The lesson from Harvard is: Stay visible, stay loud, and stay fighting. That’s the only way for institutions to survive what’s coming.
Columbia will forevermore be compared to Harvard for its response to Trump’s attacks. Columbia caved, while Harvard planned to fight, stood its ground when the attack came, and then started punching.
Our connection to Harvard is a thin one (our son is an alum), but we’ve never been more proud to have it.
posted by matt in Wednesday, April 23, 2025
We met Jonathan on campus at MIT and then headed to Harvard Square to meet his girlfriend. It was unseasonably warm, so we didn't mind hanging out in the Square for a bit. This photo is right outside the Coop.
After that we headed to the Harvard v. Dartmouth hockey game. Harvard dominated the game after the first 15 minutes or so, but the Dartmouth goalie was absolutely tremendous. The two goals scored by the Big Green in those first 15 minutes were enough thanks to his heroics. Harvard lost 2-1.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Friday, November 1, 2024
Widener Library with three Veritas flags. Veritates - multiple truths - fits well with the theme of the address.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Tuesday, May 21, 2024
We took the T to a restaurant for dinner afterwards, Jonathan riding in full regalia. I captured this photo during that ride with my phone. Sometimes it's the perfect camera.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
The rain had all of us a bit disheveled. Well, me at least. My shirt was a mess, as was my hair. My jacket was long gone, soaked after serving as an umbrella as we sat in the Leverett courtyard waiting for the call to take the ceremony inside.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
We picked a spot on the bridge across the street from Leverett House to take some photos with family after the ceremony. I absolutely love this shot with Jake and Jonathan. Jake was so proud of Jonathan, boasting about him to his buddies all week.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
They had a beautiful setup on the courtyard at Leverett House. Family had arrived early and saved seats for us, just off to the right and out of frame here. The green seats were reserved for the graduates, and Jonathan's assigned seat just happened to be right next the the seats that were saved for us. It would have been a perfect setup, but the rain changed things. No worries...the main and house ceremonies were wonderful despite the rain.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
Jonathan waited along the side of the theater after receiving his diploma. He was still grinning, and I loved it.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
The rain arrived as we walked from the main Commencement ceremony to Leverett for the House Ceremony. Family members had saved us seats (the perfect seats, btw), but we never got to use them because the rain slowly built to a downpour, while ultimately forced the Leverett deans to move the ceremony inside. They split graduates into four or five smaller groups by last name ("Buchanan" paid off - the first group was A-D), and then held a ceremony in a small theater in the dorm for each group. It was a tough situation, but they did a great job of adjusting on the fly. Here Jonathan just received his diploma from the deans.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
This gives some perspective on Harvard Yard during Commencement. We found seats a few rows back in this tent on old Yard; New Yard, which is where the stage is positioned and the graduates sit, is through those buildings in the distance. Several video boards are placed around the Yard (you can see one in the distance in this photo), and the audio was perfect. The rain never arrived...during the main ceremony at least.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
I took this photo literally a second after the one above, a few frames later in the sequence. Jonathan had noticed Renee and me during that second and started to smile. I'll never forget seeing that smile appear on his face as he noticed us in the crowd. Thank you, Renee.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
I searched for Jonathan through the viewfinder, which was no small task. This is one of the first photos I took after finding him. He's focused, and hasn't found us yet. Renee's off to my right, taking video.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
Harvard holds Commencement in the full Yard - old and new. The entire area is covered in folding chairs. Getting a seat is not particularly challenging, but figuring out where to be to see your graduate enter the Yard is a different story. I had resigned myself to not being able to watch him walk into the Yard, but Renee pressed on. She found the absolute perfect spot for us to stand as Leverett House entered, which allowed me to get some great shots as Jonathan walked by. I'm forever grateful for her efforts, because I literally watched Jonathan's smile appear on his face as he spotted us.
tags: harvard commencement
photo posted by matt in Thursday, May 23, 2024
Jonathan filled out his closing paperwork while Renee and I gathered up the last load. And with that...we're out of here. So long, Leverett!
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Friday, May 24, 2024
Leverett has been a great Harvard home for Jonathan these last three years. Nice place, too. We've enjoyed visiting and will miss it!
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Friday, May 24, 2024
Today is bittersweet as we move Jonathan out of Leverett House, and out of Harvard. It's a beautiful day, of course, one day after the torrential rain that drove yesterday's House ceremony indoors.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Friday, May 24, 2024
Our family selfie on the steps of Widener library after the Class Day program.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, May 22, 2024
We had a nice lunch on the Yard, complete with free beer. It was nice and relaxing before the Class Day ceremony got underway. Here's Renee, Jonathan, and Kassia planning our next activities.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, May 22, 2024
It sounds like Jonathan lost his tassel. We'll see...commencement isn't until Thursday, so he's got a couple days to find it. I noticed this one as I wandered Harvard Yard before the ceremony this morning. Apparently his is not the only tassel that's been misplaced.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Tuesday, May 21, 2024
The walkway was tight, but we managed to get some nice shots of Jonathan as he walked by. It was a little easier when the grads were leaving after the ceremony, heading to the steps of Widener Library for the class pic, which is when I caught this one of Jonathan.
photo posted by matt in Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Class picture time! Here's the Harvard College Class of 2024.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Today is the baccalaureate ceremony at Harvard. Apparently it's the second longest-running traditional ceremony at Harvard, behind commencement, which means it's likely a 300+ year old tradition.
