The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLV, No. 19

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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873  |  VOLUME CXLV NO. 19  |  CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS  |  TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018

The Harvard Crimson Harvard must ensure Title IX trainings are effective and engaging for students. EDITORIAL PAGE 8

Women’s squash defeats Brown and Yale to claim Ivy League title. SPORTS PAGE 12

Harvard Greets Bacow

Pres. Pick Raises Diversity Concerns

Faculty Optimistic About 29th Pres.

By RUTH A. HAILU and OLIVIA C. SCOTT

By ANGELA N. FU, LUCY WANG and LUKE W. XU

CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Sunday’s announcement that Lawrence S. Bacow will serve as Harvard’s 29th president surprised and disappointed some College students who had hoped a person of color would take the University’s top job. The search committee’s selection of Bacow marks the 28th white male to sit in the president’s Massachusetts Hall corner office. Over the course of the seven month-long presidential search, some alumni affinity groups requested Harvard’s search committee consider candidates from a diverse set of backgrounds; several undergraduates also said they thought the next president should be a person of color. In the wake of Bacow’s debut as president-elect, several Harvard

CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

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SEE DIVERSITY PAGE 7

Faculty of Arts and Sciences scholars across disciplines praised University President-elect Lawrence S. Bacow following the Sunday announcement he will succeed current President Drew G. Faust. FAS Dean Michael D. Smith and Robin E. Kelsey, dean of arts and humanities, both said they are optimistic Bacow will cooperate well with the Faculty.Smith wrote in a statement that Bacow is a “fantastic choice” and “a true friend to the FAS.” Kelsey, who served as chair of the faculty committee advising the presidential search, said he thinks Bacow has been faculty-friendly in his previous positions in higher education. ­

Lawrence S. Bacow spoke for the first time as University President-elect on Sunday. Bacow will serve as Harvard’s 29th President beginning on July 1, 2018. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

SEE FACULTY PAGE 7

Undergraduates Ponder New President-Elect By CAROLINE S. ENGELMAYER and MICHAEL E. XIE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

When the presidential search committee announced Harvard Corporation member Lawrence S. Bacow would be the University’s 29th leader, some students scurried straight to their computers. Undergraduates hurriedly googled the words “Lawrence Bacow” and scoured his Wikipedia page for answers. “I guess my first reaction was, ‘I don’t know who this is. So I think I’m going to look into his background and what his vision is for Harvard,’” Katelyn X. Li ’21 said. “But then I just read the email—the mass email that was sent out to everyone—and I was like, ‘Oh. He looks qualified.’” “Hopefully he’ll be good,” Li said. As news of Bacow’s selection spread Sunday and Monday via email, push alerts, and on Facebook and Twitter, students began to come to terms with the identity of the man who may shape Harvard’s destiny for the next decade. Some praised Bacow’s extensive expe­

Lawrence S. Bacow addresses an audience on Sunday following the announcement that he will succeed Drew G. Faust as the University President. AMY Y. LI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Harvard Deans Congratulate New Boss By JAMIE D. HALPER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Soon after the announcement that Lawrence S. Bacow would be Harvard’s next president, congratulations started pouring in from deans of schools across the University. From community messages to personal statements, Harvard’s deans eagerly expressed their enthusiasm about their new boss. John F. Manning ’82, the dean of the Law School, took pride in the fact that Bacow was an alumnus of his school, and complimented his “superb judgment” in a statement Sunday. He wrote that he was often directed to Bacow for advice when he first took on the Law School deanship last year. “When I became dean, one of the most frequent pieces of advice I got from fellow deans was, ‘You need to meet Larry Bacow; he has terrific insights about how to lead a school.’ They were right,” Manning wrote in an emailed statement. “He is a prov­

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Harvard Today 2

en leader in stimulating the kinds of collaboration and innovation that can make a great school even better. I am proud that he is our alumnus.” Douglas W. Elmendorf, the dean of the Kennedy School—from which Bacow received a master’s in public policy and a Ph.D.—discussed the president-elect’s connections to his school in an email to HKS affiliates Sunday. “Larry is deeply committed to our mission, and his experiences at the Kennedy School clearly mean a great deal to him,” Elmendorf wrote. “I was so pleased when he made time in his schedule to attend the festivities opening our transformed campus, and when I talked with him this afternoon, he said that in his introductory press conference today he referred to his experience as a student at the Kennedy School.” Even those deans who cannot count Bacow among their alumni still found

News 7

SEE DEANS PAGE 7

Editorial 9

Sports 12

rience in higher education and predicted he will be a successful president, others worried Bacow does not represent a sufficiently diverse choice, and still others questioned his switch from presidential searcher to candidate. Some simply had no idea who he was. At least 20 students passing through Annenberg Hall, the dining hall for College first-years, Monday evening said they had never heard of Bacow or had not heard enough to make any kind of judgement. Like Li, Bilal Wurie ’21—approached exiting Annenberg—turned to the internet for help. “I looked him up on Wikipedia and it seems like he’s got pretty good credentials,” Wurie said. Jacob O. Howell ’20, pausing as he ate dinner in Adams House, agreed. “I was happy with the selection,” Howell said. “He seems qualified for the position.” Even some who followed the search more closely said Bacow had not been on their radar.

SEE STUDENTS PAGE 8

Bacow Worries Union Supporters By SHERA S. AVI-YONAH and MOLLY C. MCCAFFERTY CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

THE BIG THREE

Neil L. Rudenstine, the 26th President of the University, Drew G. Faust, the 28th, and Bacow. AMY Y. LI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

TODAY’S FORECAST

SUNNY High: 33 Low: 26

Pointing to University President-elect Lawrence S. Bacow’s past comments on labor issues, Harvard graduate student union members and supporters say they worry he will not support unionization efforts after he takes the helm as Harvard’s 29th president. Unionization advocates trace their concerns to comments Bacow, whose selection was announced Sunday afternoon, made while serving as president of Tufts University from 2001 to 2011. Bacow is slated to assume Harvard’s top post on July 1 after University

SEE UNION PAGE 8

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iced chocolate


HARVARD TODAY

FOR LUNCH

FOR DINNER

Lemon Chive Flounder

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Turkey and Avocado Panini

TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 13, 2018

Vegan Casserole

Muffaletta Sandwich

Quinoa, Tomatoes, and Scallion

Stuffed Peppers

Steamed Crawfish

AROUND THE IVIES

BØRNS IN BØSTØN

Yale Delta Kappa Epsilon Finalizes Reforms

Garrett Clark Borns, an American singer-songwriter performs at the House of Blues in Boston on Sunday night. The performer is popularly known as BØRNS.

Following sexual misconduct reports at Yale’s chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon, six DKE members finalized a report recommending reforms including maximum occupancy guidelines, bartenders at parties, and sober monitors, according to the Yale Daily News. The reform also features suggestions from Communication and Consent Educators, the Women’s Center and Unite Against Sexual Assault at Yale, and sororities. “We will also honor our promise and extend an open invitation to our social events to everyone who worked with us during this process, enabling them to see for themselves if change has truly been implemented,” a DKE spokesperson told the Yale Daily News.

SAUL A. URBINA-JOHANSON — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Headlines Columbia Conference Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg answered questions about sexual harassment, equal pay, the #MeToo movement, and other issues at Columbia’s first women’s conference on Monday, according to the Columbia Spectator. Titled “She Opened the Door,” the conference brought together female students and alumnae affiliated with Columbia’s various schools. Ginsburg said that although there was still a long way to go before complete gender equality, things had improved dramatically since her youth. Additionally, Ginsburg said she was disappointed at the extreme political polarization, emphasizing the need for a more bipartisan spirit.

HAPPY TUESDAY, HARVARD! Try not to think about the people who will get a whole week off for President’s Day. In the Atmosphere… Yesterday may have given you the chance to leave your long jacket at home, but with a sunny high of 33, we suggest you don’t retire it quite yet.

EVENTS

sick to make it.

The Flu Outbreak: What You Need to Know Everyone that you know is either currently sick, has been sick, or is crossing all of their fingers and toes in hope that they’re not next. The School of Public Health is hosting an expert panel on the dreaded flu at 6 p.m. at the Chan School Leadership Studio, and they’re also producing a free webcast just in case you’re too

Seeing Text, Reading Maps Feeling constantly lost this semester? It probably won’t help, but the Houghton Library is hosting a lecture to kick off its latest major exhibition on maps. There will be a lecture in the Lamont Forum Room at 5:30 p.m. followed by a viewing of the exhibition starting at 6:30 p.m.

Penn Graduate School Deans Urge Students to Vote Against a Union Graduate school administrators at the University of Pennsylvania have been warning students about the potential consequences of unionization in the face of an upcoming vote, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian. In addition to several emails, a website sent out by administrators emphasized that unionization poses no clear benefits to students. According to the website, “[T]here is no guarantee that collective bargaining would result in any increase to stipends or benefits. In fact, students could be worse off in the long run under collective bargaining.”

IN THE REAL WORLD Senate to Try New Immigration Debate Format Since past debates in the Senate on immigration have been less than effective, the Senate is set to try a new open-ended forum for their next debate on immigration, in which they will attempt to build a bill completely from scratch.

U.S. Stocks Start the Week on a High Note No matter how you put it, the last few weeks have been rough for U.S. stocks, particularly the Dow. Luckily, after having the worst few weeks in recent history, it looks like they may be on the uptick again.

Figure Skating Scoring Rewards Difficulty If you’re not too dedicated to the Olympics, chances are you’ve still seen a bit of figure skating and been left wondering how the heck the scores are determined. As it turns out, it’s more complicated than just how well your skate goes, and takes effort and difficulty into account. If only certain assignments were scored the same way.

Snowboarder Wins Gold Despite Early Morning Mishaps

THE BEANPOT

WAITING AT THE DOT

U.S. Olympic snowboarder Red Gerard, 17, overslept the night before his competition on Sunday morning. He was then dragged out of bed, lost his coat, muttered an expletive on live TV, and won the gold medal.

KATHRYN S. KUHAR— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

The Harvard Crimson

QUOTE OF THE DAY

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

“That’s a little snek-y,. I guess”

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.

Tri-captain Jake Horton (front) and freshman forward Benjamin Solin compete in The Beanpot, an annual collegiate hockey tournament involving Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University, and Harvard University.

G.S. “Max” Shen ’18

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.

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE Night Editor Kenton K. Shimozaki ’19

Allison W. Steinbach ’19 Phelan Yu ’19

Assistant Night Editors Design Editor Idil Tuysuzoglu ’21 Diana C. Perez ’19 Cindy H. Zhang ’21 Editorial Editor Story Editors Richard P. Wang ’20 Brittany N. Ellis ’19 Joshua J. Florence ’19 Photo Editor Laszlo B. Herwitz ’19 Caleb D. Schwartz ’20 Mia C. Karr ’19 Hannah Natanson ’19 Sports Editor Claire E. Parker ’19 Cade S. Palmer ’20

Leon K. Yang ’21


ARTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 13, 2018 | PAGE 3

ARTS

the week in arts

Protest as Poetry at the TUESDAY 13 ‘Migration and the Humanities’ Conference wednesday 14

NEW VOICES LECTURE WITH KATIE FEE As part of the “New Voices Lectures,” Katie Fee lectures about the medium of ceramics, using her knowledge on soda fired pottery. Her artwork is inspired by the temporal relationship between geologic landscape and human activity. Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard. 5:30-6:30 p.m.. Free, RSVP required.

IRIS M. LEWIS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

MORTIFIED Rogue Burlesque, an award-winning Bostonbased neo-burlesque troupe with roots in classic burlesque, comedy, and theater, joins “Mortified.” “Mortified” is a comic excavation of teen angst artifacts ( journals, poems, letters, lyrics, home movies, schoolwork) as shared by their original authors—in front of total strangers. Oberon. 7 p.m. $15.

