The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLV No. 8 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Monday, January 29, 2018
The Harvard Crimson The Hasty Pudding made the right choice on women, but their work is far from done. editorial pAGE 5
Women’s basketball crushes Yale 97-73 for a 7-0 record at home. sports PAGE 9
Jim Kim Weighs Univ.’s Top Job
Datamatch Adds ‘NonBinary’ Option
By Caroline S. Engelmayer
By Jonah s. berger
Crimson Staff Writer
Crimson Staff Writer
Harvard’s presidential search committee recently contacted World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, who is debating the pros and cons of the University’s top job with friends and advisers, according to sources close to Kim. Kim—who headed a Harvard Medical School department and served as president of Dartmouth before taking charge of the World Bank—is weighing whether he should accept the Harvard presidency if he is offered the job, two sources said. In some conversations with friends in the last month, Kim has said he is torn: He has plans for World Bank initiatives across the next few years but feels deep institutional ties to Harvard. In an emailed statement Sunday, Kim wrote he is devoted to his role at
fter voting issues plagued the UnderA graduate Council’s most recent presidential election, the UC will roll out new election software beginning with this week’s midterm elections. UC Vice President Nicholas D. Boucher ’19 announced the new software at the Council’s first meeting of the year Sunday. The new software will utilize an external system, created by OrgSync, an online management company that already provides software to Harvard, Boucher said. Harvard University Information Technology managed the UC’s previous election software. During last November’s presidential election, some students reported they were unable to access the Coun-
atamatch—the Harvard ComputD er Society’s annual Valentine’s Day matchmaking survey—will include three gender categories this year after facing criticism from students about its lack of a non-binary gender option in 2017. Datamatch will offer man, woman, and non-binary as possible categories, according to team member Russell F. Pekala ’19. Members of the Datamatch team announced the change, among other changes to the program, at the Undergraduate Council’s first general meeting of the year Sunday. “Really our goal at Datamatch is to build in a third gender option for matching purposes just like the other two options,” Pekala said. “We don’t want gender to be a big part of Datamatch at all. We want everyone to be excited about it.” Datamatch team members also announced other changes to the program at the UC meeting. For the first time, the program will expand to multiple colleges around the Boston area. Last year, Datamatch participants had to choose to identify either as male or female, but were allowed to add comments about their gender identity in a section at the end of the survey designated for “extra” information. Datamatch drew criticism for the format, which some students argued excluded students who identify as non-binary. Still, nearly 5,000 students registered for the program in 2017. Following the criticism, 26 members of last year’s UC, including thenUC President Yasmin Z. Sachee ’18 and Vice President Cameron K. Khansarinia ’18, signed a letter admonishing Datamatch’s restrictive gender choices. This year, participants will also be allowed to provide up to 100 characters of additional information about their gender identity, according to Pekala, and will be allowed to choose whether gender information is displayed on their profile at all. Datamatch will also debut a “checkbox model” to allow students to select which of the three gender options with which they would like to match. “We hope that will give people a lot of flexibility in how they are presenting themselves,” Pekala said. Pekala said he and other members of the Datamatch team met with multiple students who complained about the lack of a third option last year. He said
See Council Page 4
See datamatch Page 3
See Kim Page 3
diana c. perez— Crimson designer
UC Reveals Revamped Election System
SEE PAGE 4
By Jonah S. Berger Crimson Staff Writer
President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson of Iceland addresses the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institue of Politics on Friday. AMY Y. LI — Crimson photographer
Students Advocate for Multicultural Building By Jonah S. Berger and Ruth A. Hailu Crimson Staff Writers
Over 70 students gathered in Fong Auditorium to consider the pros and cons of building a multicultural center on campus at a Friday town hall hosted by the Undergraduate Council. During the town hall, undergraduates debated the need for a multicultural space and considered what that space might look like. Council representatives Nicholas P. Whittaker ’19 and Salma Abdelrahman ’20—who lead the Multicultural Center Coalition, a UC group advocating for the construction of such a center—moderated the event. Roland S. Davis, the College’s associate dean for diversity and inclusion, attended, as did Council President Catherine L. Zhang ’19. The UC plans to hand a policy proposal for the center to administrators in March. Multiple attendees spoke about the difficulty identity-based organizations currently face finding spaces Inside this issue
Harvard Today 2
for events, given many lack spaces of their own. Some called on Harvard to do more to provide financial assistance for campus cultural groups. Whittaker and Abdelrahman outlined a draft of the coalition’s policy proposal at the town hall. The proposal will call for research into the history of minority communities and intercommunal relations at Harvard, in addition to looking at models of multicultural centers at other universities, according to Whittaker. The research will identify more specifically the current problem that exists and recommend whether a multicultural space comprises the most effective course of action. The proposal will then recommend the formation of a task force to design an implementation plan, based on the findings of the research. The coalition hopes to submit its proposal to Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana before spring break,
News 3
See Town Hall Page 7
Editorial 5
On Pres. Search, Activists Offer Input By Shera s. avi-yonah, caroline s. engelmayer, and molly c. mccafferty Crimson Staff Writers
Sophomore Gina Kennedy improves her individual record to 6-0 as the Crimson swept Drexel on Sunday. Timothy R. O’meara — Crimson photographer
Sports 9
Today’s Forecast
Cloudy High: 37 Low: 22
Harvard labor activists led a campaign over the last few weeks urging the University’s presidential search committee not to select Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith and University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 for the top job. Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers, Harvard’s student unionization effort, and the Student Labor Action Movement, an undergraduate labor advocacy group, spearheaded the movement, criticizing Garber and Smith for sending official University communications
See union Page 4
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meanwhile
HARVARD TODAY
Monday | January 29, 2018
FOR Lunch
FOR DINNER
Butter Chicken
Beef Fajita with Fettucine
Shrimp & Monterey Jack Quesadilla
Chicken Piccatta
Spicy Jalapeno Jack Cheese and Macaroni
Quinoa and Vegetable Jambalaya
around the ivies
CHOCOLATE
Yale Still Has Few Tenured Minorities
Chocolate samples abound at the 10th Annual Taste of Chocolate Weekend hosted by Harvard Square businesses. RUIYI LI — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
The Women Faculty Forum at Yale released data this week that shows only 27% of tenured faculty at Yale are women, according to the Yale Daily News. The report asked the University to revoke named professorships from those accused of sexual assault. It also requested that the school address the lack of gender parity in Sterling professorships, of which only 14% are women. Senior administrators expressed concern that minority-hiring efforts have not been more fruitful, but also pointed to the gender parity achieved in deanships.
Cornell Health Depletes Flu Vaccine Supply After high student demand for the flu vaccine, Cornell Health and the Tompkins County Health Department, which services Ithaca, both ran out of the flu vaccine, according to the Cornell Daily Sun. Sharon Dittman, director of community relations at Cornell Health, said high campus and national demand for the vaccine caused the depletion and added that she was unsure when flu vaccines will become available again. The announcement comes after Cornell Health took time over the winter break to take extra precautions for the flu season and accumulate “enough” vaccines for students. As students wait for updates, Cornell representatives advise students seeking flu vaccination to check with local pharmacies as soon as possible.
Happy Monday, harvard!
are here to ruin your day too.
It’s Monday. I hate myself. I hate everything. Why haven’t Harvard Med scholars invented injectable caffeine yet?
Norton Lecture 1, ‘The Search for Story, Structure, and Meaning in Documentary Film: Part 1’ Come and watch the first of many lectures on cinema sponsored by the Mahindra Humanities Center in Sanders at 4 p.m. Monday’s lecture concerns Documentary Film and is being given by Frederick Wiseman.
In the Atmosphere… The temperature today is expected to be a luxurious 37 degrees. As if Mondays don’t suck enough, clouds
EVENTS
The Harvard Crimson Open House! Come to our open house today at 7 p.m. for candy! Comp The Crimson, especially Flyby!
Lorenzo F. Manuali and Sophie G. Garrett Crimson Staff Writers
Brown Computer Science Student Charged With Felony Brown University grad student Shishuai Li was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses and made to surrender his passport on Thursday, according to the Brown Daily Herald. Providence police alleged Li convinced a Florida woman to transfer $30,000 to him with the pretense of helping “underprivileged children in Dubai.” Li originally said the money was a loan from a friend, but the abnormal activity tipped off bank administrators, who eventually froze his account. Li has not yet entered a plea, and bail was set at $3,000.
in the real world We’re Selling Lots of Oil Since oil prices are high around the world, the U.S. is back in the game in terms of oil production. Take that, Saudi Arabia. You thought you could get us down in the shale market, but we’re back and stronger than ever.
Trump vs. Jay-Z in a Twitter War President Trump claimed—via Twitter, of course—that black unemployment is at its “LOWEST RATE EVER” because of his amazing policies. He was responding to Jay-Z’s comments on CNN attacking Trump for not respecting African Americans.
Koch Brothers Moving on From ACA Fight Over the last decade, the Koch brothers gave $200 million to fight the Affordable Care Act. It seems like they’ve given up now, in favor of more pressing issues: the GOP victories in the midterm elections. It’s time to defend an unpopular tax plan by throwing more money at the problem.
CHAOS ON ICE WAIting at the dot
Colgate forward Tyler Penner drives in on net and collides with Harvard defenseman Jacob Olson ‘19 as Harvard goalie Merrick Madsden ‘18 tracks puck during a game on Sunday night. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 Derek G. Xiao, President Hannah Natanson, Managing Editor Nathan Y. Lee, Business Manager Copyright 2018, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Staff for This Issue
“In the meantime, I will continue to work to end poverty in the world.”
Night Editor Sarah Wu ’19
Jim Yong Kim, World Bank President
CORRECTIONS The Harvard Crimson is committed to accuracy in its reporting. Factual errors are corrected promptly on this page. Readers with information about errors are asked to e-mail the managing editor at managingeditor@thecrimson.com.
