Harvard puts a spotlight on the Philippines

On the evening of March 22, the Philippines shone brightly. That night, the highest-ranking Harvard University official ever to visit the Philippines, Harvard provost Dr. Alan Garber, who was on a two-day visit as part of a swing through Southeast Asia, was given a memorable, world-class welcome.

The venue was the Ayala Museum. The attendees were over 200 Filipino graduates of Harvard and their guests. The attire was formal. The red carpet (literally) was rolled out for Garber.

Musicians from the Manila Symphony Orchestra played. Food catered from Manila Hotel was scrumptious. Specially-designed drapery and floral arrangements gave an extra touch of class. A photo exhibit of past Harvard events in the Philippines showed the depth of Harvard’s presence in our country.

There was a buzz in the air

A high point of the evening was a fireside chat with Garber. As Harvard’s provost, he is second highest-ranking official at the university (after the president) and in that role, he acts as Harvard’s chief academic officer. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard, holds a PhD degree in economics and is also an MD (doctor of medicine).

The fireside chat was moderated by Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine, Harvard University overseer and the copresident of Harvard Club of the Philippines Global. This author, the club’s copresident, gave the welcome remarks.

The opening question from Acuña-Sunshine was for Garber to explain what he does as provost. In response, he said that one of his most pressing tasks is to ensure that Harvard’s 12 graduate schools work in concert. There is tremendous talent at Harvard, but it’s scattered across the different schools, and there is a real danger of duplication of effort and redundant investments. For example, different medical research labs could be running similar projects and requesting the same expensive equipment—rather than aiding one another.

To remedy this, Garber and Harvard’s president, Prof. Drew Gilpin Faust, have formulated the One Harvard initiative. Through One Harvard, the departments have begun working more closely and more efficiently.

Dealing with AI

Another question was how Harvard was addressing the challenge of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically ChatGPT, which potentially can write highly articulate essays for students, among other tasks. Garber noted that the educational community at large would have to determine new ways to test and inspire students, but that the University would approach AI advancements as potentially positive developments. Garber acknowledged that something admirable is often lost whenever technology makes related ingrained aptitudes not as necessary as they once were, but he remained hopeful that AI in Harvard would ultimately come into its own as a progressive tool to accomplish basic tasks faster at high quality. He reminded the audience of the Kempner Institute for the Study of Artificial and Natural Intelligence that Harvard launched in late 2021 in collaboration with Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. The college, Garber said, has always moved forward when it comes to emerging tech and it wouldn’t be proper to shy away from this newest challenge just because the solution is currently a touch opaque.

The fireside chat ended with closing remarks by Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala. Garber was complimented for how great he looked in his new barong (which had been made specifically for him) and he was asked to return to the Philippines in the near future so he’d have more chances to wear it. The provost of Harvard chuckled and nodded.

In this part of the world

Harvard University is placing greater emphasis on Southeast Asia. Harvard’s Asia Center has ambitious plans for promoting Philippine studies, which include: teaching Filipino; starting a Visiting Scholars and Post-doctoral Fellowship Program (to bring scholars from the Philippines to Harvard); introducing the Philippines and its history to undergraduate classes through course development support; supporting special research projects (climate change, food security, disaster response, innovative housing, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, culture and religions, etc.); furthering Philippine-related programming (academic talks and cultural events, such as art exhibitions, music, food, etc.); and establishing a high-profile yearly conference (this would include a conference at Harvard, with scholars based in the Philippines invited and a collaborative conference with universities in the Philippines).

Harvard’s Asia Center sees this as a particularly important moment for moving ahead aggressively with all these initiatives as part of its efforts to provide a lasting place for Southeast Asian Studies generally and the study of the Philippines in particular, at Harvard—something that has not previously existed in its nearly 400-year-old history. It is an exciting and unprecedented moment, filled with opportunities and possibilities.

The spectacular success of the evening honoring Garber at the Ayala Museum did much to elevate the status of the Philippines at Harvard. It made one proud to be a Filipino. With this event and the plans of Harvard’s Asia Center to give prominence to Philippine studies, the distance between Manila and Massachusetts has never been closer.

That distance is getting nearer every day. INQ

The author is chair of the diversity, equity and inclusion committee of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) and was MAP Governor from 2018-2019. She is president and CEO of John Clements Consultants, copresident of Harvard Club of the Philippines Global and a member of Harvard Business School Alumni Board. Feedback at [email protected] and [email protected].