15 16 17 The Feb. 8 and 9 “Migration and the Humanities” conference, organized by the Mahindra Humanities Center, set out to illustrate a point: that the humanities are a powerful way of understanding the modern migratory experience. The conference, held in the Piper Auditorium at the Graduate School of Design, spanned a range of activities, including a musical performance by the Silkroad Ensemble and a series of panels. On the first day, University President Drew G. Faust made opening remarks and author Junot Díaz gave a keynote reading. Throughout the conference, isolation, hardship, and a certain physical transience that comes with being in motion emerged as the common themes of migration. This poetic take on a gritty subject was at the heart of the conference’s message. Professor Homi K. Bhabha, the Director of the Mahindra Humanities Center, placed strong emphasis on the role that art can play in political discussions. “The very thought of freedom in the mind brings freedom to the body,” Bhabha said in his opening remarks. University President Drew G. Faust was equally committed. She began the entire conference with an asser-

tion that characterized the rest of her speech: “Migration is a central and defining issue for this moment in history.” Bhabha and Faust both brushed up against politics (both speakers mentioned the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, for example), but their words centered on the human experience. It was Junot Díaz, however, who took center stage as the evening’s keynote speaker.He set out to tell the audience what was on his mind both “aesthetically and politically”—a prompt that led him to far-ranging responses. Díaz discussed his native country, the Dominican Republic, the particular burden of the female migrant, and the intersection of the “Me Too” movement with what he deemed the USA’s desire to label Latinx people “rapists.” Audience members said they appreciated Díaz’s demeanor and passion for his subject. Melissa Q. Tang, a Cambridge resident, initially came to see Bhabha speak, but she left as a Díaz fan. “I’m completely wooed by Junot Díaz and how down to earth he is, how connected to communities he is,” Tang said. “And how unafraid he is to talk about things that he says were, quote, ‘mushy,’ like love.” Others were more drawn to the

conversation between Bhabha, Díaz, and New York Times book critic Parul Sehgal. “I really loved it,” attendee Anna M. Agathangelou said. “I enjoyed Junot’s points a lot. I think he was actually making some crucial interventions, and crediting Homi Bhabha along with Sehgal’s ways of thinking about art and migration.” The conversation tended towards the “art” side: All three speakers discussed how the humanities give specifics to an abstraction. While the topics ranged widely, the three often focused on individual words (“death,” “spectrality”) and the type of artistic representation that Díaz called “granular.” The three panelists didnot reach any conclusions about the complicated debates they brought up, but they weren’t supposed to do so. The point of the conference was to hold a public discussion, to get people thinking about how art represents the migratory experience. “Protest is, after all, another form of poetry,” Bhabha said in his opening remarks—and the “Migration and the Humanities” conference included a heavy dose of both. Staff Writer Iris M. Lewis can be reached at iris.lewis@thecrimson. com.

18 19

Thursday

ICA The Institute of Contemporary Art is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, Massachusetts. The museum was founded as the Boston Museum of Modern Art in 1936 with a mission to exhibit contemporary art. Museum in Boston, MA. 5-9 p.m. Free.

friday

FRANCISCO CANTU: THE LINE BECOMES A RIVER: DISPATCHES FROM THE BORDER Haunted by the landscape of his youth, Francisco Cantú joins the Border Patrol. He and his partners are posted to remote regions crisscrossed by drug routes and smuggling corridors, where they learn to track other humans under the blistering sun and through frigid nights. They haul in the dead and deliver to detention those they find alive. Cantú tries not to think where the stories go from there. Harvard Book Store. 7 p.m. Free.

saturday

2018 OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORT FILMS (LIVE ACTION) For the 13th consecutive year, Shorts HD and Magnolia Pictures present the Oscar-Nominated Short Films, opening on Feb. 9th. With all three categories offered—Animated, Live Action and Documentary—this is your annual chance to predict the winners (and have the edge in your Oscar pool)! A perennial hit with audiences around the country and the world, don’t miss this year’s selection of shorts. The Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 4th. Institute of Contemporary Arts. 3 p.m. $5 for

sunday

BOSTON CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY / BEETHOVEN, DEBUSSY, AND WALTON The trio looks back in time: its timbres suggest the ancient, and the nostalgic Pastorale introduced in the first movement cloaks the entire work in a fog of reflection. Fresh from six years of choir school and precocious, Walton wrote his Piano Quartet in D minor at the age of 16. While his youth shines through in the piece’s heavy romanticism, the quartet’s meticulous construction, insistent articulation, and rhythmic momentum presage the distinct style that would later define Walton’s best work. Sanders Theatre. 3 p.m. $10 for students

monday

DAFFY DUCK AND FRIENDS Parts of the Bugs Bunny Film Festival 2018 presents “Daffy Duck and Friends,” a show for both reminiscent adults and excited kids! Join these special matinees throughout the week of Feb. 16th. The Brattle Theatre. All day from 12 p.m. Starting at $9.

13 february 2018 | VOL CXLv, ISSUE iI Arts Chairs Mila Gauvin II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19

EDITOR Associates Kaylee S. Kim ’20 Caroline A. Tsai ’20 Aline G. Damas ’20 Noah F. Houghton ’20 Edward M. Litwin ’19 Petra Laura Oreskovic ’20 Ethan B. Reichsman ’19 Yael M. Saiger ’19

Caroline E. Tew ’20 Jonathan P. Trang ’19 Lucy Wang ’20

Executive Designer Hanna Kim ‘21

Design Associates Mireya C. Arango ‘20 Emily H. Hong ‘21 Julianna C. Kardish ‘20 Jessica N. Morandi ‘21

Executive PhotographerS Kathryn S. Kuhar ‘20 Zennie L. Wey ’20


ARTS

The Harvard Crimson | FEBRUARY 13, 2018 | page 4

columns

STEVE MCQUEEN’S “ASHES”

COURTESY OF STEVE MCQUEEN

IN TOTAL DARKNESS:

Elodie Saint-Louis

CRIMSON STAFF WRITER This past November, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston hosted a conversation with artist Steve McQueen in conjunction with “Ashes,” a video installation featured in the 2015 Venice Biennale that had its U.S. début at the museum. By the time I arrived, exactly 17 minutes ahead of Harvard time, it was too late for me to secure a seat inside the theater. The alternative was the video livestream set up in the lobby, where a small cluster of rather uncomfortable-looking chairs faced a large HD television. I cleared a spot for myself on the concrete floor. McQueen spent his formative years at premier artistic institutions and then entered commercial filmmaking, receiving critical acclaim in both fields. He holds an Academy Award for Best Picture—the first given to a black filmmaker— and won the Turner Prize in 1999. Lectures and hosted conversations with artists, especially artists one admires, can be tricky territory. Not everyone can—or is willing to—be concise and articulate about their work. Some artists stray too far into abstraction or fail to offer substantial details on their own process of artmaking. Dialogues can be stilted or exclusionary, and rambly, half-formed questions from audience members can be cringeworthy. Sometimes there is the feeling that we demand too much. Isn’t art all the more arresting when we let it speak for itself? I saw “Ashes,” still on view, for the first time this spring. I walked right into it without realizing who had made it and for what purpose. The room is cavernous, set up with a large screen in the middle and two benches for seating on each side. On the left portion of the screen is the title’s namesake, a virile and beautiful fisherman who moves into an ever-expanding horizon, occasionally glancing back at the viewer. On the other side—transporting us years into the future—is the painstaking making of his grave. The two sides continuously bound and transform each other. Because of its vibrant tactility, I lingered longest in front

of the left side. Ashes’ back is warm, gleaming and brown in a way that feels like kin. The creamsicle-orange edge of the boat that supports him still lingers in my mind. Then: the cream rope and shell around his neck, the muscular feet, the shock of blonde hair. And because he is a black body—a black body half-naked—his figure speaks not only to his own presence but to that of many others, both dead and alive, along with the various mythologies and gazes that inform our understanding of them. And he is beautiful. Each time I see a black body in a work of art I think of what it carries—death, violence, transgression. I am never sure if this notion—that the black body exists as symbol, a thing to be read into, fragmented, figured—is warranted. Often, whiteness is the standard of measurement, presumed to be equally constructed as all forms of Otherness, but is not dissected nearly as frequently. I, above all else, value and aspire to joy and possibility. Thankfully, I also find this everywhere. I see it in the music of Sun-Ra, in the hieroglyphic imaginings of Afro-futurism, in Solange Knowles’ precise and graceful gestures on stage, and the monochromatic color schemes she and her dancers wear as the uniform of both now and forever. Is black art just an ever-shifting pendulum swing between pessimism and possibility? In “How to See A Work of Art in Total Darkness,” cultural studies and art scholar Darby English writes, “Black art is never the obvious or inevitable result of a black artist’s creative labor. It is rather a regime whose sharp redress is sometimes required for meaningful aesthetic and intellectual advancement.” The idea of the “obvious” or “inevitable” is a prevailing throughline in how we interpret and discuss art by black people. Yet English prompts us to remember that its meaning should be contextualized and never taken for granted. The so-called definitive “black experience” is always being negotiated, and engages with many entangled systems of interpretation and representation—black and white, modern and post-modern. That day in November, two American curators inquired

into Steve McQueen’s relationship to the politics of representation. One was black, the other was not. With an impulse that was frustrating but admittedly familiar to me, the black critic’s questions would often pivot back to the art in conjunction to its supposed blackness, sometimes projecting the critic’s own experiences as a black American onto McQueen. Each time McQueen would insist on the importance of specificity, in regards to both the contexts that shaped him and his artistic practice. McQueen currently works and lives in the Netherlands, but grew up in the United Kingdom and has familial roots in Grenada, Trinidad, and the United States. He made reference to his personal history, expressing a definitively diasporic point of view and prioritizing individuality and contradiction. Ashes is someone we are able to miss and mourn precisely because he is a person, a presence both solid and ephemeral, and perhaps like all black life, precarious. He is not a mere symbol, because McQueen created the installation with the weighty purpose of giving dignity to another human’s life. All other profound inquiries—the homoeroticism in the camera’s gaze, the reference to economic and social structures that resulted in Ashes’ death—arise naturally due to the attentive, artful recording of his bodily presence. Pivoting towards the universal and human is not necessarily a cop-out. James Baldwin writes, “the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, temples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have.” We are all bounded and responsible, part of systems both large and small. “Ashes” reminds us of the contradictions we continuously move through, and leaves us with the weight of what may soon be absent. Staff Writer Elodie A. Saint-Louis can be reached at esaintlouis@college.harvard.edu.

campus

INVENTUR:

Forgotten Art Rediscovered at the Harvard Art Museums ALLISON J. SCHARMANN

CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Constellations, by Hans Uhlmann hangs from the ceiling as part of a collection reflecting on the immediate post war period in Germany. ZENNIE P. WEY / CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPER

Industrial hues of grey, navy, and maroon greet viewers at the door of the Harvard Art Museums’ latest special exhibition, “Inventur–Art in Germany, 1943–55.” Named after a 1945 poem by Günter Eich , “Inventur” investigates a previously ignored movement in modern German art, an artistic journey from the immediate, post-war period to the early 1950s, and presents over 160 works by German artists in a detailed historical context. “For these artists, the desire to continue working and to continue making— it finds its outlet in all different kinds of ways,” curator Lynette Roth said, gesturing at a wall of pieces by artist Franz Krause so bright in color and strange in composition they almost look more like images of microscopic organisms than art. According to Roth, the Head of the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art and Daimler Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum, this depiction was not coincidental. She detailed the various means by which artists were able to create during the war, even with limited materials and the intense censorship of unsanctioned artists by the Nazi Regime. Krause created his pieces with lacquer on wallboard. “Many of the artists worked in the industrial and commercial sphere and those were also areas where they were able to get their hands on different materials,” she added. In keeping with its theme of bringing attention to forgotten and previously undisplayed art, “Inventur” seeks to showcase works from artists of varying backgrounds and experiences. “War experience not just as a modern artist, but as a woman, was important to me,” Roth said, in reference to the exhibition’s first piece, Jeanne Mammen’s “Falling Facades (Berlin Ruins).” The painting depicts industrial structures in muted colors using air-raid protection cardboard as a canvas. While artists like Mammen created in secret or found refuge in other industries, others were drafted into the German military and continued to create using sketchbooks. One such artist, Juro Kubicêk, crafted the sketchbook “Mein K(r)ampf,” by collaging over a copy of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” with both his own work and reproductions from anti-fascist German artists. The exhibition is organized chronologically to show gradual changes in style that begins with the immediate aftermath of the war, transitions to more pluralist, avant-garde art of the late 1940s, and ends with stylistically commercial art representative of Germany’s economic recovery in the 1950s. Particularly haunting are a series of nine displayed drawings by artist Wilhelm Rudolph depicting the total destruction of the city of Dresden during the war. He roamed the ruined city streets, including his own, capturing the damage in over 200 drawings. “So much in this gallery is about that which is nearby,” said Roth, “So that really is a major theme of the exhibition, this kind of yearning, this sort of desire to find the private sphere again.” Staff Writer Allison J. Scharmann can be reached at allison.scharmann@ thecrimson.com


