The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLV, No. 140

The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume cxlv No. 140 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | friday, december 14, 2018

editorial PAGE 6

sports PAGE 7

news PAGE 3

The outgoing UC leaders spoke up but fell short in fulfilling their promises.

Four freshmen are hoping to make an early impact for men’s basketball.

President Bacow is questioning part of DeVos’s proposed Title IX rules.

Bacow 13.4 Percent of Early Applicants Accepted for 2023 Says He Won’t Divest

Interest in Physical Scie

33%

By Delano r. Franklin and Samuel W. Zwickel Crimson Staff Writers

By Alexandra A. Chaidez Crimson Staff Writer

Harvard presidents have long maintained that the University’s endowment is not an appropriate tool for enacting social change.

It’s a line former University President Drew G. Faust used repeatedly to justify not divesting from fossil fuel companies when campus activists demanded she do just that.

In an interview last week, University President Lawrence S. Bacow broke from his predecessor to offer up a new line of argument for sticking to the status quo: not only is divesting to compel change improper, he said, but it is also impractical and ineffective.

His remarks came amid renewed demands from students and faculty that the University end its investments in fossil fuels — and in the wake of major federal and United Nations climate reports that sparked discussion around the world about the dire consequences of human-caused climate change.

Offering his rationale for why Harvard should not divest its holdings in the fossil fuel industry, Bacow cited practical concerns that would complicate divestment and a need to work with industries in order to “bring about meaningful change.”

He added that any significant shift in climate policy must come from both scholarship and cooperation with fossil fuel companies.

“The endowment should not be used as a way, as an instrument of social policy,” Bacow said. “I think there are far more effective ways for us to influence social policy, public policy, as well, through our research, our scholarship, through our actions and through our teaching. And I think in the case of the fossil fuels, we’re doing exactly that.”

He added, “It’s also the case that if we want to bring about meaningful change — as I think we should — in trying to help create clean paths to energy, that we need to be willing to work with those organizations and institutions that are

See divest Page 5

Harvard College invited 935 of 6,958 early applicants to join its Class of 2023 Thursday, marking a 13.4 percent acceptance rate — and what is likely the most competitive early admissions cycle in Harvard history.

This year’s admit rate decreased slightly from last year’s rate of 14.5 percent. The raw number of early applicants, however, increased by 328 from 2017.

“It really does look like a terrific class,” Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 said in an interview Thursday afternoon.

29%

67%

29%

Class of 2022

Class of 2023

Class of 2022 53%

47%

29%

Class Class ofof2022

57%

Female

43%

Class of 2019

57%

Class of 2023

Class of 2020

15%

Female

10%

Class of 2021

Harvard Today 2

Class of 2022

Class of 2023

Male

5%

Brian P. Yu and Morgan j. spaulding—Crimson Designers

Up Next for Club Suits?

Expense.

By Shera S. Avi-Yonah and Delano r. Franklin Crimson Staff Writers

the square, illuminated

The holiday lights shone brightly in Harvard Square Thursday evening as a light snow fell gently and soundlessly on the streets of Cambridge. kathryn s. kuhar—Crimson photographer

University Status of Complainants, 2017-2018

Fellow to Join GSAS Advising

By Shera S. Avi-Yonah Crimson Staff Writer

2017

2018

Undergraduate Student

Graduate/Professional School Student

Staff

Faculty

Third Party

See report Page5 Inside this issue

Male

2018

By Jamie D. Halper

­ isclosures of sexual and genD der-based harassment across the University increased 56 percent in 2018, according to an annual report Harvard’s Title IX Office and Office for Dispute Resolution published Thursday.

The uptick comes more than a year after the #MeToo movement prompted women around the world to make public allegations of sexual harassment.

According to the report, which highlights the University’s sexual harassment prevention and response efforts, the University received 416 disclosures of misconduct during fiscal year 2018, up from 266 last year. Disclosures constitute concerns about instances of sexual or gender-based harassment that Harvard affiliates or third parties brought to the attention of local Title IX coordinators. These are distinct from formal complaints of sexual misconduct, which ODR

Female

Male

Title IX Disclosures Jump By 56 Percent BGLTQ Crimson Staff Writer

57%

71% Class of Class of 2017

2016

57

Female

Class of 2023 Interest in Computer Science Harvard Early Admissions Rates

20%

43%

71%

43%

Class of 2023

25%

71% 43%

Class of 2022 of 2023 Interest in ComputerClass Science

Interest in Physical Sciences 33%

Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will hire a fellow tasked with serving its BGLTQ affiliates next semester, following years of student requests that they create the position.

BGLTQ graduate students have alleged for several years that the school does not provide adequate resources to support them and that some administrators did not respond appropriately to previous requests for a paid, BGLTQ-focused fellow. GSAS affiliates have voiced their displeasure in emails to administrators and in Facebook posts.

They have also argued

Simon s. sun—Crimson Designer

News 3

Editorial 6

Sports 7

67%

Interest in Physical Class of 2022 The 2018 early application prior to 2007 hovered were women. Sciences Women comaround prised 51.3 percent cycle saw the highest number 20 percent, according to 33% a 2017 67% of the admit 53% class this year, an increase from of applicants and the lowest ac- Crimson article.

Class of 2022 Class of 2023 ceptance rate since Harvard Interest Students received their early 47.2 percent last year. in Physical Sciences reinstated early action admis- admissions decisions — whethAn unprecedentedly 53% 47% high 33% er acceptance, deferral 67% to the sions seven years ago. The Colpercentage of female admits inClass of 2023 lege temporarily shuttered its regular cycle, or rejection — dicated they are interested in Class of 2022 Interestscience in Computer Sc early action program from 2007 online around 7 p.m. Thursday studying computer or 53% 47% to 2010; though limited early ac- evening. the physical 29%sciences this year, 71% tion admissions is available A majority of the students adInterest Class ofdata 2023 Class of 2022in Computer Science See early Page 5 online, early acceptance rates mitted early to the Class of 2023

Today’s Forecast

sunny High: 45 Low: 40

See fellow Page 5

Experts and lawyers say a pair of lawsuits challenging Harvard’s sanctions could prompt a protracted — and pricey — legal battle.

Sororities, fraternities, and three anonymous College students filed the twin suits — one in state court, one in federal court — on Dec. 3.

In their filings, the groups allege the sanctions discriminate against students on the basis of sex and violate undergraduates’ freedom of association.

The pair of suits mark the latest move in a years-long battle between single-gender social organizations and the College over Harvard’s controversial social group policy.

The sanctions, which administrators debuted in May 2016, bar members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations from holding campus leadership positions, varsity athletic captaincies, and from receiving College endorsement for prestigious fellowships like the Rhodes. The penalties took effect starting with the Class of 2021.

Though the lawsuits may continue for several years, the coming months will see Harvard and the plaintiffs make their cases in writing — not yet in court.

Here’s what you need to know about what happens next.

So, what exactly does happen next?

Harvard has until Feb. 8 in the state suit and Feb. 4 in the federal suit to file a written response in court, according to Heather M. Kirk, the chief communications officer for the North-American Interfraternity Conference. She said Harvard was originally due to file the responses this month. But, she added, the University recently requested more time to craft the documents.