Alison W. Steinbach ’19 Laszlo B. Herwitz ’19
Assistant Night Editors Design Editor Diana C. Perez ’19 Michael E. Xie ‘20 Cecilia R. D’Arms ’21 Editorial Editor Richard P. Wang ’20 Story Editors Hannah Natanson ’19 Photo Editors Claire E. Parker ’19 Amy Y. Li ’20 Brian P. Yu ’19 Mia C. Karr ’19 Justin F. Gonzalez ‘21 Phelan Yu ’19 Kenton K. Shimozaki ’19
Sports Editors Jack R. Stockless ’19 Stuti R. Telidevara ’20
The Harvard Crimson | january 29, 2018 | page 3
Datamatch Endowment Falls Behind National Rates Adds New “We remain Gender concerned about Option the continued By eli w. burnes
Crimson Staff Writer
arvard’s endowment returns fell H three points below the national average for college and university endow-
datamatch From Page 1 Datamatch decided on final changes by seeking“consensus” with Harvard students who were “personally affected by last year’s mistakes.” Datamatch team member Catherine Tu ’20 also said the Datamatch team is in the process of finalizing new agreements with various restaurants. These restaurants include Crema Cafe, Mike’s Pastry, and L.A. Burdick’s for meals this year. Last year, Datamatch partnered with El Jefe’s Taqueria, Flour Bakery, BerryLine, and Zinneken’s.
“Deep structural problems at HMC” and “significant issues in the portfolio” N.P. Narvekar CEO of HMC
ments in fiscal year 2017, according to a nationwide report released last week. The report, published by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Com-
monfund, surveyed 809 U.S. institutions and found average endowment returns of 12.2 percent—significantly higher than the 2.4 percent average endowment growth reported in 2015 and negative 1.9 percent reported in 2016. Despite this stronger performance last fiscal year, university endowments still show 10-year decline in value overall. Large endowments over $1 billion posted average returns of 12.9 percent, while endowments smaller than $25 million returned 11.6 percent, according to the NACUBO-Commonfund report. Harvard remains the largest university endowment at over $37.1 billion, but its performance lagged behind its peers: The University earned an 8.1 percent return in fiscal year 2017, the lowest returns in the Ivy League. Steep write-downs brought returns down from more than 11 percent to 8.1 percent. The board agreed on $1 billion in write-downs of natural resource investments. In Harvard’s 2017 financial report,
N.P. “Narv” Narvekar wrote that “deep
long-term results for most endowments.” John D. Walda
NACUBO President and CEO structural problems at HMC” and “significant issues in the portfolio” were responsible for the poor returns. Since taking over as CEO of Harvard Management Company—the university’s investment arm—in Dec. 2016, Narvekar has enacted a number of changes in strategy and management. He moved the endowment from a
silo strategy, in which individual managers focused solely on their portfolio, to a generalist model in which all managers are responsible for net returns. Narvekar also pushed to outsource HMC’s money managers—multiple hedge funds spun off from HMC and Narvekar announced in 2017 he would lay off half of his 230-person staff. Harvard’s in-house real estate team will move to Bain Capital in February, but will continue to invest Harvard’s money. In the NACUBO-Commonwealth report, NACUBO President and CEO John D. Walda cautioned against reading too much optimism into the jump in returns, citing the endowment tax and changes to charitable giving laws in the new tax law Republican lawmakers passed in December. “Despite this year’s higher returns, we remain concerned about the continued long-term results for most endowments,” Walda wrote in the report. Staff writer Eli W. Burnes can be reached at eli. burnes@thecrimson.com.
World Bank President Is Considering Harvard Presidency Kim From Page 1 the World Bank. “I’m completely committed to my job at the World Bank Group,” Kim wrote. “And, because of my experience with Presidential searches, I know that the only people who know what’s going on in a search are the committee members and so speculation from anyone else is just that, speculation.” “In the meantime, I will continue to work to end poverty in the world,” Kim wrote. The presidential search committee reached out to Kim sometime after November, one source said earlier this month. The sources spoke only on the condition of anonymity to preserve their relations with Kim. Kim, who was appointed to his current post by President Barack Obama in 2012, is seven months into his second five-year term as World Bank president. Kim’s contact with the committee comes during the final phase of the search for Harvard’s 29th leader, begun over the summer after University President Drew G. Faust announced she plans to step down in June 2018. In
December, The Crimson reported that the search committee—comprising all 12 members of the Harvard Corporation and three members of the Board of Overseers—had winnowed its pool of candidates to under 20 names. Past search committees often spoke with experts and leaders in a variety of fields to seek their general input in the early stages of previous searches. But past committees usually began conducting hours-long interviews with finalists by January or early February. William F. Lee ’72, the senior fellow of the Corporation who chairs the search committee, wrote in an emailed statement Sunday that the committee will not comment on possible candidates. “The Search Committee is committed to protecting the confidentiality of the process but, more importantly, the confidentiality of any candidates,” Lee wrote. Kim is one of four individuals Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley ’82 said he “expects” to see on the search committee’s shortlist in an interview in December. Daley also said he thinks geneticist and Broad Institute President Eric S. Lander, physi-
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cian and University of Michigan President Mark S. Schlissel, and Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber ’77 are on the list. In October, several prominent donors and professors said there are three likely contenders besides Garber from within the University: Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria, Government professor Danielle S. Allen, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith. Kim has connections to Harvard and experience heading another Ivy League university. Kim, who holds a M.D. and a Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard, chaired a Harvard Medical School department, led another department at the Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and directed a research center at the School of Public Health. University presidential search committees have historically preferred candidates with Harvard credentials; the 2001 search committee passed over several top contenders for their lack of a Harvard degree. Kim also has ties to prominent Harvard faculty. In 1987, he helped found the global health organization Partners in Health along with Universi-
@thecrimson You know you want to.
There’s more. @THCSports @CrimsonArts
ty professor Paul Farmer, who chairs Harvard’s department of Global Health and Social Medicine. When Kim took on the Dartmouth presidency in August 2009, he became the first Asian-American to hold the top job at an Ivy League school. During his time in Hanover, N.H., Kim revamped Dartmouth’s global health-related programs and oversaw efforts to better educate students on sexual assault prevention. But his tenure at Dartmouth was not without controversy. He drew criticism from students and faculty when he declined to release the school’s budget in 2010. And when he left for the World Bank in 2012, some argued his departure from Dartmouth after roughly three years demonstrated a lack of commitment to the university. Though sources say Kim has discussed the possibility of the Harvard presidency in private, the World Bank leader wrote in a recent memo to colleagues that he plans to stay in his current role. In a new year’s note to World Bank staff earlier this month, Kim wrote he would continue to further the
organization’s mission of alleviating poverty and that he and his colleagues were “in this for the long haul.” “I look forward to supporting all of you as we continue that mission, in 2018, and in the years to come,” he wrote. Nonetheless, some of Kim’s former Medical School colleagues said they think he would be an excellent University president. John G. Meara, a professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, wrote in an email in January that he thinks Kim has the “courage” to make the difficult changes and decisions that any large university may need.Megan Murray, an Epidemiology professor who overlapped with Kim at the Medical School, agreed. “Harvard needs someone with respected academic credentials as well as high level management and financial experience and that special combination of confidence and tact that characterizes effective leadership. I think Jim has all that and more,” Murray wrote in an email earlier this month. “I think he would be a great choice— and he should be what Harvard is looking for,” she wrote.
Page 4 | January 29, 2018 | The Harvard Crimson
TPS Changes to Affect Harvard Harvard Hosts Public Interested Conference
By edith M. Herwitz and Sonia Kim Crimson Staff Writers
Dozens of Harvard affiliates remain uncertain about their futures after government officials announced earlier this month that changes to the Temporary Protected Status program will end protections for nearly 200,000 Salvadorans. Created by Congress in 1990 to offer provisional humanitarian relief, TPS is a program that provides some immigrants with temporary refuge in the United States if their home countries are affected by armed conflict or natural disaster. Salvadorans have been eligible for temporary protection to live and work legally in the U.S. since 2001, when two devastating earthquakes struck their country. At the time, the Bush administration determined conditions in Salvadors were too precarious to permit inhabitants to return home. The decision to scale back the number of immigrants from Salvador marks the Trump administration’s latest efforts to reverse years of immigration policies that extended protection under TPS for immigrants from not just El Salvador, but also from Haiti and Nicaragua, among several other countries. The Trump administration stripped TPS status from Haitians last month and Nicaraguans last year. Sudanese immigrants will be stripped of their TPS benefits in Nov. 2018, the Trump Administration announced in Sept. 2017. “We are deeply concerned about the administration’s recent withdrawal of
TPS for those from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan and the impact it could have on members of the community,” University spokesperson Melodie L. Jackson wrote in an emailed statement. “Our colleagues play a vital role at Harvard and they add to our community in significant ways.” According to the Harvard International Office website, only three
“Our colleagues play a vital role at Harvard.” Melodie L. Jackson University Spokesperson
students and scholars across all of Harvard’s schools hail from El Salvador. Six come from Haiti, two from Sudan, and four from Honduras. Liala Buoniconti, a social worker for the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, said the withdrawal of TPS is likely to impact a greater number of staff members than students. Jackson wrote that the TPS policy shift could impact many Harvard employees. “There are several dozen members of the Harvard community working across a variety of departments who are likely to be impacted by the recent changes to TPS,” she wrote. Jackson wrote that the University is working closely with the Harvard
Union Argues Against Smith, Garber in Presidential Search union From Page 1 athey said reflect an anti-union bias. Members of SLAM and HGSU-UAW sent emails and made phone calls to the presidential search committee and University President Drew G. Faust throughout December. These criticisms come as the presidential search committee—comprising all 12 members of the Harvard Corporation and three members of the Board of Overseers—narrows the pool of candidates and prepares to make its final choice for Harvard’s 29th president. In December, The Crimson reported that the searchers had whittled the pool of potential candidates to under 20 finalists. Garber and Smith are among several candidates likely being considered by the committee. In October, several prominent donors and professors named the two administrators, as well as Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria and Government professor Danielle S. Allen, as probable contenders hailing from within the University. HGSU-UAW organizer and English Ph.D. candidate Andrew B. Donnelly estimated student activists sent “more than 100” emails to people involved in the search process, though he added the union does not advocate for particular candidates. Donnelly wrote that he thought Garber and Smith’s previous communication to students about unionization efforts have rendered the duo “unpopular” among pro-union students. “Given their vocal opposition to the union, Provost Garber and Dean Smith would, I think, be controversial, if not unpopular, choices as president for many grad students,” Donnelly wrote in an email. “Dean Nohria and Prof. Allen, as far as I know, have respected their stu-
dents’ autonomy on this issue and let students decide for themselves whether they want a union.” Garber and Smith both declined to comment for this article through University representatives. In Nov. 2017, Garber wrote in an email to students that the University had worked hard to ensure that the 2016 unionization election was fair. Though the result of the 2016 election recorded more votes against unionization than in favor, the National Labor Relations Board ultimately ruled— roughly a year and several legal battles later—that a voter list Harvard generated prior to the vote was inadequate. The NLRB ordered a re-vote and a new election will likely be held in 2018. “The University’s goal was always to include all eligible voters on the list,” Garber wrote in Nov. 2017. “A University team worked diligently to create the most accurate list possible despite challenging conditions.” SLAM member Anselm Kizza-Besigye ’21 said he also believes neither Smith nor Garber, if appointed president of Harvard, would help advance unionization efforts. “It’s obviously become clear to us at this point that several people who are being considered to be the next president like Provost Garber—Provost Alan Garber—and Dean Smith are actively anti-union as far as we can tell,” Kizza-Besigye said. Campus labor activists hope to continue to urge the candidates and the search committee to keep labor issues in mind as the presidential search narrows, Kizza-Besigye said. “We’re watching very closely to see whether or not these professors will stand with the union throughout the process of their nomination and potentially when they become president,” he said.
