Carpe Dais

As one of the most powerful educational institutions in the world, Harvard is well accustomed to having the all eyes upon it. It is rare, however, that an opportunity arises for the gaze of so many to focus so singularly on the condition of its undergraduates. The presence of Undergraduate Council President Ryan A. Petersen ’08 on the dais at Friday’s Installation affirmed the importance of the voice of students in university discourse. That his speech should emphasize this notion seems not just appropriate, but indeed vital to working towardthe picture of Harvard that Faust championed in her subsequent address.

Rhetorical fire and brimstone aside, Petersen’s message resonated with Faust’s own vision—a vision in which we, as students, must be involved. With a captive audience watching, Petersen rightly capitalized on a unique opportunity to express the concerns of the students he represents. The venue was wholly appropriate. What better time and place to reaffirm our involvement than at the beginning of a new chapter in Harvard’s history?

Those who claim Petersen did a disservice to President Faust would do well to revisit her own words:

“In the past half century, American colleges and universities have shared in a revolution, serving as both the emblem and the engine of the expansion of equality, citizenship, and opportunity….

“Those who charge that universities are unable to change should take note of this transformation, of how different we are from universities even of the mid 20th century…. By their nature, universities nurture a culture of restlessness and even unruliness. This lies at the heart of their accountability to the future….

“We must act not just as students and staff, historians and computer scientists, lawyers and physicians, linguists and sociologists, but as citizens of a university, with obligations to this commonwealth of the mind. We must regard ourselves as accountable to one another, for we constitute the institution that in turn defines our possibilities. Accountability to the future encompasses special accountability to our students, for they are our most important purpose and legacy.”

When asked later what she thought of Petersen’s speech, Faust replied, “I thought he spoke his mind. Was that creative unruliness in action? Perhaps. I thought he was great.” To disagree—to revere tradition and pomp over student participation—is to do a greater disservice to our new president, to ourselves, and to the Harvard that we should be constructing together.

Nadia O. Gaber ’09, a Crimson editorial editor, is a history and literature concentrator in Kirkland House. Joshua R. Stein ’09-’10 is a social studies concentrator in Adams House.

Dissenting Opinions:

Occasionally, The Crimson Staff is divided about the opinion we express in a staff editorial. In these cases, dissenting staff members have the opportunity to express their opposition to staff opinion.