From: owner-community@lists.law.harvard.edu [mailto:owner-community@lists.law.harvard.edu] On Behalf Of Elena Kagan
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 10:44 AM
To: community@lists.law.harvard.edu
Subject: [HLS] Announcement

Dear colleagues and friends:

I am writing to all of you -- the community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Harvard Law School -- to let you know that today President-elect Barack Obama will announce his intention to nominate me to serve as Solicitor General of the United States. If confirmed by the Senate, I will resign the deanship of the Law School and take a leave of absence from the faculty.

I have accepted this nomination because it offers me the opportunity, working under the leadership of the President-elect and his nominee for Attorney General, Eric Holder, to help advance this nation's commitment to the rule of law at what I think is a critical time in our history. I am honored and grateful, awestruck and excited, to be asked to contribute to this most important endeavor. And perhaps, for me, it adds a special touch of sweetness to the occasion that the person making the nomination, in whose capacity for greatness I deeply believe, is himself a member of the group to which I am writing.

At the same time, I feel today real sadness -- a sense of loss of what, if confirmed, I will be leaving that is every bit as strong as my sense of anticipation of what will be to come. Now isn't the time for me to attempt a grand wrapping-up or final farewell; I don't in any way want to presume the outcome of the Senate's consideration. For the present, I'll say only this: it has been both the joy and the privilege of my life to serve as dean of this most wondrous law school. I love it, and I love the extraordinary community of people -- you -- who make it up. I look forward to staying in close touch.

My warmest wishes for a happy and healthy new year.

Best,
Elena