Dear Fellow Alumni,
I am thrilled to have the great privilege to serve as the President of the Harvard Club of Turkey. I would like to thank our members for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Harvard community.
Harvard alumni community is the main force behind making Harvard a lifelong journey. I believe that our board and I, as the incoming President, will continue promoting Harvard values, connecting more alumni and creating an environment for intellectual exchanges.
I am pleased to tell you that our new board has become more diverse as our board members hold degrees from six different Harvard schools (Harvard College, Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Graduate School of Design and Harvard Medical School). We believe that this diversity will bring our areas of expertise to the board.
I would also like to thank to the former presidents and board members for their contribution to the club. We will build on their diligent work. We will continue organizing events such as Global Networking Nights, where Harvard community can enjoy networking with an amazing group of people, and hosting distinguished speakers in different venues, where we can exchange ideas and learn from each other.
Likewise, we will keep promoting our very successful GlobalWE Essay contest, which focuses on two important purposes; promoting women’s rights and raising awareness about Harvard University among Turkish high school students.
In addition, we will work towards our long-term goal of setting up a Harvard Club of Turkey scholarship fund, which will support Turkish students to study at Harvard University.
Meantime, as Covid-19 pandemic has been affecting the way we live and work, we are also obliged to carry some of our events online. Thus, we plan to host webinars until it is safe to arrange in-person events.
Hopefully, when the corona-days are over, we will organize cultural trips, where we can celebrate the end of pandemic all together.
Our board and I are motivated to reach out and bring every member of the Harvard community together in the term ahead.
With my best wishes to all of you.
Erol Adayilmaz (MPA/MC 15)
President
Harvard Club of Turkey