Experts said Harvard lawyers will likely spend the next

See lawsuit Page 5

Visit thecrimson.com.

Follow @TheCrimson on Twitter.

HN, CEP, MCK

M

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

december 14, 2018

Page 2

Harvard Today

For Lunch Basil Chicken Pizza Red’s Best Fresh Local Fish Grilled Chickpea Cakes

For Dinner Turkey Meatballs Five Cheese Tortellini Beyond Burger

Today’s Events

in The Real World

Gallery Talk Harvard Art Museums, 12:30 p.m.

Trump Backs Out of the Iran Deal

Lynette Roth and Anne Schaffer are leading this Gallery Talk on Werner Heldt’s “Still Life at the Window.”

Tickets will be available at the Art Museums admissions desk and the talk will begin in the courtyard.

From the Paris Climate Agreement to the TransPacific Partnership and now the Iran Deal, President Trump seems to have a very easy time backing out. This marks yet another rollback of an Obama-era policy that the Trump administration has undertaken.

Poetry and Coloring Cambridge Public Libarary, 6:30 p.m.

New York Attorney General Resigns

MireliBooks will be combining their coloring pages with Alan Feldman’s poetry reading at the Cambridge Public Library to promote mindfulness and provoke discussion. The event is free, but, given space is limited, be sure to register online beforehand.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigned after multiple former partners accused him of sexual assault in an article published by The New Yorker. Schneiderman was once seen as a champion of the #MeToo movement and an outspoken detractor of sexual misconduct. Some say the allegations have made the former AG seem like a hypocrite.

Lecture Sanders, 4 p.m.

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.

Eponymous singer Syd and other members of The Internet perform for their Hive Mind tour as Boston’s Paradise Rock Club in December. kathryn s. kuhar—Crimson photographer

Daily Briefing Harvard College invited 935 of 6,958 early applicants to join its Class of 2023 Thursday, marking a 13.4 percent acceptance rate and making the 2018 early cycle likely the most competitive in school history. The 2018 early application cycle saw the highest number of applicants and the lowest acceptance rate since Harvard reinstated early action admissions seven years ago.

In other news, Bacow is breaking with Harvard presidential transition to offer a new reason why the University shouldn’t divest from fossil fuels: He says divestment is impractical and ineffective.

What You Missed at the Met Gala As per usual, Rihanna (one of the gala’s co-chairs) was the star of the show, which was… Catholic Church-themed? The Church itself has loaned 40+ papal vestments to the Met for the exhibition. This is the first time the Vatican has lent vestments out from their archives, but, somehow, that wasn’t the most unique sight of the Gala. Plus, we all found out that Grimes and Elon Musk are dating when they made their debut as a couple Monday night.

Around the Ivies eARLY ADMISSIONS decisions Ivy League schools released their early action and early decision results Thursday, setting records across the board. Princeton accepted 13.9 percent of its early applicants and saw its most competitive field ever, according to the Daily Princetonian.

Both Brown and the University of Pennsylvania accepted 18 percent of applicants, according to the Brown Daily Herald and the Daily Pennsylvanian, respectively. And Columbia received a record number of applications for its college and school of engineering and applied sciences, according to the Columbia Spectator.

COLUMBIA Barnard barred from campus a Columbia student who allegedly berated and grabbed a group of mostly black students, according to the Columbia Spectator. Sophomore Julian von Abele followed the students around on Sunday and yelled, “We built modern civilization!” and “White people are the best thing that happened to the world!” He also shouted other white supremacist and racist slurs and grabbed a female black student’s arm as she yelled, “Don’t touch me.” A video of the incident has gone viral. Columbia has not announced whether it will take disciplinary action against von Abele.

BROWN Former Vice President Joe Biden spoke at Brown Tuesday about what he called the “breakdown” of American politics and the possibility of a presidential bid in 2020, the Brown Daily Herald reported. He said he promised his son Beau before his death in 2015 that he would “stay engaged” in politics. Biden said he is still deciding whether to run but that he knows “we can’t take six more years of this policy without doing serious damage to America.”

The University Daily, Est. 1873

The Harvard Crimson Derek G. Xiao President Hannah Natanson Managing Editor Nathan Y. Lee Business Manager

Associate Managing Editors Mia C. Karr ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Associate Business Managers Dahlia S. Huh ’19 Max W. Sosland ’19 Digital Strategists Jamie D. Halper ’20 Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Editorial Chairs Cristian D. Pleters ’19 Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19

Staff for This Issue Arts Chairs Mila Gauvini II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19

Design Chairs Morgan J. Spaulding ’19 Simon S. Sun ’19

FM Chairs Marella A. Gayla ’19 Leah S. Yared ’19

Multimedia Chairs Amy Y. Li ’20 Ellis J. Yeo ’20

Blog Chairs Lydia L. Cawley ’20 Stuti Telidevara ’20

Technology Chairs Nenya A. Edjah ’20 Theodore T. Liu ’20

Sports Chairs Cade S. Palmer ’20 Jack R. Stockless ’19

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.

Night Editor Alison W. Steinbach ’19 Assistant Night Editors Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Story Editors Joshua J. Florence ’19 Mia C. Karr ’19 Hannah Natanson ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Kenton K. Shimozaki ’19 Brian P. Yu ’19

Design Editors Angela N. Fu ’20 Morgan J. Spaulding ’19 Simon S. Sun ’19 Brian P. Yu ’19 Sports Editor Jack R. Stockless ’19 Photo Editors Kathryn S. Kuhar ’20 Editorial Editor Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19

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.

Page 3

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | december 14, 2018

Faculty Approve Transcript Change By angela n. fu and lucy wang Crimson Staff Writers

The Faculty Council voted in favor of a proposal to add field of study to the transcripts of Ph.D. students in the Population Health Studies program at its biweekly meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The Council’s vote follows a discussion of the proposal from its meeting earlier this month.

Director of the School of Public Health’s Population Health Sciences program Lisa Berkman presented the proposal, which allows Ph.D. students in her program to have their fields of studies added to their transcripts.

The program is jointly of-

fered by the School of Public Health and FAS, and students in the program can choose from one of the five fields of study — Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Global Health and Population, Nutrition, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The Council — the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ highest governing body — voted unanimously to support the proposal. Their vote is purely advisory, however, and the proposal will go before the full Faculty at their first meeting in February.

The Council also heard a proposal from Visual and Environmental Studies Department Chair Robb Moss to change the name of his department — which houses classes for the visual arts as well as the “study of

the built environment.” Council member Aravinthan D.T. Samuel ’93 said the Council will vote on the motion before it is presented to the entire Faculty sometime next spring.

“There’s a move to update the name because Visual and Environmental Studies does not fully capture what the department actually does,” Samuel said.

“That I do agree with. There was no opposition to that.”

Vice President for the Harvard Library Sarah E. Thomas also presented a proposal to dissolve the Standing Committee on the Library. The committee’s duties will be picked up by the Faculty Advisory Council, according to Samuel.

