Harvard University welcomes the first black president.
On Friday, Claudine Gay, the newest president of Harvard University, was welcomed. She is the second woman and the first Black person to lead the university.
“I stand before you today, humbled by the prospect of leading Harvard, emboldened by the trust you have placed in me and energized by your own commitment to this singular institution and to the common cause of higher education,” Ms Gay said.
She delivered her address to an audience sheltering from rain under a sea of umbrellas.
“I stand before you today humbled by the prospect of leading Harvard, emboldened by the trust you have placed in me, and energized by your own commitment to this singular institution and to the common cause of higher education,” she said.
Also read: Harvard Pakistani Students collecting funds but University declines to answer
She also talked about courage. “The courage of this University – our resolve, against all odds – to question the world as it is and imagine and make a better one: It is what Harvard was made to do,” Ms Gay said.
As Harvard University welcomes its first black president, Claudine Gay is the 30th president since Harvard University’s founding in 1640.
She also said that Harvard should celebrate diversity as a force that deepens and strengthens campus life.
“We embrace diversity – of backgrounds, lived experiences, and perspectives – as an institutional imperative,” she said.
“When we do that, it’s not with a secret hope for calm or consensus. It’s because we believe in the value of dynamic engagement and the learning that happens when ideas and opinions collide.”
Claudine Gay is a political scientist and professor serving as the 30th president of Harvard University.
