Harvard women, front and center
Women have come a long way at Harvard and in society since a University president questioned whether they had the “originality and pioneering spirit” needed to be leaders. Speaking Friday at the formal kickoff of the inaugural Harvard Women’s Weekend, Harvard President Drew Faust cited the succession of milestones that have marked the growth of opportunities for women at Harvard — down to the right to sit at a table at the Widener Library — and the trailblazing students and faculty who helped achieve them. “Here you are, and here I am, because of the women and men who stood up for a woman’s right to sit down — people who made themselves into an answer, no matter who questioned a woman’s brainpower, or doubted a woman’s stamina, or denied a woman’s capacity to lead,” Faust told the mostly female audience at Harvard Business School. Yet Faust cautioned that the advancement of women...