Hans Husmann (MBA ’22) argues why Effective Altruism is an idea worth considering for every HBS graduate . Hans Husmann, Contributor “Imagine there is a house burning and you see people inside. You realize that you hold the key to unlock the door. You could save those people. Sounds like a crazy story, another philosophical… Continue reading Making a Difference in the World from the Day You Graduate
Category: Campus News
Kickstarting My Entrepreneurial Journey at HBS
Startup Bootcamp is one of the most sought-after Short Intensive Programs at HBS. Eni Dervishi shares her experience. Eni Dervishi, Contributor Tell us more about your background and what inspired you to participate in Startup Bootcamp. Before HBS, I worked in a venture capital fund called Alter Global that invests in startups across emerging markets,… Continue reading Kickstarting My Entrepreneurial Journey at HBS
An Upgrade to Campus Housing
While the campus population was away making the most of the winter break, HBS Housing was approaching ‘the end of the beginning’ of their ambitious project—state of the art, luxurious dorm rooms for future HBS campus residents. Starting last year, the HBS Housing team began upgrading some of the empty dorm rooms with several important… Continue reading An Upgrade to Campus Housing
An Introduction to this Year’s SA Executive Board
HBS’s student leadership team shares their goals and plans for the upcoming year, Katherine Richardson (MBA ’23) reports. The Student Association (SA) is the largest student organization at Harvard Business School, made up of the entire full-time MBA community. It is led by two peer-elected co-presidents and their appointed executive board who, alongside the SA… Continue reading An Introduction to this Year’s SA Executive Board
Trouble in Paradise: Trials and Tribulations after Acceptance
International students jumped through several hoops to get to campus this fall. Sapan Shah (MBA ’23) reports. “The answer is YES!” read the first line of the decision letter from HBS to successful applicants this year. As much as it was the culmination of years of perseverance and months of applications for candidates, it was… Continue reading Trouble in Paradise: Trials and Tribulations after Acceptance
HBS Welcomes Largest RC Class in Decades
Katherine Richardson (MBA ’23) reports on the school’s decision to increase class size for the classes of 2023 and 2024. Harvard Business School is welcoming the largest first-year class in its history this fall, increasing enrollment to around 1,000 students. This temporary adjustment will affect both the classes of 2023 and 2024. To accommodate the… Continue reading HBS Welcomes Largest RC Class in Decades
Truths and Myths About the First Year MBA Experience: Evidence From the Class of 2021
How does the first-year HBS MBA experience differ across the student population? A class-wide survey of second-year students sheds light on this question. HBS students are a diverse population—different demographics and life experiences have shaped each of our journeys to and at HBS. We, a team of WSA members, conducted a survey investigating the HBS… Continue reading Truths and Myths About the First Year MBA Experience: Evidence From the Class of 2021
EKTA 2021—A Journey Celebrating Diversity, Unity and Friendship
Sripriya Kalidoos and Abhivyakti Dixit (MBAs ’22) report about EKTA 2021 at HBS The show must go on!—Announced Dean Datar as he kicked-off EKTA 2021. On Thursday April 15, the HBS community had a high-energy cultural immersion as students found themselves grooving to the tunes of Bollywood music. This year, South-Asian Business Association brought back… Continue reading EKTA 2021—A Journey Celebrating Diversity, Unity and Friendship
HBS Got Talent 2021
The event raised over $22,000 for the nonprofit Breaktime to support ending young adult homelessness The HBS community grabbed their bags of popcorn on the evening of March 31, as they eagerly tuned in for the second annual HBS Got Talent show, a school-wide charity event and celebrated evening of entertainment. The event raised over… Continue reading HBS Got Talent 2021
Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as an MBA student
Ziana Kotadia (MBA ’22) reports on the first DEI summit which brought together six business schools from across the country On April 7 over 1,000 students from 20 countries assembled to help answer the question “as an MBA student, how can I help advance diversity, equity, and inclusion—in my life and at my future organization?”… Continue reading Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as an MBA student
