The Harvard Crimson - Volume CL, No. 15: 25th Reunion by The Harvard Crimson

PROFILE

SPORTS

Kristen Welker ’98 Watches the White House

No. 16 Harvard Makes History, Upsets No. 1 Stanford

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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

| VOLUME CL, NO. 15

| CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

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FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 2023

CLASS OF 1998

A Year of Firsts: Strides in LGBTQ+ Advocacy and Representation PRIDE AT HARVARD. From the first gay wedding at Memorial Church to the first same-sex couple named as faculty deans, Harvard saw new strides in LGBTQ+ representation during the 1997-98 academic year. At the same time, students said they wish they had received greater support from the University during this crucial period in LGBTQ+ advocacy. SEE PAGE 4

SAMI E. TURNER—CRIMSON DESIGNER

Student Activists Reflect on Push for Ethnic Studies

Chinese President Jiang Zemin Visits Harvard BY RYAN H. DOAN-NGUYEN AND MILES J. HERSZENHORN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Hundreds of Harvard affiliates crowded Sanders Theatre on the morning of Nov. 1, 1997, for the historic visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin. It was the first time Harvard welcomed a president from China, and seats in Sanders Theatre for Jiang’s speech were in such high demand that a lottery was run in order to distribute the tickets. Since China had previously been “resistant to such high-level interactions,” Kathrine A. Meyers ’98, then editor-in-chief of the Harvard Asia Pacific Review, said in 1997 that the visit needed “to be seized as an opportunity to advance relations, rather than to stifle them.” The lottery to hear Jiang speak closed with more than 1,000 ticket requests. As a Ph.D. student at Harvard at the time, Victor C. Shih, now a professor of political economy and an expert on China at the University of California, San Diego, recalled in an interview how he excitedly watched Jiang’s motorcade arrive in Cambridge for the

1997 visit. While many Harvard affiliates, like Shih, looked forward to Jiang’s presence on campus, others objected — including student members of the Taiwanese Cultural Society. Countering outcry from human rights advocates, Jiang asserted in interviews before the event with TIME Magazine and the Washington Post that his country now touted more human rights than ever before. Philip J. Cunningham, a 1998 Nieman Fellow at Harvard whose previous decade of reporting in Asia included covering the protests and crackdown of Tiananmen Square, said in an interview that while reporting in China he “saw things that were extremely terrible and unfair and cruel” — things that “the government did.” “I was angry about it,” Cunningham added. “As an ordinary human being, I was outraged at some of the things that China was doing to its own people.” Addressing his American audience through a translator, Jiang highlighted China’s scientific, cultural, and economic progress and argued for a more robust alliance with the United States. But his remarks were not immune from protest. Immediately following his

speech, a man shouted “human rights” from the upper balcony. Four others joined him, and the five turned their backs to Jiang, showing “Free Tibet” in black letters. Cunningham stood up and repeatedly shouted, “What about Wei Jingsheng?” referring to China’s longest-serving political prisoner at the time — whom Cunningham interviewed. Shih, however, said he did not remember a lot of protests surrounding Jiang’s visit. “Today, if the same thing were to come, you can imagine a lot of people lining the streets, welcoming him, et cetera — as well as a lot of protesters,” he said. “At that time, I don’t remember seeing either.” Cunningham said he was “probably an outlier” at Harvard when it came to his passion for human rights issues in China. According to Shih, Jiang’s visit in 1997 did not hold the same significance that a trip by current Chinese President Xi Jinping would hold today. China was a rising middle-income country at the time, Shih said, not the global superpower that it has become today. “For those of us who studied

