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Harvard University: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Harvard University
In 1636, the Massachusetts General Court voted to establish a new college, not to create a secular institution of higher learning, but to ensure that the colony would never be left with an illiterate ministry. The vote was taken on the 9th of November 1636, and the institution was initially named New College. It was not until the following year, 1637, that the college received its enduring name. John Harvard, a Puritan clergyman who had emigrated from England, died of tuberculosis on the 14th of September 1638. On his deathbed, he bequeathed the emerging college £780 and his personal library of some 320 volumes. This donation was so significant that the General Court voted to name the institution Harvard College in his honor. The first headmaster, Nathaniel Eaton, took office the following year, but the college's early years were defined by a strict curriculum based on the English university model, specifically the University of Cambridge, where many colonial leaders had studied before emigrating. The college's purpose was explicitly religious, as stated in a 1643 publication: to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when their present ministers shall lie in the dust. The earliest known official seal, adopted in 1650, featured a square shield with three open books and the Latin motto IN CHRISTI GLORIAM, meaning To the glory of Christ, symbolizing the pursuit of learning under divine guidance. This religious mission would dominate the institution for over a century, even though Harvard never formally affiliated with any Protestant denomination.
The Secular Shift
The transformation of Harvard from a religious training ground to a modern research university began in the 19th century, driven by the Enlightenment ideas of reason and free will. A struggle broke out in 1803 following the death of Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan and the death of Harvard's eleventh president, Joseph Willard, the following year. In 1805, Henry Ware was elected to replace Tappan, and two years later, in 1807, liberal Samuel Webber was appointed as Harvard's 13th president, representing a shift from traditional Calvinist ideas to more liberal and Arminian ideas. The most profound change occurred under Charles William Eliot, who served as the 21st president from 1869 to 1909. Eliot, a chemist who had spent two years in Germany studying at their universities, used the German model to set up graduate programs at Harvard. He formed a graduate department in 1872, which granted its first Ph.D. degrees in 1873 to William Byerly in mathematics and Charles Whitney in history. Eliot decreased the historically favored position of Christianity in the curriculum, opening it to student self-direction. Though Eliot was an influential figure in the secularization of U.S. higher education, he was motivated primarily by Transcendentalist and Unitarian convictions influenced by William Ellery Channing and Ralph Waldo Emerson, rather than pure secularism. In the late 19th century, Harvard University's graduate schools began admitting women in small numbers, and in 1900, Harvard became a founding member of the Association of American Universities. The university's influence grew so significantly that by the 19th century, it had emerged as the most prominent academic and cultural institution among the Boston elite.
Common questions
When was Harvard University established and what was its original name?
The Massachusetts General Court voted to establish the institution on the 9th of November 1636, and it was initially named New College. The college received its enduring name of Harvard College in 1637 following a significant donation from John Harvard.
Who was the first president of Harvard and what was the college's original purpose?
Nathaniel Eaton took office as the first headmaster in 1637. The college's purpose was explicitly religious, aiming to ensure the colony would never be left with an illiterate ministry to the churches.
When did Harvard begin admitting women and when did Radcliffe merge with the university?
Harvard began to control undergraduate admission, instruction, and housing for Radcliffe's women in 1971. Radcliffe was formally merged into Harvard University on the 1st of July 1999.
Who is the current president of Harvard University and when did they take office?
Alan Garber was appointed Harvard's 31st president in August 2024 to serve through the end of the 2026, 27 academic year. He previously served as the university's provost and interim president following the resignation of Claudine Gay in January 2024.
What is the value of Harvard's endowment and how does it support the university?
Harvard's endowment was valued at about 35 billion dollars as of 2023, making it the wealthiest academic institution in the world. This fund supports extensive research programs and provides generous financial aid to students, with about 5 percent of investment income distributed annually to fund operations.
What legal challenges did Harvard face in 2025 regarding federal funding and international students?
In 2025, the Trump administration threatened to withhold nearly 9 billion dollars in government funds and ordered comprehensive vetting of international students seeking to visit Harvard. A US District Judge ruled on the 3rd of September 2025 that the administration illegally froze more than 2 billion dollars in research funding, violating Harvard's free-speech rights and the US Civil Rights Act.
