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