UC To Roll Out New Polling Software in Midterm Elections Council From Page 1 Council’s voting website. In response, the UC’s Election Commission allowed students to submit ballots via email, though those votes were ultimately not counted due to concerns over duplicate voting. Winthrop House Representative Evan M. Bonsall ’19 said he finds the new system problematic. He said his concerns largely stem from issues related to information security. He pointed out that the previous system successfully prevented harmful actors from tampering with the election results. “Do you have a plan in place prevent people from hacking the UC voting system?” Bonsall asked. “The main advantage of the old system is that it was kind of hard to hack and was operated by the University.” Boucher assured Bonsall the new software was more secure than the current software, arguing it has been more thoroughly tested. “We’re very confident that it’s secure because we’re using professional software that we’ve outsourced,” Boucher said. “It’s a very high-budget contract that the university signed with this particular company and it’s actually used for student elections at quite a lot
of schools across the country.” Voting for this year’s midterm elections will take place between Tuesday and Thursday. During the meeting, the Undergraduate Council also voted to allocate $3,000 towards “Harvard Conversations.” Conversations is a new student-run program to facilitate informal interactions between faculty and students. The initiative, which utilizes one of the UC’s “burst packs,” will follow a similar model as Classroom to Table, the popular College program that pays for students to eat at local restaurants with their professors. Harvard Conversations will pay for catered dinners in House common rooms. Winthrop House Representative Sruthi Palaniappan ’20, who co-sponsored the legislation, acknowledged that the UC’s contribution will only partly fund the new program, but said that administrators have offered to fund the remaining amount. “Jay Harris, who is head of the Office of Undergraduate Education, has expressed interest in supporting this program,” Palaniappan said. “But we want to front this $3,000, one burst pack, even though we know that the program is going to cost more because if we are able to put this money up out front, he will cover the rest.”
Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, Harvard Human Resources, and student affairs offices to provide support services as needed for University affiliates who may be affected by the policy changes. In an email sent to Harvard affiliates Friday, Leslie Kirwan, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean for Administration and Finance, wrote that, at such a turbulent time, the FAS remains “committed to supporting all its members with the resources they need to thrive.” In the same email, Kirwan wrote that anyone with TPS from Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti or El Salvador should contact the immigration and refugee clinic to discuss their options. At the clinic, attorneys and students at Harvard Law School provide immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers with free legal consultations about TPS and other immigration concerns like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. HIRC also offers social services during walk-in hours at Cabot Science Library on Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 4:30 pm. The University hired immigration attorney Jason Corral last year to provide legal counsel to undocumented students. Corral, who could not be reached for comment, is the only full-time attorney on campus charged with addressing immigration-related issues. Buoniconti said the clinic takes a holistic approach in providing both social services and legal support to “folks who may have fear or are scared about the new changes.” Buoniconti said the clinic also offers mental health services.
By Simone C. Chu Crimson Staff Writer
Undergraduates learned about the benefits of careers in public service at a conference held Sunday and attended by over 500 students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Coordinated by the Phillips Brooks House for Public Service and Engaged Scholarship, the event—titled the Public Interested Conference—is a recent initiative the College debuted to encourage students to consider public sector jobs after graduation. Kristen M. Clarke ’97, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, gave the keynote speech at the conference, arguing public service affords an important way to respond to the current political climate. Clarke said the justice system should advance civil rights, but said the current presidential administration under Donald Trump “has done tremendous damage” to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division instead. She said she was particularly concerned by actions Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken regarding affirmative action policies at universities across the United States, including the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into Harvard’s admissions practices. Clarke called Sessions’s behavior a “national attack.” “It’s important that we stand up and fight for principles that lie at the
heart of our democracy,” Clarke said. “I believe that we have an obligation to make sure that the generation behind us inherits a world that is better than what we have today.” Many students said they appreciated the existence of a public service-oriented conference like Sunday’s conference, the likes of which did not take place at Harvard until 2012. Mo Kim ’18 said hearing from alumni who are involved in public service— especially hearing about how “they found themselves on the path that they’re on right now”—was helpful. “[Alumni] talked very openly about their struggles and some of the challenges that they faced,” Kim said. Just seven percent of the College’s Class of 2017 went on to careers in government, military service, nonprofits, or nongovernmental organizations, according to a survey from the Office of Career Services. Conference attendee Ryan R. Hatch ’18 said he finds that figure “shocking.” “I was surprised to find out that a lot of people weren’t into it,” Hatch said. “It was really amazing to see and hear all of these amazing, inspiring people coming together.” “There’s a lot of focus—and a lot of pressure—for students to go into the private sector and into finance and consulting, so it was really cool to be able to have a conference this big,” Mia L. Bladin ’18 said. “It’s not something that you hear about as often.”
Harvard Offers Classes in Gullah By Annie C. Doris Crimson Staff Writer
Gullah, a largely oral, African-American creole taught at Harvard for the first time last fall, is now being offered for a second semester. A combination of West African languages, English, and words and phrases developed by enslaved people in South Carolina, the blended tongue is today spoken in the Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor, a portion of the American southeast coast from Florida to North Carolina. Harvard is the first Ivy League school to offer courses in the language. Sunn m’Cheaux, who teaches Harvad’s Gullah courses, wrote in an email that the language’s oral nature stems from the fact the language was originally spoken by slaves. “Our ancestors were threatened and subjected to brutal consequences, including death, if found to be literate,” Gullah wrote. “Therefore, the preservation of our traditions and language relied heavily on the spoken word,” m’Cheaux wrote. While “Gullah” is the term used to describe this creole, the word also defines the group who speaks the language and their culture. m’Cheaux characterizes Gullah as more than a language.
“I describe it as ‘living word.’ Gullah is not only a language, it’s a culture and a people. It’s literally a language manifested as life,” m’Cheaux wrote. “It’s not just my first language, it’s my culture.” m’Cheaux said he learned the Gullah language as a child in a rural, South Carolinian community. “Everyone around me spoke Gullah. It was so normalized, we didn’t even call it Gullah. It was just the way we spoke,” m’Cheaux wrote. But m’Cheaux’s teachers did not always approve of his creole, so he quickly learned to switch between Gullah and English, he said. “I can recall feeling humiliated in class by teachers who sought to wring out every drop of Gullah from my ‘broken English’ like dirty wash water from a scrub rag,” m’Cheaux wrote. m’Cheaux wrote that, even today, spoken Gullah is often discouraged in the classroom. m’Cheaux wrote he has friends who were criticized for using the language. But m’Cheaux wrote that he sees Harvard’s decision to teach Gullah as a sort of validation. He hopes that support for teaching the language will help Gullah and Geechee school children “be embraced in academia.” m’Cheaux described the language
as “intricate” and “nuanced,” making master difficult to achieve for non-native speakers. Despite Gullah’s oral origins, m’Cheaux said he believes teaching a written component of the language is critical. “My general philosophy for helping non-Gullah speakers understand the language is to emphasize the importance of using phonetics and literacy in tandem… sound is integral to the learning of Gullah, but translating and communicating it in written form is imperative for us to preserve the language,” he wrote. Gullah joins over thirty other languages taught through Harvard’s African Language Program. m’Cheaux wrote that Harvard seemed like the natural place for Gullah instruction. “It was easy to see how Gullah could make itself a home within a space where other creoles like Jamaican patois had already been embraced,” m’Cheaux wrote. “ Moreover, the ‘father of Gullah studies’ (Lorenzo Dow Turner) was himself a Harvard University graduate.” m’Cheaux wrote that he hopes other institutions will “follow suit” in offering the language. Staff writer Annie C. Doris can be reached at annie.doris@thecrimson.com.