ARTS

The Harvard Crimson | February 13, 2018 | page 5

theater

Listening Closely to ‘HEAR WORD! Naija Woman Talk True’ Uzochi P. Nwoko Contributing WRITER

jessica n. morandi / crimson designer

On Feb. 9, performing arts director Ifeoma Fafunwa brought her evocative and critically acclaimed play, “HEAR WORD! Naija Woman Talk True,” to the Loeb Drama Center. The production displayed an array of obstacles that many Nigerian women face regularly, and promoted the necessary steps to hurdling these barriers. Following the performance, Fafunwa sat down with Professor Timothy Patrick McCarthy, the Core Faculty and Director of Culture Change & Social Justice Initiatives at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy for a 30-minute long discussion fueled by his questions, after which Fafunwa gave the audience the chance to ask questions of their own. Almost as soon as Fafunwa and McCarthy settled in their chairs underneath the soft red glow of the center-stage light, the remainder of the audience from the show gave their undivided attention to the pair sitting on stage while Fafunwa fielded McCarthy’s questions about the production. When queried about what led her to direct such a powerful piece, Fafunwa answered that she obtained her inspiration from Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls”—a film that portrays a series of women experiencing the issues that affect women of color. Fafunwa’s spin on this idea was a piece that displayed a series of women from her own country, and the social issues that they face in their culture. Fafunwa asserted that her motivation was to make a production that gave agency to the people from her homeland, whom she felt were in great need of a voice. “Let’s empower. Let it all be about the mind-shift of the women. This entire piece is [about] not waiting for men or for institutions—its saying, we’re responsible, here’s what we can do, here’s where we

contribute to the problem, and here’s where we can shift our minds and get away from those situations,” she said. By taking responsibility for their own social wellbeing, Fafunwa encourages young Nigerian women to take control of their own narrative. Though misogyny is a major problem upheld by many males in the Nigerian culture, Fafunwa insists that rather than wait for the wrongdoers to see the errors of their ways and decide to change, it is up to women to take matters into their own hands. Though the entire essence of Fafunwa’s play is about grievances that women face in Nigeria, “HEAR WORD!” takes a decided stand in refusing to paint these women as helpless victims. “I was particular about flipping the narrative around what you saw of African women on television….I thought [it would be better] if ten women stood on stage looking powerful, and strong, and not covering up the core problems, saying, we bear it all these are issues, and this is how we’re going to solve them,” Fafunwa said. Fafunwa’s talk following the show was well received by the audience, who all seemed to have only one complaint: They wished for the opportunity to hear her speak for a longer duration of time. “You always want more,” A.R.T. subscriber Joan FitzGerald said. She went on to express her great appreciation for the amount of time for which she was able to listen to Fafunwa speak. “There are lots of issues that are certainly resonant in this country,” FitzGerald said. Actress Yewande Odetoyinbo of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee agreed. “I agreed with everything [Fafunwa] said, and this piece is so relevant not just for [women in] Nigeria, but for everywhere,” she said. Fafunwa’s sister-in-law, Hughette

Fafunwa, also present in the audience was equally pleased with the work of her family member. “[Fafunwa] did a great job about giving answers that were important, useful, and true,” she said. Towards the end of her talk, Fafunwa told the audience the meaning of the phrase that begins the title of her production. “‘Hear word’ is Pidgin for ‘listen and obey,’ you know, ‘listen and comply’ and men would say [to

women]....[The production] is not just about listening, you have to adjust your behavior … and say that the community should ‘hear word’ because Nigerian women are speaking the truth,” she said. Fafunwa challenged her audience to “hear word,” and judging from the response of the crowd who intently observed the talk, it seems that they are listening.

Director Ifeoma Fafunwa speaking on a panel at Hibernian Hall photo courtesy of Evgenia Eliseeva

books

Creative Writing Tips from Harvard’s Faculty

lIANA E. cHOW CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Imagine the iceberg, not just the tip.

Claire Messud, Senior Lecturer Justin F. Gonzalez / Crimson Photographer

Harvard’s English faculty hosts a powerhouse of acclaimed creative writers. As lecturers and professors, they devote countless hours to passing on the skills of their craft to students. The Crimson asked four faculty members who teach fictionwriting classes to share their creative writing wisdom. “You can make an entire world up in your head and transmit it to other people with scribbles on a page,” said Claire Messud, a Senior Lecturer. “Making up stories is open to all of us.” While not every Harvard student will have the opportunity to take their classes, anyone can try their hand at creative writing. Start small, and make time to write. Paul Yoon, Lecturer, in an email: Start small. Oftentimes when we have an “idea” to write something, we’re operating on a level that is somewhat abstract and leans on the bigger picture. How to begin a story you want to tell? I like starting with just one sentence or focusing on an object or a specific detail, like describing setting or one character trait. Just that. Go micro, focus. Start small. And go step by step from there. Claire Messud, Senior Lecturer: Learning the habit of making time for writing is the challenge for many people. Almost everybody makes time to exercise now. It’s just the same—you can say, I’m going to sit at my desk for an hour, or write until I have 200 words. You just make a plan. If you do something several times a week for weeks and months, you will get better at it.

CM: It isn’t just about figuring out a plot and characters. It’s about really imagining the world, circumstances, and particularities of those characters and that situation—not just what’s going to appear on the page, but the entire world. Hemingway speaks about the tip of the iceberg. The tip of the iceberg is what the story is, but there’s an entire iceberg under the water. You have to make the iceberg to make the story. Revise for clarity. Laura M. van den Berg, Lecturer, in an email: In my experience, a common struggle for students is the discomfort of sitting with the uncertainty of the first draft—i.e. I’m not sure where this story is going, I don’t know what this character is up to, I don’t know how it will end. Sometimes students worry that this notknowing is a sign that they’re doing something wrong, when the not-knowing is very often an essential part of the process. I tend to write my own drafts very quickly and messily and intuitively—and then spend a lot of time re-shaping and recasting and re-imagining. In the first draft, the most important question I ask myself is “Why not?“ For every draft after the first, the question is, “Why?” CM: Revision is really at least 50 percent of the work. Some of the things to think about: How much of what’s in my head have I conveyed on the paper? Have I been clear? It’s great to be beautiful or lyrical or inventive, but none of it matters if you haven’t expressed clearly what you wanted to express. The process of revision is about a clarification and a distillation. If you have three scenes, each of which does one thing, can you figure out a way to have one scene that will do all three things?

Read as if living depended on it. Jamaica Kincaid, Professor of African and African American Studies in Residence, in an email: It is more important that you read than to write because when you are writing you have first read what you are writing before you write it. So the best thing, so it seems to me, for a writer is to read as if living depended on it. Nothing else really matters. LMV: If you want to write poems or short stories or essays or novels, it is critically important to have read deeply in the genre—from the canon to what the canon has missed to what’s being written right now to everything in-between. And of course writers should also read expansively, roaming outside the genres they themselves work in. PY: Always be open to inspiration. “Best American Short Stories” is a fantastic anthology. In terms of literary magazines, I think my current favorite, the ones that feel bold and ambitious and the ones I consistently want to pick up are: Tin House, A Public Space, and Ecotone. Books and stories are our best teachers. Take your time during the publishing process. LMV: Take your time getting to know the landscape. Read literary magazines and get a feel for who regularly publishes work that you love. Pay attention to where writers you admire have published/are publishing their work. Make sure you have given your work everything you have before you send it out into the world—an editor (almost always) is only going to read the piece once. Mightily resist the urge to rush. No writing is wasted. CM: No writing is a waste of time. You can always write better, and any writing you do is going to teach you how to write. You just have to dive in. You have to be unafraid. The language is ours. What a great freedom.


ARTS

The Harvard Crimson | February 6, 2018 | page 5

film

Your Name

dir. Makoto Shinkai

MILA GAUVIN II CRIMSON STAFF WRITER In an opening line of the animated film “Your Name,” one of the main characters muses about the universal feeling of having the contents of a dream slip away during the early moments of wakefulness: “The sensation that I’ve lost something lingers long after I wake up,” Mitsuha says. The film, adapted from the novel by Makoto Shinkai, director and screenwriter, follows Taki, a city boy, and Mitsuha, a country girl, who inexplicably switch bodies in what they initially think are mere dreams. A 2016 release, the film was so successful in Japan—it is the country’s second highest-grossing domestic film, behind Hayao Miyazaki’s acclaimed “Spirited Away” (2001)—that the Museum of Fine Arts offered two sold-out screenings of the beloved romantic drama for the inaugural Boston Festival of Films from Japan. Both tragic and hysterical, frustrating and rewarding, “Your Name” is a cinematic masterpiece that explores the consequences of trying to grasp the intangible. Shinkai updates a familiar trope—famously depicted in America by a mother-daughter duo in “Freaky Friday,” (2003) and by a teenage boy and girl in “It’s a Boy Girl Thing” (2006)—by further complicating it spatially and temporally. Mitsuha and Taki come to understand that—surprise!—their switches are more than just a figment of their imagination, a horrifying reality they navigate by leaving each other messages and advice on Taki’s phone and Mitsuha’s notebook. Each comes to appreciate what the other takes for granted: their home. Shinkai alternates between the warmth of the gorgeous green scenery of Japan’s countryside that Mitsuha yearns to leave behind and the scintillating glare off the windows of metropolitan Tokyo’s skyscrapers that Taki glazes over. The two live completely different lives, finding what they were missing each other’s bodies: in Mitsuha’s case, a city to explore but never fully dis-

separate realities. Visually stunning, “Your Name” leans on time as a backdrop to beautifully represent the physical and metaphysical world its main characters inhabit. It’s no wonder the film has been compared to “Spirited Away”: Both capture a surreal beauty that reality simply cannot replicate. The film’s comedic brilliance lies in its subversion of gender norms, both linguistically and behaviorally. Shinkai plays with the complexities of the Japanese language in a hilarious scene when Mitsuha, having woken up in Taki’s body for the first time, addresses herself to Taki’s friends in three different ways before thankfully landing on the appropriate pronoun. “Watashi... “ she begins, using the feminized word for “I”, followed by the more neutral but formal “watakushi,” the informal but youthful “boku,” and, finally, the adequately male and informal “ore.” Meanwhile, across time and space in Mitsuha’s body, Taki succeeds at basketball and defiantly calls out classmates who would gossip about Mitsuha and her relationship with her father, the mayor of their village. Both switched bodies ultimately succeed where the other would image courtesy of CoMix Wave otherwise have failed—Taki scores a date with the colleague he has a crush cover, and in Taki’s, a sense of purpose. But as the two grow more accustomed to literally living in each other’s shoes, you on but is too inexperienced to woo, and Mitsuha becomes begin to wonder when their time will be up, an anticipation more popular as she stops tolerating her bullies’ teasing. Above all else, “Your Name” is a story about missed conShinkai is acutely aware of. Indeed, the movie’s chief twist forces the crucial question—the answer to which is key to the nections and the lengths to which two people will go to find film’s genius—not just of who or where you are, but of when that missing link. It questions your understanding of time, space, dreams, and reality. It makes its extraordinary graphyou are. “Musubi—knotting. That’s time,” explains Mitsuha’s ics an unforgettable reflection of its narrative. And most imgrandmother to Taki-as-Mitsuha, introducing a metaphor portantly, it encourages you to reach out to that person you Shinkai actualizes in the animation itself. The lines and think you recognize—from a dream, a past life, an accidental strokes that make up the animation are a soft kind of crisp, glance at an old photograph—and ask for their name. imitating the precarious but very real situation the characters find themselves in. At a pivotal moment in the film, the animation briefly takes on a more medieval style as Taki and Staff writer Mila Gauvin II can be reached at mila.gauvin@ Mitsuha transcend time and space, knotting together their thecrimson.com.

