In leafing through Retrospecta year after year, you will find that this book is much like Rudolph Hall; no matter who is at the helm of the School, it is ultimately a product of the students within it. An editors’ letter is a sort of fruitless endeavor, then, since what matters about this book is what the students contribute and what you, the reader, stand to learn from the work. This year, you’ll find projects nominated by students alongside those nominated by the faculty (we won’t say which are which), and we hope you’ll notice the other ways in which we have emphasized students’ voices.
As Retrospecta is also something of a thermometer for the School, we had a conversation with our new dean, Deborah Berke, who has just finished one year on the job. She shared her aspirations for the School and its students, offered thoughts on diversity, and revealed some of the challenges the School has faced this past year.