Iceland President Visits, Gives Speech By Alexandra A. Chaidez Crimson Staff Writer
Iceland President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson spoke about the country’s robust economic growth as well as the #MeToo movement during his visit to the Institute of Politics last week. Jóhannesson was elected in Aug. 2016 in the wake of the resignation of the Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, who gave up the presidency after revelations about his links to secretive companies in offshore tax havens. The former historian rode a wave of anti-establishment sentiment and won election to the largely ceremonial role on a “non-partisan” platform. He now enjoys an 81.8 percent approval rating in Iceland, according to The Reykjavík Grapevine in June 2017. “I think you have to have the right balance between belief in yourself and your capability to be a force for good and humility and awareness that you are not better than the rest,” Jóhannesson said in an interview with reporters before his speech Friday when asked about his ap-
proval rating. Jóhannesson touched upon Iceland’s strong recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, citing growth in the important industries of fishing and technology. Jóhannesson also highlighted the growth of the tourism industry–1.7 million tourists visited Iceland in 2016, triple the number that visited in 2010. “We need to have a free flow of people and ideas and services,” Jóhannesson said. “We need to build an open economy and then the future will be bright.” Icelandic pride was on display during his visit, as he used the example of the national soccer team’s unlikely qualification to the World Cup as a time Iceland “punched above their weight”–a phrase repeated by Jóhannesson throughout the speech. Still, Jóhannesson underlined the importance of an “inclusive” sense of national pride. “[Nationalism] gives you a sense that you are part of society and we are in this business together of living here and creating a better world,” Jóhannesson said. “Therefore, it is imperative and essential that nationalism be inclusive and toler-
ant.” Jóhannesson also emphasized that Iceland is “not here to be perfect,” referencing the #MeToo movement’s presence in the county. “While I agree that Iceland is in many ways a more secure place than other parts of the world, we should definitely not just simply salute that fact and pride ourselves of that and ignore the bitter truth that there is plenty we could do so much better,” Jóhannesson said. “I think for us Icelanders we can enjoy the fact that you guys, for instance, see ourselves as a safe secure happy country but must never just stop there and honestly face the fact that we can not tolerate sexual harassment, sexual violence,” he added. Talk about President Trump was not absent from the Icelandic President’s visit. When asked if he would be meeting with the U.S. President during his trip, Jóhannesson said he did not plan to pay a visit to the White House. “I will not be meeting President Trump on this trip. It is a very short visit. I arrived yesterday and I leave this afternoon, so maybe some other day,” Jóhannesson said.
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EDITORIAL
The Harvard Crimson | January 29, 2018 | page 5
The Crimson Editorial board
Pudding for the People? We applaud the Hasty Pudding Theatricals for including women in their casting process, but more work lies ahead
L
ast Thursday, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals announced that beginning with its 2019 production, the troupe would welcome women to audition for the first time in its nearly 200-year history. This change marks the culmination of advocacy for a more inclusive Pudding from both within and outside of the organization. We acknowledge the positive influence of this decision for non-male students hoping to gain the connections, experience, and exposure that the Pudding grants its cast members. Far from upending the tradition of the Pudding’s drag shows, we believe that this decision will be beneficial for all involved. We do not feel that this shift will, as former Theatricals president Robert T. Fitzpatrick ’16 suggested in 2015, mandate any “structural changes” to the production, nor will it interfere with the Pudding’s traditions. Women are more than capable of performing comedy in drag—just look at the female cast members of Saturday Night Live. However, while we celebrate the Pudding’s decision to open the cast of next year’s production to people of all genders, we remain skeptical of this decision’s ability to truly foster a more inclusive atmosphere within the Pudding. Moreover, we would be remiss to congratulate the Pudding without recognizing that this change is long past due. The Pudding’s refusal to accept women into its cast is not the only
feature of the organization that has caused controversy or that requires re-evaluation in order to promote values of inclusivity and acceptance. The fight for inclusivity in the Pudding did not end with Thursday’s announcement, and we remain critical of the sexist practices and elitist composition of the organization. Even though the development is a step in the direction of gender equality, it does not address the issues of race and class that continue to follow the Pudding. Founded in 1844, much of the Theatricals’ elitist image stems from its association with the Hasty Pudding Club, its social arm. While the comp
The Pudding’s new gender-inclusive policy thus stands at odds with its history of exclusivity on multiple fronts. process for the Theatricals is separate from the punch process for the HPC, the organizations remain linked. Of the HPC’s 2013 punches, 85% had attended private high schools, compared to 39% of the Class of 2017 as a whole. Similarly, 77% of punches came from schools in the Northeast, as compared to only 41% of the entire freshman class. Though these statistics refer to the social club rather than the Theatricals, they nonetheless reflect the makeup and culture of the organization with which Theatricals
members closely associate. While the decision to end gender discrimination in casting will undoubtedly help some women access the many connections and resources that Pudding productions provide, this decision will not ameliorate a culture that favors affluent Americans from Northeast prep schools. Further, issues of sexism in the Pudding extend beyond their casting policy alone. The Pudding’s portrayals of women often reflect demeaning, over-sexualized views of femininity. Far from using drag as a way to embrace freedom of self-expression, Pudding shows emphasize gender stereotypes, boasting characters with names such as “Donna My Knees” and “Sheila Rowsya.” The Pudding’s new gender-inclusive policy thus stands at odds with its history of exclusivity on multiple fronts. We applaud the women who have auditioned for the Pudding in protest throughout the past three years, and we look forward to the positive influence that Thursday’s decision will have on the organization. But if the Pudding truly wishes to be inclusive, they must do more. This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.
BE A CRIMSON CARTOONIST Submit a sample cartoon or any questions to Associate Editorial Editor Wonik Son ‘19 (wonik.son@thecrimson.com).
Simulated Suffering Nathan L. williams the village idiot
M
ost video games quickly bore me for one of two reasons. They either force me down a particular path or prove too unrealistic to enjoy. Regarding the former shortfall, too many developers pressure players to adopt certain play styles or follow a prescribed path to win. To defeat certain villains, you must use certain techniques. To unlock a certain ending, you must save certain characters in a certain order. Before long, instead of providing an escape from life’s boring procedures, most games devolve into a formulaic series of repetitive quests that numb your mind as you replace real routines with virtual ones. Of the few games that grant their players sufficient freedom, the majority are too fantastical and over-thetop for my taste. Shooting space wizards is strange and impossible. Fighting to preserve the sanctity of long-lost kingdoms is about as consequential as it is realistic. Perhaps I’m too much of a sour cynic. Regardless, if I can’t see your game occurring within our real world, chances are, I won’t enjoy it. A few weeks ago, as I sat with some friends drinking a decent milkshake at an otherwise forgettable restaurant, I came across a favorable YouTube review of a new strategy game titled “Hearts of Iron IV.” The game, set in either 1936 or 1939, invites players to lead any state or colony of their choosing as World War II creeps closer. Do you desire to secure independence for the Dutch East Indies? Go ahead. Want to forge a Mexican empire in Central America as the United States preoccupies itself with Imperial Japan? Be my guest. Nevertheless, what attracted me the most to Hearts of Iron IV was its difficulty. Your country isn’t afforded any of the advantages or perks grant-
ed to most game protagonists. Want to start 1936 as Thailand? You’ll boast far less factories and a much smaller army than Japan or Britain, two hungry empires who will soon come knocking at your door. However, history isn’t destiny in Hearts of Iron IV. Armed with hindsight, you can upset the traditional balance of power. Hope to combat the rise of fascism? Send volunteers to Republican Spain to crush Franco’s forces. Do the Soviet armies massing on the Finnish border make you nervous? Create a Scandinavian defense pact to counter the Soviet Union’s numerical might. The possibility to triumph where great statesmen failed—that’s how Hearts of Iron IV conquered my heart. Upon downloading Hearts of Iron IV, I spent hours analyzing the perks and drawbacks of each nation, thoroughly impressed by the game’s attention to detail. Before playing Hearts of Iron IV, I didn’t know that Rafael Franco was the president of Paraguay in 1936, or that the Tuvan People’s Republic was even a thing. (For the curious among you, it was a former Soviet satellite state that is now part of Russia.) However, after much mental deliberation, I decided to play as one of the game’s seven major powers: Germany. Rather than foolishly attempt to conquer Europe single-handedly, I started my campaign at 4:00 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon by forging alliances with various Eastern European dictators. I then developed my relationship with the Soviet Union, distancing myself from Mussolini’s overly-aggressive Italy. By 9:15 p.m., I had succeeded in diplomatically isolating France from the rest of Europe; by 10:30 p.m., Paris was mine. Following my victory, I converted my non-aggression pact with the USSR into a permanent alliance, opting to disband the Axis Powers in exchange for a stronger German-Soviet alliance. Nevertheless, I shored up my eastern defenses; the artificial intelligence program that runs Stalin isn’t known for its honesty. At 12:23 a.m., I finally decided to sleep. However, before doing so, I
pressed the “war” notification flashing on the upper right portion of my screen; to my surprise, a list of casualties appeared. My forces had lost over 500,000 soldiers during their campaigns across Western Europe; meanwhile the casualties of my adversaries numbered just over one million. Interestingly, the game ignored civilian casualties, opting to instead paint World War II as a clean battle between militaries rather than a disgusting struggle between various vicious ideologies. Initially, I felt satisfied; I had succeeded where legendary generals like Erich von Manstein and Erwin Rommel had failed. But glancing at the casualty list left me feeling empty. As I looked at the map of “Greater Germany,” I thought of what that would have meant in real life. Antwerp and Brussels destroyed. Paris looted. Millions of refugees. Millions more left dead. After pondering things through for a minute or two, I uninstalled the game. On its surface, Hearts of Iron IV is a great game. For the twenty or so hours I spent playing over break, I was in a state of geeky bliss. But that’s the problem. It gamifies conquest; it abstracts the suffering of war and separates military conflicts from their dark political foundations. Following my short stint with Hearts of Iron IV, I decided to abandon “realistic” video games. In their attempts to better reflect reality, these games sanitize its horrors and trivialize the suffering of our ancestors. If you’ve ever played as an expansionist power in Hearts of Iron IV or in a similar game, I’m not calling you a cruel warlord. After all, strategy games and their lengthy lists of casualties are limited to the virtual realm. However, next time you play a game like Hearts of Iron, I want you to ask yourself whether you’d like to live as a commoner in the virtual worlds you forge. At the end of the day, perhaps it’s best to stick to shooting space wizards after all. Nathan L. Williams ’18 is a Government concentrator living in Mather House. His column appears on alternate Mondays.
