Jodie Foster praises Harvard for taking ‘the gloves off,' accepts Radcliffe Medal in Cambridge

Boston Globe

09-05-2025

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'Jodie has used the power of art to engage with existential questions that define the human experience,' said Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Harvard Radcliffe Institute dean, while introducing Foster during Friday's ceremony. 'She's also harnessed her craft and the resources it affords her to focus our attention on critical issues and overlooked voices.'
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In addition to receiving the honor, Foster took part in a keynote conversation about her life and career with
at Yale, and even helped her score an interview with Toni Morrison for her thesis while serving as Foster's senior advisor.
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'Who in the world would ever have thought that you and I, two Yalies who met when you were an undergraduate and I was a baby professor in New Haven back in 1983-84, would one day be sitting here at Harvard,' Gates joked, with Foster quipping, '[and] not covered in beer.'
Foster tried to be diplomatic
when answering Gates's questions on why she chose Yale over Harvard (Gates noted that she was accepted to both universities), and admitted that her mother 'was mad' when she ultimately chose the Bulldogs over the Crimson.
'My mom really wanted me to go here,' Foster told Gates. 'Every institution has it's own vibe, has it's own feeling, and for whatever reason I was drawn to Yale — but I clearly made a terrible mistake.'
The conversation took a more serious tone when Foster opened up about her traumatic experience of being stalked by
'It definitely turned my world upside down,' Foster said, detailing how she was a freshman and in the middle of doing a play at the time, but needed constant security due to the situation. 'I don't usually talk about that time because it was a tumultuous time.'
'I wanted to have a long career where I was known for myself and for my work, and I wanted my identity to be about what I produced,' she added. 'I just didn't want to be
that
girl who was chosen abstractly by an insane man to be a footnote in history."
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The wide-ranging conversation concluded with Gates asking Foster to share her hopes and fears for 'the present moment.' Foster expressed that, while 'a lot of us are tired and worn out and sad,' people need to 'be energized' and find the strength to fight back.
'What I hope for people now is that they take the gloves off,' Foster said. 'Harvard has shown that recently, but also, with this group of thinkers in these rarified places, where the intellect and the ability to connect is really revered above all else, [for people] to really understand that you have the power to use love as a guiding principle and to be strategic.'
Jodie Foster, right, received the Radcliffe Medal on Radcliffe Day from Tomiko Brown-Nagin, left, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, in Cambridge on Friday.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
The ceremony kicked off on Friday afternoon with a panel discussion on representation of women in film and television featuring actress Amy Brenneman, filmmaker Naomi McDougall Jones, Oscar-nominated director Mira Nair, and TV writer and producer Saladin K. Patterson, moderated by Stacy L. Smith, associate professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Author and long-distance swimmer
testimonial honoring Foster. The actress
'Jodie, we wouldn't have missed it for the world, we're so proud of you,' Nyad said,
speaking for herself and Stoll, who she also praised Foster for portraying in the film. 'So, today, yes, we congratulate you, but the truth is, we're here because we love you and we're so thrilled at our growing friendship.'
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Matt Juul can be reached at