SEE PAGE 5

BY CAM E. KETTLES AND JO B. LEMANN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Throughout the 1997-98 academic year, student organizers and activists renewed demands for Harvard to establish an ethnic studies concentration — a call that, even then, was decades-old. Twenty-five years later, Harvard still does not offer a ethnic studies concentration or house a department for the subject, although there is now an ethnic studies field within the History and Literature concentration and a secondary field in Ethnicity, Migration, Rights. “We were calling for a curriculum, like a actual concentration where you can really gain expertise in the history and culture literature of a representative minorities in the United States,” Michael Hsu ’98 said. “We’re trying to make up for for gaps in the curriculum. We’re not just trying to do some anthropology,” Hsu added. When the Ethnic Studies Action Committee was formed in 1993, it was “a relatively small group,” Mina K. Park ’98 said. Park said the group was primarily “about filling a huge gap”

within the curriculum at the College. “At the time, even though it was so long ago, it didn’t seem like such a radical thing to ask for,” Park said. Organizers then shared many of the frustrations current student activists have expressed — namely, a lack of both course options addressing modern ethnic studies and full-time faculty members focused on the topic. “At the time, we had this incredible African American studies program, and I was very interested in studying Asian American Studies, but there just wasn’t anything really available,” Park said. Like Park, Nisha S. Agarwal ’00 had wanted to study Modern India during her time at Harvard. While Harvard did offer classes on Sanskrit and ancient Indian history, Agarwal said there weren’t “modern classes.” “I looked for classes on India, on Gandhi, on really so-called modern questions and classes, and there was nothing,” Agarwal said. “So it was like, this is very odd because it’s a pretty big country and we should expect that there would be some classes on that.” Agarwal later created the South Asian Studies Initiative

in the spring of 1998 to advocate for classes about modern South Asia. ESAC, SASI, and other ethnicity-based groups including the Academic Affairs Committee and Asian American Association jointly adopted the cause of an ethnic studies department. Hsu, a former member ESAC and chair of AAC, said ESAC would organize public protests while AAC — an organization within the Harvard Foundation — would meet with deans and faculty members. “We played good cop and bad cop,” Hsu said of AAC and ESAC. While organizers said there were many supportive faculty members, “in terms of actually being able to do something or actually pulling whatever levers they could, it was different,” Park said. Jennifer Ching ’96 recalled “being completely shut down and being dismissed and insulted” by passers-by while protesting outside Harvard’s Science Center. Ching said she believes the push for ethnic studies is related to fighting white supremacy. “It’s the idea that any call for resources that center the rights,

SEE PAGE 6

GETTING ONLINE

EDITORIAL

DINING SERVICES

A New Generation of Harvard Students Plugs In

Harvard’s Early Action Program is Flawed

The Great Grape Debate: A Brunch Referendum

PAGE 5. Harvard saw a number of forays online during the 1997-98 academic year, from online job recruitment to its new Distance Education Program — which would become the Harvard Extension School.

PAGE 9. While Harvard made 1,048 families that much happier with early-action acceptances, we fear that early-action may be creating a two-tiered accepted group with different standards and different demographics.

PAGE 10. Harvard’s campus was bitterly divided over whether to end a boycott of United Fruit Workers grapes and bring table grapes back to Sunday brunch. Participants reflect on the fruit-focused fracas.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

1998

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

1997-98 in Headlines SEPT. 8, 1997

OCT. 10, 1997

University Misled Allston Residents About New Policy

‘Coming Out Day’ Celebrated in Harvard Yard

RUDENSTINE REVERSAL. Harvard University President Neil L. Rudenstine told The Crimson he cannot commit to not making secret land purchases, walking back a pledge to Allston residents.

PRIDE EVENT. Students gathered in the Yard for “Coming Out at Harvard Day.” Some bore colorful signs and buttons, like one with a Guess Jeans logo and the slogan “Guess who is gay?”

OCT. 16, 1997

OCT. 24, 1997

FAS Report Calls Central Admin Funds Into Question

College Alcohol Policy Becoming ‘No Tolerance’

SEEKING ACCOUNTABILITY. A report by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences called into question the University’s financial practices, such as a mandatory general account for all Harvard schools.

