Why Harry Potter Chose Harvard: A House System That Continues to Cultivate Top Talent

(Last Updated: 29 Aug 2016)

Abstract:

Did you know that Harvard’s freshmen dining hall (Annenberg Hall) was modeled after the same Oxford University dining hall (The Hall at Christ Church) that inspired the dining hall (Great Hall) of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies? Did you know that Harvard has three-times as many Houses as Hogwarts? Did you know that Harvard’s Straus Cup and its intramural sports competitions, among the Houses, preceded Hogwarts’ House Cup and its Department of Magical Games and Sports?

The fictional wizard prodigy, Harry Potter, went to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But Hogwarts, in many ways, was modeled after Harvard (this probably explains why Harry Potter creator, J.K. Rowling, suggested during her commencement address at Harvard a few years ago, that Harvard’s commencement ceremony could very well pass for “the world’s largest Gryffindor reunion.”) And in reality, talented prodigy from across the globe choose Harvard to cultivate their gifts and enable them to change the world. Whether aiming to be the next John F. Kennedy, Al Gore, Ben Bernanke, Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerberg — to name just a few of our notable alumni — the world’s top high school graduates choose Harvard because of the indelible, character-building experience that it promises. This experience, predicated on the residential college or House system (inspired by that of Cambridge and Oxford universities), in turn, prepares them to lead successful and fulfilling lives.

About the Speaker:

Renaldo Michael Pearson

A self-described social entrepreneur, Renaldo Michael Pearson accepted a position to become an administrator at Harvard University (as Academic Coordinator of Winthrop House) in December of 2015. He is 2011 alumnus of Morehouse College, he majored in Political Science with a Pre-Law concentration and was named 1 of the 6 most “distinguished men of the class of 2011″ by Morehouse’s newspaper, in its 2011 “Man of The Year” issue. Pearson also received recognition as the most “Well Spoken” member of the Morehouse class of 2011 in the college’s yearbook. In 2012, he served as a Senior advisor in the 2012 Morehouse College Presidential Search Process.