The structural changes, the result of a long-running governance review, are the most significant in a recent trend toward openness on the Corporation. The addition of William F. Lee ’72, a Boston-area resident who occasionally dines in Eliot House, to replace James R. Houghton ’58 as a member in 2010 struck many as a sign of a growing desire on the part of the governing body to engage with the greater University. Now, with six new members joining the Corporation over the next two years, current fellows have said that they hope that to not only be able to specialize in their areas of expertise but also reach out to the community on a more regular basis.

#7 LIBRARY REFORM

As the University’s sprawling library system undergoes its largest overhaul in decades, the snail-paced reforms began to take more concrete shape in 2010. In a report released in Nov. 2009, the Provost’s University Library Task Force recommended a series of changes to the “labyrinthine” structure of the largest academic library in the world. While some faculty members were up in arms about what they feared were proposals of cuts and more cuts, a collaborative effort among faculty and administrators has since led the effort toward restructuring the library system with a focus on efficiency rather than cost. Still facing strapped budgets and rising costs, the library system has taken steps to centralize its administration and increase coordination among the disparate libraries—including a total of over 70 separate library units—of individual University schools.

The Task Force’s successor, the Implementation Work Group led by Divinity School Professor David C. Lamberth, concluded its work this fall by handing off long-term reforms to the newly established Harvard Library Board. Composed of faculty and administrators from across the University, the Board will help centralize executive authority under a single entity, leaving larger proposals of the Task Force and the Work Group—such as reforms to the Harvard Depository—to be overseen by the Board. The mid-December selection of Helen Shenton, formerly at the British Library, as the Board’s Executive Director, has put an experienced hand in place to spearhead system reforms in the years ahead.

#6 YARD SUICIDE

The serenity of Harvard Yard was broken in dramatic fashion last September when a man walked onto the steps of Memorial Church and shot himself in the head. Police immediately locked down the area surrounding the church and increased their perimeter throughout the day. By mid-afternoon, the entire eastern half of the Yard was shut down. A tour group of more than 20 people, which had been posing for a photo in front of the church the moment the man pulled the trigger, was taken aside for questioning. Inside the church, Yom Kippur services were underway when the man took his life. Attendees said they were unaware of what had transpired on the other side of the wall and services continued uninterrupted.

Hours after the suicide, a source familiar with the investigation said the man was not affiliated with Harvard, and in the aftermath of the death, College administrators and mental health officials reached out to freshmen, many of whom live in the buildings surrounding the steps where the man took his life. It would be days before officials released the man’s identity and, more perplexingly, what led up to his death. Mitchell L. Heisman, a 35-year-old writer who was born in New York City and lived in Somerville, had written a 1,905-page opus replete with references to religion, philosophy, history, and the death of his father. Titled “Suicide Note,” the manifesto argued for what Heisman called his own “nihilistic self-destruction.”

#5 CRIME SPREE HITS HARVARD

A string of robberies during the fall semester left administrators and police seeking to reassure students about the level of safety on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods. Beginning with four robberies near MIT at the end of October, the first day of November saw two Harvard affiliates robbed at knifepoint in separate incidents, one of which was stabbed in the arm. The next day, a robbery occurred near the Quad. A Malden man was arrested the following day on robbery charges, but the crimes continued that week with an attempted armed robbery outside the Dudley Co-op. The following Thursday, a man was robbed at gunpoint near Thayer Hall in the Yard. Two days later, a man fired a gun at a Cambridge police officer after holding up three freshmen. The man missed the police officer and was arrested after falling down a set of stairs.

But the robberies would continue throughout the fall. On Nov. 13, three men robbed a victim in Cambridge Common. On Nov. 16, three men robbed a Boston resident at the corner of Mass. Avenue and Brattle Street. On Nov. 21, an undergraduate was robbed near the Quad. December also saw at least three robberies of Harvard affiliates: a graduate student, a Business School student, and an Extension School student.

All the while, the Harvard University Police Department and College administrators sought to reassure the campus that they were taking measures to keep Harvard affiliates safe. Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds and Dean of Student life Suzy M. Nelson sent messages to College students that cautioned against unsafe behavior and announced that the University would step up security. As HUPD added officers to patrol the Yard, the College also tasked security guards with adopting “a more visible stance."

#4 ROTC POISED TO RETURN TO CAMPUS

With the repeal of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy having been signed into law on December 22, the University is poised to formally recognize the Reserve Officer Training Corps, long shunned from Harvard and other Ivy League campuses. Harvard, which first ousted the corps during protests against the Vietnam War in 1969, had said that the military’s policy preventing gay and lesbian troops from openly serving was discriminatory and violated University policy. As a result, Harvard students who participate in ROTC have been forced commute to MIT for military science classes and physical training.

Speaking at an event with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, University President Drew G. Faust said she looked forward to welcoming ROTC back but conditioned its return upon the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” “A ROTC program open to all ought to be fully and formally present on our campus,” she said. Still—despite Mullen’s statement that having ROTC units at schools like Harvard is “incredibly important”—it remains unclear that the University would receive its own unit. The Pentagon must consider the cost-effectiveness of recruiting at a university where it is unlikely to get a large number of participants .

ROTC at Harvard was in the spotlight throughout the fall as a repeal worked its way through Congress. In September, Massachusetts Senator Scott P. Brown publicly rebuked Harvard for its stance and started a petition against the University’s unwillingness to recognize ROTC. When a federal judge issued an injunction halting the enforcement of “Don’t Ask” in October, there were questions if Harvard would change its policy. Congress’s repeal of the policy, finally passed during a lame-duck session, has made it more likely than ever that the University will once again recognize the corps.