DETERRING DRINKING. After the death of two Massachusetts college students, the College strengthened its alcohol policy, tightening policies around underaged drinking and intoxication.

NOV. 3, 1997

FEB. 26, 1998

Jiang Addresses Harvard, America

Seniors Accuse CPD Officer Of Harassment

CHINA TO HARVARD. Chinese President Jiang Zemin called for closer relations in a Sanders Theatre speech that sparked the largest gathering in Cambridge since Vietnam War protests.

POLICE MISCONDUCT. Three seniors, including the president of the Black Students Association, called on Harvard to act after alleged racially motivated harrassment by Cambridge Police.

MARCH 30, 1998

MAY 1, 1998

Harvard President Visits China, Meets Jiang

Council Approves Changes to GSAS Aid

A PRESIDENTIAL FIRST. Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine became the first sitting Harvard president to visit China, meeting Jiang Zemin and delivering an address at Peking University.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT. The Faculty Council passed an increase to graduate student financial aid awards, making Harvard’s financial aid offerings competitive with peer universities.

MAY 8, 1998

MAY 13, 1998

Rudenstine Wins Affirmative Action Victory

Campus Republican Schism Comes to End

POLITICAL VICTORY. Rudenstine and a coalition across higher education successfully opposed a Higher Education Act amendment to outlaw affirmative action in university admissions.

PARTY UNITY. The Harvard-Radcliffe Republican Alliance and Harvard Republican Club merged despite ideological differences, with leaders citing a lack of membership between the groups.

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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.

1998

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

1997-98 Year in Review Timeline HARVARD’S CAMPUS

IN THE REAL WORLD

Aug. 31, 1997 PRINCESS DIANA KILLED. Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a fatal car accident. The British royal’s death sparks international grief.

Nov. 1, 1997 JIANG SPEAKS. Chinese President Jiang Zemin delivers a historic address at Sanders Theatre, becoming the first president of China to speak at America’s oldest university.

Nov. 12, 1997 YOUSEF CONVICTED. Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of a 1993 van bombing attack that struck the World Trade Center, is found guilty. He would be sentenced to life in prison plus 240 years.

Dec. 3, 1997 GRAPES RETURN. After weeks of student demonstration — including a candlelight vigil — a referendum to return grapes to Harvard’s dining halls narrowly succeeds.

Dec. 19, 1997 ‘TITANIC’ PREMIERES. James Cameron’s “Titanic” premieres in the U.S. to rapid acclaim. The movie would become the highest-grossing film of all time until it was dethroned by “Avatar” in 2010.

Jan. 15, 1998

COLES HONORED. Harvard Graduate School of Education professor Robert M. Coles ’50 received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Bill Clinton, a longtime admirer.

Jan. 26, 1998 LEWINSKY SCANDAL. After more than a week of swirling reports, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton would be impeached over the affair.

March 13, 1998 ECK AND AUSTIN TO LOWELL. Diana L. Eck, a professor of comparative religion and Indian studies, and partner Dorothy A. Austin become Harvard’s first same-sex couple to serve as faculty deans.

April 10, 1998 GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT. The British and Irish governments sign a pair of agreements intended to bring an end to the Troubles, a period of ethno-nationalist violence in Northern Ireland.

April 15, 1998 SMOKING SNUFFED OUT. The College announces that all undergraduate houses will ban smoking for the first time in University history, part of a larger pattern of restrictions on the habit.

May 28, 1998 ARMS RACE. Pakistan conducts its first public nuclear weapons test following a series of trials by India. Code-named Chagai-I, the test prompts sanctions by the U.S. and Japan among others.

