Harvard University, which celebrated its 350th anniversary in 1986, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Founded 16 years after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the University has grown from nine students with a single master to an enrollment of more than 18,000 degree candidates, including undergraduates and students in 10 graduate and professional schools. An additional 13,000 students are enrolled in one or more courses in the Harvard Extension School. Over 14,000 people work at Harvard, including more than 2,000 at faculty. There are also 7,000 faculty appointments in affiliated teaching hospitals.
　　Seven presidents of the United States – John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George W. Bush – were graduates of Harvard. Its faculty has produced nearly 40 Nobel laureates.

Students at Harvard University

　　Harvard men and women represent an array of ethnic groups and religious traditions. They come from every region of the United States and more than 100 other countries. They include undergraduates and graduate, continuing education, and Summer School students. They range from pre-teens to octogenarians; in 1997, Mary Fasano became the oldest person ever to earn a Harvard degree when she graduated from the Extension School at the age of 89.
　　Harvard College students have a remarkable range of backgrounds and academic and extracurricular interests. Two-thirds come from public schools, and about two-thirds receive some form of financial aid. Despite their diversity, Harvard students as a group do seem to share a few characteristics.

　　1. Academic Excellence

　　· In 1999, Harvard led the nation in Marshall Scholars, with six seniors being chosen, along with a recent graduate. And for seven out of the last nine years, Harvard led the nation in Rhodes Scholars.
　　· The application process for the Harvard College Class of 2004 marked the ninth time in the past decade that applications for admission had risen. By all the standard measures of academic talent, including test scores and academic performance in school, the group is impressive. For example, more than 56 percent of the candidates averaged 1,400 or higher on their SATs.

　　2. Harvard students display their talents in a wide array of extracurricular activities - including music, dance, theater, sports, journalism, and public service.

　　Sukanya Lahiri has a dream of peace for the Middle East. But she doesn't just dream about it; she's tried actively to help bring it about. At Harvard, through a program called Seeds of Peace, Lahiri worked with students from embattled areas of the world, including Bosnia, the Middle East, and the inner cities of the United States.

　　3. Harvard students show a real knack for taking what they've learned – in school and in life – and applying it to solve problems.

　　During her four years at Harvard, Gloria Bruce spent some time every week tutoring children in an after-school enrichment program in Boston. Alongside other volunteers, Bruce, a history concentrator, worked one-on-one with a group of 6- to 12-year-olds, helping them with homework, honing their math and reading skills, and leading them in creative learning projects. Bruce ended up co-director of the program.
　　On the road from freshman to senior, Bruce's other journey led her to a commitment to public service. In addition to working during the school year, she spent time during the summer living in the Boston community and working with the children every day.

The remarks from the President about Harvard’s future

　　A century ago, Harvard was becoming a national university. Today, while strongly rooted in American traditions and values, it is becoming a global university. We will, in the years ahead, need to think very carefully about technology, about globalization, and how we can enable us to contribute as much to as many as possible.
　　Harvard has done its part in the past. But that past will be prologue only if all of us now do our part to make it so. Like all great universities, Harvard has always been a work in progress, and it always will be. Let us together renew this great university for the age that is waiting before.

↑TOP　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(688 words)