Not My Drag: Why the Hasty Pudding Must Go By nICHOLAS P. WHITTAKER
H
arvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals: men wearing women’s clothes onstage. This, by the barest textbook definition, is “drag.” But is this definition adequate? Does the Hasty Pudding deserve the title of “drag”? They do not. Drag is not neutral. Drag without the celebration and protection of Brown and Black Queer folks is anti-Queer, anti-Brown, and anti-Black. And an organization like the Hasty Pudding Theatricals—not actively pro-Queer, pro-Brown, and pro-Black and so necessarily anti-Queer, anti-Brown, and anti-Black—never could be drag. What is drag? Drag’s present is irrevocably entwined with its past. Imagine, rather than the cast of the Hasty Pudding, Venus Xtravaganza, a small Latinx trans drag queen, dancing in the ballrooms of late-’80s New York. She dances because she knows the beauty of her Brown skin, her Queer body. Her dance gives her power. How else, but by dancing, can she live in a world that mercilessly crushes Brown and Black, Queer and trans bodies, crushes them under its anti-Queer, anti-Brown and anti-Black healthcare and legal system and education system and culture and police state? How else, but by dancing, can Venus Xtravaganza breathe? Does anyone in the Hasty Pudding Theatricals even know Venus Xtravaganza’s name? If not, how can they know what drag really is? At 23 years of age, Venus Xtravaganza is murdered. She dies unavenged. To the white world, she was nothing but another ugly dirty Brown fairy made unto dust. The 1990 film in her honor declares that “Paris is Burning,” and Venus Xtravaganza burns with it, her Brown, Queered body licked by flames, her Brown skin that you just can’t handle crackling and popping. In her honor, in the name of Venus Xtravaganza, we promise to dance. This is drag: Drag (noun): The air resistance in your face as you careen into the stars, unbound by your gendered and sexed body only to return at last to it such that your return is a homecoming, your skin is the night sky. Drag queen (noun): Those icons, those flawed humans, those astronauts who wear their Queerness as a uniform and are murdered for it because you just can’t take it! Drag is Queer, and drag is Brown and Black. The ballroom is a battleground, and voguing—the dance of drag, our triumph—is a battle cry. Let’s have a kiki, Marsha P. Johnson, the hero of Stonewall, roars, heels strapped on tight, crushing anti-Blackness and misogyny and transphobia beneath her. Drag is political—because when is a dance ever just a dance, and when is the disruption of gender ever anything but a declaration of war? To Mila Kunis and Paul Rudd, do you know this history? And if so, does the Hasty Pudding deserve a place in it? First: the Hasty Pudding is not a Queer or Brown/Black organization. While many members may identify as Queer or of color, the Hasty Pudding has never been known to use its expansive budget or influence for Queer Brown folks. While the Hasty Pudding qualifies itself as philanthropic due to its donations to multiple arts groups, and while those donations may do some peripheral good for Queers of color, this is not equal to a sustained dedication to politically disrupting Queerphobia and white supremacy. When has Hasty Pudding ever donated to the hundreds of individuals and groups specifically dedicated to liberating Queer Brown folks? When has the Hasty Pudding ever stood against the murders of Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow and Chyna Gibson? Queerness and Brownness are political, and screwing with gender is political, for the structures of society are implicated in our survival. Until the Hasty Pudding tangibly disrupts racist anti-Queer and trans-deadly legal, political, economic, and social structures, it fails to be radically Queer or radically Brown. Second: the Hasty Pudding has historically been structured to discredit and disempower womxn (“womxn” is a rejection of the simplicity of “women,” an embrace of the multiplicity of non-male identity and a way we screw with gender). Drag has never been exclusively for cisgender men. Drag is the discarding and mockery of gender, and the Hasty Pudding, in historically restricting gender performance to men, has strengthened the very systematic gender structures drag seeks to dismantle. To view the Pudding’s recent decision to let women audition as a pro-womxn victory would be a mischaracterization. There are generations of systematic exclusion of womxn to overcome, most pointedly the disproportionate possession of power by men. And, more importantly, opening this space to what seems likely to primarily be—based on current composition—rich, white women fails to address the lack of support for womxn folks from this organization. Third: the Hasty Pudding originated from a legacy of elitism. Remember: for Venus Xtravaganza, Paris is Burning, and drag rises from the ashes of a Brown Queer declaration of war against a world that hates us. But the Hasty Pudding does not come from those ashes. Rather, it was first and foremost a “a no-holds-barred burlesque” deeply tied to the toxicity of final clubs, a wealthy, white organization steeped in privilege. Its lineage consists of the cisgender, white men John Adams and Franklin Delano Roosevelt—hardly Queer icons. These men were not racist homophobes, you may protest, but that is besides the point. Their (presumed) neutrality cannot save them.
SEE WHITTAKER PAGE 6
The Harvard Crimson President Derek G. Xiao ’19 Managing Editor Hannah Natanson ’19 Business Manager Nathan Y. Lee ’19
The University Daily, Est. 1873
Associate Managing Editors Mia C. Karr ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Associate Business Managers Dahlia S. Huh ’19 Max W. Sosland ’19 Editorial Chairs Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19 Cristian D. Pleters ’19 Arts Chairs Mila Gauvini II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19 Blog Chairs Lydia L. Cawley ’20 Stuti Telidevara ’20
Design Chairs Morgan J. Spaulding ’19 Simon S. Sun ’19 Digital Strategists Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Dianne Lee ’20 FM Chairs Marella A. Gayla ’19 Leah S. Yared ’19 Multimedia Chairs Amy Y. Li ’20 Ellis J. Yeo ’20 Sports Chairs Cade S. Palmer ’20 Jack R. Stockless ’19 Technology Chairs Nenya A. Edjah ’20 Theodore T. Liu ’20
EDITORIAL Letter to the Editor
Lessons From First Unionization Election Must Be Acknowledged
T
o the editor: I write in response to last week’s editorial, “A More Perfect Union Election,” to reaffirm the University’s commitment to advancing an open and transparent process as we look ahead to a second election on student unionization at Harvard. On the list: Harvard has always been and continues to be committed to including all eligible student voters. A University team, across 11 schools and more than 50 degree programs, worked diligently to create the most accurate list possible prior to the November 2016 election. Despite their best efforts, many factors resulted in unintentional omissions, as described in the FAQs on the Office of the Provost website. It’s important to remember that this is new territory for Harvard and for the National Labor Relations Board, which conducted the first election. Harvard was the first private institution to hold an election following the change in law and similar issues related to voter lists have been raised at other private universities holding elections on unionization across the country. On the November 2016 election: the University learned a lot and has taken steps to modify our processes in preparation for a second election. A clear lesson is that sufficient time is required to create the best possible list. Harvard has proposed a mid-March cut-off date for the voter list, when the majority of teaching and research appointments for the spring term will be finalized. The Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers has countered with a mid-February date for the list cut-off—just after the add/drop deadline, when enrollments and teaching assignments are still in flux. We are continuing to discuss the schedule with the HGSU-UAW and the NLRB, and we hope they will agree that it is critically important that a comprehensive list be produced, to the best of our ability, so that the outcome of the second election will not be questioned on the basis of the completeness of the list. And most importantly, on an open and informed discussion: as The Crimson rightly points out, there are a range of perspectives on the issue of whether student unionization makes sense here at Harvard. The University will continue to make information available on the Student Vote section of the Office of the Provost website, where links to a number of student-driven websites can be found, including the HGSU-UAW and Graduate Student Unionization: A Critical Approach websites and the Against HGSU-UAW Facebook page. The HGSU-UAW will also continue to have access to our community to share its perspective. In addition, we hope student leaders across Harvard’s schools will create opportunities on their campuses for discussions that consider all sides of this important issue. Harvard believes it is critically important that all eligible student voters consider the issues at stake, engage in a robust conversation about the potential impact of unionization, and, most importantly, cast informed votes. Paul R. Curran is the Director of Labor and Employee Relations at Harvard University.
wHITTAKER From Page 5 Imagine, for a moment, a radically pro-Queer, pro-Brown, pro-womxn, gender-disrupting organization with the resources, fame, and attention of the Hasty Pudding. Imagine if a Queer ballroom replaced the Hasty Pudding’s clubhouse. Imagine a parade down Massachusetts Ave. celebrating Big Freedia and Laverne Cox. Imagine the thousands of dollars in proceeds going to Black Trans
The Harvard Crimson | January 29, 2018 | page 6
Advocacy. Imagine the president of the Hasty Pudding writing a letter urging President Donald Trump to cease and desist all attacks against trans folks. Imagine the cast of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals protesting the murder of Candace Towns. Imagine a Hasty Pudding built by and for Brown and Black folks, and one that finally admitted that womxn can screw with gender too. Imagine a Hasty Pudding that dedicated its performances every night to Ve-
nus Xtravaganza, whose-skin-you-justcan’t-take, and the thousands of trans folks, Brown and Black and all, who have suffered so that you may strap on your heels and kiki. And then stop imagining, and dance, darling, dance until that foolish dream is reality. Nicholas P. Whittaker ’19, a Crimson contributing opinion writer, is a Philosophy concentrator in Leverett House.