music

Lamar and The Weeknd Run Out of Steam on

“Pray for Me” BROGAN M. MCPARTLAND CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Weeknd is “ready for a war again,” but only if he can remain at a safe distance. In “Pray For Me,” the third single from the album accompanying the soon-tobe released film “Black Panther,” superstars Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd struggle to stuff their artistic expression into the prescriptive box of a pop film soundtrack. The Weeknd and Lamar are tasked with creating an impassioned, introspective track to reveal the psyche of the film’s protagonist, King T’Challa. In a failed attempt to embody the energy of the protagonist, these artists color so far inside the lines that they fail to promote the king’s journey. The track begins with a few seconds of a distilling synth and then immediately focuses into a hyper-contemporary electronic sound. The sound is reminiscent of the bassline from Kanye West’s “On Sight,” but it is less effective at creating mood. The beat panders to the expectant audience rather than making a statement for itself. It rushes along, sweeping The Weeknd and Lamar along with it, which results in a track that seems more content with being finished than being completed. The Weeknd’s verse follows, and his often lofty, emotive voice lacks its usual force. His delivery is so casual and disinterested that it stands in stark contrast to his visceral lyrics “I’m always ready to take a life again/ You know I’ll ride again.” Rather than celebrating King T’Challa’s spirit, The Weeknd’s tone trivializes it, making it feel like something to be diminished rathimage courtesy of Kendrick Lamar/The weeknd/black panther

er than to be appreciated. A short pause precedes Kendrick’s verse, and it momentarily seems like the song is regrouping. Kendrick begins spitting, but it becomes immediately evident that he feels constricted. His inhibition is obvious, especially considering how, when autonomous, Kendrick is arguably the most versatile M.C. of the 21st century. He is capable of seamlessly incorporating intricate poetry and complex characters into his work, but when he raps, “If I gotta be sacrificed for the greater good/ Then that’s what it gotta be,” it sounds like it could have been written by someone else. It would be too reductive to suggest this is Kendrick at his worst, though. This is Kendrick acknowledging his vision doesn’t fit within the scope of the project and ceding some of his creative rights. But if Kendrick is meant to be the internal monologue of a galvanized king, then he grossly lacks inspiration. Lamar and The Weeknd vacillate between passive observers and champions of King T’Challa’s cause in a way that comes off as disorganized and unenthused. Taking into consideration the constraints of making music for a film soundtrack, it’s easier to excuse this result from two usually eminent artists. Even after acknowledging the film’s context though, Lamar and The Weeknd still complicitly pander to the status quo. In what at times feels more like contrived emotion than genuine expression, Kendrick and The Weeknd deliver a less than memorable performance.


THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 13, 2018 | PAGE 7

Prof. Mary Steedly Dies at 71 By SOFIA W. TONG CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

On a drizzly evening in Indonesia, Harvard anthropologist Mary M. Steedly met her friend Patricia Spyer at the airport and took her on a motorbike tour around the city of Medan. By then, Steedly knew well the tumult and traffic of the city streets: in her 1993 ethnography “Hanging Without a Rope: Narrative Experience in Colonial and Postcolonial Karoland,” she describes in vibrant detail the yellow sudakos triple-parked at intersections and the peddlers swarming the sidewalks to sell noodles and cigarettes. As the two longtime friends caught up over dinner, Steedly recounted the details of her research on the Karo people of North Sumatra. Spyer remembered how impressed she was as Steedly showed her notebook after notebook filled with drawings of leaves, scribbled place names, and painstakingly-detailed field notes on the nuances of her interactions with the local people. “She had an incredible ear for language, for tone, for silences, for shifts in attention,” said Spyer, an anthropology professor at the Graduate Institute of Geneva. “For how voices are inhabited and shot through with the voices of others. How they’re haunted.” Steedly, remembered by friends and colleagues for her eloquent writing, unfussy demeanor, institutional dedication, and passion for dogs, died on Jan. 4 due to breast cancer. She was 71. Born in Ann Arbor, Mich. and raised in Charleston, S.C., Steedly received her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, her master’s in Folklore at UNC Chapel Hill, and her Ph.D. in Cultural and Medical Anthropology at the University of Michigan. She left the U.S. for the first time during graduate school, and somewhat unexpectedly wound up in Indonesia, where she wrote the dissertation that culminated in her first of two books and where she ultimately decided to devote her research. In addition to years spent researching Indonesia, Steedly was fascinated by military culture in the U.S., the culture and history of her native South, and questions of memory and experience, gender and feminism, and colonialism and postcolonialism. She wrote on topics ranging from the process of collective memory and narration through Karo spirit encounters to the way Indonesian postcolonial anxieties manifested in horror films. Steedly began teaching at Harvard in 1990 and was tenured from within the University in 1998, a feat her colleagues said was quite difficult at that time, when many professors were brought in for tenure from outside universities. For a significant portion of her career, she was also the only female senior faculty member in the department, according to her colleagues. “She did it with a great sense of humor, never losing her cool,” fellow Anthropology professor Steven C. Caton

said. “She was as far as I could tell totally unflappable, and with a sort of natural charm.” Steedly rose up through Harvard’s Anthropology Department at a time when members of the “revered old guard” of senior male faculty began to retire, according to colleague Theodore C. Bestor.Eventually she became the “institutional memory of the department,” said Ajantha Subramanian, Steedly’s colleague in Social Anthropology. Anthropology professor Michael Herzfeld remembered Steedly’s ability to help junior faculty members navigate the complexity of a life and career at the University. “When I entered the field of Southeast Asian anthropology, in which she was an established specialist and to which, as a Europeanist, I was a newcomer, her wise counsel, insight, and empathy helped me to craft a productive trajectory,” Herzfeld wrote in an email.

Her wise counsel, insight, and empathy helped me to craft a productive trajectory. Michael Herzfeld

Professor of Anthropology “We used to argue about many things, but those arguments, in which Mary’s special brand of irony often cleared a practical path through clouds of bureaucratic nonsense, were full of mutual affection and respect.” For many of her friends and colleagues, Steedly’s immense skills as a writer and ethnographer made her work stand out in the field. She developed ethnographic writing as a genre unto itself, Subramanian said, treating her books as more than just academic reports. Steedly was slow and meticulous, Caton added, always mulling over “writerly” questions: finagling rhythms, searching for voice, and assessing balance. It took her years to weave interviews, oral histories, letters, and research into narratives. In her lifetime, she published two books in addition to a slew of articles, and left a third book unfinished at the time of her death. The possibility of graduate students finishing the book on her behalf in the years ahead would be a nearly impossible task, Caton said, crediting her unique style. “Her voice was so distinctive that you couldn’t really reproduce it successfully by using her notes,” Caton said. In the classroom, Steedly worked to overhaul the graduate-level introductory course she taught with Caton. Her hallmark undergraduate course was Anthropology 1850: “Ethnography as

Practice and Genre.” She was not interested in her students sounding like every other anthropologist, Subramanian said, but rather encouraged their own unique voices. “She liked their quirks and their idiosyncrasies,” Subramanian said. “She didn’t try to hammer those out of them. She wanted them to actually inhabit them fully.” Steedly’s encouragement of creativity extended to her dedicated mentorship of students, particularly her graduate students. Several colleagues mentioned that one of her Ph.D. students, Tahmima Anam, went on to become a well-known novelist. She was very serious about her students, Spyer said. She worried about them, complained about them, praised them, and was happy for them. “There’s a kind of generosity there,” Subramanian said. In addition to her teaching and research, Steedly spent several years as the chair, director of graduate, and director of undergraduate studies for Social Anthropology in Harvard’s Anthropology Department. She also served as a member on committees for Women’s Studies, Social Studies, Folklore and Mythology, and the Office for Sexual Assault Prevention and Response. As an active member of the Committee on the Status of Women at Harvard, she advocated for the hiring of women both in her own department and across the University. She did more than her share of labor in building the institution, Subramanian said. “She never touted her own accomplishments, ever. Ever,” Subramanian said. “There was a kind of brusqueness to her. She kind of just went about her business,” she added. Outside of Harvard, Steedly was a committed dog trainer and the president of a local agility club for dogs in Carlisle, Mass. She competed often in agility trials with her two Australian shepherds, adding medals and ribbons to a large bulletin board on display in her dining room, Bestor said. He recalled evenings in North Cambridge when she would walk her dogs by his house, stopping by for a glass of wine and a chat. “The dogs were really integral to her life,” Bestor said. She later moved to Lincoln, Mass. so she could have a backyard for her dogs to enjoy. She loved to cook, and Spyer said she ate with relish whatever outlandish delicacies she encountered in her travels. Steedly especially enjoyed rooting for the Red Sox and the Patriots, reading novels, gardening, and birdwatching in her yard. Steedly is survived by Nina DeLuca, with whom she shared a home for the last 18 years, her brother and two step-brothers, and her dogs June and Hopper. Anthropology colleagues said a memorial service will be held later this month. Staff writer Sofia W. Tong can be reached at sofia.tong@thecrimson.com.

Diversity Concerns Sparked by Bacow DIVERSITY FROM PAGE 1 students critiqued the committee’s choice, sometimes turning to social media to express frustration with a pick they said too closely resembles presidents past. “I think the one sort of thing I had in mind for the new president was that it would be a person of color, so it was really disheartening that that occurred,” Sebastian A. Reyes ’19 said. “A thought that I had earlier was that, in a few years, if the diversity of the incoming class keeps increasing, [a] white president will no longer be representative of the Harvard student body, which is a big issue,” Diego Navarrete ’21 added. The selection of Bacow comes at a time when the College is growing increasingly diverse: Among the admitted Class of 2021, more than half of students identified as non-white. Bacow also arrives at the presidency as some undergraduates are pushing for a wide array of initiatives meant to improve Harvard’s diversity. Over the past few years, students have advocated for a campus multicultural center and an ethnic studies concentration. Some undergraduates said that, by choosing a president of color, the University would have signalled it takes these issues very seriously. Nicholas P. Whittaker ’19, a representative for the Undergraduate Council who chairs the body’s Multicultural Center Coalition, said that he would have been encouraged to see Harvard choose a president from a marginalized background. “It would’ve been really encouraging for the University to choose someone who had a proven track record of consistently showing up for marginal-

I think it puts Harvard behind a lot of other universities which have already selected people of color as their presidents. Sebastian A. Reyes ‘19 ized communities, not in just in words but in actions,” Whittaker said. At a press conference Sunday, Bacow said he is committed to promoting diversity at Harvard. “I think diversity is a pathway to excellence,” Bacow said. “There’s no way that you can recruit the best people, support the best people, if you’re only sampling from a small part of the distribution of talent.”

“We need to look for the very best and, during my time at Tufts, I’m proud of the record of bringing women and minorities and people of color into the senior leadership, into the faculty, and also into the student body, and I hope to do the same thing here,” he added. Bacow served as president of Tufts from 2001 to 2011. At the press conference, he said he spent much of that time working “very, very hard” to make Tufts more diverse. William F. Lee ’72, senior fellow of the Corporation and the chair of the presidential search committee, said Sunday he thinks Bacow’s record at Tufts proves he is a champion for inclusivity. “He embraced diversity as a cornerstone,” Lee said Sunday. In the past three years, Tufts has drawn headlines for its lack of diversity in both its student body and its faculty. Just 4 percent of the Tufts Class of 2021 identify as African American, 9 percent as Hispanic, and 13 percent as Asian American. By comparison, 14.6 percent of students in Harvard’s Class of 2021 identify as African-American, 22.2 percent as Asian American, and 11.6 percent as Hispanic or Latino. Despite some disappointment with the University’s final choice, undergraduates said they are cautiously optimistic Bacow will prove strongly committed to advancing diversity once he takes office. “If anything, I have hope that he will make Harvard more of an open and inclusive place,” said Aba A. Sam ’21, who serves as vice president of the Freshman Black Table, a subgroup of the College’s Black Students Association. “I think that there’s been a very conscious effort on the part of Harvard to do that, so I hope he continues that, but in terms of him not being a person of color, again, slightly disappointing, but not necessarily surprising.” Whittaker also said he hopes Bacow advocates on behalf of students of color, especially as the demographics of Harvard’s student body likely continue to become more diverse. “I’ll certainly be holding him accountable to do that,” Whittaker added. Other students said they worry Bacow’s selection means Harvard is now trailing its peers in terms of diversity in senior leadership. University President Drew G. Faust—Bacow’s predecessor—was the first woman to hold Harvard’s highest office when she assumed the job in 2007. Brown University appointed Ruth J.S. Simmons, its first African American woman president, in 2001. Dartmouth College appointed Jim Yong Kim, the first Asian American to ever serve as president of an Ivy League, in 2009. “I think it puts Harvard behind a lot of other universities which have already selected people of color as their presidents,” Reyes said.

