Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA 02138
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Multicultural Students Profile
Diversity is the hallmark of the Harvard/Radcliffe experience. The college's students come from all areas of the United States and several foreign countries; from cities, suburbs, small towns, farms; from public and private schools; and from all parts of the economic spectrum. Students' interests are as varied as their origins. There are confirmed academics, whose college experiences center in the library, the lab, the seminar; volunteers who combine social work in the Cambridge community with their academic work; journalists who organize their lives around newspaper deadlines; artists, athletes, actors, musicians, political organizers. Young men and women come to Harvard and Radcliffe with a wide variety of ultimate goals-many with no clearly defined goals at all. What they have in common are keen intellectual curiosity and well defined interests. They seek a university with the resources to enable them to follow those interests to their limits, whether their chosen area is philosophy or photography, literature or low-temperature physics. The seek, too, an intellectual community, a group of fellow students and teachers with whom they can share their interests and discover new ones. Harvard and Radcliffe, the students find, offer the kind of scope they want. A curriculum with almost 3,000 courses and over 40 areas of concentration; a library system containing more than 11 million volumes, a full-time faculty of over 700; the resources of ten professional schools and other research centers within Harvard University; the varied cultural and educational offerings of the Boston metropolitan area; a myriad of student organizations focusing on politics, the arts, communications, social service, athletics, and recreation; and a housing system that combines the intimacy of a small college with the rich and stimulating environment of a university. Campus Organizations include the African Students Association, Asian-American Students Association, Latin American Students Association, Harvard Native American Program and the Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. These are the raw materials of the undergraduate experience. Minority students are involved in all facets of the undergraduate experience and leave well prepared to enter a wide variety of careers and graduate programs.
The increasing number of minority students on campus has been accompanied by the development of student organizations serving the diverse communities. These groups foster genuine communities on campus. Activities now range from peer counseling, Big Sister/Big Brother networks, and study groups to social functions and intercollegiate conferences. The number and size of student organizations have expanded so that today there is a wide variety of opportunities for participation at any level, whether helping to organize events or just attending and enjoying the wealth of activities. Through their efforts, the student organizations bring new perspectives on education to Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges.
Over twenty-five years ago, the percentage of minority students at Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges was a fraction of one percent. Today, minority students comprise over one-third of the total student population. We take pride in this significant change and in the profound impact that minority students and alumni have made on this community. Their contributions and their continued impact on society redefine opportunities and create new aspirations.
The Audrey and Stephen Currier Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Radcliffe Martin Luther King Scholarship provide funds for minority students on the basis of financial need.