The “BJ Show,” a variety show organized by campus semi-celebs B.J. Averell ’02-’03 and B.J. Novak ’01, is hosted by national semi-celeb and former “Full House” star Bob Saget. The show features numerous genitalia jokes, the voice of Aladdin, the Disney cartoon character, and tomfoolery the likes of which haven’t been seen in these parts since the previous year’s “BJ Show.”

The American Repertory Theatre (ART) hires director Richard Woodruff to replace Robert Brustein as head of the theater company. The ART is known for its director-centric focus and its quirky, colorful adaptations of classic plays.

SUMMER

Summers officially assumes the presidency on Sunday, July 1.

Haley S. Surti ’01, who had just days before received her bachelors’ degree cum laude from the College, dies June 12 in a bus crash in Peru, where she was travelling as a researcher and writer for Let’s Go.

Robert L. Scalise was named Harvard’s seventh director of athletics on July 16. Scalise previously served as associate dean for administration and senior executive office at Harvard Business School (HBS).

SEPTEMBER

The nation mourns after terrorists hijack two planes and fly them into New York’s Word Trade Center. Nearly 3,000 civilians lose their lives, and the U.S. begins a war against Taliban and al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan, who are blamed for the attacks.

News that Harvard receives funds from the bin Laden family makes national news. Sheik Bakr Mohammed bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s brother, made two gifts totaling $2 million to the University to fund fellowships for the study of Islamic culture. Harvard officials, responding to attacks, stress that the University will cease using funds if any explicit link to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization are found.

In a rally organized by the newly formed Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice, about 500 students demonstrate outside of Widener Library for a peaceful response to the terrorist attacks.

Harvard announces the value of its endowment slipped in the last fiscal year for the first time in 17 years, from $19.2 billion to $18.3 billion. Harvard Management Company, the organization that invests the endowment, cites the economic downturn and decline of the stock market as causes for the drop.

OCTOBER

House masters extend the hours of official parties in House dining halls by one hour, to 2 a.m., on Friday and Saturday nights, as long as alcohol is not served.

Summers is officially installed as Harvard’s 27th president at a grand academic ceremony in Tercentenary Theatre, before an audience of 5,000. In his inaugural speech, the capstone to two days of festivities, Summers emphasizes the importance of undergraduate education and the development of a Harvard campus in Allston.

Filling the vacancy left by the departure of Harvey V. Fineberg ’67, President Summers announces Steven E. Hyman as the University’s next provost. His appointment is seen by many as reinforcing Summers’ priority on science, as Hyman was the director of the National Institute of Mental Health.