July 2, 1998 SHANGHAI VISIT. University President Neil L. Rudenstine visits Shanghai four days ahead of U.S. President Bill Clinton, touting close collaboration with presidents of several Chinese universities.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

COVER STORY

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

A Year of Firsts in LGBTQ+ Advocacy SAMI E. TURNER — CRIMSON DESIGNER

May 1996 The Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Association Resource Center is inaugurated to serve as a gathering space for LGBTQ+ undergraduates. The center is launched by the Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus, with funding from Open Gate, an organization that funds LGBTQ+ activities at Harvard.

July 1997 Memorial Church opens its doors to same-sex commitment ceremonies for Harvard-affiliated couples.

Dec. 1997 Sheila J. Kuehl, a 1978 graduate of Harvard Law School, is elected into the Board of Overseers for a two-year term, marking the first openly gay or lesbian member to join the board. In 1999, Kuehl is re-elected for a six-year term.

Feb. 1998 The BGLTSA impeaches Vice-Chair David A. Campbell ’00 as tensions surrounding BGLTSA’s newly-formed “daughter” groups and the organization’s expanding scope rise. Conflicting views on BGLTSA’s mission and representation emerge, including claims that BGLTSA is “splintering.”

March 1998 Diana L. Eck and Dorothy A. Austin are appointed the first same-sex couple Harvard faculty deans of Lowell House. The couple later held their marriage in Memorial Church in July 1998.

April 1998 Robert ‘Bob’ L. Parlin ’85 and Bren Bataclan are the first same-sex couple to hold their marriage ceremony in Memorial Church.

THE FIRST same-sex couple as faculty deans, openly gay Overseer, and gay wedding at Memorial Church marked new representation. BY JOYCE E. KIM AND ASHER J. MONTGOMERY CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

he 1997-98 academic year was undoubtedly a year of firsts for LGBTQ+ representation at Harvard College. The year saw the first gay wedding at Memorial Church, the first gay faculty deans of Lowell House, and the first openly gay member of Harvard’s second-highest governing body, the Board of Overseers. It was also one of change for Harvard’s queer advocacy groups, whose organizational structures evolved — sometimes in ways laden with controversy. Caroline E. Cotter ’98 – a former member of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Alliance – said developments in LGBTQ+ advocacy and representation during her time at Harvard were reflective of larger movements across the country. “There was a lot happening in the outside world that was definitely creating change,” Cotter said. “We have more power when we have a stronger community. So I think that was just being reflected in colleges probably across the country.” Jennifer T. Tattenbaum ’98, who co-founded a group for queer women on campus as a student, said while 1998 wasn’t a turning point in LGBTQ+ advocacy on campus, her goal was simply to “feel comfortable” while “being open.” “It was the work that we did back then that has made the world more accepting today, I think,” Tattenbaum said. “I was living openly and through that, I believe that’s an act of advocacy,” Cotter added. ‘An Umbrella Organization’ The BGLTSA – now called Harvard College Queer Students and Allies – faced numerous changes in its leadership and organization structure in 1997-98. That year, the organization split into six “daughter” groups: GirlSpot, a forum for women; Quest, a confidential peer group; Cocktail, a forum for men; Spectrum, a group for queer students of color; QUAG, a group dedicated to political action; and the Transgender Task Force. Tattenbaum, who co-founded GirlSpot, said these new groups emerged from a need for greater inclusivity and representation within BGLTSA. “There was no women’s community on campus — like lesbian, bisexual, anything — and very few women went to the BGLTSA