I AM EVIDENCE: Untested Rape Kits in the US
Ziana Kotadia (MBA ’22) reports on the more than 200,000 survivors who are yet to see justice. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Sexual violence affects hundreds of thousands of women in the US every year. One out of six women in the US has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape, and… Continue reading I AM EVIDENCE: Untested Rape Kits in the US
How to Fail Well (II/II)
Felipe Cerón (MBA ’22) interviews HBS professors about their failures and learnings. Following up on the past issue (in which we interviewed entrepreneur and HBS Professor Christina Wallace), we interviewed Professor Iavor Bojinov, who teaches TOM at HBS. He holds a PhD and an MA in Statistics from Harvard and a MS in Mathematics from… Continue reading How to Fail Well (II/II)
Denial of Violence, and the Violence of Denial: Controlling the “Comfort Women” Narrative
HLS professor’s recent article on “comfort women” is amidst controversy, for arguing that the girls and women forced into sexual slavery during Japanese wartime were contracted prostitutes. Five HBS students share their thoughts on the importance of acknowledging history and its necessity for progress in women’s and human rights. By Christa Choy, Contributor, Lesley Kim,… Continue reading Denial of Violence, and the Violence of Denial: Controlling the “Comfort Women” Narrative
Honoring Holocaust Survivors at HBS
Samara Sone-Blank reports on the first time in recent memory when HBS commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day that commemorates the genocide of Jewish people that took place at the hands of the German Nazis and their collaborators from 1939 to 1945. Although Jews were the major… Continue reading Honoring Holocaust Survivors at HBS
The Recipe to Badassery
Ale Eguren (MBA ’22) shares his experience of the SIP Anatomy of a Badass and how Bozoma Saint John taught him to live a fuller life, and to live that life now. “The Anatomy of a Badass” was a week-long short intensive program (SIP)put together by Professor Frances Frei and Professor Francesca Gino. They invited… Continue reading The Recipe to Badassery
Art Is a Gratifying and Crucial Way to Build Community
Felipe Cerón (MBA ’22) writes about how HBS students defied the odds showcasing two performances to close 2020 on a positive note. 2020 was a different year from what people expected it to be. And that is the biggest understatement I have written this year. 2020 changed lives, tested lives, took lives and left an… Continue reading Art Is a Gratifying and Crucial Way to Build Community
Dealing with Covid-19
Felipe Cerón (MBA ’22) writes on how Covid-19 has transformed day-to-day campus life and how the HBS community is trying to adapt. What on Earth happened in the last few weeks? Cases and traces going wild, people quarantining all over, and consequently, administration taking more restrictive measures. Goodbye to hybrid classes; it was nice meeting… Continue reading Dealing with Covid-19
Making Harvard Home for the Holidays
As HBS hunkers down for winter vacation during a global pandemic, members of the community share why and how they plan to spend their holidays on campus. Most years, the winter holidays are a time for HBS students to unwind from a hectic first semester with many choosing to spend time with family or travel… Continue reading Making Harvard Home for the Holidays
Diwali at HBS
Poornima Hanumara, an HBS partner, reports on how some members of the HBS community celebrated a very unusual Diwali at HBS. It was an unexpected and pleasant 70 degrees in November, and we had the good fortune of having a space to gather safely during times of Covid-19. This was the perfect setting for Diwali—the… Continue reading Diwali at HBS
HBS DART: The Student Experience
Three ECs report on their experience of being part of the pioneering Dean’s Anti-Racism Taskforce (DART). The murder of George Floyd sparked national outrage and critical conversations about race and systematic racism in the U.S over the summer. It was also a wake-up call for HBS to put renewed focus on addressing racial equity “both… Continue reading HBS DART: The Student Experience
Women Leadership: An Introduction to the Class of 2022
