Continuity and Connection

by Christopher Queen

Some years ago a team of university administrators from Japan visited the Harvard Extension School to report on the state of continuing education in the United States. After hearing about the creative use of Harvard classrooms, laboratories, and libraries in the evening; the open access that Extension students have to courses and residential living in the summer; and the intellectual talents of a student body ranging from teenagers to octogenarians, the leader of the delegation suddenly interrupted, "So now I see--continuing education means learning all day, all night, all year, and all lifetime!"

The continuity implicit in a lifetime of learning, linking the traditional school years of youth and adolescence, the midlife years of professional and family commitment, and the increasingly active years of retirement, is the vision that inspired Extension School forerunners John Lowell, Jr. (1799-1836) and former Harvard President Abbot Lawrence Lowell (who founded the Extension School in 1909-1910), and such modern leaders as Deans Reginald Phelps (served 1949-1975) and Michael Shinagel (1975-present). It was on display this June as new graduates ages 20 to 64 received their diplomas. And it was on display last November, as officers of the Harvard Extension Alumni Association (HEAA) met for the first time with officers from the newly formed Harvard Extension Student Association (HESA) to share perspectives on continuing education at Harvard. Unlike traditional students and alumni/ae who peer across a generation gap, our candidates and graduates were surprised and delighted to meet as contemporaries in a continuum spanning the years.

The Harvard Extension School links lifelong learners in space as well as time, connecting students from the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Boston, and New England to those who have traveled across the United States and from around the world to pursue their dream of a Harvard education. The geographic reach of Extension may be seen in the dramatic internationalization of the Certificate of Special Studies in Administration and Management Program, where the number of international students has shot up to 70 percent in recent years. Now the program produces graduates from 74 foreign countries.

The continuity and connection of Harvard Extension students and alumni/ae is richly illustrated in this edition of the Alumni Bulletin. During Harvard President Lawrence Summers' roundtable discussion with HESA officers and members last spring, the audience was inspired by the president's vision of continuing education as a key to international development and by his tribute to Dean Michael Shinagel as a leader in the field.

For students, faculty, and staff at the Harvard Extension School, the ultimate expression of continuity and connection is Commencement Week. For those academic "tortoises" who have labored away for years (or decades!) on a degree or certificate, the continuity of determination and intellectual growth is summed up in processions, speeches, and the all-important parchment. Connections are renewed at the Alumni Banquet and in unexpected reunions on pathways in the Yard and sidewalks in the Square. As always, we offer you a sampling of Commencement oratory, tributes to those who won our prizes and awards and gave generously to our annual appeal, and news of our alumni association and milestones in the lives of our graduates.

For producing a bigger and better Alumni Bulletin once again, our thanks go to managing editor Leslie Busler, alumni coordinator and editorial assistant Ann Wright, staff photographer Jeffry Pike, designer Bob Sweeney, and the expert staff of the Office of Communications and Marketing.