The Harvard Graduate Council:

What we do for you
Ever wonder what life is like at other Harvard graduate schools such as the Divinity School, Education School or Law School? While it is tempting to only cross the river to visit Shay’s, the role of the four HBS Senators who serve on the Harvard Graduate Council (HGC) is to ensure that the interests of HBS students are represented in the planning of cross-graduate school activities and are communicated to the administration of Harvard University as a whole.

The mission of the HGC is to coordinate the activities of the over 12,000 graduate students here at Harvard. The HGC serves as the University-wide student government for the 10 graduate and professional schools of Arts & Sciences, Medical, Dental, Business, Design, Divinity, Education, Kennedy, Law, and Public Health. Members of the council are elected or appointed by each of the local student bodies. The Council meets bimonthly during the academic year. Visitors are welcome at all meetings.

Initiatives
The mission and roles of the HGC are:
1. To identify and address issues of common concern of graduate students across the University.
2. To collect and voice the concerns of graduate students to the University administration and appropriate bodies.
3. To facilitate communication and foster cooperation between schools.
4. To bring graduate students of all graduate schools together for academic, professional, social and community service events.

Current projects underway in the HGC include inter-school social events (such as the Valentine’s Party last month), alumni out-reach activities, and greater coordination for cross-registration between schools. One past policy topic was the living wage, which resulted in greater support for Harvard University workers.

General issues the HGC addresses include financial aid, especially the issue of high debt loads for students going into public interest fields; faculty diversity; student housing; and student health-care plans. We are constantly looking for opportunities to create cross-disciplinary networking events, so graduate students can meet and share their interests. We always welcome suggestions from fellow students for new initiatives.

Get involved!
To learn more about the Harvard Graduate Council, check out the latest news on the website at www.hgc. harvard.edu or come to a meeting. Our meetings are open to all graduate students.
We welcome the input and participation of all HBS students in our activities. Please contact Drew Blackburn (ablack burn@mba2003.hbs.edu), Hank Midgley (hmidgley@mba2003.hbs.edu), Meg Stern (mstern@mba2002.hbs.edu) or Michael Dal Bello (mdalbello@mba2002.hbs.edu) with any questions about how to learn more and get involved.