Harvard Club of Boston Bulletin March 2021
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HARVARD CLUB OF BOSTON BULLETIN MARCH 2021 March is Women’s History Month and we salute the many women who have been leaders in the Harvard Club of Boston THE HARVARD CLUB OF BOSTON DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION AFFIRMATIONS Approved by the HCB Board of Governors, July 2020 We arm the inherent We are committed to fairness worth of every person. for all within our Club The Harvard Club of Boston We are dedicated to community. Our commitment to welcomes and honors all applying the principles and equity is our aspiration without members, sta and guests practice of diversity, regard to race, nationality, ethnic to a community that is safe, inclusion and equity in our background, religion, gender, friendly, supportive and mission, values, community family configuration, economic fulfilling. standards as well as circumstances, di erence in business and employment ability, culture, age, sexual practices. orientation or identity. We endeavor to be authentic The Harvard Club of Boston is in our quest for knowlege a place that celebrates all We continually strive to and open-minded in our who gather to experience the realize a community of intellectual curiosity. diverse company of educated dignity and respect. We encourage dialogue that people. We are strengthened We aspire to be an exemplar encompasses a wide range by the richness shared regarding acceptance and of opinions and ideas to individually and collectively appreciation of all. Anything broaden perspectives, which through inclusion, connectivity, less will not be tolerated. inspires innovation and and engagement throughout safeguards the pursuit of Harvard, our aliated schools Veritas above all else. and neighboring communities. 2 THE HARVARD CLUB OF BOSTON MISSION & VALUES Approved by the HCB Board of Governors, October 2020 MISSION To be the social, intellectual, and athletic hub of Harvard alumni and our aliated community in the Greater Boston area. VALUES We live VERITAS according to these values. We are: VISIONARY EXCELLENT RESPONSIBLE INCLUSIVE Our club builds We deliver an We value our for tomorrow We are a exceptional members and treat while treasuring community where member their investment with the traditions of everyone belongs. experience for all. the greatest of care. the past. TRANSFORMATIONAL ALTRUISTIC SUSTAINABLE We are generous We embrace a We recognize the in our support of creative, innovative need to conserve Harvard students approach in and contribute to the and our broader everything we do. world around us. community. 3 PRESIDENT’S LETTER To My Fellow Harvard Club of Boston Members, impact on actual politics. Perhaps someone out there In March of 1971, Harvard University Press published one knows whether or not North of the most influential works in American political thought, Cambridge’s Tip O’Neil and John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (known in academia as Harvard Yard’s Professor TJ). He is considered by many to be the most important Rawls ever met? political philosopher of the 20th century. The apparent lack of Professor Rawls (1921 – 2002) received his BA from political influence may have Princeton and PhD from Harvard and joined The University disappointed Rawls. He was in 1962, where he spent the following four decades a veteran of some of the of his life and career. He was appointed the James B. worst fighting in the Pacific Conant University Professor at Harvard in 1979. University theatre in World War II, and when he developed his ideas professors hold Harvard’s highest professorial posts. after the war and in the turbulence of the 1960s, one of These distinguished and special endowed positions his aims was to find a way to contain political violence. were established in 1935 by the President and Fellows of He wrote that it was one of the purposes of political Harvard College for “individuals of distinction … working on philosophy in general to temper political fanaticism, to the frontiers of knowledge, and in such a way as to cross help explain why our political institutions, imperfect as they the conventional boundaries of the specialties.” Indeed, may be, are not entirely arbitrary or uniformly oppressive. Rawls transcended the boundaries of politics, philosophy, As we navigate through the turbulent wake of January and social equality. 