“There was zero opposition because it’s just a rearrange-

ment,” Samuel said. “It’s just getting subsumed in the function of the larger committee.”

Though the standing committee will be dissolved, the Faculty will make a concerted effort to get undergraduate input on Harvard’s libraries, Samuel added.

“That struck me as a great thing. I was an undergraduate here a long time ago, and I loved the libraries,” Samuel said.

“The fact that undergraduates are being heard about how the libraries are functioning and how they’re used is a fabulous thing.”

The next Council meeting is slated for Jan. 30. angela.fu@thecrimson.com lucy.wang@thecrimson.com

Bacow Opposes DeVos’s Title IX Proposal By jamie d. halper Crimson Staff Writer

­ s proposed revisions to Title A IX rules for colleges and universities recently unveiled by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy D. DeVos move through a public comment period, University President Lawrence S. Bacow reiterated Harvard’s commitment to respond to these regulations through higher education associations.

In an interview Monday, Bacow also questioned the efficacy of the Education Department’s proposal for mandatory cross-examination in official Title IX complaint proceedings on college campuses. Under DeVos’s proposal, schools would be required to allow complainants and respondents to cross-examine each other during Title IX investigations, which probe formal complaints of sexual or gender-based harassment brought to University officials.

“It’s important to be able to

encourage people to come forward, to do so without fear, and I think we are not in a position as colleges and universities more broadly, to create a process which just mimics what might be adjudicated in a court of law,” Bacow said. “I think that would be an inappropriate process for us.”

“That said, of course, it’s important to have fundamental fairness in the process for all parties, so I wouldn’t disagree with that, but I don’t think the level of formality that’s been suggested is helpful,” he added.

Bacow did not offer an opinion on a provision in the proposed rules that would render schools no longer responsible for investigating instances of sexual misconduct that occur off campus. Instead, he deferred to “those who are working on a response to the regulations.”

Harvard is currently facing a lawsuit in which a student alleges the University overstepped its jurisdiction by opening a formal investigation into

allegations that he sexually assaulted a non-Harvard student hundreds of miles away from Cambridge during the summer of 2017.

After meeting with Bacow on Monday, Our Harvard Can Do Better — a campus anti-sexual harassment advocacy group — released a statement thanking Bacow and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay for their “careful attention to the proposed rule.”

The group has called for Harvard to respond to the proposed regulations, and in the statement supported the decision to have a higher education association represent the school’s interests.In particular, Our Harvard Can Do Better wrote in their statement that Harvard should uphold the Obama-era standards for evidence in investigations. The DeVos proposal would allow schools to choose a higher standard of evidence.

The group also decried several other provisions of the draft rules.

Specifically, they want Harvard to oppose live hearings with cross-examination, limitations on the University’s investigative jurisdiction, and a new definition of sexual harassment that requires conduct to be “severe, persistent, and objectively offensive” to qualify as a policy violation. If the response to DeVos’s proposed rules that higher education associations are coordinating does not oppose all of these issues — and a number of others — the student group asked that Harvard tell these concerns to the Department of Education independently.

The statement also commended Bacow on his support for recommendations from a recent University Title IX Policy Review Committee report that called for an expansion of Harvard sexual harassment policies to address “gray area” conduct that is disruptive, but may not constitute a formal policy violation. jamie.halper@thecrimson.com

IOP Leadership Elects First Diversity Director By alexandra a. chaidez Crimson Staff Writer

­ he Harvard Institute of PoliT tics will add a Director of Diversity and Outreach to its student advisory committee next year, the Institute announced Tuesday.

Jasmine N. Hyppolite ’21 will serve as the IOP’s first Diversity and Outreach Director, according to a release sent by the IOP executive team. Hyppolite was voted into office during the first meeting of the 2019 student advisory committee, a team of College students who lead the IOP’s programming for undergraduates.

IOP President Anna L. Duffy ’21 wrote in an email Thursday that the position was established in response to students’ concerns about people from historically underrepresented backgrounds not feeling welcome at the Institute. The two met with leaders of College affinity groups after their election and are “better informed of the concerns that students have with the Institute of Politics,” Duffy said.

“The Institute of Politics must solidify meaningful relationships with cultural affinity groups, advocacy groups, and other identity affirming groups on campus,” Duffy wrote. “This means moving beyond sending pubs over their respective listserves about upcoming events towards a future where collaborations and sustained partnerships are the norm.”

Hyppolite wrote in an email Thursday that her goal is to “cultivate a sense of belonging” within the IOP for students of “all backgrounds, concentrations, and exposure to politics.”

“I had hoped that through the position I would be able to encourage a broader and more diverse spectrum of politics to be represented at the Institute while giving students the opportunity to see people similar to themselves in such a power-

ful space,” Hyppolite wrote.

Hyppolite wrote that in her new role, she hopes to encourage people from all places and experiences within politics to join the IOP. “On top of increasing representation of marginalized and underrepresented backgrounds at the IOP, as Director of Diversity and Outreach, my main goal is to shift the perception of the IOP from being a place to discuss what one already knows to a place of learning and acceptance,” Hyppolite wrote. “The IOP needs to be accessible to students who are well versed in politics as well as students who are curious and simply have the will to learn.”

Duffy wrote the IOP is planning a recruiting event with several cultural affinity groups next year.

She added that Hyppolite will lead discussions about the “cultural, racial, professional and ideological diversity of the Fellows classes and guests of the IOP.” “Continued communication is vital [to] the IOP’s ability to remain a dynamic and exciting space for politics and public service for all,” Duffy wrote.

This addition comes after the IOP elected last month the first all-female executive board in over a decade. The Kennedy School, where the IOP is located, has come under fire in recent years for the lack of diversity in its faculty as well as its fellows and high-profile guests.

Duffy wrote the Institute of Politics has an important role in increasing the diversity of American politics in the future.

“As an organization of young and innovative leaders, the Institute of Politics is in a unique position to rethink the future face of American politics, and to ensure that this face is truly representative of the various identities of all Americans,” Duffy wrote. alexandra.chaidez@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

December 14, 2018

Proud to cover Harvard for 145 years.

Here’s to the 146th.

Keep the old sheet flying.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

Page 4

Page 5

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | december 14, 2018

Diversity Title IX Disclosures Increased By 56 Percent in 2018 Fellow to Be Hired at GSAS report From Page 1

fellow From Page 1 Harvard lags behind peer institutions, pointing to similar fellow positions and BGLTQ offices that serve graduate students at Yale, Brown, MIT, Princeton, and other comparable schools.

The new position at GSAS appears to satisfy one of the key asks made by LGBTQ@GSAS, the BGLTQ affinity group for graduate students.

The new fellow — who will be selected next semester — will work alongside two other “Diversity Fellows” hired by the GSAS Office of Diversity and Minority Affairs.

The office created the paid position of diversity fellow last semester in an effort to better serve students from underrepresented communities.

In April, GSAS Dean for Academic Programs and Diversity Sheila Thomas said this year’s diversity fellows — Ph.D. students Alyssa M. Hernandez and Alfredo M. Valencia — would be able to “go out into the community and have honest conversations with underrepresented students” in a way administrators could not. Valencia will step down at the end of this year, but Hernandez will stay on as one of three fellows.

