Where were you when it happened? Faculty and staff from across the University reflect on the day and the aftermath
By: Colleen Walsh
AP File Photo/Chao Soi Cheong
One was at the World Trade Center. Another was a few blocks from the White House and lived near the Pentagon. A third was on the West Coast, where it was early in the morning. Still another was in the South. Others were on campus. The Gazette asked some Harvard affiliates from across the University where they were when the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks took place, and how they think about that day two decades later.
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GSAS Dean Discusses Academics and Advising with Harvard Muslim Chaplain in 'Life Matters' Talk
By: Ruth Zheng, Crimson Staff Writer
Photo credit: Mariah Ellen D. Dimalaluan
Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Emma Dench discussed her current role at Harvard and her career trajectory in an interview at the Smith Campus Center Wednesday evening conducted by Khalil Abdur-Rashid, Harvard’s first full-time Muslim chaplain.
The interview marked the second installment of “Life Matters,” a discussion series hosted by Abdur-Rashid that offers students the opportunity to learn from the insights and life experiences of members of Harvard’s academic community. During the conversation, Dench answered questions about challenges she has faced throughout her academic career and at Harvard.
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Panelists Discuss Faith and Activism at Harvard's Institute of Politics
By: Ruth Zheng, Crimson Staff Writer
Photo Credit: Kathryn S. Kuhar
Religious leaders and activists spoke in praise of unity across diversity and tackled questions about the intersection of faith and activism at an Institute of Politics panel Wednesday evening.
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Cornell W. Brooks moderated the event, titled “Moral Resistance: When Faith and Activism Meet in the Streets." Panelists included Harvard Muslim Chaplain Khalil Abdur-Rashid; the Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, professor of the practice of religion and public life at the Kennedy School; Brittany Packnett, vice president of National Community Alliances and Engagement for Teach for America; and Rabbi Jonah D. Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Despite hailing from different religious backgrounds, panelists said they were among friends and colleagues. Several said they had once fought together for causes such as racial justice and gun control.
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A Harvard Professor's Journey to Faith
By: Nate Herpich
Photo Credit: Rose Lincoln/ Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad bears a famous name and is the progeny of an equally famous religious leader. He was born into the counterculture of the 1960s, to parents inspired by the mysticism of Lebanese-American poet Khalil Gibran, and spent his early childhood on the South Side of Chicago within the community of the Nation of Islam, the religious and political group led by his great-grandfather, Elijah Muhammad.
On Wednesday night, beneath the bright lights of the main hall of the Smith Campus Center, Professor Muhammad reflected on these, and other, defining forces of his life, in the first installment of a new series of conversations hosted by Muslim Chaplain Khalil Abdur-Rashid.
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داخل أروقة هارفارد.. ماذا وجدت؟!
By: Fahd Al-Khuraiji
في ولاية Massachusetts, تلك الجامعة العريقة (هارفارد Harvard) التي يسبق تاريخ تأسيسها في أمريكا تاريخ وجود البيت الأبيض نفسه, جامعة مستقلة لا دينية، ترحب بكل لغة، وتفرد ذراعيها لاستقبال مريدي العلم، والعلم فقط. فهي وإن كانت لا تشق لنفسها مذهبًا بين الأديان المنتشرة في العالم، لكنها ترحب بأنشطة طلابها يمثلهم رجل دين مستقل، يدعمه أتباعه مادياً، دون أن تتدخل هارفارد بإدارة أي نشاط تابع لتلك المنظمات على صعيد 30 رجل دين لديانات مختلفة حول العالم ما عدا الإسلام!. كان هذا هو الحال حتى نهاية عام 2016، وكان المسلمون حتى هذا التاريخ يتدبرون شؤونهم عبر أنشطة طلابية ينظمها رجل متطوع بدوام جزئي بسيط لا يخوله للدخول تحت راية الثلاثين رجل دين في المنظمات الدينية المعترف بها في الجامعة. وضمن النفع المساق تحت سياط الضرر, خلقت نظرة الرئيس الأمريكي ترامب إبان فوزه بالانتخابات جواً من (الإسلام فوبيا) داخل أزقة الجامعة, وهو الصدى الذي شاع أثره في كل مكان وقتها وليس هارفارد وحدها؛ مما اضطر رئيس هارفارد حينها البروفيسور Drew Gilpin Faust أن تبحث - ولأول مرة في تاريخ هارفارد- عن رجل دين مسلم يمثل تلك الجالية من طلابها ليسود الأمان والاستقرار بين صفوفهم. فكانت الترشيحات الدقيقة والبحث العميق والإجراءات المعقدة لفوز الشيخ خليل عبد الرشيد بمنصب أول رجل دين يمثل الإسلام بدوام كامل وبعمل ثابت غير تطوعي في إمامة المسلمين داخل حرم هارفارد, في مرتبة فخرية لا تفصله عن رئيس الجامعة سوى رجل واحد فقط.
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