11.3 Million Strong “You may write me down in history / With your bitter, twisted lies, / You may trod me in the very dirt / But still, like dust, I’ll rise.”—Maya Angelou Laura S. VEIRA-RAMIREZ MAde Outside America
I
have spent countless hours exposing and writing about my own experiences. I have spent countless hours in meetings, planning actions, and sharing my story. I have chased down politicians and staked out their locations. I have sat in offices for hours hoping to share my story, hoping that it will drive those in power to stand alongside us. I have marched in the frigid cold and overwhelming heat with my undocumented community, fighting for our voices to be heard. My community has put the little we have on the line. We have risked deportation as part of our daily existence and constantly fear the separation of our families. We have been outspoken after being quiet so long for fear of retaliation. We have been persistent. We have continued living our lives as best we can despite all the people who tell us that our existence is wrong, that we are illegal. My people have thrived. We have thrived in the face of obstacles unimaginable by the people who hold our fates in their hands. We have thrived through border crossings and exploitation. We have thrived through detention and deportation. We have thrived through wage theft
and abuse. We have shouted at the top of our lungs while tears flowed uncontrollably down our cheeks. We have been criminalized to the point where our humanity has come into question. My community has been reduced to statistics on our economic worth. We have been reduced to people who can only provide physical labor and then told to leave for stealing jobs. We have been employed by the same people who want to deport us. We have been called lazy in one sentence and job-stealers in the next. We are forced to prove our humanity in the midst of xenophobic rhetoric. We compete with the framing of immigrants presented by politicians through the media they dominate. We take action and protest to reclaim the power that’s been taken from us. We make our struggles public to gain attention for our real narratives. We strive to tell our own truths so that those in power can’t keep getting away with telling their own lies. We have been toyed with as politicians give us empty promises in exchange for photo-ops. We have been promised unconditional support to our faces and given no solutions on paper. We have had politicians try to pin us against each other through the good-versus-bad-immigrant narrative. We have had our youth held up as examples of the only members worth saving in our community. We are given scholarships as our parents are given blame. Our community is never acknowledged in its entirety for all that it is
worth. We are never seen for all the stories that we bring. We are not seen for all our different cultures, languages, and experiences. To be part of this undocumented community means to be part of a community of all different skin tones, languages, religions, gender identities, and sexualities. Instead, we are clumped together under the hateful term “illegal immigrant” and stereotyped as the Latino and the criminal. We are simultaneously separated into all these boxes because of our different backgrounds and united into this one category based on immigration status. But it is this one common identity that has managed to unite us all. Despite politicians’ constant attempts to pin us against each other, we have remained a united front against a common enemy. We have experienced so much harm against our community that we have been forced to find solace amongst ourselves somehow. We thrive because we have each other. We have gone through hell and back, but still, we thrive. We know who we are. We know our worth exceeds any statistic. We know our humanity and that of those around us. We see the beauty in our strength, our intersectionality, and our resistance. We continue because we know that we are not doing this alone. We know that we are 11.3 million strong. Laura S. Veira-Ramirez ’20, a Crimson editorial editor, is a History and Literature concentrator in Leverett House. Her column appears on alternate Mondays.
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The Harvard Crimson | january 29, 2018 | page 7
Students Call for HKS Profs Attend Davos Multicultural Center By Alexandra a. Chaidez Crimson Staff Writer
Town hall From Page 1 seeking a “public commitment” from Khurana that would allow the process to move forward, according to Whittaker. Attendees also spoke about what they would want to see in a prospective multicultural center. Many argued that a portion of wthe center should be devoted to works of art created by people of color. Others emphasized the importance of using the center to provide on-campus jobs and internships. Mayukha Karnam ’19 argued that a multicultural center would allow students who do not feel included in identity-based groups on campus to gain a sense of belonging. “I think cultural organizations can sometimes be unintentionally excluding people and people may not feel like it’s the safest space for them
to enter, even if on paper their identity matches up with that,” Karnam said. Iris R. Feldman ’20 agreed. She drew on her past experiences at Harvard to argue that the College needs an all-inclusive space on campus. “I’m a mixed student here. I don’t really feel comfortable or welcome at a lot of the cultural organizations that already exist and I feel like a space that’s specifically designated as multicultural... would allow me to exist in a space where I feel comfortable with other people of color but don’t have to necessarily decide what identity I am that day,” Feldman said. Staff writer Jonah S. Berger can be reached at jonah.berger@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @jonahberger98. Staff writer Ruth A. Hailu can be reached at ruth. hailu@thecrimson.com.
Several Kennedy School professors traveled to Davos, Switzerland last week for the World Economic Forum, which focused in part on issues of gender and women’s empowerment.\ Douglas W. Elmendorf, dean of the Kennedy School, attended, as did several other prominent Kennedy School leaders including Ashton B. Carter, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and former U.S. defense secretary.The World Economic Forum is a nonprofit foundation based in Switzerland that brings together thousands of politicians, economists, and academics to discuss international issues like global development and climate change. The 2018 Forum took place from Jan. 23 to Jan. 26. “Dean Elmendorf, along with other members of the Harvard Kennedy School faculty, attended the Forum to contribute to thinking and ideas about how we can shape a better future for the world through better leadership
and policies,” Kennedy School spokesperson Douglas L. Gavel said. Elmendorf participated in a Facebook live broadcast with David R. Gergen, director of the school’s Center for Public Leadership, where the two discussed the role of the Kennedy School
“Academics play a very vital role as knowledge partners.” Jane Nelson
HKS Lecturer at Davos in promoting democracy worldwide, as well as the development of an executive education program. Gergen has traveled to the World Economic Forum since 1988, according to his research assistant, Gregory Honan. The World Economic Forum, a gath-
ering known for its elite status, generated controversy earlier this month after President Donald Trump’s dinner with the executives of drug companies Novartis and Bayer. Trump is the first sitting president in two decades to attend the Forum. One Kennedy School lecturer who traveled to Davos, Jane Nelson, said that, while certain themes appear every year at the conference, this year had a particular focus on gender and the fourth industrial revolution. “This year, clearly one of the stronger themes was gender,” Nelson said. “The whole question of women’s leadership, women’s economic empowerment, and gender parity was a very strong theme this year.” She said it is important for academics, including those from the Kennedy School, to attend conferences like the Forum because they work with the Forum to perform surveys, deliver reports, and create dialogues through panels. “Academics play a very vital role as knowledge partners, as learning partners, and on occasion provoca-
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The Harvard Crimson | JANUARY 29, 2018 | page 9
Harvard Hangs 97 Points in Blowout Win over Yale
HELPING HAND Guard Madeline Raster barely missed a double-double against Yale. The junior dropped 18 points and dished out nine assists in a winning effort. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer WOMEN’S BASKETBALL By Joseph W. Minatel Crimson Staff Writer
I n its flashiest offensive game of the season, Harvard women’s basketball exploded for a 97-73 win over rival Yale to improve to 7-0 at home this season. The 97 points in its dismantling win over the Bulldogs are the most scored by the Crimson on the year. Harvard (10-6, 2-1 Ivy) shot lights out against its rivals, making 61.3 percent of its attempts from the field and 63.6 percent from three. Yale (8-8, 1-2) was unable to stop the Crimson offense, especially senior guard Taylor Rooks, who shot 9-for-11 for 22 points while grabbing nine rebounds. “We shot well, so then we play
well,” coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. Harvard took control of the game in the middle of the second quarter. Its commanding lead was thanks to an impressive run. The Crimson’s 11-0 run was started by a Rooks jump shot. After hitting one of two freethrows, junior guard Madeline Raster stole the ball back and moved it up the court to junior guard Sydney Skinner for a fastbreak layup. Skinner then hit a three-pointer on the next possession. Junior guard Nani Redford followed up with a step-back three-pointer of her own to give Harvard a 14 point lead, 45-31. “The start of the game for us was super important,” Raster said. “When we start well we end up playing a full game.”
