Letter from the Harvard Black Alumni Society of New York


Dear All,


Our nation is confronted with a crisis – social, political and moral – of the highest order.  To some, it may seem odd to label this crisis as “the civil rights issue of our generation.”  Our public memories of the civil rights movement of the 1960's are replete with dramatic spectacles of struggle against malice and violence – struggle that sought to bring hope and equality to a condition of resignation and despair. 
Today again, we as a nation face a point of resignation and despair with thousands of schools persistently producing over 1 million dropouts year after year.  High school dropouts become far more likely to lead lives of crime and entrenched poverty.  These people are disproportionately African American and Latino, but this crisis is not one confined to these communities.  It is a truly American crisis that has profound implications for generations to come.  Our solutions to the dropout crisis must be as diverse as those students whom it affects. 

At this discussion, we have convened an esteemed panel of experts who stand at the nexus of policy and practice, representing academia, national service, teaching and policy-making.  Each of these individuals is intimately aware of the barriers to success that our students face as well as the efforts taking place in the field to help students and schools succeed.


We hope that this discussion will catalyze citizens from all walks of life to be active agents for education reform.  The Harvard Black Alumni Society of New York will offer a number of opportunities throughout the year to serve and I encourage you to stay connected and engaged with those efforts.  We look forward to working with the Harvard community and the New York community to be part of effective strategies that address our nation’s dropout crisis by helping young people graduate from school and succeed in life. 

This panel discussion on the fate of our nation's students and schools was conceived and organized by the Harvard Black Alumni Society of New York (HBASNY) with invaluable support from the Harvard Alumni Association, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Scholastic Inc. and the America's Promise Alliance

Many thanks to those who joined us for this discussion.  For those who did not, I hope that you will learn from and be inspired by the video from this panel discussion.  For all, I hope that you will get excited about the Harvard Black Alumni Society of New York's next event - details coming soon. 


Sincerely,

Enoch Woodhouse AB '07
Co-President, Harvard Black Alumni Society of New York