For the first few decades of the 20th century, the Harvard student body was predominantly old-stock, high-status Protestants, especially Episcopalians, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians. In 1923, a year after the proportion of Jewish students at Harvard reached 20%, A. Lawrence Lowell, the university's 22nd president, unsuccessfully proposed capping the admission of Jewish students to 15% of the undergraduate population. Lowell also refused to mandate forced desegregation in the university's freshman dormitories, writing that We owe to the colored man the same opportunities for education that we do to the white man, but we do not owe to him to force him and the white into social relations that are not, or may not be, mutually congenial. Between 1933 and 1953, Harvard University was led by James B. Conant, the university's 23rd president, who reinvigorated the university's creative scholarship in an effort to guarantee Harvard's preeminence among the nation and world's emerging research institutions. Conant viewed higher education as a vehicle of opportunity for the talented rather than an entitlement for the wealthy, and devised programs to identify, recruit, and support talented youth. In 1945, under Conant's leadership, an influential 268-page report, General Education in a Free Society, was published by Harvard faculty, which remains one of the most important works in curriculum studies, and women were first admitted to the medical school. Between 1945 and 1960, admissions were standardized to open the university to a more diverse group of students. Following the end of World War II, for example, special exams were developed so veterans could be considered for admission. No longer drawing mostly from prestigious prep schools in New England, the undergraduate college became accessible to striving middle class students from public schools; many more Jews and Catholics were admitted, but Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians remained underrepresented. Over the second half of the 20th century, however, the university became incrementally more diverse.
The Modern Giants
In 1971, Harvard began to control undergraduate admission, instruction, and housing for Radcliffe's women, and in 1999, Radcliffe was formally merged into Harvard University. On the 1st of July 2007, Drew Gilpin Faust, dean of Harvard Radcliffe Institute, was appointed Harvard's 28th and the university's first female president. Faust retired on the 1st of July 2018, and Lawrence Bacow became Harvard's 29th president. The university's leadership faced unprecedented challenges in the 21st century. In February 2023, approximately 6,000 Harvard workers attempted to organize a union. Bacow retired in June 2023, and on July 1 Claudine Gay, a Harvard professor in the Government and African American Studies departments and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, became Harvard's 30th president. In January 2024, just six months into her presidency, Gay resigned following allegations of antisemitism and plagiarism. Gay was succeeded by Alan Garber, the university's provost, who was appointed interim president. In August 2024, the university announced that Garber would be appointed Harvard's 31st president through the end of the 2026, 27 academic year. The university's governance structure remains unique, as Harvard does not make its governing statutes publicly available, meaning that members of the Harvard community interested in reform must first persuade the university to give them a copy of those documents. Furthermore, Harvard does not have an academic senate like most of its peers, although it is currently attempting to create one. The university's endowment, valued at about 35 billion dollars as of 2023, makes it the wealthiest academic institution in the world, and its ability to fund its degree and financial aid programs depends on the performance of this endowment.
The Global Reach
Harvard's influence extends far beyond its three campuses in Cambridge and Boston. The university owns Dumbarton Oaks, a research library in Washington, D.C., Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts, Concord Field Station in Estabrook Woods in Concord, Massachusetts, the Villa I Tatti research center in Florence, Italy, and the Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece. The Harvard Shanghai Center in Shanghai, China, and the Arnold Arboretum in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston further expand its global footprint. The university's library system, centered in Widener Library in Harvard Yard, is the largest academic library in the world with 20.4 million holdings. It includes 25 individual Harvard libraries around the world with a combined staff of more than 800 librarians and personnel. The university's alumni include 188 living billionaires, 8 U.S. presidents, 24 heads of state and 31 heads of government, founders of notable companies, Nobel laureates, Fields Medalists, members of Congress, MacArthur Fellows, Rhodes Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Turing Award Recipients, Pulitzer Prize recipients, and Fulbright Scholars. By most metrics, Harvard University ranks among the top universities in the world in each of these categories. Harvard students and alumni have also collectively won 10 Academy Awards and 110 Olympic medals, including 46 gold medals. The university's reputation as a center of elite achievement or elitist privilege has made it a frequent literary and cinematic backdrop, appearing in novels by William Faulkner and Thomas Wolfe, and films such as The Paper Chase and The Social Network.
