August 29, 2024 – Incoming Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health students were welcomed to the School during Orientation, held August 28–30.
The program kicked off at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, where 563 new students from 51 countries and 37 states enjoyed the opportunity to mingle over light breakfast before listening to welcome remarks from Dean Andrea Baccarelli, who was speaking to incoming fall students for the first time since becoming dean in January.
“To succeed in public health—and in many other things in life—you need to invest in your strengths. And you need to lean on your community,” Baccarelli told students. He encouraged them to reach out across differences, and to not be afraid to engage in difficult conversations. “I’m confident that you’ll find that there is tremendous strength in our diversity. That no matter our differences, we are all here because we share one fundamental belief: that every human being deserves health, dignity, and justice,” he said
Students also heard from Sue Goldie, Roger Irving Lee Professor of Public Health, who presented a session on foundations of public health. On Thursday, Predrag Stojic, adjunct lecturer on health policy and management and executive director at People Power Health, spoke about how his experiences as a Harvard Chan School student shaped his career.
Other Orientation highlights included campus tours; academic and program meetings; and sessions aimed at helping students set themselves up for academic success and use creative expression to form social connections. Students reflected on why they felt called to public health at a session led by Fawn Phelps, director of leadership development, and Ra’Shaun Nalls, director of community engagement and interim chief diversity officer.
Students also participated in thoughtful discussions during a workshop on learning and engaging across differences, led by Erin Driver-Linn, dean for education. The session explored the School’s mission, vision, and principles of citizenship, and what it means to be a pluralistic community built not just on tolerance but on active seeking of understanding. Participants discussed the differences between a “safe space,” where people can feel confident that they won’t be exposed to harm, and a “brave space”—a supportive environment where people can feel comfortable sharing different perspectives and learning and growing together.
During the workshop, Stephanie Ferguson professor of the practice of health policy and management and director of the Harvard Global Nursing Leadership Program, spoke about her experiences with racism growing up in Virginia and how she learned to communicate across differences during her career in nursing and health policy. She said that she resolved to make change in her community and the world by building bridges and urged the students to do the same.
Photos: Kent Dayton