Five women in the class of 2022 share with us their stories of leadership. There are so many different ways to welcome the class of 2022 and introduce them to the HBS community. We could talk about challenges, uncertainty, connectedness or innovation, but in the end, it all comes down to leadership. Sheryl Sandberg (MBA… Continue reading Women Leadership: An Introduction to the Class of 2022
First Virtual RC Olympics Succeeds in Building Section Bonds
Israt Tarin (MBA ’22) reports on how the first ever virtual RC Olympics was organized and discusses the historic levels of participation by the RCs. An important component of section learning is to quickly break the ice and create a sense of camaraderie. It is no small feat in a normal year, and this year… Continue reading First Virtual RC Olympics Succeeds in Building Section Bonds
HBS Community Engaged and Excited about 2020 Elections
Rebecca Braun (MBA ’21) reports on the concerted efforts by the HBS Community to improve civic engagement and voter turnout in the upcoming presidential election. U.S. voter participation is low by both international and historical standards, and the youth of today are less likely to vote than both the Boomers we mock and our peers… Continue reading HBS Community Engaged and Excited about 2020 Elections
Getting Granular: HBS Students’ Ad Hoc Crowdsourcing Effort Leads to the Largest County-Level Covid-19 Dataset
Project Lead Cray V. Noah (MD/MBA ’22) details the rallying effort that turned a grassroots response to the need for granular Covid-19 policy data into a nationwide endeavor and a federally endorsed research tool. When Covid-19 cases in the U.S. began to spike in March, the question “What is being done to stop the spread… Continue reading Getting Granular: HBS Students’ Ad Hoc Crowdsourcing Effort Leads to the Largest County-Level Covid-19 Dataset
HBS Fights Back against COVID-19
Tanishq Bhalla (MBA ’21) reflects on the “Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic” symposium and shares key takeaways from the day. “This is really a horrific time we are in.” Ken Chenault (JD ’76), former CEO of American Express, quickly set the stage for Harvard Business School’s “Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic” Symposium. He confirmed a… Continue reading HBS Fights Back against COVID-19
An Open Letter to Business Leaders from MBA Students
MBA students issue a sincere plea to Fortune 500 CEOs: “Your decisions today matter.” As the COVID-19 crisis developed, we began hearing stories from front-line workers in our communities about the fear they felt when going to work. Many of these workers are our grandmothers, neighbors, and friends. What saddened us most was that their… Continue reading An Open Letter to Business Leaders from MBA Students
COVID-19 Becomes Our Real-Time Case Study
Tanishq Bhalla (MBA ’21) applies classroom lessons to reflect on the effects COVID-19 has had thus far on HBS and the global economy. What started as a mild inconvenience to a select group of RC students bound for FGI in China escalated within three weeks to a campus-wide shutdown and global pandemic. COVID-19 has shaken… Continue reading COVID-19 Becomes Our Real-Time Case Study
Spangler Night Live Presents…a New Campus Experience
The Student Association is focused on increasing campus activation through new events and programming. SA Chief Events Officer, Rachel Brown (MBA ’20), gives insight into the makings of ‘SNL’. The night before students returned to class for Spring 2020, multiple calendar requests hit their inbox with the titles “SNL presents…”. Flash forward one week and… Continue reading Spangler Night Live Presents…a New Campus Experience
Lunar New Year Celebrations Across Asian Student Communities at HBS
Singapore, by Deborah Tan (MBA ’21) I miss Singapore most during Lunar New Year (LNY). Old Chinese songs warble from loudspeakers in wet markets, homes are alive with people visiting kin, and the color is red everywhere—fresh outfits, red packets, calligraphy signs adorning doorways. It feels like Thanksgiving and Christmas combined but better, because you… Continue reading Lunar New Year Celebrations Across Asian Student Communities at HBS
From the Editor’s Desk
To the Women Who Aim for Progress Rather Than Perfection As we celebrate International Women’s Day this month, I’m once again struck by how lucky we are to be surrounded by such a high density of remarkable women around us—women who inspire us to push through and be better versions of ourselves. I’ve been lucky… Continue reading From the Editor’s Desk