In the early going of the game, defense reigned supreme. The first score came 1:38 into the game when Rooks finished on a reverse layup. Following a Bulldog fastbreak layup, sophomore forward Jeannie Boehm hit a reverse of her own to out Harvard ahead again, 4-2. The offenses came alive, with Yale’s three-pointer followed up by a three from Rooks. With 5:58 left in the quarter, Boehm hit another layup inside. Rooks got a quick steal off of the Bulldog inbounds pass and dished to senior co-captain Kirby Porter for a quick jump shot. The four points were scored in a quick 10 seconds, forcing a Yale timeout. “Good ball movement, finding the extra pass, and people being super unselfish are qualities we strive for as a team, and we showed that tonight,”
junior co-captain Madeline Raster said. With 4:27 left in the first period, Skinner came into the game as a substitution. She made quick use of her time, knocking down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions for the Crimson. Bulldog senior forward Jen Berkowitz, the Ivy League leader in shooting percentage last season and this season, converted on a pivotal and-one opportunity to pull Yale within three with only two minutes to go. Boehm answered on Berkowitz down low by hitting her own layup on the other end for Harvard. With only 14 seconds until the end of the first, Bulldog sophomore guard Roxy Barahman banked in a three-pointer to pull within two. However, Raster worked her buzzer-beater magic, hitting a jump shot as the clock sounded at the end of the first quarter for the second straight game, making it 23-19. The Crimson ran into early foul trouble, as two of its top three scorers, Boehm and sophomore guard Katie Benzan, each had two fouls at the beginning of the contest and were forced to watch much of the second quarter from the bench. With 5:34 left in the half, Porter committed her second personal foul of the game, sending the co-captain to the bench to join Boehm and Benzan in avoiding fouling out. “For us to not even blink over foul trouble, that makes me happy,” Delaney-Smith said. Harvard kept up the momentum each trip down the court before the end of the half. Following a Redford missed three-pointer, Yale seemed to collect the rebound. As the two teams transitioned towards the other end of the court, freshman forward Rachel Levy poked the ball away and sent it bouncing out of bounds. Levy hustled past the Bulldogs’ defenders and dove with her arm outstretched, saving the ball and causing the Lavietes home crowd to erupt with cheers. The Crimson’s possession, however, would come up short. With 49 seconds until the half, Yale cut the Harvard lead back to single digits at 44-36. The Crimson was able to regain its double-digit lead before the half on two free-throws from Rooks. Rooks set the pace for Harvard in the opening half, shooting 8-for-9 and accounting for 19 points and six rebounds. Rooks was not the Crimson’s only accurate shooter, as Harvard shot 57.6 percent from the
field in the first half. The second half saw the return of Benzan, Porter, and Boehm. Benzan made up for her missed time by connecting from beyond the arc on Harvard’s first possession of the half. Raster followed it up with a three-pointer of her own. The Crimson’s lead would be soured as foul trouble reared its ugly head again. Porter and Boehm both recorded their third fouls of the contest early in the third quarter, causing both of them to sit out momentarily. With 2:28 left in the period, Skinner also recorded her third foul, leading her to join Porter and Boehm on the bench. “We’re deep enough to handle it,” Delaney-Smith said. Harvard’s offense continued its success from behind the arc quickly, as Skinner and Raster hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to continue to pad the Crimson’s lead. Rooks then hit a three of her own to put Harvard up 18 points with 3:37 left until the start of the fourth quarter. Yale came alive before the start of the final frame, going on a 6-0 run of its own. The Crimson would answer after a cross-court pass led to a contested Benzan knocking down a three-pointer from the right wing. As the Bulldogs attempted to answer before the buzzer, Redford stole the ball at the top of the key and finished the fastbreak layup by herself to put Harvard up 70-53 to start the fourth. Despite the large lead, the Crimson refused to slow the pace. Raster started the quarter with an andone layup, followed up by yet another three-pointer from the hands of Redford. Benzan continued her hot hand from behind the arc, knocking down a three-pointer of her own. Following a made free throw from freshman forward Jadyn Bush, Boehm grabbed the offensive rebound on the second rebound. Raster then connected from three again, extending Harvard’s lead to 83-57. Harvard continued its impressive shooting to the end of the game. When the final buzzer sounded, the Crimson had secured the solid victory over its oldest rival, 97-73. “Anytime you beat Yale it feels awesome because there’s always that rivalry there,” Raster said. “We’re looking forward to beating them again in a couple weeks.” Staff writer Joseph W. Minatel can be reached at joseph.minatel@thecrimson.com
Harvard Splits Weekend Road Trip at Yale, Brown WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY By eamon j. mcloughlin Crimson Staff Writer
Making the trek down to Providence, R.I., the Harvard women’s hockey team snapped a seven-game losing skid with a convincing 6-1 win at Brown. After dropping a close 3-2 matchup to Yale in New Haven, Conn., on Friday evening, the Crimson tallied its most goals in one game since Nov. 17 against Holy Cross. “I think we played Harvard hockey for an entire sixty minutes, and we brought a lot of energy,” said junior co-captain Kate Hallett of the team’s victory over the Bears. “We took what happened the night before, we came back with a lot of resilience, we were ready to play, and we just had a lot of fun.”
HARVARD 6, BROWN 1 The Crimson (9-11-1, 7-8-1 ECAC) made the most of its power plays on Saturday, while the Bears (2-21-0, 1-15-0) struggled to keep up from the very beginning of the game. Sophomore Kat Hughes opened the scoring for Harvard within five minutes, redirecting a shot from the left side from her first-year linemate Brooke Jovanovich. With the Crimson looking dominant straight away, freshman Keely Moy added a second goal on a power play. The puck took a bizarre bounce over rookie goaltender Lauren Rippy midway through the first period to put the visitors up, 2-0. Harvard added two goals in each of the second and third frames as well, with Moy grabbing her second of the night, and fellow rookie Becca Gilmore finding the net twice in the third period. Gilmore’s double dip gives her the team lead in points with 20, while she and Moy are tied for second in goals with 7 apiece. Brown senior forward Sam Donovan struck with ten minutes remaining in the game, but it was too little, too late for the team whose season has been all but over for weeks now. In net for the Crimson was freshman Becky Dutton (1.26 GAA, .948 SV%), making her second career start and earning her first ever win. While sophomore backstop Beth Larcom struggled between the pipes against Yale the night before, Dutton provided
ROOKIE COOKIN’ Harvard’s youngest players, like freshman defender Kate Glover, will have to step up as the team aims for ECAC success. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer
some stability—albeit against a team that does not generate much offense— on Saturday. The win at Brown moved Harvard up to seventh place in the ECAC and tied with Ancient Eight rival Princeton. With six conference games remaining, there is still plenty to play for, and the Crimson will be hoping that its losing streak will be forgotten as it looks to book a chance at ECAC glory with a top-eight finish. “Our mindset is to get everything we can out of every practice, and to show up to every game ready to put everything on the line,” Gilmore said. “We have to find a way to come together and get wins against teams with very strong programs. I think we have it in us, and it’s going to be exciting to
see what we can do.” YALE 3, HARVARD 2 Harvard and Yale (9-10-4, 7-7-2) came into their matchup neck and neck in the ECAC standings, with the game holding big conference playoff implications. After their first meeting of the season ended in a 2-2 tie following overtime, both teams were looking for a decisive win against their oldest rival. After a hard-fought but scoreless first frame, the goals poured in during the second period. The Bulldogs struck first through freshman forward Greta Skarzynski on a power play, but the Crimson was quick to respond, with senior Nikki Friesen finding the net on a power play of the visitors’ own less than four minutes later. Yale quickly
bounced back, scoring two back to back goals before the end of the second period to pull ahead, 3-1, and chasing Larcom (8-10-1, 2.88 GA, .900 SV%) from the net. Harvard managed to put the pressure on in the final period, but freshman defender Emma Buckles’s rebound goal with eight minutes remaining was not enough to secure a win for the visitors. Despite the outcome, the Crimson took the game to its hosts in New Haven, outshooting the Bulldogs, 3128, in addition to winning 33 faceoffs to Yale’s 24. Harvard was also better on power plays, converting two of its four opportunities, compared to Yale’s 1-for-3 record on the day. “Obviously it’s always tough to
lose, especially a big Ivy League game against Yale,” Hallett said. “They definitely came to play, and we did too, but unfortunately we couldn’t get the job done.” Power plays were central to the Crimson’s offense in this weekend’s conference matchups. Before this weekend, Harvard had struggled to make the most of its 5-on-4 opportunities, scoring only ten times against shorthanded opposition in nineteen games. In stark contrast to this trend, the Crimson managed to score on five power plays in the Yale and Brown games alone. Staff writer Eamon J. McLoughlin can be reached at eamon.mcloughlin@thecrimson. com.
Sports
The Harvard Crimson | January 29, 2018 | page 10
Harvard Shut Down by Cornell and Freshman Goalie MEN’S ICE HOCKEY By spencer r. Morris Crimson Staff Writer
Not many goaltenders blank the Harvard men’s hockey team, so it takes a special net-minder to do so. On Friday night against No. 2/4 Cornell, however, the Crimson (9-7-4, 8-4-3 ECAC) ran into a very special goalie indeed. This goalie was freshman Matthew Galajda, who sent back all 35 of Harvard’s shot attempts en route to his third straight shutout in a 3-0 victory for the Big Red (17-2-1, 11-11). The bout marks the Crimson’s first goalless game since almost exactly one year ago, when RPI shut down the squad on Jan. 29, 4-0. “[Galajda] is calm,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer ’86 said. “He doesn’t get run around or sliding around in there. He stays focused…. He’s playing well, and our guys are selfless. They’re laying it out, blocking shots when they have to.” Harvard came into the game seeking vengeance after November’s heartbreaking loss, which saw the Big Red steal the game in the final seconds. That evening, Crimson Coach Ted Donato ’91 and his team left Lynah rink feeling robbed, confident that their play warranted a better result than a regulation defeat. Friday, though, there was no question which team deserved the victory. “I was more frustrated the first time we played them,” coach Donato admitted. “I thought we played better and deserved a better fate. They deserved to win tonight. They made the plays, they blocked the shots, they made the saves.” After a Cornell goal just eight minutes into the tilt, the game remained a one-shot affair until early in the third frame when the Big Red padded its lead. The culprit was a repeat offender, as junior forward Anthony Angello was responsible for all three Cornell goals on the evening. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect reached the double-digit goal plateau with six and a half minutes expired in the third period. Angello’s wrister rung off the pipe before bouncing off the back of Harvard goaltender Michael Lackey and trickling over the goal line. “They got a bounce on the second
goal,” coach Donato said. “They’re playing defense at a level right now that made that [two-goal lead] look like a pretty steep hill to climb.” Angello followed up with an empty-netter with just one second remaining in the game, completing the hat trick. The Manlius, N.Y., native now has nine goals in as many outings. While providing some cushion to the Big Red’s lead, Angello’s threegoal effort proved unnecessary. Galajda, who entered the contest with the second-best goals against average and fifth-best save percentage in the NCAA, demonstrated why his numbers are so stellar. The rookie stood tall between the pipes all night, recording his sixth clean sheet this season in 17 appearances. “I’m seeing the puck well,” said Galajda of his recent play. “There [were] a couple of plays out there where maybe I got a little lucky tonight. The puck seems to be bouncing our way right now, and [we’ll] keep it rolling tomorrow night.” The Crimson’s 35 shots were no match for Galajda, who saw most of Harvard’s chances cleanly. “I would’ve liked us to make it a little bit more difficult for [Galajda],” coach Donato said. “I don’t think we got enough traffic, I don’t think we made him [scramble] around the front of the net. But hats off to him.” Solid puck fielding also kept the home team in it for the majority of the game. Lackey sent away 25 shots (2.07 GAA, .926 SV%) and made some crucial stops for the Crimson. At the end of the day, a hard-to-read release and a bad bounce bested him. The second period began much like the first ended. Chances were scarce, but many were grade-A looks—the only difference being that Harvard started accumulating more shots on goal than the opposition. By the end of the frame, the pace resembled that of a typical bout between these two fast and skilled teams. While Cornell led the shot count 7-2 at one point in the opening third, the Crimson ultimately overtook this category and took a 20-13 into the locker room after 40 minutes. A power play straddling the midway point of the second period opened up the offense for Harvard while giving the Big
GALAJDING TO THE FINISH Cornell rookie goaltender Matt Galajda turned away all 35 of Harvard’s shots, powering Cornell to victory. amanda m. dimartini—Crimson photographer
Red a series of counter-attack rushes. “I thought the second period was our best,” coach Donato reflected. “The first 10 minutes of the game, they pinned us back a little bit. The second 10, I thought we played pretty well. And then the second period, we had chances.” Despite multiple sequences of pandemonium in front of Galajda and a few point-blank opportunities on Lackey, the net-minders rejected all 19 shots they collectively faced in the frame. Back in November, it was Harvard who got off to a hot start and drew first blood. As the goose egg would indicate, this was obviously not the case Friday night. Angello lit the lamp seven minutes into the contest. The junior strode into the zone and slipped through two Crimson defenders. Then, the 6’5” winger got his hands free for a split second and cleared Lackey’s shoulder with a quick-release snipe. The tally ushered
in the jeers of invading Big Red fans, traveling in droves as always. The early strike was one of many quality scoring opportunities for the two teams in the first frame. While the foes exited the ice after 20 minutes with just seven shots apiece, the majority of them were in prime position. Both Galajda and Lackey faced frenzies in front of their respective nets but managed to keep the rest of the pucks from crossing the goal line. Most notably in the opening third, junior forward Michael Floodstrand fired a shot low on the Big Red backstop, who kicked the puck out into the high slot. Floodstrand’s linemate Benjamin Solin was there to corral the rebound and send another attempt toward Galajda, but the freshman tender gobbled up the second-chance shot. Like his fellow Harvard icemen on Friday, junior forward Ryan Donato failed to notch a point. This marks just the second game all season in
which the 2018 Olympian failed to ink the score sheet. “All four lines knew when [Donato] was on the ice,” coach Schafer said. “You better play him oneon-one strong. You better keep your feet moving against him, especially as a defenseman…. If you spread your feet and try and play him, he’s going to make you look silly. He got to the other side on us a couple of times tonight, but that’s fine. He didn’t get to his forehand.” Cornell’s decisive shutout removed any doubt lingering from the teams’ last meeting, in which the Big Red ran away with the game in its waning moments. “It was awesome beating Harvard at home,” Angello said. “Getting them 2-0 [on the season] here…especially when they don’t score, it’s definitely something really special.” Staff writer Spencer R. Morris can be reached at spencer.morris@thecrimson.com.