Martin O’Malley Named Harvard Faculty Hopeful About Bacow New Ash Center Fellow FACULTY FROM PAGE 1

By ALEXANDRA A. CHAIDEZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Former Maryland Governor Martin J. O’ Malley will serve as a shared visiting fellow for multiple Kennedy School centers beginning this April, with a focus on local politics and student engagement. O’Malley, who served as governor of the state for eight years and mayor of Baltimore, Md., will split his time between three centers: the Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, the Bloomberg Harvard City Initiative, and the Taubman Center for State and Local Government. O’Malley entered into the national spotlight during the 2016 presidential election when he ran for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The purpose for the shared fellowship comes from a desire from many students at the Kennedy School to pursue jobs in local and state government, according to Rafael M. Carbonell, executive director of the Taubman Center. “We’ve been hearing a lot of interest in how we can collaborate more along our different centers and our different programs and initiatives to really better connect our students to those opportunities as they are looking at those careers in state and local government,” Carbonell said. “[O’Malley’s] very much aligned with that vision to say who are the folks who have been there and done that in a meaningful, effective way at a state and local level,” Carbonell added. O’Malley said he first started visiting the Kennedy School to discuss the modernization of city government and encourage students to pursue a job in local politics when he was the mayor of Baltimore. “I enjoy working with mayors and universities across the country because

that’s where the most exciting innovations in governing are actually happening: delivering results, setting goals with deadlines, being open and transparent, doing what works and tackling big challenges,” O’Malley said. “That’s why you see cities growing across the country.” Stephen Goldsmith, faculty director of the Ash Center Government Innovation Program, said O’Malley will be a vital part of various initiatives focusing on state and local governance. “At the the time that cities are more and more in the forefront of our country and the place where more and more people live, the reach of the Ash Center is considerable and the Kennedy School as well,” Goldsmith said. “Governor O’Malley will help us extend that reach and the value of that reach.” In a Kennedy School press release, O’Malley was recognized for his use of data to increase accountability in policy decisions as a mayor and governor. “We started pioneering a new way of governing when I was the mayor of Baltimore. Unlike the old way of governing in cities—it was often driven by patronage politics or constituent politics—this was a new way of governing for the Information Age,” O’Malley said. “We didn’t do it to win any awards. We did it to survive. We did it to make our city a lot safer, cleaner, healthiWer, and a better place as quickly as we could because we were facing some huge challenges,” O’Malley added. O’Malley said he believes future urban sustainability is an important discussion for students at the Kennedy School to have. “The drive for a more sustainable future for humankind on this planet and urbanization that is the migration of people to cities are now joined in one urgent movement of human development,” O’Malley said. “The only way to create a more sustainable future on this planet is to create more livable cities.”

“My impression is that he has been a very faculty-focused administrator as both president of Tufts and chancellor at MIT,” Kelsey said. “I’ve heard him say time and again that universities do all they can to enable their faculties to do their best work. So I’m confident that the faculty at Harvard will find him a very supportive leader.” David I. Laibson ’88, Economics Department chair, said Bacow’s combination of experience in university governance and academic settings will make him “a terrific leader.” Bacow previously held administrative posts at MIT and Tufts and is a member of the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest-governing body. “His experience in so many different important academic settings is going to be an enormously valuable asset. His knowledge of our university, which comes as a member of the Corporation and a student, gives him so many important perspectives on our community and our values and our different schools,” Laibson said.

The issue of shared governance between the Faculty and Harvard administrators surged to the forefront of Faculty discussions in the last two years when Faust introduced penalties in May 2016 targeting single-gender social organizations. In the wake of Faust’s announcement, Faculty charged they had not been adequately consulted about the sanctions. In December, the Corporation voted to keep these penalties, causing some professors to assert the governing board’s involvement infringed upon shared governance. Several professors identified the defense of a liberal arts education and higher education as a key challenge Bacow will likely face in his new role. Stephen J. Greenblatt, a University professor, wrote in an emailed statement that he was “delighted” when Bacow was named as the next president. He wrote that he he thinks Bacow will bring a strong focus on undergraduate education. “I have had the opportunity to meet with and observe him quite a few times over the years,” Greenblatt wrote. “He cares deeply about undergraduate education and will, I am con-

fident, continue the strong leadership that we have been fortunate enough to have through challenging times.” Kelsey said Bacow is likely aware of hurdles he may face on the national stage, noting that Bacow acknowledged during a press conference Sunday that higher education faces strong headwinds. “So I think for Harvard to deliver the best of itself to the world would require robust programs in the arts and humanities,” Kelsey said. “I have every confidence that Larry is going to do everything in his power to keep those programs robust.” English professor James T. Engell ’73 wrote in an emailed statement that he thinks Bacow is an “excellent choice.” “Bacow has thought long and deeply about higher education. He has detailed teaching and administrative experience at the highest levels, all successful,” he said. English professor Louis Menand said the future of the liberal arts education will be “important for all of us.” Menand added that, based on information he had read, he thinks Bacow has given “a lot of thought” to the issue.

Administrators Support Pres. Choice DEANS FROM PAGE 1 plenty of praise to bestow on the University’s next leader. George Q. Daley ’82, the dean of the Medical School, highlighted Bacow’s career and focus on the sciences. “I have deep respect and great admiration for the substantial contributions Larry has made over the course of his remarkable career, both as an economist and as a leader of some of our finest academic institutions,” Daley wrote in an emailed statement. “Larry has a vast knowledge of the

Harvard culture and tremendous respect for the life sciences, attributes that will serve Harvard University and Harvard Medical School well in the years to come.” Others, including Michelle A. Williams, the dean of the School of Public Health, wrote in an email to school affiliates that Bacow was especially qualified to take on the challenges facing higher education today. “I am confident that Larry will be a remarkable leader in the midst of these challenging times for higher education. He will be a champion of Har-

vard’s engagement in local and global communities,” she wrote. William F. Lee ’72, a member of the presidential search committee and senior fellow of the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, said at the press conference announcing Bacow’s selection that his familiarity with Harvard and higher education was a significant factor in Bacow’s appointment. “We wanted someone who could hit the ground running because neither we nor higher education have time to spare,” Lee said.


THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 13, 2018 | PAGE 8

Union Expresses TPS Recipients Request Support Concerns Over Pick By EDITH M. HERWITZ and SONIA KIM

UNION FROM PAGE 1 President Drew G. Faust steps down. During Bacow’s tenure, Tufts saw two major unionization efforts. Following a 2000 decision by the National Labor Relations Board to recognize graduate students as statutory employees, in 2002, graduate students at Tufts unsuccessfully attempted to unionize in conjunction with the United Automobile Workers. “I believe it would be a mistake for graduate students to unionize,” Bacow wrote at the time. “The relationship between faculty member to graduate student is not one of employer to employee.” Tufts’s graduate students eventually voted to unionize as a part of the Service Employees International Union in May 2017. Sam S. Klug, an organizer for Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers, wrote in an email that he hopes Bacow has reconsidered his stance on labor since his tenure as president of Tufts. “I hope that Bacow has reconsidered his views in the years since he was President of Tufts—especially now, when unions at Harvard are leading on protections for international and immigrant students, protections against campus sexual violence, and securing financial stability,” Klug wrote. In 2009, staff members at Tufts attempted to join with the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers, Harvard’s largest employee union. Bacow wrote an open letter to his colleagues around the same time detail-

ing his doubt that a union would result in material benefits for its members. “To say that we could work with the union should not imply that I think unionization by the HUCTW is a good idea. Far from it,” Bacow wrote. “I believe that we are a stronger, more effective community when we all work together collaboratively and directly to address concerns in a cooperative manner. I don’t believe the formal process mandated by collective bargaining would help us address together the very real challenges Tufts faces in this economy.” Bacow added Tufts would cooperate with the union if its organizing efforts proved successful. “If the union succeeds in its organizing efforts, Tufts will do its part to foster a good working relationship with this union as well,” he wrote. Undergraduates who support the Harvard unionization effort also said they find Bacow’s past statements on the topic problematic. Wilfried J.K. Zibell ’21, an HGSU-UAW undergraduate organizer, said he is “definitely concerned” about Bacow’s record. “Based on what I’ve read about his positions on the Tufts unionization effort, he engaged in classic anti-union rhetoric, saying that he isn’t opposed to unionization, just this union, and saying that student workers don’t have an employee relationship with colleges,” Zibell said. “But I remain cautiously optimistic that he may reverse his positions now that some time has passed,” he added. University representatives declined to comment.

CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

President Donald Trump’s recent repeal of Temporary Protected Status has led some student activists and TPS recipients to argue that the University should hire more staff for the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic. The Immigration and Refugee Clinic, staffed by attorneys and students at Harvard Law School, provides legal support for immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers. The clinic recently hired a full-time staff attorney, Jason M. Corral, to protect University affiliates impacted by the Trump administration’s revised policies. In recent months, the Trump administration has decided to end the Temporary Protected Status program for immigrants from Sudan, Haiti, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, affecting hundreds of thousands of immigrants and potentially dozens of Harvard affiliates. For over a decade, TPS has granted temporary refuge in the United States to immigrants whose home countries are affected by armed conflict or natural disaster. Trump’s decisions on TPS come on the heels of a Sept. 2017 decision to repeal DACA, an Obama-era program protecting individuals who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children from deportation. Nearly 800,000 youth in the U.S., including many of the College’s 65 undocumented students, rely on DACA for their legal status. The flurry of recent changes to immigration programs, however, has led some to claim that the Immigration and Refugee Clinic is overburdened. In Nov. 2017, the undergraduate group ­

Student Labor Action Movement published a petition addressed to Faust asking administrators to provide more information and support for those impacted by the changes to TPS. One of SLAM’s demands specifically requested that the University hire a second attorney at the law clinic. Doris Reina-Landaverde, a Harvard campus services employee with TPS, said she thinks the Immigration and Refugee Clinic needs more staff to respond to recents changes in immigration policies. “[Corral] needs help in the clinic because it’s a lot for him, even though he also works with students,” Reina-Landaverde, who is from El Salvador, said. Landaverde’s husband Merdardo Landaverde, a campus building manager, said he thought the law clinic was burdened with a dual responsibility of handling cases and guiding Law School students. “Jason had to be both helping me and helping the students. I think that shows right there the need for another lawyer,” said Merdardo Landaverde, who filed to renew his and his wife’s TPS status with the clinic. Gabriela A. Rivero ’21, who works as a translator at the clinic, agreed that the clinic could benefit from having another lawyer. “They’re doing a lot of great work, but they are spread a little thin,” Riverdo said. In an email, Corral disagreed that there is a need to hire another full-time lawyer at the Immigration and Refugee Clinic. “Despite how busy we are I do not feel like there is a need to hire additional attorneys at Harvard,” Corral wrote. “I feel confident that we have the needed resources to provide quality representation to the people on cam-

pus that are affected by Trump’s immigration priorities.” Corral said the clinic is supported by law students participating in the organization’s clinical program. “Already we have trained approximately 50 law students on TPS applications and have conducted 4 TPS clinics in two weeks,” Corral wrote. Corral also noted that the Immigration and Refugee Clinic partners with Greater Boston Legal Services, a legal aid group, and has an agreement with the law firm WilmerHale to represent Harvard affiliates pro-bono as needed. Sabrineh Ardalan, assistant director of the Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinical program, wrote in an email that multiple part-time attorneys are present at TPS renewal clinics, and that her spring clinical students are required to volunteer for the clinics at least once. A focus on the University’s response to the TPS repeals comes amid a broader discussion over the University resources for immigrant affiliates. In the wake of the Trump administration’s travel ban in 2016, Harvard graduate students called on University President Drew G. Faust to increase support for undocumented and international students. Faust herself has lobbied federal officials on multiple occasions, urging them to protect undocumented immigrants and refugees in the U.S. Last week, Faust wrote to congressional leaders asking them to consider permanent legislation to preserve the legal status of TPS recipients. In an emailed statement, University spokesperson Melodie L. Jackson emphasized the current immigration resources available at Harvard.

