Which Harvard President Has a Way with Words?

The start of classes signaled the official beginning of fall semester, as the undergraduate population “set off on one of life’s great adventures,” to quote eight of the many, many words in University President Drew G. Faust’s welcome letter to the community last week. And while Faust’s gargantuan letter might have sent some running for the hills, FM went in search of past presidential letters to see how Faust’s latest e-novel stacks up.



Faust: 1,822 words

Beginning with a romanticized view of the typical Harvard student, and detailing… well, to be honest, FM didn’t get much farther than that.

While Faust found “something wonderfully energizing about September in Harvard Yard,” the same could not be said for her prose.



Bok: 311 words

Last year, then-Interim President Derek C. Bok wrote to the community announcing the retirement of Sidney Verba, Pforzheimer University Professor and Director of the Harvard University Library. A brief 311-word note, Bok’s letter is almost 1/6 the length of Faust’s and perhaps 6 times more readable.



Summers: 465 words

In a time before the infamous women-in-science remarks, former President Lawrence H. Summers solicited thoughts on a new provost to replace then-Provost Harvey Fineberg. Unlike the outcry following his speech at the National Bureau of Economics Research Conference, few members of the community cared. FM speculates that they were, however, able to finish the letter.



Faust ends her letter with verses of poetry “worth knowing by all”—unfortunately, they still remain unknown to many, as few students made it that far.