Harvard University

Once upon a time in the colonial era of 1636, before the Revolutionary war, Harvard was brought to life, thanks to the vote by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony. With the appointment of Nathaniel Eaton as the first headmaster in 1637, the university's saga began. Amid the backdrop of colonial America, in 1638, Harvard proudly became the custodian of British North America's first known printing press.

In 1639, a heartfelt tribute was paid to John Harvard, a devoted English clergyman, upon his demise, by naming the college after him. Astonishingly, his gifts to the college consisted of £780 and an impressive library of 320 volumes! A charter in 1650 breathed life into the Harvard Corporation, further strengthening its foundations.

An fascinating mandate graced a publication in 1643, defining the university's purpose as advancing learning and perpetuating it to the future generations. The fear of an illiterate ministry arising, once the present ministers pass, fueled this cause. Being modeled on the English university pattern, notably, the University of Cambridge, Harvard championed training myriad Puritan ministers in its early years. This unswerving educational institution stayed afloat without getting swept up by any particular religious denomination.

In a remarkable turn of events around the 19th century, Enlightenment ideas such as reason and freewill became the talk of the town. This led to a clash between traditionalist, Calvinist parties and ministers of the Congregational Church. Following the deaths of Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan in 1803 and President Joseph Willard in 1804, a power struggle for replacements ensued. Consequently, the reigns of the Hollis chair went to Henry Ware in 1805, with Samuel Webber ascending to the president's seat two years later.

Fast forward to the period from 1869 to 1909, Charles William Eliot, then Harvard's president, championed the secularization of American higher education. Eloquently, Eliot integrated the teachings from the likes of William Ellery Channing, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and others of the era, thereby reshaping the curriculum. The year 1816 marked another milestone for Harvard; it ushered in new programs in French and Spanish with the appointment of George Ticknor as the first professor for these language programs.

The doors of this historic institution started to creak open for women in the late 19th century, and a considerable breakthrough came with World War II. During this period, students at Radcliffe College started attending classes at Harvard, and women were admitted to the medical school in 1945. Harvard turned a corner in 1999, officially merging Radcliffe into the fold.

Harvard's reputation outgrew its premises in the 20th century, as it wooed intellectuals, professors and growing enrolments with its burgeoning endowment offer. A magical transformation occurred when Radcliffe College flourished into a sister institution of Harvard College, known throughout the United States as a centre of excellence for women. The first day of the 20th century saw Harvard's legacy cemented with its inclusion in the Association of American Universities.

The student demographic in the early 20th century was dominated by 'old-stock, high-status Protestants,' specifically Catholics, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians. In the face of mounting percentages of Jewish admissions, a controversial proposal to cap them came forward in 1923, but was rightfully discarded.

The sails of change were adjusted during the tenure of President James B. Conant, from 1933 to 1953. He ignited the spark of creative scholarship and devised strategies to draw in the gifted minds amongst the youths, thereby keeping the flame of Harvard's preeminence alight. A topic of curriculum studies was brought to the spotlight with an influential report issued by Harvard faculty in 1945, known as 'General Education in a Free Society.'

In the period between 1945 and 1960, Harvard spread out its wings to welcome a more diverse group of students. Special examination methods were introduced to accommodate war veterans' admissions. Having diverted from the New England prep schools, Harvard started admitting many middle-class public school-strivers including Jews, Catholics, but unfortunately, by comparison, very few Blacks, Hispanics, or Asians.

The university embarked on a significant journey in 2007, with the appointment of Drew Gilpin Faust, a former Dean of Harvard Radcliffe Institute, as its first female president. Faust bid farewell in 2018, and Lawrence Bacow stepped into her shoes as Harvard's 29th president. He, too, called it a day on his tenure in 2023.

A notable event echoed through the Harvard halls in February 2023 when approximately 6,000 workers endeavored to organize a union. Later that year Claudine Gay, a Harvard professor and