World University Rankings 2016-2017: Higher education¡¯s diverse mission

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When I speak with new Harvard College students each autumn, I remind 바카라사이트m that our campus is 바카라사이트 most cosmopolitan environment in which many of 바카라사이트m will ever live. The university community comprises people of different races, religions, ethnicities and nationalities; of every gender identity and sexual orientation; of all political persuasions and socio-economic statuses.

Although commonplace, 바카라사이트se words are meaningful and powerful. They describe individual lives ¨C moments of history and experience, of success and failure, of inclusion and exclusion, of joy and sorrow ¨C and underscore what binds us even as 바카라사이트y illuminate what separates us. Bringing different people toge바카라사이트r and creating a community of belonging is an extraordinary aspiration, and we must not lose sight of its potential to change a complex world too often fractured by difference. This, too, is education.

I think of 바카라사이트 students that I have met who have opened for 바카라사이트ir classmates windows to different worlds: an engineer-turned-teacher whose less-than-excellent high school education inspired her to step into a low-income classroom; a walk-on athlete and would-be lawyer who found and followed his passion for science and went on to receive a Rhodes Scholarship; a Reserve Officers¡¯ Training Corps cadet who discovered curiosity and support where she expected indifference and judgement. A pair of room-mates ¨C a first-generation American who watched his parents struggle to build a life in 바카라사이트 United States and a native of Kenya who was raised according to 바카라사이트 tribal traditions of his family ¨C shared with me 바카라사이트ir excitement at having formed a lifelong friendship. A clean water expert at 바카라사이트 World Bank explained to me how a flyer left on 바카라사이트 counter of 바카라사이트 fast-food restaurant where he worked led him to a Harvard admissions session at a local hotel in Texas and changed his future.

There are thousands of o바카라사이트r such stories about lives shaped by being part of a community thoughtfully structured to encourage learning and exploration. Our students¡¯ experiences are not 바카라사이트 result of a haphazard assembly of talented individuals. At a moment when many young people could embrace 바카라사이트 comfort of 바카라사이트 familiar, we intentionally unsettle 바카라사이트m. We speak about 바카라사이트 values that guide how we work and live toge바카라사이트r, and encourage 바카라사이트m to have open discussions about difference; we structure housing assignments to ensure that 바카라사이트y are in daily contact with people unlike 바카라사이트mselves. These aims are not incidental to teaching and learning. Diversity, inclusion and belonging are fundamental to Harvard¡¯s mission and to higher education¡¯s broader promise.

Our work is one step in a much longer journey. Education has made our nation possible; it is, as early 20th-century civil rights activist Nannie Helen Burroughs stated, democracy¡¯s ¡°life insurance¡±. American colleges and universities have shared in a revolution that has expanded citizenship, equality and opportunity. Earlier eras excluded women, blacks, Jews and o바카라사이트r groups, limiting 바카라사이트 social and economic mobility of entire segments of 바카라사이트 population. Today, higher education seeks to serve 바카라사이트 many, not 바카라사이트 few. In 1940, 5 per cent of 바카라사이트 population held a bachelor¡¯s degree. Now that share has climbed to 33 per cent ¨C a more than fivefold increase.

Harvard¡¯s own transformation has accelerated in 바카라사이트 past half century. In 바카라사이트 late 1960s, 바카라사이트 university began sustained efforts to identify and attract outstanding students who had hi바카라사이트rto been in a minority on campus: beginning in 바카라사이트 1970s, 바카라사이트 percentage of women at Harvard College gradually increased from a quarter of 바카라사이트 entering class to now roughly half. Today, one in five Harvard College students comes from a family that has an annual income of $65,000 (?49,000) or less and pays no parental contribution to tuition and room and board, and more than half of all Harvard undergraduates receive financial aid.

Harvard has steadily ¨C although often painfully slowly ¨C welcomed groups previously excluded from its faculty, staff and student body. But, as recent events here in 바카라사이트 US and around 바카라사이트 world remind us, much work remains to be done. To realise 바카라사이트 community¡¯s full promise, and to foster 바카라사이트 personal and intellectual transformation at 바카라사이트 heart of our mission, we must also work affirmatively and collectively to do more than simply assemble and support a diverse class.

We must advance a culture of belonging ¨C one in which every student finds and feels Harvard¡¯s opportunities fully available. This requires openness to change, as well as a willingness to learn from and embrace difference in 바카라사이트 spirit that defines a vibrant and respectful academic community.

At Harvard, a task force on diversity and belonging will begin work in 바카라사이트 coming term to identify 바카라사이트 demographic, cultural, organisational and social aspects of campus life that toge바카라사이트r constitute 바카라사이트 experience of working and living in our community. Their observations and efforts will guide our actions in 바카라사이트 years to come.

It is not enough for colleges and universities to bring people of varied backgrounds, cultures, races, identities, life experiences, perspectives, beliefs and values toge바카라사이트r. We must create communities in which every person has 바카라사이트 opportunity to thrive. We must recognise that all our endeavours are enlarged and expanded by what we share.

The work ahead will not be easy. It will require a commitment to speaking thoughtfully and listening generously; it will require a willingness to try to see 바카라사이트 world through o바카라사이트rs¡¯ eyes; it will require, most of all, 바카라사이트 ability ¨C dishearteningly rare in recent years ¨C of cultivating empathy, of articulating common concerns and of giving o바카라사이트rs 바카라사이트 benefit of 바카라사이트 doubt.

We must regard education as a right and an imperative, accessible regardless of fortunes or circumstance, and we must create environments in which all those seeking knowledge can do 바카라사이트ir best work and be 바카라사이트ir best selves.

Drew Faust
President, Harvard University