group because it was really dominated by guys,” she said. “We wanted to just try to make a space where women would know if they went, there would be lots of women there.” Former co-chair of the BGLTSA Lauralee Summer ’98 similarly recalled a lack of women’s representation. Summers said that this led her and some other board members to host a women’s art exhibit in Adams House in early 1998. The exhibit received pushback from BGLTSA Vice Chair David A. Campbell ’00. As tensions rose, Campbell was impeached by the body’s board in February 1998. In March of 1998, Campbell wrote an op-ed in The Crimson claiming these groups were “splintering” BGLTSA and criticizing the leadership’s decision to expand the concerns of the organization. But the formation of the daughter groups ultimately seemed to draw more support and enthusiasm than resistance among queer students. BGLTSA representatives rebuked Campbell’s criticisms in a responding letter and defended its role of facilitating “dialogue between its diverse membership.” Tattenbaum said the daughter groups ultimately strengthened BGLTSA by providing grounds for queer students to find peers with similar identities. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the community became stronger by having subgroups,” she said. “The BGLTSA did a good job acting as an umbrella organization, but I think there are people who would not have been involved at all if they hadn’t found their niche.” Philosophy professor Warren D. Goldfarb ’69 — one of Harvard’s first openly gay faculty members and the president of the Open Gate, which provides funding for activities benefiting LGBTQ+ students — said fissures in the organization were a “peri-

ganizations which all disappear within two or three years,” Goldfarb said. “They don’t have any staying power because the BGLTSA, it has this long history — it tends to remain.” Another change to the BGLTSA was the 1997 addition of the “T,” which stands for “transgender.” The request came from the College’s first openly transgender student, Alex S. Myers ’00. “I think people were happy to broaden the identity of the group because it was people that already identified as queer and weren’t included in the actual title of the group,” Summers said. A Year of Firsts In summer 1997, Memorial Church’s policies changed to permit the officiation of same-sex weddings, five years after longtime Memorial Church Pusey Minister Reverend Peter J. Gomes came out as gay. Robert ‘Bob’ L. Parlin ’85 said prior to the announcement, he and his partner Benjamin “Bren” Bataclan, who were planning on getting married, didn’t know when and where they would do so. “I immediately went to the church officials and said we’d like to sign up, and it turned out we were the first,” Parlin said. “It was so exciting to do it at my alma mater — a beautiful, beautiful place.” The ceremony was held on April 18, 1998 — a beautiful day, Parlin recalled. The couple had a large, traditional Catholic ceremony accompanied by musical performances from friends and poetry readings. After the event, they walked into Harvard Yard. “It happened to be some kind of parents’ weekend,” Parlin said. “They kept coming up to Bren, my husband and I, asking where the bride was.” Tattenbaum recalled “people really freaked out” over Parlin and Bataclan’s marriage, backlash which was “dismaying” to see.

“

It was the work that we did back then that has made the world more accepting today, I think.

Jennifer T. Tattenbaum ’98 Co-founder of Girlspot

odic occurrence” because not all students wanted to be represented by the BGLTSA, which was politically active and occasionally described as radical. “I can’t tell you how many times this happened, but I do know that my organization has funded a number of split-off or-

“I don’t remember students being bothered by it at all, certainly not the students I knew. It seemed more like community alumni, folks like that who were bothered by it — by the symbolism of it,” she said. “It was reflective of the community and homophobia at large, which was

also part of the community and campus life.” Another significant moment in LGBTQ+ representation at Harvard was the appointment of Diana L. Eck and Dorothy A. Aus-

“It wasn’t just ‘Oh, you’re queer,’ it’s that, ‘Oh, you’re working on queer things,’” said Kuehl of her advocacy work.

“

We cannot be complacent about the progress we’ve made. So I think it’s great to look at why the progress was being made back in the 90s but also realize the fight isn’t over.

Caroline E. Cotter ’98 Former member of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Alliance