Smith Center to Add Seven Shops Swellbox Gives Access By HENRY W. BURNES and FRANKLIN R. CIVANTOS CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­ aloniki—a local Greek fast food chain— S and Oggi Gourmet will be among seven vendors located in the new Smith Campus Center when the building opens this fall. The two restaurants join the previously-confirmed Pavement Coffeehouse, Swissbäkers, Bon Me, Whole Heart Provisions, and Blackbird Doughnuts as vendors within the Smith Campus Center’s remodeled arcade. In total, the Smith Center will be able to seat up to 800 visitors indoors and outdoors. The seven vendors have received all necessary zoning approvals and have confirmed leases with Harvard, according to the University-run Harvard Gazette. An additional restaurant and bar that will open on the top floor has not yet been determined. The bar and restaurant area will be only open to Harvard

ID holders. The newly-renovated building will also have a remodeled exterior and patio area. Saloniki’s Harvard Square location will be the third for the local chain. It currently operates two other establishments—a Boston location in the Fenway neighborhood and a Cambridge location on Mass. Ave. near Kendall Square. Its menu touts a variety of pita wraps and Greek-style plates including vegetarian, vegan, and meat options. The restaurant also offers soups and salads. Its website presents the chain as offering “fresh, local, [and] inspired” food choices and claims to buy from local vendors whenever possible. Oggi Gourmet opened in the formerly-named Holyoke Center in 2007, but was forced to move to 30 Dunster St., also a part of the building complex, when construction started in 2016. The construction on the Smith Campus Center has slowed business for Oggi at its new location as well as other restaurants in the area.

The owners of En Boca, a Mediterranean-inspired tapas restaurant that operated on the opposite side of Holyoke street, alleged in a lawsuit last year that the construction disrupted business and forced it to close its doors. While some businesses have experienced challenges because of the construction, the seven confirmed vendors will bring additional dining options to the Square and potentially attract students to the renovated Smith Campus Center. University spokesperson Brigid O’Rourke wrote in an emailed statement that Harvard is excited about the new additions to the Smith Campus Center. “We’re incredibly excited about all of the diverse new food venues, and believe that together they will bring an added energy and excitement to the Campus Center and greatly complement the already vibrant atmosphere that exists throughout the Square,” O’Rourke wrote.

Mark D. Gearan Named IOP Director By ALEXANDRA A. CHAIDEZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Mark D. Gearan ’78, former director of the United States Peace Corps and former president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, was appointed director of the Institute of Politics Monday. Gearan has served as “president in residence” at the Graduate School of Education for the last year. As a Harvard undergraduate, he was an active member of the IOP and said he attributes the $500 summer stipend he received through the Institute to be an “important” development in his life. “It has really been an important part of the thread of my life that opened up my eyes to the world of public policy, public service and politics,” Gearan said, “I have been very grateful for that opportunity.” Douglas W. Elmendorf, dean of the Kennedy School, made the decision to tap Gearan, though a search committee comprised of students, faculty, and staff provided guidance throughout the selection process. “We were looking for the person we thought could best inspire the students and lead an organization that would in-

spire students to go into public service and politics,” Elmendorf said. The IOP director position sat unfilled for approximately 10 months following the resignation of former director Maggie Williams in April 2017. William D. “Bill” Delahunt has served as interim director since William’s departure. He also served as interim director while Williams was on leave in fall 2016 to serve on Hillary Clinton’s potential presidential transition team. Dustin Chiang ’19, president of the IOP Student Advisory Committee, said it took time to consider all of the candidates and their qualifications. “The position of the director of the IOP is a very important one and it was a very thorough process in which the dean considered a number of candidates, and we wanted to make sure we had the best candidate possible selected to be our director,” Chiang said. A former Crimson news editor, Gearan will take the lead of an organization under scrutiny following a series of controversial fellow appointments. Last fall, the IOP briefly appointed Chelsea Manning, a former Army soldier who went to prison for leaking classified military documents, as a vis-

iting fellow to the IOP. Her visiting fellowship was rescinded after backlash from CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Later that fall, Sean Spicer, the former press secretary for President Donald Trump, faced scrutiny for only hosting off-the-record events on campus. Gearan responded to the controversy by addressing his willingness to listen to students about their opinions and focusing on the roles they can take in public service and politics. “This is a unique time in American civic life but that was one of the motivations I had to seek the position,” Gearan said, “I think the mission is a brilliant one and one to inspire Harvard students to think of leadership roles in public service and political life.” Gearan will officially take the helm of the Institute of Politics in March, according to a press release. “For me, it will start with listening to those that are most engaged and listening to those who are most engaged. I think there are people very, very committed to the Institute,” Gearan added. “[The Institute] does have this rich history of thought and experience, and that’s a hallmark of higher education, so I have conversations that I can’t wait to get started with.”

to Health Records By AHAB CHOPRA and ASHLEY M. COOPER CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Swellbox, a health data startup hoping to encourage students to create a lifetime health account, is once again actively promoting its services to students on campus. Stephen Cho, vice president of Swellbox, said the company allows users to see all their past and present health records at the same time. “If your patient ever switches providers two or three times, you have medical data in a bunch of different places that you can’t access all in one place, let alone digitally. So Swellbox essentially builds a platform that allows you to unlock all those records,” Cho said. Swellbox has been in discussions to work with Harvard for over a year, along with other schools, like Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania, but Paul J. Barreira, Director of Harvard University Health Services, said he would not call it a partnership. “It’s just another way for students to get their records. I don’t see anything more than that. The health services concern is just to give it to you in any form you want it,” Barreira said. “You could say ‘Jack in the Box,’ and we would give it to ‘Jack in the Box,’ if you had the right form and signed the form,” he added. In Nov. 2016, the Undergraduate Council unanimously endorsed an open letter to HUHS administrators urging that students be given more access to health information. Jefferson E. Seidl ’16, alumni chair of the Harvard Health Data Working Group, consultant to Swellbox, and one of the letter’s co-authors, said there is a need for greater access to health records. ­

“While UHS was providing good care to students, it wasn’t necessarily, in our opinion, empowering students with their health information in a way that the University as a whole was championing on the national stage,” Seidl said. Seidl said he was encouraged by the response to the letter from HUHS. “They actually got rid of fees for record requests, which we viewed as an impediment to data empowerment and also expanded their offerings in the portal,” Seidl added. Now, Barreira confirmed, students can request their health records at no charge from HUHS. “I think most students don’t even know they can get their medical records and sign and we’ll give them to you. There is no fee. There used to be but we removed it,” he said. Though health records themselves may not be an issue, Mridu Nanda ’21 said accessibility to the HUHS website is still a concern. “Getting [on the website] and it being more apparent what services they offer would be good,” Nanda said. Conner P. Williams ’21 added, “I would love to see my appointment history, but scheduling is fine.” Seidl said Swellbox could help address many of these concerns. By aggregating health data into one portal, Swellbox is able to seamlessly present a patient’s information, Seidl added. Barreira said Swellbox’s mission is in line with larger trends in modern healthcare. “I don’t think it’s neither good nor bad,” he said. “What they’re saying is healthcare is moving in the direction where patients own their medical records and that we have to be able to have medical records that has all the ways you have been treated over your lifetime.”

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Undergraduates Weigh in on Harvard’s New President-Elect STUDENTS FROM PAGE 1 “I still don’t know much about him. I was really paying attention to people who were out there in the Business School and the Law School,” Roshan Padaki ’20 said. “He just kind of came out of the Corporation.” A Corporation member since 2011, Bacow began the presidential search as the ultimate insider: a member of the search committee itself, which initially comprised all 12 members of the Corporation and three members of the Board of Overseers. After some individuals

consulted by the committee floated his name as a potential candidate, Bacow stepped down from his role as searcher to sit on the other side of the interview table in Dec. 2017, Corporation senior fellow and committee chair William F. Lee ’72 said at a press conference Sunday. Bacow’s selection marks the first time in recent Harvard history that a University presidential search committee has picked one of its own for the top job. But he fails to break with tradition in another way—Bacow will be the 28th white man to sit in the president’s Mas-

sachusetts Hall office. This apparent conformity with the past drew ire from some students Monday night. “I think, honestly, who on the Harvard Corporation thought the solution to Harvard’s problems was to hire another white man named Larry?” Anselm Kizza-Besigye ’21 said. “As if that didn’t cause problems in the past.” Malvika Menon ’19 said she had hoped the searchers would pick a woman to follow current University President Drew G. Faust—Harvard’s first-ever female leader. “I thought it was interesting that they chose a man after

having Drew Faust as Harvard president,” Menon said. Still, some said they thought Bacow would work to expand diversity at Harvard, praising in particular his commitment to financial aid. Hunter D. Mollett ’21 said he thought Bacow will value financial aid for low-income students. Other students focused on the committee’s decision to look within its own ranks for Harvard’s 29th president. “I read the email that they sent out and there was nothing particularly surprising or shocking about it,” Franklin S. Hang ’21 said. “He seems like a nor-

mal beaurocrat that I can trust in the coming years.” Padaki said he thought Bacow’s selection was “fine” given he stepped down from the search committee two months ago. Still, some said they found the nontraditional move surprising.“I have been keeping track of the president selection for a long time, reading news from a variety of sources, especially The Crimson,” Song said. “And it’s a little bit unexpected to find a person that’s actually from the search committee.” G.S. “Max” Shen ’18 agreed. “That’s a little ‘snek-y,’ I guess,” Shen said.


THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 13, 2018 | PAGE 9

EDITORIAL

THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

The State of Title IX at Harvard Harvard must ensure trainings are effective and engaging for students

W

ith the announcement of Lawrence S. Bacow as Harvard’s 29th president, the University is poised for new conversations, changes, and reforms. Few of those conversations will be as difficult, uncomfortable, or painful as those concerning sexual assault on Harvard’s campus. In recent days, this issue has again risen to the forefront amid reports that the federal government launched an investigation into Harvard in 2016 for failing to respond “promptly and equitably” to a complaint of sexual assault at the College. Although this case dates back two years, it is indicative of a much larger problem—Reports of sexual violence have risen by 65% since 2016. It is precisely for these reasons that Harvard must do more. We challenge the University to rethink and revamp the complex bureaucracy surrounding sexual harassment and assault. There are too many dimensions encompassing sexual harassment and violence—including reporting mechanisms, counseling services, and academic accommodations—for us to fairly and effectively appraise the entirety of Harvard’s Title IX Office and Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response. Rather than discuss these offices at length, we urge the University to focus on the following actionable steps to better protect students. Harvard students, faculty members, and affiliates need to engage in thoughtful, carefully facilitated con-

versations about sexual violence in order to support and protect one another. Yet we find that the current sexual harassment and assault trainings offered are in many ways inadequate to fulfill this goal. In-person trainings are required only at the start of freshman year. This enables issues of sexual harassment and assault to recede into the dim recesses of students’ memories, only to reemerge after an incident has occurred. These conversations further fade into the background despite the online training modules mandated each fall. We find these modules unengaging and ineffective—watching short video clips and answering a few multiple choice questions once a year does little to encourage critical thought about such a challenging issue. A better solution is an in-person group training, which we believe would facilitate difficult conversations to occur and allow peers to hold each other accountable. Having attended trainings held by various student organizations ourselves, we find that they too often fail to provide clear suggestions on how to diffuse and respond to dangerous situations at student-run events. While a range of trainings are offered, we find that they more often nebulously ask organizations to consider their identities and values rather than provide opportunities for concrete conversations about rape culture or sexual harassment. These flaws leave student lead-

ers without proper guidance on how to be active allies and protect their members. While we believe it is undoubtedly the responsibility of OSAPR to improve these trainings, we also believe that, in the words of Joe Biden, preventing sexual assault is ultimately “on us.” We have an obligation to our friends, classmates, peers, and even total strangers to educate ourselves on sexual assault. This issue should carry additional weight on Harvard’s campus given that in 2015, for example, 31.2 percent of female seniors reported being assaulted during their college years. That percentage should be zero. If current trainings are inadequate, we should proactively take the time to learn how to help one another. This can be as simple as writing down the number of an assault hotline, or as complex as researching Harvard’s tangled list of resources for survivors. But it is not enough for us to click through a few slides on a computer screen. We, along with offices dedicated to sexual harassment and assault, can and 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).

