asked graduating seniors about their post-Commencement plans and got back a range of answers.
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Campus & Community
Merkel advises graduates: Break the walls that hem you in
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Harvard’s 2019 Commencement speaker, advises the new graduates to “break down the walls” that may hem them in.
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Campus & Community
Overseers, Alumni Association directors elected
Seven alumni have been elected as new members of Harvard University’s Board of Overseers and six as directors of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA).
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Reframing cultures
Throughout her time at Harvard, Mahnoor Ali has been devoted to exploring intercultural relations and expanding dialogue.
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The long, deep ties between Harvard and Germany
In advance of Angela Merkel’s visit, the Gazette looked at a number of key episodes between Germany and Harvard throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
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Four deans, and their journeys
Four Harvard deans discuss their role models and their work as top administrators.
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Finding rhythm in reverence
M.Div. candidate Aric Flemming is taking a year off to immerse himself in music, both spiritual and secular.
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Heading to Hungary to study and help
Sara Bobok returns repeatedly to her native Hungary, where she’ll next study sex trafficking, aiming to make an impact on the country’s young people.
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Focusing on people and place
Alice Hill will be the first Australian and the first Canadian to lead the HAA, as well as the first from the Asia Pacific region. She plans to bring those perspectives to the table as president.
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Best in high gear
While she was earning a master’s at HGSE, Nicole Johnson worked four jobs, was vice president of the HGSE Student Council, and won the Miss Massachusetts International Pageant.
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Inviting the community into design, decisions
In England, Rhodes Scholar Brittany Ellis will continue to promote collaboration between museums and communities in curatorial decision-making.
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Searching for answers in what lemurs leave behind
Harvard College senior Camille DeSisto’s love of the environment took her around the world to Madagascar’s tropical forests.
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Mistaken identities
Both graduating this May, the two Cat Zhangs weigh in on four years of being confused with each other and the respective legacies they leave behind.
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Theater stages and thesis pages
La’Toya Princess Jackson’s thesis, “Black Swans Shattering the Glass Ceiling,” focuses on African American contributions to ballet.
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Lab success, life goals
Dalton Brunson’s biology studies have led him to labs, research, and successes that he hopes keep him ever mindful of his commitment to expanding health care in rural areas.
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Schuyler Bailar races toward his authentic self
Schuyler Bailar ’19 is the first openly transgender swimmer in the National Collegiate Athletic Association and a member of the Harvard men’s swimming team.
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Songwriter carries more than one tune
Nima Samimi, recipient of a degree in Middle Eastern Studies, is a jack of all trades and a master of at least a few, including academics, music, and social justice.
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A long road, well chronicled
Denise-Marie Ordway, with a large family and impressive resumé, excels as Nieman Fellow, HGSE master’s candidate
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Overcoming the odds
Onege Maroadi graduates from the Harvard Extension School with a master’s degree in international relations, a clean bill of health after fighting stage 3 cancer, a plan to help the world become a more peaceful place, and a happy toddler at home. But she almost didn’t make it to Cambridge.
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Al Gore named Class Day speaker
Al Gore has been chosen to speak on Class Day, the day before Harvard’s 368th Commencement. The former vice president, a Nobel Prize laureate and Harvard alumnus, has had a long career in public service and since leaving office has devoted his life to raising awareness of the threat of climate change.
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Adjusting the flight plan
Jake Moore will add a degree from the Kennedy School to the medals and commendations he has earned over 15 years in the Navy. His post-military target is human rights work with refugees and asylum seekers.
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The flourishing of Genesis
Genesis De Los Santos grew up in Dorchester and credits her community’s support for her unlikely journey from a neighborhood school to a private middle school academy to an elite high school and then to Harvard.
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Running out of time
Harvard seniors share their bucket lists of things to do during their final semester.
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In recognition of extraordinary service
The Harvard Alumni Association has announced that Teresita Alvarez-Bjelland ’76, M.B.A. ’79, Dan H. Fenn Jr. ’44, A.M. ’72, and Tamara Elliott Rogers ’74 will receive the 2019 Harvard Medal.
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At WHRB, Harvard student turns on radio and tunes in listeners
Henna Hundal ’19 works as interviewer on her own radio show on Harvard’s WHRB, bringing the larger world to her listening audience.
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Rising to the challenge
MacLean Sarbah, M.A. ’19, hopes to return home to help take on one of Ghana’s biggest social problems: youth unemployment.
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Tracy K. Smith elected chief marshal
U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith ’94 has been elected by her classmates to serve as chief marshal of the alumni at Harvard’s 368th Commencement on May 30.
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Harvard’s 368th Commencement set for May 30
Guidelines for Harvard’s 368th Commencement Exercises include additional security measures.
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Dolores Huerta to receive Radcliffe Medal
Dolores Huerta, the civil rights icon who fought to build a nationwide coalition protecting farm workers, will receive the Radcliffe Medal on May 31. A webcast will be available during the event.