Hernandez and Valencia work with GSAS’s affinity groups, including the W.E.B. DuBois Society, Harvard GSAS Latinx Student Association, and Harvard Graduate Women in Science and Engineering.

The duo also work with graduate programs to promote diversity at the departmental level.

Hernandez said in a press release that the addition of a third fellow will help GSAS “better serve” BGLTQ students.

“We both knew from interacting with students that LGBTQ students could benefit from additional administrative support, particularly in creating more LGBTQ-focused programming and providing more funding and assistance to the LGBTQ@GSAS student group,” she said.

In a statement she issued regarding the new position, Thomas agreed, citing students’ concerns that GSAS does not provide enough support to BGLTQ graduate students.

“We know that there is more work that we can do to help support the LGBTQ community in GSAS, and this is just the beginning,” she said.

“The addition of the LGBTQ-focused fellow will give us greater capacity to develop programming that better serves this community.”

GSAS will select the new fellows after an application window closes in January. shera.avi-yonah@thecrimson.com

investigates separately from the Title IX Office according to a set of procedures based on Title IX, a federal anti-sex discrimination law.

University Title IX Officer Nicole M. Merhill attributed this increase to expanded training opportunities across the University this year, including more in-person training sessions and new resource documents. She also said the global #MeToo movement has played a role in this increase.

“I certainly think that we’re seeing the ongoing ripple effects from the #MeToo movement and more people coming forward,” she said. “Oftentimes individuals will reach out directly to my office or to our local coordinators and will specifically say, ‘I’m finally feeling that I can come forward because of the #MeToo movement.’”

William McCants, the director of the Office for Dispute Resolution, added that his office has

similarly heard complainants invoke #MeToo as a catalyst for filing their formal complaints.

This year also saw a small increase in the number of new formal complaints filed with ODR, from 43 complaints in 2017 to 46 complaints in 2018. Last year, ODR saw a 65 percent increase in formal Title IX complaints from the previous year.

The report featured additional information this year about trainings, types of allegations contained in formal complaints, and breakdowns of disclosure rates beyond the College.

The Title IX Office and ODR conducted 182 in-person trainings this year, a 78 percent increase from last year. Merhill said her office worked to offer more opportunities for in-person training.

Online training module completion also increased this year.

The number of employees who completed the training more than doubled, and 100 percent of College students completed

Bacow Offers New Reasons Not To Divest divest From Page 1 responsible for the infrastructure that literally fuels our economy.”

Bacow also noted that, even if the University were willing to divest its $39.2 billion endowment from fossil fuels, “practical issues” would complicate this effort because Harvard holds investments in the industry indirectly.

“Do you not own an index, for example, which has holdings in the automobile industry? It’s not a fossil fuel directly, but it’s the source of consumption of a lot of fossil fuels. Do you not own a utility, which generates electricity through the consumption of fossil fuels?,” Bacow said. “I could go on, so I just think it’s not an effective policy to bring about reductions in carbon emissions.”

This is the first time Bacow has expanded on the position Faust maintained throughout her tenure.

In 2013, Faust wrote in a press release that the University’s endowment is a “resource” and should not be thought of as “an instrument to impel social or political change.”

Bacow’s remarks Monday came a day before a group of more than 100 Harvard faculty members released a petition urging Bacow to end the University’s investments in fossil fuels.

“Harvard Management Corporation’s continued investment in the fossil fuel industry is discordant with our mission and with the purposes of the endowment,” the letter reads.

“Indeed, this industry’s misconduct is so egregious and its

global consequences so dire, that it warrants investor action at least as decisive as in the case of tobacco or apartheid South Africa.”

University spokesperson Melodie Jackson could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

The University divested a portion of its holdings in companies doing business in South Africa in 1986.

It pulled its investments from tobacco companies in 1990.

I just think it’s not an effective policy.

Lawrence S. Bacow University President

Harvard Undergraduates for Environmental Justice are also circulating a new online petition that urges divestment.

The petition had garnered more than 200 signatures as of Thursday evening.

Bacow said it would be “hypocritical” for the University to both use the products sold by the fossil industry and divest its holdings from that industry.

“It strikes me as hypocritical to say we’re willing to work with you, we’re willing to do research with you, we’re willing to engage with you, we’re willing to buy your product, while at the same time saying but we will not consider owning your stock,” Bacow said.

a training. These online trainings were mandatory — and enforced — for both employees and College students for the first time this year. Students were required to complete the module or an in-person training in order to enroll in classes this fall.

The report also included data on the types of allegations raised in formal complaints.

The most common complaint fell under the category of “verbal, written, graphic, photo, film, eyeing, sexual advance, and other harassment” — out of 184 categorized allegations between 2015 and 2018, 40 fell into this bucket. Between 35 and 40 allegations fell under the category of “unwelcome touching other than penetration,” and between 20 and 25 complaints of “penetration.” Thirty allegations involved retaliatory behavior.

McCants also pointed to a 32 percent increase in the number of formal complaints that proceeded to investigation af-

ter initial review — a step after which some complaints are dismissed because the alleged conduct, even if true, would not violate Title IX policies. Improved trainings likely played a role in the uptick of complaints that ODR did investigate, he said.

“That suggests that because of all these initiatives, people have a better sense now of what kind of conduct might violate the policy because that’s the question we ask in initial review,” he said.

In addition to new training programs, the Title IX Office also redesigned its website and produced new informational materials for faculty and staff to help them understand their disclosure reporting duties under the University’s policies. The Office also created a student liaison committee in June consisting of students from each of Harvard’s schools and the College.

Consistent with previous years, the majority of the people impacted by instances of sexu-

al or gender-based harassment were students — students made up 71 percent of formal complainants, and faculty or staff made up 19 percent. Thirty-one percent of “people identified as impacted by potential conduct” — in other words, the alleged victims of reported incidents — were College students. Between 2017 and 2018, the number of College student complainants rose from six to 12, the number of staff complainants grew from two to 12, and the number of graduate student complainants decreased from 16 to six.

Merhill’s statement in the report said her office is also working to develop a digital disclosure filing system, an initiative Bacow announced in his public response to a Title IX Policy Review Committee report. In an interview, Merhill said the initiative is “still in its infancy,” but that her office was working with students, faculty, and staff to build the system. jamie.halper@thecrimson.com

53 Percent of 2023 Early Admits for the Physical Sciences are Women early From Page 1 Fitzsimmons said. Of those interested in the physical sciences, 53 percent were women, compared to 33 percent last year. The proportion of those interested in Computer Science who are women rose to 43 percent from 29 percent in 2017.

“The gender shift is quite dramatic,” Fitzsimmons said. “I haven’t seen anything like that before.”

Students interested in the physical sciences comprised 7.3 percent of early admits, while those who indicated interest in Computer Science made up 6.7 percent of admitted students.

The demographic profile of the incoming group remains largely consistent with previous cycles.