tin as the first same-sex couple to become faculty deans at Lowell House in 1998. Goldfarb didn’t recall any negative blowback from students, and she remembered their eventual wedding at Memorial Church as “beautiful” and “absolutely packed,” with a parade of people moving to the reception held at Lowell. According to Goldfarb, former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68, who appointed the couple, was worried about pushback from alumni but was surprised by the lack of criticism after the announcement. “He said he got maybe two or three letters from cranky old alumni and that was it,” Goldfarb said. Cotter, a resident of Lowell House, recalled feeling “really happy” about Eck and Austin’s appointment as faculty deans. She said Lowell at the time “didn’t feel like a queer-friendly space,” so she was “really excited” to see the shift. The election of Sheila J. Kuehl in 1998 as the first openly gay or lesbian person to the Board of Overseers also increased queer representation on Harvard’s campus. Though Kuehl said she didn’t believe her presence as a queer person changed the body itself, she said her election may have provided affirmation for queer students. “I think it was important in ways that I didn’t know but always imagine when people talk about role models,” she said. Kuehl, a 1978 graduate of Harvard Law School, was recruited to run by LGBTQ+ student organizers. “Students were happy, at least when I first talked to them about running, that I was an attorney and I was a civil rights attorney,” Kuehl said. “That seemed to also go with what they had in mind in the larger picture,” Kuehl added.

‘Like the World at Large’ Tattenbaum said Harvard’s support of queer students amid strides in advocacy and representation seen in 1997-98 “fell short,” but no more than at other institutions or in the wider world. Harvard, she said, aims toward “teaching students to be part of the dominant culture,” which means it is inevitable that it will fail in “making space for everyone’s unique culture.” “I still felt like it was a good place to be a gay person. It was kind of like the world at large. It wasn’t like a warm embrace, but it also wasn’t discriminatory — or actively discriminatory — or putting people down or making them feel uncomfortable,” she said. “It didn’t feel like it was contested on campus as to whether you could be openly gay.” Still, Cotter said political backlash in recent years against trans individuals demands concern. “We cannot be complacent about the progress we’ve made. So I think it’s great to look at why the progress was being made back in the 90s but also realize the fight isn’t over,” she said. “These are rights that we cannot just take for granted,” Cotter added. joyce.kim@thecrimson.com asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

SOPHIA SALAMANCA—CRIMSON DESIGNER

PLUGGED IN

A New Generation of Students Plugs In BY JONAH C. KARAFIOL AND NEIL H. SHAH CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

or Harvard students today, technology is virtually unavoidable. Students select courses, turn in assignments, and even attend classes through various online platforms. The Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Graduate School of Design have gone as far as to explicitly require students to have computers. But it hasn’t always been this way. In a 2017 interview with The Crimson, Computer Science concentrators C. Eric Rosenblum ’92 and N. Edwin Aoki ’92 both said they did not use the internet during their time at Harvard. Then, in 2017, Mark W. Jacobstein ’92 offered a possible explanation: the internet did not seem useful to students. “In 1992, not everyone even had a computer,” Jacobstein said. “I don’t know that we would have known what to do with a

network… Your friends didn’t have email addresses at other colleges, it just wasn’t part of the milieu.” The status quo changed in 1995, when a faculty committee called on all staff and faculty members to obtain a personal computer and internet access by the summer of 1996. The College then implemented online grade access in the fall of 1997. Since then, the internet has played an instrumental role in shaping the student experiences and future careers of Harvard undergraduates. A New Way to Learn In 2014, the College announced that it would adopt Canvas, a web-based learning platform, for all of its classes by the 201617 academic year. In a 2014 interview, Kristin Sullivan, senior director of educational technology and public leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, said that the University was one of the early adopters of Canvas. “We have been able to con-

tribute to the platform,” Sullivan wrote in an email to The Crimson at the time, noting that Harvard has piloted Canvas since the fall semester and recently decided it will universalize the system. “We are participating in their open-source community and have built custom tools supported by the platform.” Canvas allows students to submit assignments, receive grades and feedback on their work, and contact teaching fellows and course assistants in the same place. Some professors have even opted to allow students to enroll in their courses without ever attending a lecture — at least in-person. In spring 2023, four Computer Science courses, four Economics courses, a Government course, a Neuroscience course, and a Statistics course allowed students to enroll in another course taking place at the same time without additional permission. Students enrolled in such courses were expected to watch recordings of the lectures post-

