A Goodbye to the Seniors on Our Student Board

May 18, 2018
Index Magazine

A Goodbye to the Seniors on Our Student Board

© Susan Young Photography Martha Tedeschi, the museums’ Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director, thanks students for their involvement with the Harvard Art Museums during a Student Late Night event.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Harvard Art Museums’ Student Board, a small group of undergraduates who serve as liaisons between the campus community and the museums. 

From organizing House Teas, to welcoming their peers to the galleries, to advising staff on how best to engage with and respond to student life and concerns, these students play a critical behind-the-scenes role within the museums. With a wide range of backgrounds and academic interests, board members share an enthusiasm for the museums and for our collections, and their diversity helps ensure that the museums are reaching as many students as possible.

Although we will miss them, we’re proud of the nine board members who will be graduating this spring; many of them have been on the board for nearly their entire time on campus.

“Our Student Board would not be what it is without the contributions of our graduating seniors,” said Erin Northington, manager of student engagement programs. “They have been enormously dedicated to the museums and have brought energy, joy, new perspectives, and endless ideas to our shared work. They have been instrumental in embedding the Harvard Art Museums in campus life.”

We’re sharing a bit about each of the senior board members below. We wish them the very best for the future!

Lucy Xu, a Quincy House resident, said that she “came to Harvard not having a sense that the arts would significantly affect my time here.” But after joining the Student Board, she realized “that the arts and museums have something to offer each and every person interested in them.” Xu concentrated in human developmental and regenerative biology with a secondary in the history of art and architecture. She will pursue a career in medicine.

Cengiz Cemaloglu said that “the Harvard Art Museums showed me that regardless of what I choose to work as, study, or spend the majority of my adult life doing, art should always be a part of it. Art can provide inspiration, restoration, and reinvigoration in each of us.” After graduation, Cemaloglu, of Currier House, who concentrated in social anthropology and government, will join a strategy consulting firm in Copenhagen.

Rob Hopkirk has been actively involved with the museums since his freshman year. A Mather House resident and religion and English concentrator, Hopkirk said looking closely at art taught him patience. His favorite spot in the museums is “right outside the Winter Garden on Level 2. On sunny afternoons, the natural light comes pouring into the gallery and illuminates the Venetian altarpiece on the wall.”

Lily Calcagnini said that she loves “standing in front of Max Beckmann’s Self Portrait in Tuxedo. It’s close enough to the courtyard that I can sense the energy of the social scene there, but secluded enough that I can retreat into my mind and appreciate the painting in peace.” A Dunster House resident, Calcagnini concentrated in history and literature.

William Lobkowicz found the museums to be “a place for reflection and contemplation. Harvard can be a high-pressure, fast-paced environment,” he said, “but when I’m at the museums all that stress disappears and I leave more motivated and content.” Lobkowicz, of Eliot House, concentrated in history.

Feyi Edun said she loves serendipitously discovering art in the University Galleries on Level 3. “One never really knows what will be there,” said Edun, of Quincy House, who concentrated in applied mathematics with a secondary in French. “It’s been a great way to find something I may never have planned a journey around.” It doesn’t hurt that the cafe is “a reliable source of warm chai lattes on cold afternoons,” she added.

Andrea Schoenberg said she happily took advantage of “having this resource at my backdoor, a place to spend a few minutes between classes or a few hours exploring every corner.” A Leverett House resident and sociology concentrator, she had no previous experience with the arts, but the museums turned out to be an “integral part” of her college experience.

Emily Zauzmer served on the board for three years. A Lowell House resident and folklore and mythology concentrator with a secondary in English, Zauzmer included a work in the collections by Jean-Honoré Fragonard in her senior thesis. “The Harvard Art Museums are a place of rejuvenation for me,” she said. “I love that, right in the middle of a busy campus, the museums offer quiet spaces, important art, and gorgeous architecture.”

Saranya Vijayakumar said her relationship with the museums was forged through experiencing it with friends, “whether it was walking through the museum with religion majors and bringing them to the Christian art, where they stayed for the rest of our visit, or having my entire house dancing in the Calderwood Courtyard for winter formal.” A Lowell House resident, she concentrated in computer science and government.