Smooth Transitions Minority Student Handbook 2015–2016 Smooth Transitions Minority Student Handbook 2015–2016
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Smooth Transitions Minority Student Handbook 2015–2016 Smooth Transitions Minority Student Handbook 2015–2016 GSAS Office of Diversity and Minority Affairs W. E. B. Du Bois Graduate Society Table of Contents I. Introductions Welcome Letter 3 Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid: Mohan Boodram 4 Dean for Student Affairs: Garth McCavana 5 Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Diversity: Sheila Thomas 5 Assistant Director of Diversity and Minority Affairs: Stephanie Parsons 6 II. Life at Harvard Student and Alumni Perspectives 8 III. Resources for Scholarship on Minority Communities Harvard Library System 16 David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies 16 Hutchins Center for African and African American Research 16 W. E. B. Du Bois Institute Fellows 17 Mandela Fellows 17 Geneviève McMillan–Reba Stewart Fellowship 17 Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study 17 IV. Campus Organizations The W. E. B. Du Bois Graduate Society 20 Minority Biomedical Students of Harvard 20 Other Resources 21 Offices and Associations for GSAS Students 22 V. Your Rights Financial Aid 25 Concerns about Discrimination and Harassment 25 VI. Off-Campus Life Transportation 28 Community Resources: Hispanic 29 Community Resources: African American 31 Community Resources: Native American 36 General Interest 38 VII. Volunteer Opportunities On-Campus Volunteer Programs 42 Off-Campus Community Organizations 44 VIII. Minorities at GSAS: The Current Picture Data for Total Applicant Pool 48 GSAS Minority Student Body 48 Experiences of Minorities in Academe 49 GSAS Minority Students, 2015–2016 50 I Introductions Smooth Transitions 1 Where to Go for What Office of Student Services W.E.B. Du Bois Graduate Society You Need Jacqueline (Jackie) Yun, [email protected] Director of Student Services duboisgrad.fas.harvard.edu Dudley House, Room B-2, Lehman Hall, The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Yard Harvard University Fellow Students of Color: 617-495-5005 [email protected] University Hall, Harvard Yard On behalf of the W. E. B. Du Bois Graduate Society and the Graduate School of Arts and gsas.harvard.edu/current_students/student_ Dean’s Office—3 North, 617-496-1464 Sciences, welcome to GSAS and to Harvard University! You are about to embark on an services_office.php amazing journey that will be filled with new friends, new knowledge, and a new begin - Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus ning to the rest of your life. The Harvard community is truly exemplary: top scholars in Office of Financial Aid Center, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue fields from African and African American studies to zoology, a world of resources at your Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Student Affairs and Financial Aid fingertips, and countless opportunities. We hope that this booklet, Smooth Transitions, as Center, Suite 350 well as your connections with us, the W. E. B. Du Bois Graduate Society, will help you take Phone: 617-495-5396 Dudley House, Lehman Hall, Harvard Yard that all-important first step into these new waters. This booklet is not so much about E-mail: [email protected] Student Services and Residential Life— navigating troubled waters but imparting invaluable resources so that you are the best gsas.harvard.edu/current_students/finan- Room B-2 seafarer Harvard (or you!) has ever seen. cial_aid.php Dudley House Administration—3rd floor Graduate school has all the makings of a best-selling novel: mystery, intrigue, laughter, tears, and surprises around every corner. You will be stimulated, challenged, and tested in a Office of Residential Life way that you likely haven’t been tested before. You will have wonderful—and not so won- Offices at GSAS Ashley Skipwith, Director of Residential Life derful—experiences and make lifelong friends. Established in 1984, the Du Bois Society is Dudley House, Room B-2 dedicated to helping you and your fellow students of color build a strong community in which Lehman Hall, Harvard Yard to face the trials and celebrate the triumphs. The Du Bois Society is for all underrepresented Office of Diversity and Minority Affairs 617-495-5060 minorities in GSAS. We know you will be busy and have lots on your plate, and we hope that Sheila Thomas, Associate Dean for [email protected] you will think of us as a tasty side dish accompanying the main course that is your work. Academic Programs and Diversity gsas.harvard.edu/current_students/ Getting a graduate degree can be a very solitary enterprise. We spend many hours with Stephanie Parsons, Assistant Director of Diver- residential_life.php our noses in books and our fingers on laptop keys, which can lead to feelings of isolation. sity and Minority Affairs To help stave off those