Asian Americans compose 26.1 percent of admits this year, an increase from 24.2 percent last year and 21.7 percent the year prior. Fitzsimmons said the trend is likely due to a corre-

sponding increase in the number of Asian-American applicants. African-American admits dropped from 13.9 percent in 2017 to 12 percent in 2018, and Latinx admits clocked in at 10 percent, roughly consistent with last year’s numbers.

The racial diversity of the College’s incoming class will likely come under close scrutiny as Harvard confronts a high-profile lawsuit alleging it illegally discriminates against Asian-American applicants.

That suit — which recently spurred a three week-long trial in downtown Boston that drew national attention and spilled Harvard admissions secrets — alleges the College’s admissions officers set artificial racial caps and floors.

Harvard has repeatedly denied these allegations and argued the consideration of race is a necessary part of its “holistic” admissions process.

Newly admitted members of the Class of 2023 hail from

67 different countries and 49 American states.

The proportion of international admits rose from 8.2 percent last year to 11.2 percent this year.

Fitzsimmons said the spike in international interest might stem from increased exposure to Harvard-related news — about the admissions trial or otherwise. He also pointed to Harvard’s financial aid program, which offers need-based aid regardless of citizenship — a rarity among American universities.

The number of early admits who will be first-generation college students hovered around 10 percent in 2018, consistent with last year’s data.

Harvard hopefuls who apply in the regular decision cycle must submit their applications

by January 1. They will learn their fate in late March. delano.franklin@thecrimson.com samuel.zwickel@thecrimson.com

Harvard, from the Law School to Longwood.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

alex.chaidez@thecrimson.com

What To Expect Next in the Sanctions Lawsuit Against Harvard lawsuit From Page 1 several weeks fine-tuning the school’s case.

CUNY School of Law Professor Merrick T. Rossein said Harvard’s responses will offer insight into the legal defenses its lawyers plan to make.

“When you see the answer you’re probably going to see some possible strategies,” Rossein said.

Attorney Gregory F. Hauser, who has previously counseled fraternities, said Harvard will “almost certainly” motion to dismiss the federal suit, arguing that — even if all facts in the lawsuits are true — the University did not break the law.

The plaintiffs then have a “second shot” at making their case, after which a judge will decide whether to let the suit proceed, Hauser said.

Rossein agreed with Hauser. He said there is a “fairly good chance” Harvard’s lawyers will aim to dismiss the suit.

But he added that the strength of the plaintiffs’ claims — as well as the selected judge’s previous rulings in similar cases — may influence Harvard’s decision to try the tactic.

The legal back-and-forth could take months.

Harvard may have to fork over relevant documents and allow the plaintiffs’ lawyers to question key administrators and faculty, according to Rossein.

How will Harvard respond?

Hauser pointed to two arguments he expects Harvard may make in future legal documents.

He said University lawyers will likely argue the sanctions do not discriminate of the basis of sex because the penalties affect students of all gender identities.

If Harvard is willing to take these steps, we are certainly willing to discuss settlement.

Heather M. Kirk Chief Communications Officer for the North-American Interfraternity Conference

And he said Harvard may claim the sanctions are permissible under the principle of academic freedom — universities’ and colleges’ legal right to freedom from government interference.

“They’re likely to argue that prohibiting people from joining single-sex organizations is, in fact, something that applies to people of all sexes. It’s not aimed at people of a particular sex, it’s not because of their sex, it’s because they choose to go into an organization that’s sur-

rounded by only people of the same sex,” Hauser said.

University President Lawrence S. Bacow took a similar stance in a December interview with The Crimson. He said he finds it “difficult to understand” how the sanctions could discriminate against female College students.

Harvard has asked “that these organizations be co-ed, so that applies equally to all male and all female institutions, so it’s hard to see how that discriminates against women, which is the specific allegation,” Bacow said.

For now though, the University is likely focusing all its energy on the responses due in early February, according to Rossein.

“What the Harvard lawyers are doing now is coming up with their litigation plan and their strategy,” Rossein said.

How likely is it that the parties settle out of court?

The plaintiffs say they will keep fighting until the sanctions are canceled.

Kirk wrote in an email to The Crimson that the sororities and fraternities “intend to litigate until the policy is withdrawn and Harvard undergraduates are free to join independent single-sex organizations without penalty.”

“If Harvard is willing to take these steps, we are certainly willing to discuss settlement,”

she wrote.

The plaintiffs in the state suit are the international parent group of sorority Alpha Phi, Harvard’s newly reinstated chapter of Alpha Phi, and a management company for chapters of sorority Delta Gamma.

The federal plaintiffs are the international organizations for two sororities, Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma; the parent groups for two fraternities, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Chi; Harvard’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon; and three current Harvard students who are also members of all-male social clubs. The undergraduates are not named in the suit.

University administrators, though, appear equally determined to keep the sanctions intact for years to come. In an interview last week — after the suits were filed — Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana said faculty and administrators stand behind the policy which many view as the signature legacy of his deanship.

“For more than a century, Harvard has not been a Greek school — that is, a school that has a fraternity and sorority system,” Khurana said. “As the faculty, as President Faust, as the Harvard Corporation reaffirmed in 2017, it is the expressed belief and expectation of this community that we should not become a Greek school.”

Rossein said a settlement is probably on the table, but that he thinks it is unlikely.

“Settlement is always a possibility,” Rossein said. “Very few cases go to trial nowadays, but I imagine Harvard is going to dig in deep.”

For more than a century, Harvard has not been a Greek school.

Rakesh Khurana Dean of the College

How long will the court battle last?

It depends.

Rossein said the “discovery” period — meaning the time allotted for conducting interviews and exchanges — could be a “fairly lengthy” process. The federal suit may also trigger a prolonged debate over the possibility of summary judgement, a scenario in which a judge would decide the case without a trial.

The duration of the case depends on how things proceed over the next couple of months, legal experts said. At the very least, it is likely to continue throughout 2019, according to Rossein.

“It would certainly be no less than a year,” he said. “If it goes to summary judgement or beyond you’re talking about multiple years.”

Attorney Sean P. Callan said the sanctions lawsuits are unlikely to last as long as the fouryear — and counting — Harvard admissions case, but that it could come close. He said the entire process could take anywhere from one to two years.

Callan, who works at a law firm specifically meant to serve Greek groups, has often represented fraternities and sororities in court.

“More typically what you would see is anywhere from a year to 18 months and then a trial,” Callan said.

How much will all of this cost?

Legal experts were split over the exact price tag of the suits, but they agreed on one thing: It will be sizable.

Rossein said if the plaintiffs and the University both motion for summary judgement, it will prove “fairly costly” for both.

Hauser called the suits “expensive.”

“Harvard is certainly paying top dollar,” Rossein said.

