Writer, Comedian Baratunde Thurston Elected As Chief Marshal For Class of 1999

Baratunde R. Thurston ’99, writer, comedian, and television host, was elected by the Class of 1999 to serve as this year’s chief marshal, according to an announcement in the Harvard Gazette, a University-run publication.

Each year, the class celebrating its 25th reunion elects the chief marshal of alumni, who will lead the class’s reunion celebration and will represent all University alumni at Harvard Alumni Day, scheduled this year for May 31. Candidates for chief marshal are nominated based on career success, contributions to society, and service to the College, according to the Harvard Alumni Association.

Thurston, who also served as First Marshal for the Class of 1999 as a senior, said in a Thursday interview that he was “elated and deeply humbled” to be elected chief marshal.

As chief marshal, Thurston will lead the alumni parade and host a luncheon for University leadership and alumni.

“I cannot stress, I am looking forward to wearing the tall funny hat,” Thurston said. “And I think I get a big stick to wave around — and I’ll be very careful with it — but I will enjoy it.”

Thurston is currently the host and executive producer of the PBS television series “America Outdoors With Baratunde Thurston” and a writer for Puck, a digital media company he helped found. Thurston was previously the digital director of The Onion, joined “The Daily Show” as a supervising producer after Trevor Noah became host, and received an Emmy nomination for hosting the Spotify-produced video series “Clarify.”

As an undergraduate, Thurston was a news editor and online director for The Crimson, which he said was “a huge part of my love of Harvard and my knowledge of it.”

“A lot of what I’ve ended up doing now draws on things that I was able to experiment with and explore as an undergrad,” he added, noting his involvement in Black student groups, theater and the arts, and the Harvard Computer Society.

Thurston said he hopes the reunion — which he said will be “emotional and exciting” and “probably a little awkward” — provides an opportunity for “a reconnection to each other, a recommitment to the bonds we’ve established.”

“Every class goes through something,” he said. “There is always something ripping at the seams of community and testing our cohesion, our unity, and our ability to hold conflict.”

Though University has found itself in a historic moment — reckoning with heightened political scrutiny and a divided student body and faculty — Thurston said the position Harvard finds itself in is “not new.”

Thurston said that other than being “a great pitch by the University to raise some money,” Harvard reunions are a way “to look back at the vast sweep of this institution — hundreds of years, multiple wars, civil rights, divestment strategies, all kinds of protests.”

“It is a difficult time for so, so many people in this community,” Thurston said. “And I hope that this Alumni Day and this reunion season gives folks an opportunity to see each other — to hear from each other — in the most beautiful way.”

—Staff writer Joyce E. Kim can be reached at joyce.kim@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @joycekim324.