Friday, 22 April 2016

The workings of the Overseers

Kenji Yoshino ’91 admits that the top hat and tails he dons on Commencement morning each spring might be a bit off-putting to graduating students walking nearby, but Harvard University does tradition like few others.
More important than the garb, Yoshino says, is that students understand that the 30 men and women in the ceremonial dress of Harvard Overseers were once students like them. And at least some of those students striding through the Yard will one day be like Yoshino and other Overseers: key alumni voices in the University’s governance.
Yoshino is the president-elect of the Board of Overseers, the larger and slightly older body of Harvard’s unique two-governing-boards system.
Five Harvard Overseers are elected by the University’s alumni each year to serve six-year terms. The process creates a rolling renewal of faces, experiences, and voices — important because the institution and its challenges are also constantly changing, according to Philip Lovejoy, executive director of Harvard Alumni Association (HAA).
“I think it’s healthy to have fresh perspective, as the needs of the University change,” Lovejoy said.
This year’s ballots went out in the mail earlier this month and are due back by noon on May 20. The newly elected Overseers will take office the day after Commencement.

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