It was my second time meeting President Faust. My first time was last spring, after she had been named University's President, during her Arts Force campaign dinner (a little bit after Arts First Week). Just like last time, this time as well, I was placed in quite a distance away from her table (it's all very politically sensitive who gets to be close to the President). But the food was as always, delicious, and esp. if it's offered at a steep discount in a fancy hotel! Oh the perks of being one of the only three Harvard undergrads in Japan (the only one in Tokyo) ;-).
The prettiest salmon I have ever eaten. It was a shame to even eat it...
The dinner took place in Okuda hotel, with as many as three hundred something Harvard alumni participating. The chief organizer of the event was Harvard Club of Japan. The Club's President, Carl Kay, in his welcoming note, said: "Frankly speaking I have never seen so many of you at our events combined! Therefore, I would like to take the liberty and introduce small impromptu change to all of our upcoming events and announce that they will, from now on be attended by Harvard's Lincoln Professor of History, Drew Faust."
The seating arrangement was especially amusing to me: All college grads and current undergrads were placed among tables named Annenberg, Sanders Theatre and Wigglesworth (to those unfamiliar, these are notable buildings serving specifically Harvard College). The MBA holders all went to "Morgan Hall", the main Business School unit. It made me almost nostalgic, and realize how attached to Harvard I actually am... But it's ok, this way I can appreciate my next year even better.
President Faust delivered a very nice, well-polished speech, spiked here and there with some apt humour. She updated the few hundreds Harvard alumni about the recent, important changes at Cambridge:
- the One-Calendar reform ("Of course there were some objections, notably from the Harvard Landscape Services who now have to grow green grass by the end of May instead of June"),
- the General Ed reform (though I still don't get the difference between that and our old Core requirements)
- and the move towards "more unified Harvard". In her speech, she noted "what a great advantage it would be for Harvard to combine the strengths of its Law School, its Business School, its Medical School... oh, and since the Dean of Design School is here with me, I guess I should also say the strength of its Design School (laughter)".
She also detailed her trip in Japan, during which she had the head of Resichauer Institute (Harvard's body solely devoted to Japanese-Korean related studies and affairs) as her personal tour guide in both Kyoto and Tokyo. In Tokyo, she mentioned how she put a gruesome task on her tour guide to start the day at 5am with a trip to Tsukiji Fish Market, followed by meetings with the Prime Minister, the Emperor and Her Crown Princess Masako (who btw is also a Harvard alumna) and finally Minister of Education. Here she raised the ever troubling issue of very few Japanese students at Harvard and US universities in general.
"Minister (of Ed) asked me why there were so few Japanese students studying in the US and what should be done to increase that number? I, myself, was asking the same question, though in my mind it was 'How can we increase that number at Harvard' ".
Personally however, my most memorable impressions were those of her amusing little comments during the Q&A session.
Question: "President Faust, as a President of Harvard, what do you think Japan should do to become a better-functioning global economy?"
President Faust: "I think you want to ask that question to my predecessor, not me. Now, if you would like to know some details about the Civil War, then of course ..."
Question from a NHK (Japan TV Corporation) female chief, whom no-one, including the President Faust could understand: "What do you sth sth as a woman sth sth President sth sth Harvard?"
President Faust: "I'm sorry, woman what? But I am guessing you want to know what it is to be the first female Harvard President. To answer that I have an anecdote for you: on the day I was named the President, a group of my female colleagues from the Radcliffe Institute brought in a huge bunch of pink balloons saying 'It's a GIRL!'. (...)
Also, during my visit at Keio Girls High School, I was a bit taken by surprise with a very simple question 'How do you balance career and family?' (laughter) "
She also addressed the Harvard strive and shift in emphasis towards social service and public leadership, mentioning how after the recent economic crisis especially, she hopes the always-success-pursuing Harvard students can finally make one step back and redefine what "success" really meant for them. "Does it really mean Wall Street?", she asked. That was of course, especially pertinent to me.
President Faust gave me an impression of a very strong woman, in contrast to her rather benevolent appearance. I guess, it takes a rather firm hand to guide such an important institution as Harvard, especially over the financial turmoil and 30% shrunken endowment. She is undeniably a talented speaker, brilliantly smart and very direct. Let's hope she's just as talented and capable at making Harvard an even better and greater university than it already is.
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