“They’ll have a national law firm representing them. And it will cost them probably millions of dollars to defend this suit.” shera.avi-yonah@thecrimson.com delano.franklin@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | December 14, 2018

Page 6

Editorial The Crimson Editorial board

column

Outgoing UC Leaders Spoke Up But Fell Short in Delivering

In But Not Of

F

ormer Undergraduate Council President Catherine L. Zhang ’19 and Vice President Nicholas D. Boucher ’19 have officially passed the baton to their successors, Sruthi Palaniappan ’20 and Julia M. Huesa ’20, who will lead the Council in 2019. As the year comes to a close, we thank Zhang and Boucher for their service on the Council and offer our reflections on their tenure and the state of the UC. We believe that Zhang and Boucher’s administration effectively spoke up about — or provided a platform for students to speak up about — issues affecting Harvard students. The UC gave voice to overwhelming student concern about the potential elimination of shopping week, condemned Harvard College Faith in Action for dismissing a student for her sexuality, and hosted a town hall for students in the wake of the forcible arrest of a student in April. At various points in time when students needed to voice their opinions, the UC helped students be heard.

However, Zhang and Boucher’s administration largely failed to make tangible change, and many of their achievements were only symbolic. The Zhang-Boucher administration deserves credit for securing menstrual products on campus and subsidizing summer storage for some undergraduates. However, its leaders seems to have taken credit for other, years-long initiatives which they could not have substantially impacted, like the College’s new Educational

Studies secondary field or the renovated Smith Campus Center.

We are specifically disappointed by their slow implementation one of their key campaign promises — a “progress bar” that would allow students to track their administration’s completion of its promises, ironically. It took months for the UC to follow through with this campaign promise. This speaks to a perennial issue for the UC: There is little accountability, and candidates for the Council rarely follow through on their most am-

Despite the administration’s shortcomings, we would be remiss not to recognize its commitment to trying to improve the Harvard experience for students. bitious campaign promises, if any.

Of course, there are structural limitations that will hamper the progress of any UC administration. But, even putting those limitations aside, we still feel that the outgoing administration could have done more, including with its financial stewardship. Dealing with a budget shortfall and persistent financial uncertainty, the UC was forced to tap into its emergency fund this year. Maintaining fiscal stability is a basic expectation for any organization — and it is especially important for an organization largely re-

sponsible for funding other student organizations.

When this Editorial Board endorsed Zhang and Boucher during last year’s UC campaign, we believed their “experience, accountability, and transparency” would serve them well in the job. While their experience no doubt enabled them to speak out on important issues meaningfully and allocate funding for campus menstrual products, their delay in implementing the progress bar and lack of any real accountability mechanism has disappointed us.

Nonetheless, as the UC turns over a new leaf, we thank Zhang and Boucher administration for the time and effort that they put into serving the student body, and wish them well. Despite the administration’s shortcomings, we would be remiss not to recognize its commitment to trying to improve the Harvard experience for students. That said, Palaniappan and Huesa — and UC leaders to come — should strive to make promises they can follow through on, and more effectively spearhead the management of financial resources.

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.

THE Crimson Photo staff

Op-ed

In Defense of Truth

By Caleb J. Esrig

A

top the Class of 1881 gate on the north side of Harvard Yard is inscribed a call to Harvard’s motto: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Yet across the country and the political spectrum, truth — and the search for it — is under attack.

President Donald J. Trump has repeated false statements — such as the preposterous assertion that a trade deficit represents lost money — so many times that the Washington Post’s fact checker devised a new category for his most repeated ones. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a rising Democratic star, has made numerous egregious statements about economics. She has, for example, asserted that the unemployment rate is manipulated by individuals working more than one job and that businesses have minimum prices for inputs other than labor.

(They don’t). The notion that political leaders might make outlandish, false assertions and remain unscathed is a new phenomenon. About 25 years ago, thenVice President Dan Quayle misspelled “potato” and subsequently was permanently labeled inept. Such history looks almost quaint today. Indeed, truth and accuracy have become partisan terms.

It is not simply that political leaders have abandoned concerns about veracity. They have done so on the basis of partisan agreement. From climate change science to Trump’s attacks on health care, in particular around pre-existing conditions coverage, Republicans have willingly lied and accepted falsehoods for the purpose of defending party allies.

On social media and elsewhere, truth has become a partisan term. This post-truth age has grave consequences: Trump’s lies about trade deficits have likely cost the nation hundreds of thousands of jobs. The anti-vaccination movement, which recently received support from a newly-elected Republican from Tennessee in Congress, has maliciously misled parents into refraining from vaccinating their children, contributing to disease outbreaks across the country. Likewise, it is easy to imagine how an economic policy rooted in Ocasio-Cortez’s misunderstandings could bring harm.

Correspondingly, a disdain for universities and their work has grown across the country. This has come from the left as well as the right. Over the past decade, Americans have expressed declining trust in academia and in the ability of science to better their lives. The new tax plan passed by Congressional Republicans taxes university endowments, and its passage was accompanied by attacks on higher education. Gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez proposed during his failed campaign for Massachusetts governor a devastating tax on university endowments.In this time, Harvard’s role could not be clearer. As the oldest and more prominent institution of higher education in the United States, it has a unique responsibility to defend truth and the pursuit of it. As the flurry of recent lawsuits attests, what happens inside the gates of the Yard has reverberations across the country and the world.

Seizing this leadership demands a recognition of what has caused public leaders to abandon the truth. Increasingly, Americans withdraw into their own silos: They see curated social media feeds and watch television stations attuned to their own political interests. When academics disagree, it must be that the academics are wrong and that their system is flawed.This cannot be pinned on one side alone. Neither Trump nor Ocasio-Cortez apologized for their statements, even after their veracities were questioned.

Both sides have sought to use their power to quash disagreement: The president has openly attacked critical news organizations, and liberals have forced the firing of professors for their views.

In these times, the best defense for the truth is an embrace of what leads to it. “Truth cannot simply be claimed, but must be established — established through reasoned argument, assessment, and even sometimes uncomfortable challenges that provide the foundation for truth,” University President Drew G. Faust explained in her 2017 commencement speech.

This is where our political leaders fail. They have siloed discourse, forced the partisanization of truth, and refused to accept any veracity from the opposing side. They restate falsehoods and defend

those uttered by members of their team.

We see this at Harvard as well. When a student organization last year hosted an event with a controversial speaker, many who disagreed called not for students to speak out but for Harvard to ban the speaker. And this is a story that has repeated itself time and time on campuses again across the country.

But we cheapen our ideas when we call for their veracity to be upheld with the force of bans and censorship. When we refuse to subject them to disagreement, we fail at pursuing truth.

This was captured by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who wrote in an influential dissenting opinion in Abrams v. U.S. that “The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out.”The best defense we have against the public acceptance of falsehoods is the idea of rigorous debate and disagreement. This is what Harvard must stand up for. It — its administration, faculty, and students — must reaffirm that the essence of academia is the search for truth in disagreement.

I have seen firsthand the power of this idea. As Op-Eds Editor and a member of The Crimson’s Editorial Board, I have seen controversy induced by the arguments we have put out. Many, too, have helped engineer change. Yet too often, readers respond to articles with which they disagree by demanding to know why we would publish such an argument. As if we — or they — already have the truth.

During a reception in the early 20th century by the Class of 1881 to commemorate the dedication of its gate, the chairman of the class committee said, “We desire only that their interpretation be unlimited, and that they shall express in the majesty of their simplicity at least this, the invitation which our beloved college offers to the youth of this wide land, to come within its gates, in order that in whole-hearted service to the truth, they may enter into life, and so be free.”