6th, it’s good for us to take pause to consider that we are struggling with many of the same social issues today as we John Rawls and TJ hold a special meaning for me. As a did a half century or so ago. College junior, I along with scores of other undergraduates (and some grad students) piled into Emerson Room 105 But fifty years after TJ’s publication and in the centennial and took Philosophy 171 Modern Political Philosophy with year of his birth, Rawls would be heartened knowing that the rock star Professor. This is a contradictory description Danielle Allen, an African American woman born in the of the man for while he was much accomplished, and year of TJ’s publication, with a BA from Princeton and a widely admired and lauded, he was a most thoughtful, PhD from Harvard is today’s the James Bryant Conant gentle and modest man, famous for making time for all University Professor at Harvard University. Professor Allen students of philosophy, whether a novice undergraduate too is a faculty rock star, and one of The University’s best or hardened PhD candidate. and brightest, as demonstrated by her work as Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. Like her It was during this semester that I learned of Rawls’s predecessor, she is recognized for scholarly work on theory of “justice as fairness” which advocates equal justice and citizenship. It could be that Professor Allen will basic rights, equality of opportunity, and promoting the be one to bridge the academic/political chasm that Rawls’s interests of the least advantaged members of society. In acolytes found so lamentable; she recently announced his argument, Rawls framed a thought experiment where that she is exploring a candidacy for Massachusetts citizens making choices about their society are asked to Governor in 2022. Rawls’s justice as fairness embodies an make them from an “original position” of equality behind ideal for equity that all citizens are to carry forward. That’s a “veil of ignorance,” without knowing what gender, race, more important than ever today, and his successors now abilities, tastes, wealth, or position in society they will lead the way. have. Rawls claims this will cause these citizens to choose “fair” policies. Forty years later, this idea of considering Lastly and on a much different note, in March we will an original position of fairness remains, although met not have more news regarding our partnership with Trinity nearly enough, one of my life’s guiding principles. Financial and our potential development of the Newbury Street building and parking lot. If you have any questions Over these past several months, I have had the revelation or comments, let me know. This is your Club! Enjoy the that John Rawls was positing the principles of diversity, spring and the impending Vernal Equinox! equity and inclusion a half-century before they became prevalently part of our language! But Rawls’ views were Donec iterum, Veritas. not without critics, including his more colorful colleague in Emerson Hall Robert Nozick, who in 1974 penned Anarchy, State and Utopia, a libertarian response to Rawls’ liberalism. And even Rawls’ apologists recognized that for Matt Hegarty ‘82 all of his academic and judicial fame (The SCOTUS has President, Harvard Club of Boston quoted from TJ over time), his influence had little if any [email protected] 4 GENERAL MANAGER’S LETTER Dear Harvard Club of Boston Membership, Soon we will be shifting to spring hours of operation With our days providing more sunlight, we can look and we plan on opening the forward to the start of spring on March 20th which would Inn on or about April 1, 2021. mark 53 weeks since the Club was required to make Additionally, we expect that significant changes in our operations due to the COVID-19 gathering limitations imposed pandemic. We are confident that this year’s spring will by the City and State will be bring us not only brighter days but more opportunities to eased which will provide us the gather at the Club. opportunity to have lunch and dinner events in our private We have applied for a permit in an effort to extend our dining rooms. For those comfortable with gathering with temporary outdoor dining. Our plan is to transform the other members, we will be able to expand our event lawn areas of the Club into dining areas. Our goal is to offerings in the Clubhouse. be able to have approximately 48 seats on our property fronting Commonwealth Avenue. But as much as many of us love our Clubhouse, the Harvard Club is so much more than a building. Our Club We will continue our COVID-19 testing weekly on is all about the connections that we share—to Harvard, Thursdays through at least the month of March and to its affiliated community and to one another. I’m proud possibly beyond. The testing has been very well received to share that connection with each of you as we strive to by our membership and provides a convenient, safe, quick create an extraordinary member experience. access to a PCR test. MISSION STATEMENT As I mentioned last month, we are trying our best to offer To be the social, intellectual, and athletic hub of Harvard the vaccine as well. While the State and City’s goal are to alumni and our affiliated community in the Greater Boston distribute the vaccine through mass vaccination locations area.