The Financial Fortress
Harvard's financial power is unmatched in the academic world, with an endowment valued at about 35 billion dollars as of 2023. During the recession of 2007, 2009, it suffered significant losses that forced large budget cuts, in particular temporarily halting construction on the Allston Science Complex. The endowment has since recovered, and about 5 percent of investment income is annually distributed to fund operations. Harvard's ability to fund its degree and financial aid programs depends on the performance of its endowment; a poor performance in fiscal year 2016 forced a 4.4% cut in the number of graduate students funded by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Endowment income is critical, as only 22% of revenue is from students' tuition, fees, room, and board. Since the 1970s, several student-led campaigns have advocated divesting Harvard's endowment from controversial holdings, including investments in South Africa during apartheid, Sudan during the Darfur genocide, and tobacco, fossil fuel, and private prison industries. In the late 1980s, during the disinvestment from South Africa movement, student activists erected a symbolic shanty town on Harvard Yard and blockaded a speech by South African Vice Consul Duke Kent-Brown. In response to pressure, the university eventually reduced its South African holdings by 100 million dollars out of a total of 1 billion dollars between 1986 and 1987. The university's financial strength allows it to maintain its position as the wealthiest academic institution in the world, supporting its extensive research programs and providing generous financial aid to students.
The Academic Empire
Harvard is a large, highly residential research university offering 50 undergraduate majors, 134 graduate degrees, and 32 professional degrees. During the 2018, 2019 academic year, Harvard granted 1,665 baccalaureate degrees, 1,013 graduate degrees, and 5,695 professional degrees. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences, with an academic staff of 1,211 as of 2019, is the largest Harvard faculty, and has primary responsibility for instruction in Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Division of Continuing Education. There are nine other graduate and professional faculties and a faculty attached to the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. The university maintains 13 schools, including Harvard College, founded in 1636, and the Harvard Medical School, founded in 1782 as Massachusetts Medical College by John Warren, Benjamin Waterhouse, and Aaron Dexter. The medical school moved to its current location on Longwood Avenue in 1906, where the Great White Quadrangle or HMS Quad with its five white marble buildings was established. Harvard Law School, founded in 1817, is the oldest continuously operating law school in the nation, and its case method of teaching law, developed by Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell from 1875 to 1890, set the national standard and was copied widely in the United States. The Harvard Business School, founded in 1908, has had a close relationship with the corporate world, and by 1949, nearly half of all the holders of the MBA degree in the U.S. were alumni of Harvard Business School. The university's research activity is classified as R1, and more than 11,000 faculty and 1,600 graduate students conduct research at the medical school and its 15 affiliated hospitals and research institutes. In 2019, the medical school and its affiliates attracted 2.5 billion dollars in competitive research grants from the National Institutes of Health, more than twice that of any other university.
The Future of Power
In February 2025, Leo Terrell, the head of the Trump administration's Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, announced that he would investigate Harvard University as part of the Department of Justice's broader investigation into antisemitism on college campuses. In April 2025, the United States federal government under President Donald Trump threatened to withhold nearly 9 billion dollars in government funds from the university unless the university complied with government demands to modify many of its policies. This threat was part of a broader battle over universities' autonomy following contentious student protests against the Gaza war, and followed similar demands made of Columbia University. The university's leadership resisted the government's demands, claiming that they were an unlawful overreach of government authority. In response, the US Department of Education announced they were freezing 2.3 billion dollars in federal funds to Harvard. The Department of Homeland Security subsequently threatened to revoke Harvard's eligibility to host international students. Harvard responded by filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration in the District Court of Massachusetts, arguing that the freezing of funds was unconstitutional. On the 30th of May 2025, the State Department ordered all US embassies and consulates to conduct comprehensive and thorough vetting of the online presence of anyone seeking to visit Harvard from abroad. On the 4th of June 2025, Trump issued a proclamation restricting international students from studying at Harvard, and directing the State Department to consider revoking the visas of current international students studying at that university. On June 20, Harvard was granted an injunction allowing it to continue hosting international students as litigation continues. On June 30, a Trump administration investigation found Harvard violated federal civil rights law by failing to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff. On the 3rd of September 2025, US District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled the Trump administration illegally froze more than 2 billion dollars in research funding stating the administration violated Harvard's free-speech rights as well as the US Civil Rights Act. This legal battle underscores the university's role as a battleground for national policy and its enduring power to challenge federal authority.