— Caleb J. Esrig ’20, a Crimson Associate Editorial editor, is an Economics concentrator in Quincy House.

Rejecting the willful ignorance of the ruling elite

Salma Abdelrahman Searching for Mentors in Memories

I

have always been taken by surprise when I encounter the name “Harvard” in the books I read or movies I watch. When one of my professors is cited, when I hear the names of streets I walk down, when a room is described that looks just like the one I sleep in, I am slightly taken aback, remembering that yes, I actually do go to Harvard, and no this is not a dream. In meta moments, the very mention of its name — capital “H” Harvard — used to serve as a reminder of all that I had “achieved.” Yes, I did deserve this place with its fancy wines overf lowing from underground cellars and its talk of Ulysses and Nietzsche and Kant and its rooms painted fully gold and its culture of wealth, a culture that drowns out the realities of life beyond frivolous things.

Somehow an application I submitted three years ago, which now feels to me almost like a random compilation of words and numbers on a page, became my ticket into the ruling elite.

But this ticket does not come without its price.

This place is not built for us, you see.

The brick of its buildings are too stiff and the books on the shelves of its overwhelming reading rooms erase our existence and confine us to the spaces between lines. Its almost 300-year-old buildings are firm in their stature and resistant to changing beyond what the structures, drawn up in plans that have browned and withered away, envisioned for them. And so we — the ones who have been imagined here only as subjects or slaves — pour ourselves into the moulds of the empty space their composition leaves us, bending and twisting into unnatural shapes to find ways of being that don’t, at first, seem torturous. We walk differently, we erase our accents, we train our taste buds to enjoy the taste of steak that bleeds as if it were still alive.

Simultaneously, we work to push boundaries.

We imagine new spaces on old (stolen) land, we put up portraits of black men to mask reality, we try to force love down the throats of things meant only to hate. Our vision for this place becomes optimistic to a fault: We talk of plans to diversi-

By existing here, no matter how painful this existence may be, we become implicated in the exploitation our “home” is built upon. fy final clubs we have been tokenized by, carrying blind spots around the silhouettes of the people who serve us at fancy cocktail parties. We boast of interviews at firms that hold a morality that is thin and fragile, like the green paper of the dollar bills it is constructed on. We avoid eye contact with the women who clean the bathrooms in our study spaces, lest they remind us too much of the people who bore us. We become contortionists as our bodies bend and bend and bend, almost to their breaking points, to integrate.

By existing here, no matter how painful this existence may be, we become implicated in the exploitation our “home” is built upon. Our bodies tower over pitiful rocks on the ground meant to commemorate all that our people lost when being forced to construct their own destruction.

The lobster that is served to us at exclusive College events is financed by an institution whose endowment continues to profit off the bondage of our siblings. The people who labor to keep this place running are struggling to get by. In so many ways, we remain willfully ignorant, kidding ourselves into thinking that “diversity and inclusion” are the keys that unlock vindication for the horrors that exist just under the surface of this place.

Build a multicultural center in a burning house and the center will burn down with it.

To my past self and the generations of students who’ve fought this fight: Build a multicultural center in a burning house and the center will burn down with it. This is a space built on faulty foundations. We need an alternative existence, one not marked by fighting for a slice of the rotten pie.

I was taken by surprise again when DuBois wrote of his time at Harvard in his autobiography “Dusk of Dawn”. This time, the surprise does not come from by the prestige of being able to claim the alma mater of a legend like him but in the powerful advice his own experiences hold for us: “I was in Harvard but not of it and realized all the irony of ‘Fair Harvard.’ I sang it because I liked the music.”

DuBois gives us a model for resisting Harvard’s moral failings without begging to be included in them. Instead, we’ll operate covertly: Extract its resources, every possible penny, every ounce of knowledge, every brilliant thinkers thought, and redistribute them, like Robin Hood, to the communities we owe everything to. The privilege of our access necessitates this.

—Salma Abdelrahman ’20 is a Sociology and African American Studies concentrator in Eliot House.

Her column appears on alternate Fridays.

Sports men’s basketball

about the team

Overall Record 18-14 2018-19 Overall Record 4-5 2017-18 ______________________________________ ______________________________________

upcoming games ______________________________________

Record 12-2 Conference Record 0-0 Conference ______________________________________ ______________________________________

Vs. George Washington Dec. 22, 2:00pm, at Lavietes Pavilion

32 Games

9 Games ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Per Game 68.2 Points Per Game 70.0 Points ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Allowed Per Game 66.5 Points Allowed Per Game 69.2 Points ______________________________________ ______________________________________

@ Mercer Dec. 29, 1:30pm, at State Farm Arena

track and field

A Day in the Life of a Harvard Sprinter: Ngozi Musa By kostas tingos Contributing Writer

­ gozi Musa, a senior from SeN attle, Wash., captains the women’s track and field team and competes in the sprints. This weekend we received an indepth look at her routine as she prepared for the Penn Dual Meet at Gordon Indoor Track on Sunday.

As winter break approaches, most students at Harvard have their minds set on finishing their final exams, papers, and projects. However, Ngozi Musa must find a way to balance her academic responsibilities with her commitment to track.

“It’s all about time management and organization,” Musa said. “You have to have a set schedule. I’m going to study for this class for this many hours and then go to practice and then study again. You have to be very disciplined.”

This discipline is fundamental to the success of a track and field athlete, and that is especially the case on a bustling weekend like this. Time is at a premium, but with that being said, Musa has dealt with this before.

The team held practice on Saturday afternoon but this session was shorter and lighter than a typical practice. On the day before a meet the athletes are given a bit more freedom.

They get to pick and choose a few things that they wish to work on in preparation for their specific event. For Musa, this meant a combination of multi throw and lift.

Preparation for the meet doesn’t just stop after this last practice, though. There are several important things to do the night before. One crucial piece of the puzzle for Musa is just

staying relaxed and not getting too stressed out. Furthermore, getting to bed early and sleeping a lot is another top priority.

“Stretching before I go to bed is something that I like to do,” Musa said. “It helps to make sure that my body is ready and prepared for the meet the next morning.”

On this occasion Musa had to arrive at the track by 11:00 a.m., so she woke up at 8:00 to give herself plenty of time to get ready. She then made sure to grab a balanced breakfast.

“When you’re at a meet you’re going to be there for a while,” Musa said. “You need something to fuel you so making sure I had breakfast, I’m bringing snacks, and making sure I’m hydrated [are very important].”

Heading over to the track earlier than she needs to is another important aspect of the captain’s routine. It allows her to stay calm and collected, and focus on the meet itself instead of scrambling at the last minute.

Musa also employs a few other strategies to maintain a state of relaxation. Listening to calm music in the morning is one thing she enjoys, and another is meditation, both before and during the team’s warmup.

This meditation is something that Musa’s coach has integrated into the program in order to help with the team’s mental preparedness.

“A lot of track is physical but it is also mental,” Musa said.