We arrived a little early, so we're trying to find good seats...and water.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Up early and on the road to Boston for Jonathan's graduation.
tags: harvard
postposted by matt in Monday, May 20, 2024
Harvard's refusal to negotiate with the protesters appears to have ended in negotiation.
tags: harvard
postposted by matt in Tuesday, May 14, 2024
This is welcome news. We're leaving for graduation on Monday...the main ceremony is next Thursday.
tags: harvard
posted by matt in Tuesday, May 14, 2024
An additional 20 bucks a night got us this balcony with a view at the hotel. It's maybe 8'x8'. And totally worth it.
Perfect weather helps.
photo posted by matt in Sunday, September 3, 2023
We walked to dinner after getting Jonathan's room situated. We decided on Pinocchio's, his favorite pizza place (which is not Dave Portnoy's favorite, btw). We all love it, too, so we weren't upset when he requested it.
"Cash only tonight guys, credit card reader is down."
Luckily we had enough cash between us, and had a great dinner.
photo posted by matt in Saturday, September 2, 2023
All moved in! This was probably the easiest move yet. Jonathan has thinned his belongings a bit, and we're getting a little better at the process. Easy parking helped, too. All in all, the process was smooth and easy. He's ready to start his senior year.
He simplified the chalkboard this year, too, which really simplified things. We left the old one at home and bought four chalkboard panels at Home Depot. A few heavy duty command strips on the backside appear to hold everything just fine. He's going to let this first one sit for a few days to make sure, then will hang the others. He even tested the first one out right after hanging it, writing out the equation he worked to prove in his research over the summer.
One load for the apartment stuff, btw. We've got Renee's new Tesla Model Y, which is surprisingly spacious.
photo posted by matt in Saturday, September 2, 2023
It's moving day. Second moving day, actually. We' moved the stuff Jonathan had left at home into his dorm yesterday. Today we're moving the stuff from the apartment into the dorm. Shouldn't be too bad or take too long - I think his apartment stuff will fit in one car load, but we'll see. Two, tops.
Renee and I started the day with breakfast at Tatte in Harvard Square.
photo posted by matt in Saturday, September 2, 2023
There's probably ten tables with chess boards in this sidewalk seating area in Harvard Square. All were being used tonight, which is typical. Only this one had spectators.
photo posted by matt in Sunday, May 28, 2023
Another year in the books. Jonathan finished his junior year at Harvard this week. Time to move out.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Saturday, May 13, 2023
We arrived at Jonathan's dorm at about 11. He had a busy night.
photo posted by matt in Sunday, August 28, 2022
Renee and I are on our own this morning, so we headed to our favorite breakfast spot—Tatte. The line was out the door and seating was hard to come by, so we headed to our other favorite breakfast spot—Bluestone Lane.
photo posted by matt in Sunday, August 28, 2022
Jonathan built two chalkboards for his room this year. A nice addition.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Saturday, August 27, 2022
The flag is flying once again, marking the end of another successful move into the dorms.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Saturday, August 27, 2022
It's moving day! Moving Jonathan back to the dorm for his junior year. Bonus—no rain (or approaching hurricane, like last year).
tags: harvard
postposted by matt in Saturday, August 27, 2022
Turns out we had the perfect amount of space in the car to move Jonathan out of his sophomore dorm room. Everything—less a few guitars and other small things he's storing in his girlfriend's room—fit in one car load. So now we're off to Paige's wedding, rolling into the hotel Clampett style.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Friday, May 13, 2022
Renee and I explored Harvard Square a bit before meeting Jonathan for lunch, checking out a few areas we hadn't noticed before. Found a Patagonia store. I love their clothes and their corporate philosophy, but, wow, everything is so expensive!
photo posted by matt in Saturday, April 23, 2022
We had some pretty great pizza at the Stoked Pizza Company in Cambridge tonight. Great pizza, and a decent beer selection to boot. I had the Night Shift Whirlpool, which was a little more citrusy than I expected, but was still very good.
tags: pizza beer food cambridge harvard
photo posted by matt in Friday, April 22, 2022
We met Jonathan for lunch in Harvard Square, dropped our bags in his dorm room, and headed to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. This is the third museum we've visited since he started here. It was fantastic, just like the others.
tags: science museum cambridge harvard
photo posted by matt in Friday, April 22, 2022
Loaded Jonathan up and started home early this morning. Those crazy Harvard kids....
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Sunday, December 19, 2021
The wild turkeys were out in full force today as we travelled around campus. This guy walked right up to me as I walked along the sidewalk, looking for a treat I guess.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Saturday, November 6, 2021
Nice recap of tonight's game, with video highlights.
posted by matt in Friday, November 5, 2021
Jonathan gave us a tour of campus, showing us most of the buildings where his classes are held. Harvard Yard, where he lived last year, is obviously a high point of every visit to campus. Touch the shoe? Sure, but the students will tell you why you might not want to do that.
tags: harvard harvardyard
photo posted by matt in Friday, November 5, 2021
It's been awhile since we've been able to watch a game with the boys, so the Harvard game was great just from that perspective. But what a game! Harvard is ranked 8th, Cornell 14th, and it's an intense rivalry. Both teams have some incredible talent, and the small, nay, intimate, arena intensified everything. This was one of the best hockey games I've seen in years.
photo posted by matt in Friday, November 5, 2021
Renee's Mary Tyler Moore moment on the steps of Harvard's Widener Library.
tags: harvard
photo posted by matt in Friday, November 5, 2021