ed on the courses’ Canvas pages. In the fall of 2022, Statistics 110: “Introduction to Probability” garnered 788 students — making it the most-enrolled course at Harvard — and allowed students to simultaneously enroll without petitioning the Administrative Board. In addition to altering the lives of Harvard undergraduates, the internet opened the door for a new generation of Harvard students through the Harvard Extension School. In 1997, Harvard created the Distance Education Program to aid adults seeking to continue their education. The Extension School, which has served students ages 18 to 89, awards more than 8,000 degrees and 1,000 certificates each year. ‘It’s Crazy’ For some students, the infusion of the internet into Harvard’s student life altered their career paths. In 1997, Harvard undergraduates Wellie W. Chao ’98, Seth P. Sternglanz ’98, and Phuc V.

Truong ’98 unveiled an online job recruitment website they had developed for Harvard’s Office of Career Services. “A lot of universities are moving toward a system like this, but we’ve beaten a lot of them to the punch,” Sternglanz said to The Crimson at the time. Chao, Sternglanz, and Truong then went on to start their own company, Crimson Solutions, which provided a recruiting platform for students to use as they entered the job market. According to Truong, Crimson Solutions raised over $22 million in funding and eventually merged with another company. For Truong, moving into the internet company space with Crimson Solutions was the first of a number of entrepreneurial ventures he has undertaken since. After leaving Crimson Solutions, Truong worked as a consultant for a few years, during which time he said he realized that he “didn’t go to Harvard to be someone’s minion” and returned to entrepreneurship.

Truong said that he was not the only member of his class to enter internet startups during the “dot-com bubble” and referenced other tech entrepreneurs that graduated from Harvard in the years after him, ultimately crediting his own success to persistence. In the years since, internet careers — including outside of entrepreneurship — have become increasingly common amongst Harvard alumni, with 12 percent of respondents to The Crimson’s 2023 Senior Survey saying that they plan on working in the tech industry after graduating — the third most popular choice after finance and consulting. Using the internet, Truong said that he is hoping his most recent venture, a robotic recycling company named Phuc Labs, will take him to billionaire status — but added that he is “already a millionaire.” “That’s the fucking internet. It’s crazy,” he added. jonah.karafiol@thecrimson.com neil.shah@thecrimson.com

CHINA FROM PAGE 1

Jiang Zemin’s Visit Marks New Chapter in Harvard-China Relations China, it was a cool event,” Shih said. “But I think the rest of campus just did not pay that much attention to it.” “It would be kind of similar today like if the president of Mexico were to visit,” he added. “There would be certainly a lot of students who would be interested, but most of Harvard may just go

on with its life.” But the full significance of Jiang’s visit would not become clear until decades later. During his speech in Sanders Theatre, Jiang invited Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine to visit China. Just a few months later, in March 1998, Rudenstine took Ji-

Demonstrators bearing Chinese and U.S. flags flank Jiang Zemin as he enters Sanders Theatre ROSS J. FLEISCHMAN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

ang up on his offer, becoming the first sitting Harvard president to visit mainland China. Over the years since, it has become commonplace for Harvard presidents to visit China and meet with the country’s top leaders. Lawrence H. Summers, Rudenstine’s successor, visited China and met with Jiang during his first year in office. Drew G. Faust also visited Beijing in 2015 and met Xi, who had become China’s president by the time. Outgoing Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow continued the presidential tradition of visiting China and meeting with Xi during just his second international trip as president. It is unclear, however, if incoming University President Claudine Gay intends to follow the example of her predecessor by visiting China early in her tenure, as U.S.-China relations have further deteriorated since Bacow’s visit to Beijing. Just months after Bacow returned from meeting with Xi, the Department of Justice arrested and charged former Harvard professor Charles M. Lieber under its

controversial China Initiative. The China Initiative faced intense criticism for allegedly targeting individuals of Chinese descent and not fulfilling its initial objectives as an anti-espionage crackdown. In prescient remarks during his keynote speech at Peking University in 2019, Bacow called on academics to continue international scholarly collaboration despite the political differences that their countries may have. “I believe that sustaining the bonds that join scholars across borders is of the utmost importance for all of us gathered here today — and for anyone who cares about the unique role that higher education plays in the lives of countless people,” Bacow said in his speech. However, it will now be Gay who will have the opportunity to signal whether the scholarly bonds between the U.S. and China will succeed in withstanding the increasingly fraught political tensions between the two nations. ryan.doannguyen@thecrimson.com miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com

