Students Greet Quiet Dean

As a low-profile dean of a small Harvard institution, University President-elect Drew Gilpin Faust may not have been a familiar name to many students until last week. But student group leaders have expressed enthusiasm about the choice of Faust as Harvard’s 28th president, citing her interest in student affairs and the historic circumstances of her selection as reasons for their well-wishes.

Undergraduate Council (UC) president Ryan A. Petersen ’08 said that Faust plans to attend a UC meeting in the near future as a way to meet council representatives and interested students.

Though Faust comes to the position fairly unknown, her relative obscurity should not be considered a disadvantage, Petersen said.

“She’s free to make a fresh, positive impact on undergraduates and I think she’s looking forward to doing that,” he said.

Black Students Association President Jason C.B. Lee ’08 said that Faust’s appointment as the first female president of Harvard represents “the idea that anyone can achieve excellence.”

“As a minority student organization, that’s something that we can all appreciate,” he added.

The Harvard College Democrats and the Harvard Republican Club (HRC) differed in their responses to Faust’s appointment.

“The Harvard College Democrats are ecstatic about the election of the University’s first female president, and we look forward to working with her on a variety of issues, including an environmentally friendly Allston campus, a positive working environment for Harvard’s employees, and improving diversity throughout Harvard,” Dems president Brigit M. Helgen ’08 wrote in an e-mail.

The HRC issued a statement extended Faust “a warm welcome,” but urged her to “expand her vision and incorporate the views of a community that is much more diverse and listen to all students, not merely those that are traditionally represented at Radcliffe, in the academia, and inside University Hall.”

The group also called on Faust to continue the work of predecessor, Lawrence H. Summers, in expanding ideological diversity within the University faculty and considering the concerns of ROTC students on campus.

As a representative of Harvard’s graduate students, Harvard Graduate Council (HGC) Vice President of External Relations Jordan P. Amadio wrote in an e-mail that Faust “shares many of the characteristics—such as a proven leadership record and a commitment to public engagement—that we suggested to the search committee in our position paper.”

“Going forward, we expect that the largest-looming challenge will be to develop both a coherent vision for the University and an efficient mode of collaboration among its graduate schools,” Amadio wrote.

With Faust’s term to begin on July 1, the members of the student advisory group, made up of student representatives from all of Harvard’s schools appointed to advise the presidential search committee, plan to meet with her to assist in her transition.

Members of the search committee praised the work of the advisory group yesterday.

“The student advisory committee was particularly helpful because the members reached into their own schools and found out what people were really concerned about,” Harvard Corporation Fellow and search committee member Nannerl O. Keohane said.

She added that the group’s report—submitted to the search committee in December—will give Faust “a really fresh, up-to-date account what the students at each school really think.”

Presidential search committee member and Board of Overseers President Susan L. Graham ’64 said the student advisory group “gave us the student perspective we needed,” though she declined to say how the group might have influenced the committee’s final decision.

Vivek G. Ramaswamy ’07, an undergraduate member of the advisory group, said he looked forward to continuing his involvement in the group.

“We’ve learned a lot over the past six months about the issues facing Harvard—especially Harvard College—and we’re really looking forward to working with the new president,” he said.

Advisory group chair Matthew J. Murray said he hoped that “an ongoing institutional mechanism” would be created to give students “input to the president on matters of concern for the University.”

—Christian B. Flow and Rachel L. Pollack contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Brittney L. Moraski can be reached at bmoraski@fas.harvard.edu.