PVAMU Hosts Harvard's President


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PVAMU to host Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow for dialogue on higher education, global challenges​


PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (Feb. 24, 2023) – Prairie View A&M University will host A Conversation with Lawrence S. Bacow, president of Harvard University, on Monday, Feb. 27, in the Ernest Boyd and Floretta Brown Collins Auditorium.

The conversation moderated by PVAMU President Ruth J. Simmons will include a discussion targeted to faculty and staff on:

  • the opportunities and challenges facing higher education;
  • President Bacow’s reflections on his service at three of the nation’s leading institutions as chancellor and president;
  • and his convening of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery, whose recommendations included developing enduring partnerships with Black Colleges and Universities.
President Bacow is widely regarded as one of the nation’s pre-eminent higher education leaders. His tenure at Harvard has been focused on advancing the University’s academic mission, while tackling complex global challenges such as the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a passionate advocate for the free exchange of ideas, for the interests of international students and scholars, and for the promise of a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive University that considers its future in the context of its past. Under his leadership, the Allston campus has changed and grown in important ways, including steps to bring the American Repertory Theater to the neighborhood.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=772YDm6WreM
 

Ruth Simmons Named Senior Adviser to the President of Harvard on Engagement with HBCUs​

Harvard University President Lawrence S. Bacow will appoint outgoing Prairie View A&M University President Ruth J. Simmons as a senior adviser to the president of Harvard on engagement with historically Black colleges and universities, the school announced Monday morning.

Simmons will officially assume her role as senior advisor to the president on June 1, just one month before Bacow departs office. Bacow will announce the appointment — a part-time role — at an event with Simmons on Monday during his visit to Prairie View A&M University.

Simmons, who is also president emerita of Smith College and Brown University, announced in March 2022 that she would step down from her role as president of Prairie View A&M University. Simmons initially planned to remain in office until June 1, but she unexpectedly announced on Feb. 10 that she would resign at the end of the month.

 
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Harvard President Lawrence Bacow Awarded Prairie View A&M University President’s Medal​


Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow was awarded the Prairie View A&M University President’s Medal by the university’s outgoing president Ruth J. Simmons at a Monday afternoon ceremony.

Harvard announced hours before the Prairie View event that Simmons will be appointed senior adviser to the president of Harvard on engagement with historically Black colleges and universities. Simmons will step down from her role as president at the end of the month.

Sara N. Bleich — who was recently appointed Harvard’s vice provost for special projects — opened the event with an overview of the University’s work on implementing recommendations from its April 2022 Legacy of Slavery report.

Bleich announced that Harvard intends to assemble HBCU presidents at a conference this fall, a next step in implementing the report’s third recommendation — establishing stronger relationships with HBCUs.

“We hope to convene a group of HBCU presidents to explore how we can deepen and expand our connections and partnerships and how we can assist those leaders in addressing their goals and challenges,” Bleich said.

Bleich called Harvard’s landmark Legacy of Slavery initiative both “sobering” and “exciting.”

“We very much look forward to working and learning from others and advancing this initiative in a way that is worthy of those lives that were so constrained by slavery and its legacies,” she said.

The event, held on Simmons’ penultimate day in office as president, offered an opportunity for the two outgoing university presidents to reflect on their careers in higher education and to shower praise on each other.

Simmons commended Bacow for leading Harvard with a “warm heart and a generous mind,” citing his leadership as the University defended affirmative action and supported students in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.


 
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