Put a Ring on It? The LGBTQ+ Movement Beyond Marriage Equality Becina GANTHER THE FEMINIST CLOSET

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hen I was a little girl, I was thrilled by the concept of marriage. Inspired by the Disney and Barbie movies I watched over and over, I daydreamed of being swept off my feet by Mr. Right and walking down the aisle in a poofy dress. In the years since, my views on why I want to get married, when I want to get married, and who I want to marry have changed. But, I’m still pretty sure that I do indeed want to get married. Which is part of the reason why June 26, 2015 was a life-changing day for me. As a queer woman who’s considering marrying another woman, the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of marriage equality opened doors for me. And beyond guaranteeing the right to marriage, the Supreme Court ruling made national news, increasing visibility of LGBTQ+ people and issues. One study showed that the passage of marriage equality in individual states led to a decrease in the overall teen suicide attempt rate and an even greater decrease among the lesbian, gay, and bisexual teen populations in those states. Marriage equality has had a quantifiable positive effect, even on populations not immediately affected by the ruling. Clearly, it’s an important step forward. Before I continue, I want to point out that I am speaking from a privileged position because I’ve never been seriously concerned about the logistics of marriage. Marriage equality came about when I was only 16. Unlike many before me, I won’t have to move to live in a state that recognizes samesex marriage, and I won’t have to worry about whether my marriage will still be recognized if I move to a different state. Because of the efforts of the

movement that began decades before I was born, if I do decide to marry, the process will be a lot smoother than it was in 2014. Having discussed all the wonderful parts about marriage equality, it’s important to realize that marriage isn’t the end-all-be-all of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. It never was, it never will be, and any suggestion that it is is naive at best and detrimental to the movement at worst. Unpacking the institution of marriage reveals its roots in heteronormativity and sexism. The history of marriage includes traditions of women being passed around like property from their fathers to husbands. Even seemingly sweet gestures, like the groom asking the bride’s father for her hand in marriage or the father walking the bride down the aisle while the groom stands alone and independent, all reinforce women’s dependence on men while men remain independent and authoritative. Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy watching “Say Yes to the Dress” as much as the next person, but I recognize that the emphasis on the bride’s dress stems from the stereotype that women are inherently more interested in clothing and appearances. Even small details like the bride becoming a Mrs. while the groom remains a Mr. his entire adult life subtly remind us that a woman’s status is based on her relationship to a man. Although many people are slowly moving away from this model and trying to make the marriage process more equal, the marriage traditions that we grew up with and still see today covertly and overtly reinforce strict binary gender norms in heterosexual relationships. There’s nothing wrong with queer couples wanting to get married—in fact, it’s great to see the queering of traditional notions of marriage. But, marketing marriage equality as the most important goal for the LGBTQ+ movement implies that the most important people in the movement are monogamous gay couples looking to get married. This ignores queer peo-

ple who don’t want to get married. Moreover, this overemphasis on marriage plays into respectability politics, in which queer people feel pressured to mimic heterosexual norms to make queerness more palatable to the rest of society. It adds to the idea that there’s a “right” kind of way to be queer, which is to settle down into a monogamous marriage and eventually get married and have kids. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that life path, it’s one of many and should not be idealized. The myth of marriage being the “one” queer issue perpetuates the idea that our community can only focus on one issue at once. This ignores other pressing concerns, such as workplace and housing discrimination; violence against trans people (specifically trans women of color and queer homeless youth); bathroom access for trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people; and a lack of accurate representation in media. There are also concerns that some may not see as directly queer, but which matter to the LGBTQ+ movement because of the intersectional identities of members of our community. These include income inequality, police brutality, mass incarceration, immigration, sexual assault, and more. We must be as fervent in addressing these issues as we were in fighting for marriage equality. So, it’s totally fine to celebrate this June the passing of a landmark Supreme Court case that has helped advance LGBTQ+ rights. But, after you tweet out #lovewins and add the rainbow filter to your profile picture, think about the rights and protections that we still need to fight for. What can you do to help? And, long after your tweet has stopped racking up likes and you’ve removed the rainbow filter, think of the people who are marginalized even within queer spaces. How can you support them? There’s always more to be done. Becina J. Ganther ’20 is a Crimson editorial editor in Leverett House. Her column appears on alternate Tuesdays.

66-Year-Old Married Male With a Doctorate By RUBEN E. REYES JR.

I

t’s impossible to ignore that Lawrence S. Bacow is the second white, male economist named Lawrence to serve as Harvard’s president. And for a student of color who has constantly struggled to see himself represented at the University, the choice is uninspiring and frankly a bit disappointing. Since the beginning of the search, stakeholders noted the need for a diverse slate of candidates. In 2007, University President Drew Gilpin Faust made history as Harvard’s first female president. This time around, there was hope the next president would be another woman or, for the first time in Harvard’s 381-year history, a person of color. Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria and University Professor Danielle S. Allen were both floated as possible, and highly capable, candidates of color. The presidential search committee’s secrecy makes it impossible to know, however, if there were any other candidates of color and how seRegrettably, Bacow’s riously they were considered for the presidency won’t position. Ultimateimprove the extreme ly, the search comdecided on a lack of role models for mittee candidate matching students of color to the demographics of 27 of the last 28 look up to. presidents. There’s no reason to believe that Bacow will not be a capable President. He has administrative experience and an intensely intimate understanding of Harvard, having served on its highest governing body. If his track record at Tufts serves as any indication, he could be great for students from marginalized backgrounds. As president of Tufts University, he oversaw the near doubling of financial aid available and the establishment of an Office of Institutional Diversity. On paper, he could be better for students of color than any of his predecessors. Regrettably, his presidency won’t improve the extreme lack of role models for students of color to look up to. As of 2017, only 3.2 percent of Harvard faculty members were female underrepresented minorities. 5.4 percent were male underrepresented minorities. As of 2014, only 14 percent of executive, administrative, and managerial roles were filled by ethnic minorities. Meanwhile, 64 percent of service and maintenance staff members were minorities. Black and Latino Harvard students see themselves more represented in the dining hall and service staff than they do in the classroom or Massachusetts Hall. If the 29th president of Harvard were a person of color, non-white students could have looked to the most powerful position in highIt’s important to er education and seen themselves. see that brown and At a time when the black faces have a average university president in the role in influencing United States is a the trajectory of an 62-year-old married white male institution we love. with a doctorate, Harvard could have stood out as an exception. An institution known for its history could have been lauded for choosing a leader that looked like the future. Instead, Harvard chose a 66-yearold married white male with a doctorate. Representation alone would not improve the experiences of underrepresented minorities at Harvard. Institutional support requires a commitment by administrators, regardless of their gender or ethnicity. But when the walls of our dining halls and libraries are dominated with portraits of white men, it’s important to see that brown and black faces have a role in influencing the trajectory of an institution we love dearly. The disappointment that I, and a number of other Harvard students of color, felt at the announcement of Bacow comes from the fear that people of color hold miniscule say in how our university is run. Bacow’s responsibility now lies in dissuading that fear. He has to make a concerted effort to meet with students and faculty of color and hear their complaints. He must learn from student activists instead of dismissing them. Bacow must acknowledge where Harvard fails and commit to making improvements that will ensure students don’t have reasons to doubt that they belong here. Harvard’s next president does not look like me. He does not look like the majority of the freshman class or classes to come. He does not understand, first-hand, what it means to be reduced to your gender or the color of your skin. He must listen when students explain that race and gender alter the kind of Harvard experience they have. And, more than that, he must prepare Harvard and its students for a future that is increasingly dependent on the expertise of women and people of color. Ruben E. Reyes Jr. ’19, a former Crimson Editorial Chair, is a History and Literature concentrator in Leverett House.

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 Family Matters

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 13, 2018 | PAGE 10

38 Minutes By JORDAN E. VIRTUE

By LORENZO F. MANUALI

A

merica. Has a ring to it, doesn’t it? I remember lying next to my grandmother in bed as a 10-year-old, tucked under the covers with my cousins as we attentively listened to her recount stories of Italy and communist Yugoslavia: of her idyllic Istrian childhood among the goats and chickens and bunnies and geese, of the prohibition of religion, the baptisms done in secret, and the secret police force, and of her father’s escape across the border to Italy in the dead of night chased by dogs. But I remember most the stories about what came after. The stories about America—the place that gave her a chance. The place that allowed her and my great-grandmother to thrive. As we both worked at the kitchen table late at night, I remember talking to my father about his childhood in Italy: of the summers playing soccer on Italian beaches, of the shenanigans and harsh experiences of Italian military school, of being an officer and living with my mother in the Tuscan countryside. But I remember most the stories about what came after. How my father convinced my mother to come back to the States for a better life, and how that decision was the best they could have ever made. Immigration is an act of defiance. It’s an upheaval of one’s current life in the hope (but never certain expectation) of something better. It requires a grit—a persistence—that not all people exercise. Furthermore, that grit not only stays with those who immigrate, but is passed down from generation to generation, and it affects every facet of one’s life. Maybe that’s why I trust Lawrence S. Bacow, the 29th president of Harvard, to do his utmost to improve our

community and serve the University well. Indeed, Bacow’s grit has already shown itself in his life as a servant to higher education. As president of Tufts University, Bacow oversaw the largest fundraising effort in the university’s history. The Beyond Boundaries campaign, which took place during one of the most economically challenging times in decades, raised $1.2 billion for the university. This financial acumen and fundraising experience is especially vital given the University’s financial troubles, including an underperforming endowment and an incoming endowment tax that will likely affect University projects. Financial acumen, however, is useless without effective and just allocation of these resources to disadvantaged and underprivileged individuals. Humble beginnings are a prominent facet of any immigrant family’s lore. Bacow’s parents, much like my grandmother, were refugees escaping persecution. His mother lived through Auschwitz. Obviously, these experiences don’t leave one unaffected. On the contrary, they imbue someone and their descendents with a sense of obligation to make the world a better place and aid those who need it most. Bacow’s commitment to equalizing the educational playing field for those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged exemplifies this sentiment. During the Beyond Boundaries campaign at Tufts, the university allocated $434 million towards financial aid and other scholarships. Additionally, under Bacow’s tenure at Tufts, the university instituted programs including scholarships for Tufts summer school, the elimination of student loans for families with modest incomes, paid summer internships at nonprofits, and Tuft’s first university-wide loan re-

payment assistance program. Overall, under Bacow’s leadership, Tufts increased the amount of financial aid it distributes by 94 percent. These actions, positions, and initiatives more than clearly demonstrate Bacow’s commitment to creating opportunity for students who are less fortunate. Diversity is also a vital part of the history of those who have immigrated to America. The United States certainly has deep problems concerning xenophobia. Nevertheless, without a baseline understanding of the fact that our differences make us stronger, eventual integration into American society would have been impossible for not only my family, but also all immigrants’ families. In keeping with his immigrant roots, Harvard’s next president has shown his passion for diversity throughout his life. Although Tufts admissions statistics during his presidency show mixed results with respect to diversity, during his time at Tufts, Bacow founded the Office of Institutional Diversity and helped create other diversity-related initiatives. Furthermore, he served under the Obama administration on the task force advising historically black colleges and universities. This further demonstrates a dedication to publicly serve in the interest of creating a more diverse nation. Yes, Bacow is a white male. So, is he the most diverse candidate on the planet? Of course not. But when I next talk to Papá and Nonna about why they came to America, I’ll know to approach this new chapter of Harvard’s history with optimism, confidence, and hope. Lorenzo F. Manuali ’21, a Crimson Associate Editorial Editor, lives in Dewolfe.

BE A CRIMSON CARTOONIST Submit a sample cartoon or any questions to Associate Editorial Editor Wonik Son ‘19 (wonik.son@thecrimson.com).

I

woke up at 8:08 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13. I sleepily rolled over and glanced, still bleary-eyed, at my phone. After a second of processing, I shot out of bed, sprinting down the hallway as my whole body throbbed in terror. One minute before, at 8:07 a.m., my phone received the alert: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I nearly ploughed into my mom, who was on the phone with my brother. We were at my uncle’s house on Maui, and my brother was on the opposite side of the island warming up for his tennis tournament. My mom had already called my dad, who was home alone on the Big Island. My dad barricaded

When you feel like your biggest accomplishment of the day is not being killed by a ballistic missile, everything becomes extraordinary. himself inside our bathroom with my dog, but after a few minutes he went and stood outside in our driveway—he refused to die in a bathroom. He left Sparky inside. I sat with my mom and uncle along the hallway wall and frantically tried to call my tennis coach. Like any other Saturday, he held 8 a.m. tennis practice at the public park near my house. He didn’t answer the phone, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the elementary schoolers chattering away, wildly swinging at tennis balls and completely unaware of an impending North Korean attack. I texted my brother to make sure he was inside and told him that I loved him. Then, we waited. Military experts estimate that a North Korean missile would take 20 minutes to reach Hawaii, and residents would have about 12 minutes of notice before impact. After 10 or 15 minutes, we started to realize that it couldn’t be real. We scoured TV channels and online news for any information about what was going on. No one was covering it. Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard tweeted at 8:19 a.m. that the alarm was false. She went on CNN shortly afterwards, which is when we finally heard that there was no immediate threat. The state did not send out an official false alarm message until 38 minutes after the initial alert. My story is relatively unexciting compared to others. Some people pulled mattresses over bathtubs to shield themselves. Some stuffed their children down manhole covers in an effort to protect them from a blast. Some stood on their porches with binoculars. Many called their family members to say goodbye, certain they would be dead within minutes.

