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A Centennial Ode: Inspiration from a Bygone Class of ’21 | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson

The Harvard Class of 2021 now prepares to receive its degrees and set forth into a world so startlingly different from 2017, when they arrived in Cambridge. It might therefore be appropriate to pause and give a salute to its centennial forbear — the extraordinary class of 1921 — and reflect upon some startling similarities, as well as differences, between their times and challenges. Both the 1921 and 2021 classes arrived at Harvard as epic events were unfolding that would forever alter the students’ lives, the University, the nation, and the world.

Screenshots and collages by Harvard Magazine And now the pandemic has forced another tradition, nearly sacrosanct, to yield, at least slightly. Harvard has always insisted that honorary-degree recipients be present on campus to receive their accolades (none were conferred last year). But given this second consecutive online ceremony, those recognitions and conferrals will proceed—remotely—too. During the May 27 proceedings, “Honoring the Harvard Class of 2021” (as the graduation is being called, since the classes of 2020 and 2021 have been promised a future in-person  Commencement),...

The conferring of degrees is a critical rite of passage for any graduating student, but for those who are also members of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), the week of Harvard Commencement ceremonies brings an additional milestone: the commissioning service. This year 11 members of the Harvard Class of 2021 will take their oaths as new military officers during small, in-person services attended by a few select family members and friends. The combined U.S. Army/U.S. Air Force event will take place at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts, while the U.S. Navy ceremony wi...

Gordon J. Ebanks ’24 is a Crimson Editorial editor. His column runs on alternate Mondays. On Wednesday, our third and hopefully final semester of endless Zoom classes will slowly become a memory. Although much has changed since Covid-19 took over our world, even more has stayed the same. Absent from headlines, applications, bills, and deadlines still come due and our meritocratic machine churns forever on. And current Harvard seniors are now faced with the task of transitioning out of their undergraduate years into a job market and graduate school landscape marred by change and uncertain...