Student Organizations

The Harvard community includes a number of student organizations that accommodate a wide variety of interests, talents, and needs.

The Minority Biomedical Scientists of Harvard (MBSH), sponsored by the Division of Medical Sciences, is an organization founded by Division graduate students and Harvard postdoctoral research fellows. Its mission is to help meet the career development needs of biomedical scientists from groups traditionally under-represented in academic departments. Its activities include journal clubs, professional development workshops, sponsorship of an annual invited lecture, and community outreach.

Of particular interest to minority students may be the W. E. B. Du Bois Graduate Society based on the Cambridge campus of Harvard, and devoted to addressing issues of concern to the entire Graduate School of Arts and Sciences minority community. Representative of the events they sponsor each year are a "kick-off dinner" to welcome new GSAS minority students, a reception for minority faculty, students, and visiting scholars, study break gatherings, and presentations and panel discussions by minority scholars inside and outside the Harvard community. The W. E. B. Du Bois Society also provides support for minority recruitment efforts, and each year publishes the Smooth Transitions Minority Student Handbook for entering graduate students (see the Resources section). Also based on the Cambridge campus is the Harvard Native American Program, which provides sources of community to the entire Harvard Native American population.

Located in Boston on the Medical School campus, and open to both medical students and graduate students, are the following groups:

The Hinton-Wright Society whose name honors two distinguished African-American alumni of Harvard Medical School, William Hinton (Class of 1912) and Louis T. Wright (Class of 1915). Members meet monthly to hear lectures by invited guests or Society members. The Society also seeks to introduce younger members of the minority community to the wealth of opportunities available in biomedical research.

The Multicultural Student Alliance is comprised of six minority student health-related organizations. It implements programs and addresses issues that have an impact on current and prospective students in programs based at Harvard Medical School. The six organizations that make up the Alliance are: the Black Health Organization, Medical Students of Las Americas, the Student National Medical Association, Meeting of Students Addressing Intercultural Concerns, the Student National Dental Association, and the Native American Health Organization, which seeks to increase the awareness among members of the Harvard community of their Native American heritage as well as the health care issues affecting the Native American community.