Once it became clear that the alert was false, emotions quickly turned from fear and sadness to anger, and rightly so. I’m angry, too. I’m angry that the state government is inept, and I’m angry that my home is at their mercy. I’m angry that 9 and 10 year olds asked me the “what ifs” of nuclear war on the tennis court when I got home, and I didn’t have any answers for them. That was exactly one month ago today. For many people, especially on the mainland United States, the 38 minute Hawaiian missile crisis has faded away, a shocking headline that dissipated as the news cycle moved on. But it hasn’t gone away for me. We drove out to Lahaina a few hours later to cheer on my brother in his tennis matches. I sat with my uncle and squinted through the fence, my shoulders becoming progressively more sunburned. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. As I watched my brother change sides, I realized that I had never really paid attention to the unusual way he walks. He towers over me at six feet one inches tall, yet he has a remarkably short stride for his height. I’m furious with myself that it took the threat of a North Korean attack to notice that about my own brother. I’ve always prided myself on being conscious of the ordinary, grateful for the small beauties around me. But I couldn’t even start to comprehend all I have to be grateful for before Jan. 13. When you feel like your biggest accomplishment of the day is not being killed by a ballistic missile, everything becomes extraordinary. Of course, there was no missile; nothing happened. But somehow even brushing my teeth that night felt miraculous. Since then, I’ve been tormented by forgotten things I should remember. Why couldn’t I remember the model of the car my teacher drove to school? Why couldn’t I remember the shape of the doorknob I use every time I walk inside my house? Why couldn’t I remember the way it felt when I hugged my dad for what really could have been the last time? These used to just be incidental curiosities, observations that made me feel good for “being present” in the world. They have now assumed a fierce and immediate importance. Someone has to take notice of them, because I have reached the jarring conclusion that they could all be vaporized in a matter of minutes. Not just me, but everything and everyone that I love. I hope no one has to ever experience what Hawaii experienced a few weeks ago. But don’t wait for a ballistic missile to notice the blessedness of the ordinary. Paying attention to the seemingly ordinary details of the world cannot be postponed or put off for a more convenient time. It only takes a few extra seconds, and we never really know how many of those we have left. Jordan E. Virtue ’20 is an English concentrator living in Winthrop House.

Proud to cover Harvard for 143 years and counting.

The Crimson thecrimson.com


THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 13, 2018 | PAGE 11

Proud to cover Harvard for 143 years and counting.

Keep the old sheet flying.

The Crimson thecrimson.com


SPORTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 13, 2018 | PAGE 12

Lloyd lifts Crimson to 5-4 OT Win over Boston College

HE CAM, HE SAW, HE CONQUERED Net-minder Cameron Gornet looks on during his first career start in the Beanpot third place game versus BC. KATHRYN S. KUHAR—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER BEANPOT By STUTI R. TELIDEVARA CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

BOSTON — Forty minutes in, the Beanpot consolation game between the Harvard men’s hockey team and Boston College was tied 1-1. Twenty minutes later, the teams were going to overtime even at 4-4. The six-goal explosion in the third frame came from four different underclassmen, each potting the biscuit at the Beanpot for the first time in their careers. The overtime winner likewise came off the stick of a first-time scorer at TD Garden—but the culprit was senior forward Seb Lloyd. Sophomore defenseman Adam Fox chased a dump-in from junior forward Lewis Zerter-Gossage, freeing the

puck from the Eagles and feeding it into the slot. Lloyd caught the pass all alone in front of BC sophomore net-minder Ryan Edquist and beat him clean. “We had [an] odd-man rush there,” Lloyd said. “[Fox] picked up the [puck]...and I just knew I had to find a corner. He made a great pass and I was lucky to get some good wood on it.” The 5-4 overtime win for Harvard (11-10-4, 9-6-3 ECAC) marks the first time the Crimson have bested the No. 19/15 Eagles (14-13-3, 14-6-0) in the Beanpot since 1998—a matchup that also ended 5-4 in Harvard’s favor after some extra hockey. The win is also the Crimson icemen’s first triumph over a ranked squad all season. While the third-place finish is a far cry from the championship repeat Harvard had in mind going into the tournament, the team will look

to build upon its offensive outpouring in conference play. After a disappointing showing at Union on Friday, coach Donato put the lineup through the blender. Lloyd was promoted to the second line, while Zerter-Gossage, normally on the top line, swapped with sophomore Nathan Krusko on the second line. Two freshmen, Jack Donato and Mitchell Perrault, drew back into the lineup, as did junior defenseman Viktor Dombrovskiy. Most surprising of all, sophomore goalie Cameron Gornet made his first-ever start under bright lights, indeed. “We’re still probably trying to find the right combinations,” coach Donato said. “When you lose one guy, that can affect multiple positions. But we also had some guys that were banged up, guys that were sick. So we had to do

some line juggling.” Earlier, sophomore blue-liner John Marino broke the 1-1 tie for Harvard less than five minutes into the third frame. Edquist kicked out a shot from Krusko, who received a nice drop pass from rookie linemate Henry Bowlby upon entering the zone. Though Edquist saved Krusko’s shot, Marino punched home the rebound. Soon after, Bowlby himself joined the party on the power play, collecting a pass to the left of the goal and walking in on the net-minder to shoot between Edquist’s wickets. The Crimson’s 3-1 advantage did not go unthreatened, though. BC rookie Logan Hutsko, one of the team’s leading scorers, tipped a point shot past Gornet while falling to pull the Eagles within one. Later, Perrault and Donato found themselves on a 2-on-1, with

Donato firing past Edquist for his first career goal, giving Perrault his first career point on the assist. “[His] mom, who would’ve been the most excited, was probably somewhere over the North Pole on her flight,” joked coach Donato, referencing his wife’s trip to Pyeongchang to watch older son Ryan’s Olympic play. “He’s worked hard, and I thought he played an excellent game.” Hutsko shoveled in a loose puck two times in less than a minute late in the third frame to complete his hat trick and tie the game, 4-4. Hutsko’s tallies mark the first BC Beanpot hat trick in 18 years. Ultimately, though, neither his heroics nor the Eagles’ momentum near the end of regulation time could seal the win for the team. “[Our momentum] carried over into OT...but we just couldn’t capitalize,” said BC head coach Terry York. “Every coach talks about playing 60 minutes, but...we just have to keep getting better so we can play longer at a high tempo.” One streak that Harvard will be glad to see broken was its dry run on the man-advantage. After not scoring on 17 straight power plays, the Crimson finally struck gold on its first attempt of the night midway through the first period. Fox shot the puck from the left point into the bodies in front of the net. An attempt by sophomore forward Ty Pelton-Byce was then tipped home by Zerter-Gossage for his first career Beanpot tally. With that and Bowlby’s goal in the third, Harvard went 2-for-4 on the man advantage. But the Crimson wasn’t always lucky on the power play. The middle frame saw Eagles junior captain Christopher Brown skate to a partial breakaway and, fending off rookie defender Reilly Walsh, beat Gornet on the shortside. Gornet, though forced to scramble on several of the BC’s goals, turned away 30 shots on the night (3.83 GAA, .882 SV%) and kept BC off the scoreboard for over 38 minutes. Though the team conceded its two-goal lead before ultimately seizing the game in overtime, the night’s goal-scorers differed from the usual suspects for Harvard. This marks a step towards the scoring-by-committee the team must aim for in the absence of Ryan Donato. Additionally, Fox tied a career high with three assists. The Crimson returns to conference play next weekend against St. Lawrence and No. 7/3 Clarkson, looking to regain ground in the ECAC in its last home games of the regular season. Staff writer Stuti R. Telidevara can be reached at stuti.telidevara@thecrimson.com.

Harvard Bests Brown and Yale to Claim Ivy League Title WOMEN’S SQUASH By WILLIAM QUAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

In the final weekend of regular season of play, women’s squash not only looked to breeze past its opponents, but also to complete its domination over its conference opponents. In straight sweeps of No. 5 Yale and No. 10 Brown, Harvard raised its undefeated streak to 50 matches—spanning more than three years—and claimed its third straight outright Ivy League title. This final slate of contests comes in between the team’s toughest two weekends of the year. Last weekend featured matchups against then top-ranked Princeton and a rematch against last season’s national finalist in Penn. Next weekend, the Crimson hosts the top collegiate teams in the nation, one last chance for any teams not named Harvard to challenge the Crimson’s position at the top. “We haven’t lost yet this year, so I think there will be a lot of pressure on us next weekend, but hopefully we’ll do well,” junior Sabrina Sobhy said. ­

HARVARD 9, BROWN 0 After the raucous crowds of a week ago, the courts at home calmed down considerably for the Sunday matinee, which signaled the end of squash’s regular season. This atmosphere was appropriate as the Crimson (12-0, 7-0 Ivy) took care of business in straight games in all nine of its matches against the Bears (5-9, 0-7). Brown has gotten the wrong end of the racket in Ivy play. The team continued its five-year drought against Ancient Eight teams and lost for the 48th time (out of 48) against Harvard. HARVARD 9, YALE 0 The final challenge of the season came this weekend in a matchup in New Haven, which has not been the friendliest place to Crimson athletics this school year. The Bulldogs (10-4, 5-2) lost to the other three teams above them in the national rankings, No. 2 Princeton, No. 3 Trinity, and No. 4 Stanford. But a dramatic 5-4 win against Penn on Jan. 13 allowed Yale to escape to the final weekend of regular season play with

SQUASHING OPPONENTS Freshman Hannah Craig swept her Yale and Brown opponents over the weekend, contributing to Harvard’s wins. TIMOTHY

just one loss against an Ivy League opponent. This scheduling allowed the Bulldogs to go into the penultimate weekend of 2017-18 play with the ability to control its own destiny and grab a share of the Ancient Eight title. Heading into a Friday afternoon matchup against a team motivated by rivalry and the potential for a monumental upset, Harvard did not face the friendliest of circumstances. But characteristic of a team that never loses, these circumstances presented a challenge that ultimately stood no contest against an unbreakable Crimson squad. Harvard collectively dropped two games against the Bulldogs. One was conceded by No. 7 Eleonore Evans and the other by No. 1 Gina Kennedy, who faced an All-American in sophomore

Lucy Beecroft. By virtue of giving Kennedy the tougher challenge against Yale’s top player, Sobhy played outside of the top slot for the first time in her collegiate career. Kennedy and junior Kayley Leonard had both previously played the top rung on the later when Sobhy was in the lineup, showcasing the quality at the top of the Crimson’s lineup. Seven out of nine individual matches were won in straight games, but true to its high ranking, Yale put out many close games throughout the lineup. This depth has allowed it to separate itself from top-heavy teams like Penn and gives it a legitimate chance to challenge the top teams come championship weekend. But Harvard won on enemy turf, and now the Bulldogs must. While Yale was looking for a weekend sweep to grab a share of the con-

ference championship, the squad could have been confronted by an unsettling fact: there has never been a shared Ancient Eight title. This fact pays testament to the stratified nature of collegiate squash, in which the best in a given season beats everyone else. “I think there is always the pressure to maintain it, especially having won it last year, and the last two times,” said co-captain Sue Ann Yong. “But, yeah, it’s my senior year, so I’m glad we managed to have the Ivy title again. But I think the job’s not done because we have nationals next weekend, so we want to make sure we don’t stay complacent.” The Crimson has the Ancient Eight title for the 22nd time and is once again the class of the sport. In the 2016-17 campaign, the most games it lost in a single match was two. The two previ-

O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

ous seasons had them squeak out with 5-4 victories. This year the team has not conceded more than one game in a match. The statistics indicate a team that is getting better and growing into a dynasty. The team has the opportunity next week to win its fourth consecutive national championship. Doing so in the friendly confines of the Murr Center would be particularly sweet. “I’m actually really happy that it’s going to be at home because I had it at Harvard my freshman year and having it my senior year is actually amazing, just because my friends can come watch and my parents are also coming too for the first time, so that’s going to be huge,” Yong said. Staff writer William Quan can be reached atwilliam.quan@thecrimson.com.


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