“If you’re in the wrong mental state before you’re running then your race is probably not going to go so well. You have to be in the right mental state and stay focused…. If you’re not focused properly then it could cost you.”

Senior captain Ngozi Musa, second from left, competes in a previous meet alongside former sprinter Gabby Thomas. Musa was sidelined against Penn in Harvard’s recent dual meet with the Quakers, but she provided encouragement from the sidelines. photo courtesy of the ivy league

Unfortunately, Musa’s day was cut short after warm-ups.

Nagging hip and hamstring injuries were not fully healed so her coach made the decision to rest her instead of potentially aggravating the ailments.

At this point the senior had to make the transition from a competitor to a supporter. As a captain it is her responsibility to make sure that her teammates are prepared for the meet as well. Now without the added pressure of worrying about her

own events, Musa put her focus into doing just that.

“You have to figure out what everyone needs in order to help them prepare,” Musa said. “That’s what I need to talk with my coach about — how, as a captain, I can do a better job of helping my teammates focus and figure out what they need to do to run a successful race.

Whether that means making sure that they’re pushing out of their blocks or whatever that looks like for everyone [individ-

ually].”

This is a valuable skill that every captain would like to improve on and perfect. There are many ways that an individual can contribute to their respective team, and this is one that is often overlooked. After you put yourself in the best position to succeed, you can make a positive impact by making sure others are in a similar situation.

On a day when Musa was sidelined, her team fell to the Quakers by a score of 63-41 in

Cambridge, Mass. Despite this loss, sweeps in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles provided a bright spot for Harvard on the day. The group will have a long time to prepare for its next meet on Jan. 11, the Harvard Multi Meet.

Nevertheless, Musa’s responsibilities as a student now come back to center stage. The end of a semester is always hectic, and that is definitely the case for a collegiate student-athlete as finals approach.

men’s basketball

Harvard’s Freshman Four Aims to Boost ’18-’19 Team By amir mamdani Crimson Staff Writer

A s Harvard men’s basketball seeks its first Ivy League title and NCAA Tournament berth since the 2015 season, the road has been anything but smooth thus far. The Crimson has been dealt a rash of injuries to the starting lineup and much of its junior class.

Neither defending Ancient ­

Eight player of the year Seth Towns nor stalwart point guard Bryce Aiken has taken the floor yet this season. In addition to missing Towns and Aiken, fellow junior forward Chris Lewis was sidelined for three games, and Christian Juzang missed last weekend’s nail-biting loss to Vermont, the latest to catch the injury bug.

While Harvard’s many injuries have likely contributed to its

4-5 record thus far in non-conference play, it has also provided an opportunity for coach Tommy Amaker to test his team’s bench and balance, a phrase he often emphasizes. While junior wing Justin Bassey and sophomore forward Danilo Djuricic are the only two players to start every game, the team’s injuries have allowed several of the freshman recruiting class to see significant action.

If the Crimson hopes to return to the Big Dance, several of the first-year players will be relied upon to provide crucial depth and balance through the gauntlet of the Ivy League season.

Noah Kirkwood, Guard, Ottowa, Ontario In his first season in Cambridge, Kirkwood has been thrust into a prominent role in Coach Amak-

Noah Kirkwood, a guard from Ottowa, Ontario, puts up a shot against MIT in Harvard’s season opener. The 6’7” freshman established an early career

er’s rotation. The Ottawa, Ontario native leads all freshman and is fifth on the team in playing time with just over 20 minutes per game.

A product of the basketball powerhouse Northfield Mount Hermon, Kirkwood garnered two consecutive Ivy League rookie of the week honors. The 6’7” guard scored 12 points in games at San Francisco and Saint Mary’s over Thanksgiving break, before tallying a career-high 20 points in a dominant home win over Holy Cross.

Recently, however, Kirkwood has struggled with his ball control and is averaging almost three and a half turnovers per game on the season, after registering nine turnovers across his last 40 minutes of court time.

Problems with ball security have plagued the entire team, not just Kirkwood, and are to be expected for a young player who has yet to complete his first 10 games of his collegiate career.

Kirkwood’s early performance has been encouraging, and is more than equipped to patrol one of the backup guard positions once Aiken returns from injury. Shooting an impressive 56 percent from the field, and over 45 percent from beyond the three-point arc, the first-year’s ability to score the basketball with efficiency will continue to provide a boost off the bench as the season continues.

Spencer Freedman, Guard, Pacific Palisades, Calif.

A product of the strong Mater Dei basketball program, Freedman has played significant minutes early on for Coach Amaker.

Just last weekend, with Christian Juzang absent from the lineup with an injury, the Pacific Palisades, Calif., native logged his first start of his career.

The 6’0” guard performed solidly against Vermont and will rejoin the backup guard corps

with Kirkwood once Juzang or Aiken return. Freedman’s three-point shot, arguably the first-year’s most impressive skill, has yet to translate to collegiate action. Converting at just over 34 percent from beyond the arc, Freedman will look for more shots to fall, which will undoubtedly open up the rest of the floor for his teammates.

Averaging just over 16 minutes per game, Freedman provides a slasher/shooter option for Amaker off of the bench, and will certainly continue to see more playing time in the rotation.

Mason Forbes, Forward, Folsom, Calif.

Although he has only averaged seven minutes per game, Forbes’ role has fluctuated throughout his young career. While Forbes did not see the court against Northeastern, Rhode Island, or San Francisco, the Folsom, Calif., native played crucial minutes while fellow forward Lewis was sidelined.

Forbes has shot the ball judiciously in his limited game action — knocking down four of his five field goals — and has played solid defense. The 6’8” forward will provide Coach Amaker valuable bench depth in the frontcourt, protecting against injury and foul trouble.

Cale Katchings, Forward, O’Fallon, Mo. Katchings has yet to see significant game time this season for Coach Amaker. The first-year forward played towards the end of the victory against MIT, but has yet to make his way into the team’s regular rotation.

The nephew of WNBA great Tamika Catchings, the O’Fallon, Mo., native was a two-time all-state and all-district honoree in 2017 and 2018 and will provide more young depth in the frontcourt. amir.mamdani@thecrimson.com

FAREWELL

JOSHUA Y. CHIANG—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

The 145 Guard of The Crimson th

Katie C. Berry Graham W. Bishai Jacqueline S. Chea Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino Brittany N. Ellis Joshua J. Florence Mila Gauvin II Marella A. Gayla Laszlo B. Herwitz Bryan Hu George Hu Dahlia S. Huh Mia C. Karr Nathan Y. Lee Sophia Y. Lee Grace Z. Li Edward M. Litwin Hannah Natanson Maria H. Park Claire E. Parker

Krystal K. Phu Cristian D. Pleters Ethan B. Reichsman Margaret F. Ross Yael M. Saiger Kenton K. Shimozaki Kian C. Simpson Wonik Son Max W. Sosland Morgan J. Spaulding Alison W. Steinbach Jack R. Stockless Simon S. Sun Jonathan P. Trang Richard M. Wang Sarah Wu Derek G. Xiao Leah S. Yared Brian P. Yu Phelan Yu

Keep the old sheet flying.