feelings and keep us connected, the Du Bois Society sponsors many Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Fellowships Office events throughout the year and we invite you to join us. From happy hours to conferences, Center, Suite 350 Cynthia Verba, movie nights, and casual lunches with faculty, the activities we and other campus organiza- 617-495-5315 Director of the Fellowships Office tions plan are for you, so please do take advantage. We also want your input on the things [email protected] Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus that we do; never hesitate to offer up event ideas so that the Du Bois Society can support and www.gsas.harvard.edu/prospective_ Center, Suite 350 function better every day. students/diversity_at_gsas.php 617-495-1814 In addition to fun things to do on campus, Boston is a great city with lots to offer: shows, [email protected] night clubs, museums, and plenty of volunteer opportunities await you across the Charles Office of Student Affairs gsas.harvard.edu/current_students/ River, just a few “T” stops away. Cambridge is known as the “Berkeley of the East” and boasts Garth McCavana, Dean for Student Affairs fellowships_office.php plenty of coffee shops in which to study and socialize, lots of tasty eateries, many bookstores Patrick O’Brien, Assistant Dean of Student to explore, and lots more. Check out the resources listed here in Smooth Transitions and stop Affairs by Dudley House for tickets to events on both sides of the river and beyond. Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus As you prepare to open up a fresh page and begin penning the exciting story of your Center, Suite 350 graduate student experience, allow us to offer a few helpful tips that we have discussed with 617-495-1814 our friends and colleagues and confirmed time and again. First, take time for you! Your career [email protected] is just that, your career—not your life. Make sure you take a few minutes to smell the roses: www.gsas.harvard.edu/current_students/ get out, take a walk, call your mom…whatever makes you feel good and keeps you grounded. current_students.php Make sure you keep doing it even when the workload feels heavy. Feeling good and staying connected to the other things in your life that matter can help the load feel lighter. Next, use your resources! One of the great things about being at Harvard is the world-class access to books, professors, librarians, and more. One of your best resources? Your colleagues! Go to your department’s events and attend mixed events to meet people in other fields. You’ll be surprised how much overlap there is between disciplines, and you never know who will voice 2 Minority Student Handbook 2015–2016 Smooth Transitions 3 a thought you need to hear. Last and most important, keep your head up! You’re here because Garth McCavana you belong here—find your niche and soar! DEAN FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS We are delighted to welcome you and hope that Smooth Transitions will be a great resource for your first year and beyond. If you have any questions that are not answered here, Welcome to Harvard and to GSAS. As Dean for Student Affairs I feel free to contact any of us at the Du Bois Society—we’re here to help! Again, warmest of have general responsibility for the welfare of graduate students welcomes to Harvard, Cambridge, and the Du Bois Society. Let’s do it! and I monitor their academic status, progress, and discipline. My office oversees the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Resi- All the very best, dential Life, the Office of Student Services, and the Fellowships Office. I also represent students in disciplinary cases before the Funlayo, Daphne, Kathleen, Khytie, Kiera, and Roberto Administrative Board. I am one of the two Title IX coordinators in W.E.B. Du Bois Graduate Society Steering Committee GSAS and am available to discuss Title IX concerns with students. Students should also feel free to contact me to discuss concerns about discrimination. In addition, I am responsible for the Graduate School’s Orientation Program, at which you will have the opportunity to meet other graduate students and staff members. I hope you will think of the Office of Student Affairs as the place of both “first and last resort” if you are seeking assistance with academic or personal problems. Mohan Boodram One of the most enjoyable aspects of my position is working closely with the W. E. DEAN FOR ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID B. Du Bois Graduate Society. Over the past years the Du Bois Society has organized a number of exciting events such as talks, movie screenings, and celebrations of cultural Dear Students, events such as Kwanzaa and Día de los Muertos. The Steering Committee of the Du Bois Society has many more such events in mind for this year, and it is always looking for On behalf of the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, it is my new members.