First Harvard Prize Book in Kosovo Established by Harvard Alumni

Harvard alumni in Kosovo established the region’s first Harvard Prize Book, which will be awarded to three students and two faculty members at the American School of Kosova at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year.

Recipients will be honored with the prize book, a certificate of recognition, and, tentatively, a place at the Harvard Student Agencies summer school.

Superintendent and founder of the American School of Kosova, Ardian Hoxha said in establishing the prize, alumni sought to show students in Kosovo that attending Harvard is “doable.”

Kosovo does not have a formal alumni club due to a lack of numbers. Currently, there are two students from Kosovo at Harvard University and as of 2022 there were seven alumni affiliated with the University. Instead of a club, alumni formed the organization Harvard in Kosovo.

As its first formal initiative, led by Harvard Alumni Contact in Kosovo F. Tony Bislimi, the organization will award the Harvard Prize Book “as a stepping stone,” particularly “towards a closer, more genuine relationship” between students in Kosovo and Harvard, Hoxha said.

Per Hoxha, alumni selected the American School in Kosova because it was the first English-only school in the country, home to “some of the brightest of the bright in the country.”

Hoxha said he believes the program will “be a big boost” for both students and teachers that receive a book prize as well as their classmates and colleagues.

“All our students want to be leaders in their respective field,” Hoxha said. Receiving a Harvard book prize, then, “mentally reinforces the dedication to work harder.”

In addition to a book, the prize may also come with the opportunity to attend summer school through Harvard Student Agencies.

In a statement to The Crimson, HSA wrote that they “applaud the efforts by Harvard alumni to create meaningful opportunities for the residents in Kosovo.”

“We are happy that they are considering one of the HSA summer enrichment programs as a part of these efforts,” they wrote.

Hoxha said the group hopes to expand the program to other schools in Kosovo and later into Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro in collaboration with local alumni contacts.

Bislimi said he hopes the prize and HSA partnership will empower students to “be the beneficiaries of tomorrow.”

“Once we start to trigger this idea, that it is doable,” students may attend Harvard and be what “make us proud tomorrow,” he said.

—Staff writer Rachel Fields can be reached at rachel.fields@thecrimson.com.