Harvard Holds on to Top Yale in Low-Scoring Contest
BLOCKING BASSEY Sophomore wing Justin Bassey was tasked with guarding Yale sophomore Miye Oni. Bassey held his counterpart to seven points on a night when the Bulldogs shot just 30.4 percent from the field. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer
MEN’S BASKETBALL By stephen j. gleason Crimson Staff Writer
N EW HAVEN, CT—Despite not making a field goal over the final 4:56 of game action, the Harvard men’s basketball team topped Yale, 54-52, on Friday night at John J. Lee Amphitheater. With just over five minutes to play in the second half, sophomore wing Miye Oni finished a layup to give the Bulldogs their first advantage of the evening. The lead would last a mere 15 seconds and neither team would make another field goal until Alex Copeland made a meaningless buzzer beater to get the hosts within two for the final box score. Five free throws down the stretch proved to be all that the Crimson would need to hold on for the victory. As it has for most of the season, the defense for Harvard was suffocating and allowed the guests (8-10, 3-0 Ivy League) to get the best of their archrival (8-11, 1-2). “We’ve been a tremendous defensive team and we’ve struggled offensively to find a great rhythm and we’ve found that we’ve gone into droughts at times,” Harvard coach Tommy Amak
er said. “We have to get better at that where we are not going into those kinds of droughts. Hopefully things will turn around for us so that we play on a better consistent offensive type of game but we haven’t been able to put that together this year much at all.” Sophomore wing Justin Bassey was tasked with guarding Oni, Yale’s leading scorer, on Friday. The Denver, Colo., native kept Oni at bay for most of the evening, with the highlight coming with five seconds to play. With the Bulldogs trailing by three as the final seconds began to tick away, the hosts got the ball into the hands of their leading scorer. Oni ran off of a screen, caught the ball behind the three-point line a few steps to the right of the top of the key. The sophomore elevated in an attempt to tie the game but his jumper was met by the fingertips of Bassey, leaving the shot attempt short as it fell into the hands of Harvard sophomore forward Seth Towns. Towns would ice the contest at the line with 2.7 seconds to play. For the game, the Crimson was able to completely stymy Oni, who entered the contest averaging 16.4 points per game. Harvard held the Porter Ranch, Calif., native to seven points on 3-of13 shooting on a night when Yale as a team shot just 30.4 percent from the
field. Bassey was also the Crimson player who gave his team the lead that remained at three far longer than anyone could have imagined. After neither team scored for nearly three minutes, Bassey was fouled shooting a three-pointer with 2:11 to play. The sophomore nailed all three at the line, his only points of the evening on a night in which easy baskets were at a premium, to put his team up for good. The lack of scoring that characterized the final five minutes stood in stark contrast to the bursts of offense that took place for both teams in the first half. Harvard got off to a fast start, playing some of its best basketball of the season in the game’s opening minutes. The Crimson jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the first 1:52. Harvard forced Yale to take a timeout after junior guard Corey Johnson hit a three-pointer and made it burn another after Yale was unable to inbound the ball coming out of the huddle. Johnson had eight points out of the gate as the offense clicked on all cylinders. “A quick start was critical for us and we talked about those first four minutes,” Amaker said. “I thought our kids were dialed in and ready and we were able to get out of the blocks early and fed off that momentum.”
On the other end, the Crimson forced the Bulldogs into bad shots possession after possession. Yale settled for jump shots as its undersized frontline struggled to create spacing in the Harvard defense. The Crimson was able to maintain the strategy, leading to frustration for the Bulldogs for most of the evening. Yale made just six of its 24 three-point attempts and did not convert a single two-point basket outside of the paint. While Harvard forward Chris Lewis disrupted Bulldog shot attempts on defense, the sophomore was also having his way on the other end. Lewis used his size advantage over junior forward Blake Reynolds and capitalized on his strength and experience when Yale coach James Jones tasked freshman Paul Atkinson with covering him. Lewis was largely the difference in a game marked by physicality and half-court offense. The Alpharetta, Ga., native led all players with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and four offensive boards. The Crimson outpaced Yale on the defensive glass, 30-25, and conceded just seven second chance points. “We were going to dig down on the post with him a little bit, trying to get him on the block,” Yale coach James Jones said. “Didn’t do a great job on that but you’ve got to pick your poison a little bit and try to help out a little bit.” The ice cold start for the Bulldogs carried on well into the first half. Ten minutes into the frame, Johnson was outscoring Yale on his own, 11-8. Harvard would grow its lead to 16, but, as it often has this season, the Crimson went cold shooting the basketball, allowing the Bulldogs to claw their way back before the break. After having converted 11 of its first 18 field goal attempts, Harvard began coming back down to earth. Its slide on the offensive end translated into better looks for Yale as well. The Crimson missed seven of its final nine shots to close out the half and turned the ball over five times in the 7:52 leading up to the intermission. While Yale found twine on just four of its first 15 shot attempts, the Bulldogs closed the half on a 16-4 run and entered the locker room trailing by just four. Runs—albeit slow ones—by both teams would characterize much of the second half. Harvard extended the lead out of the break, Yale made it interesting, Harvard did enough to keep the hosts at arm’s length before the
Bulldogs finally took their first lead with 5:11 to play and set the stage for the home stretch. “I think when we play defense as a team, we are really hard to stop when everybody’s locked in, when everybody is doing their role on each individual player we are matched up with, we are a very hard team to score on, honestly, and now we are very confident off of that when we play together,” Johnson said. After not scoring in the final 4:44 of the first half, the Crimson regained its footing to start the second. The guests went on a 10-3 run to begin the frame, capped off by a Towns triple to get the lead back to double digits. As desperation set in for the hosts, Oni began taking things into his own hands in an attempt to get Yale back in the contest. A 6-0 run for the Bulldogs made it a game once again. Although free throws would ultimately win the game for Harvard, the Crimson did not take its first attempts from the charity stripe until 10:38 remained in the contest. The pair from Lewis ended the run for Yale but did little to stop the onslaught from the Bulldogs or stimulate offense from Harvard. Yale would go on a 13-4 run over the next 5:27 to take the two-point lead that was Yale’s only advantage of the contest. Midway through that run, Towns, Johnson, sophomore forward Henry Welsh, and sophomore guard Bryce Aiken checked back in for the Crimson in an attempt to stop the bleeding. A major question entering the game was Aiken’s health. The sophomore had last seen game action against Dartmouth on Jan. 6 and had only played four minutes against the Big Green. Aiken, who had some of his best games of his freshman campaign against the Bulldogs, went just 1-of-5 from the field in 13 minutes and was replaced by fellow sophomore Christian Juzang down the stretch. While Harvard lacked its closer in the game’s final minutes, Lewis’ strong all-around performance and the team’s defensive masterpiece proved to be enough to keep Harvard unbeaten in league play. “When we have good balance, we really have a good basketball team,” Amaker said. “I thought our defense was outstanding. They come at you in waves and have some offensive players. [Our defense] certainly allowed us to play a little bit better than we have played recently.” Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at stephen.gleason@thecrimson.com.