Every Thanksgiving, a handful of international College students trek to Diane Gallagher’s house in Brookline to eat home-cooked turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and to share the history of their home countries’ flags.
Isa Salmanu ’28 from Nigeria was part of the group this past November, along with classmates from Argentina, Honduras, Portugal, and Spain. “The table was lively and full, as Diane had invited her neighbors and children. It felt like a big, warm gathering,” the Pennypacker Hall resident said. “We talked about a little bit of everything.”
The tradition is one of many that Gallagher and her two daughters have maintained since she became one of the inaugural members of the Harvard Host Family Program more than 40 years ago.
The program began in the late 1970s as a way to link new international students to local families with Harvard affiliations. Run out of the College’s First-Year Experience office, the initiative has few formal requirements. Host parents often meet up with students for meals, celebrate holidays, and, most importantly, help them adjust to life at Harvard.
Gallagher, who was then married to a Harvard Medical School alumnus, became one of the first volunteers to sign on after expressing the need to support incoming students from Africa to the secretary of then-President Derek Bok. She made hosting first-years a family tradition, with daughters Maura and Claire joining the effort when Diane moved to Cape Verde to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1990 to 1992.
Since then, the three women estimate they have helped dozens of students adjust to life on campus.
Diane Gallagher in her Brookline home.
Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
“It’s really been such a wonderful thread in the tapestry of the Gallaghers’ lives,” said Maura Gallagher. “It’s something that we all just enjoy immensely.”
Kevin Burke ’66 began hosting students in the 1980s. He took a break from participating in the program while raising his own family, but returned when he and his wife became empty nesters. “This time, I was able to put more time and effort into it,” he said.
Burke described his three-point process for meeting his new students. First, he picks them up at Logan Airport and drives them to campus. “It’s just really a lot of fun and a rare experience to share in the excitement, especially in cases where the students have never even been to Boston or the United States before,” he said.
Burke then takes students shopping for dorm essentials and helps them move in.
“It’s very uplifting and for me, it’s a mixture of nostalgia, optimism, and loyalty to my College,” said the Massachusetts native, who played defenseman for the men’s ice hockey team for two years.
Polina Galouchko ’23 from Moscow recalls how grateful she felt for Burke in her early days in Cambridge.
“The first couple of days, he really just took care of everything,” said Galouchko, who is now a graduate student in political science and has stayed in contact with Burke. “I was completely unaware of where one gets things, and he took me shopping and showed me around campus. It was just incredible and so helpful.”
Nekesa Straker, senior assistant dean of residential life and first-year students, said this year 142 families volunteered to host 174 undergrads, including 98 international students. An additional 65 students were put on a waiting list, highlighting the need for more hosts.
Emmanuel Muriuki (left), walks with Sheila Thimba through Harvard Yard.
Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer
Muriuki and Thimba display their Kenya bracelets.
Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer
Diane Gallagher speaks about her clothing from Ghana.
Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
Diane’s daughter Claire.
Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
“Our expectation, really, is that they form a connection with the students. It can range from going out to dinner, having coffee, answering questions, or just being another resource,” Straker said. The First-Year Experience office also offers opportunities for hosts and students to meet up during family weekend or at various sports events on campus.
Reisa Volkert, whose husband, L. John Volkert ’56, is an alum, and Sheila Thimba, College dean of administration and finance, have grown close to all of the students they have hosted, many of whom they see regularly.
Thimba, once an international student herself at St. Elizabeth University in Morristown, N.J., from Kenya, remembered what it felt like to be in a country far from family and friends.
During the past decade, she and her husband, George, have hosted dozens of students, many from Africa, and remain in contact with many of them long after graduation. With each new student, she immediately adds them to her host family WhatsApp group.
“I think they will say that’s actually more valuable to them than talking with us old folks,” Thimba joked. “We’re useful for picking up at the airport or taking them to Target. But mostly they get to know each other. That’s been incredibly useful.”
She noted that past students who have graduated and returned to Kenya have established a “farewell committee” for first-years leaving the country to come to Cambridge.
Similarly, Volkert, who also primarily hosts students from Africa, has made it her mission to connect each new cohort of students to others who came before them and make up her extended host family.
Once at Harvard, she takes them out to dinner and shopping when they need it. “For me, this really works well in terms of being that person who would be the parent or there for what they need,” she said.
“It’s like a second family here in the United States,” said Kwame Boateng ’28, one of Volkert’s students this year. “Reisa is like a mother to us, and the other members of the host family are like brothers and sisters to me. I love them very much. We meet every two weeks for dinner, and we get to catch up away from all the academic stuff.”
“It’s like a second family here in the United States. Reisa is like a mother to us, and the other members of the host family are like brothers and sisters to me.”
Kwame Boateng
Boateng and Emmanuel Muriuki ’28, who is paired with Thimba, credited their host mothers for warning them about Boston’s tough winter weather. Muriuki, who comes from Kirinyaga County in Kenya, said he had “no idea where to start” when it came to finding warm clothing.
Thimba took him and other host students shopping for jackets and accessories that Muriuki started wearing as temperatures dipped this fall.
Two of Burke’s students, Galouchko and Sasha Khalo ’28 from Ukraine, described the enduring and endearing interactions he’s had with them — and their families.
When Khalo arrived in Boston with her mother and sister, they were all able to meet Burke. “He was just so thoughtful,” she said. “He’s a photographer, so he was taking professional pictures of us and making memories for us.”
Since then, Burke has kept Khalo’s family apprised of her time in Harvard through emails and photos.
Burke attended Galouchko’s wedding in New Hampshire the summer after she graduated, flying a camera-equipped drone over the nuptials to capture video of special moments, which he later gave to the newlyweds as a gift.
“It was super special, because we didn’t realize he was doing that. Six months later, he showed up and was like, ‘OK, here’s my gift to you guys!’” she shared. “There were so many precious moments captured from above, and it was such a unique and cool gift.”
Alumni, faculty, staff and other affiliates interested in becoming hosts can inquire with the First-Year Experience office.
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