President of China Jiang Zemin speaks at Sanders Theatre, becoming the first Chinese president to visit Harvard. WILLIAM B. DECHERD—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

ETHNIC STUDIES

Push for Ethnic Studies Dept. Continues ETHNIC STUDIES. Even in the 1997-98 academic year, the push for an ethnic studies concentration was decades old. BY CAM E. KETTLES AND JO B. LEMANN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

hroughout the 1997-98 academic year, student organizers and activists renewed demands for Harvard to establish an ethnic studies concentration — a call that, even then, was decades-old. Twenty-five years later, Harvard still does not offer a ethnic studies concentration or house a department for the subject, although there is now an ethnic studies field within the History and Literature concentration and a secondary field in Ethnicity, Migration, Rights. “We were calling for a curriculum, like a actual concentration where you can really gain expertise in the history and culture literature of a representative minorities in the United States,” Michael Hsu ’98 said. “We’re trying to make up for for gaps in the curriculum. We’re not just trying to do some anthropology,” Hsu added. When the Ethnic Studies Action Committee was formed in 1993, it was “a relatively small group,” Mina K. Park ’98 said. Park said the group was primarily “about filling a huge gap” within the curriculum at the College. “At the time, even though it was so long ago, it didn’t seem like such a radical thing to ask for,” Park said. Organizers then shared many of the frustrations current student activists have expressed — namely, a lack of both course options addressing modern ethnic studies and full-time faculty members focused on the topic. “At the time, we had this incredible African American studies program, and I was very interested in studying Asian American Studies, but there just wasn’t anything really available,” Park said. Like Park, Nisha S. Agarwal ’00 had wanted to study Modern India during her time at Harvard. While Harvard did offer classes on Sanskrit and ancient Indian history, Agarwal said there weren’t “modern classes.” “I looked for classes on India, on Gandhi, on really so-called modern questions and classes, and there was nothing,” Agarwal said. “So it was like, this is very odd because it’s a pretty big country and we should expect that there would be some classes on that.” Agarwal later created the South Asian Studies Initiative in the spring of 1998 to advocate for classes about modern South Asia. ESAC, SASI, and other eth-

Students rally in front of the John Harvard Statue in the late 1990s to call for the creation of an ethnic studies concentration, a call that even then was decades old. COURTESY OF JENNIFER CHING

Decades later, Harvard students continue to call for the creation of an ethnic studies concentration, demonstrating on the steps of Widener Library. ALLISON G. LEE— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

nicity-based groups including the Academic Affairs Committee and Asian American Association jointly adopted the cause of an ethnic studies department. Hsu, a former member ESAC and chair of AAC, said ESAC would organize public protests while AAC — an organization within the Harvard Foundation — would meet with deans and faculty members. “We played good cop and bad cop,” Hsu said of AAC and ESAC. While organizers said there were many supportive faculty members, “in terms of actually being able to do something or actually pulling whatever levers they could, it was different,” Park said. Jennifer Ching ’96 recalled “being completely shut down and being dismissed and insulted” by passers-by while protesting outside Harvard’s Science Center. Ching said she believes the push for ethnic studies is related to fighting white supremacy. “It’s the idea that any call for resources that center the rights, the thoughts, the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, or people of color — communities generally — is somehow illegitimate,” she said of the response to ESAC’s work. “I would argue that’s because

it is ultimately deeply threatening because a substantial body of that work is looking to interrogate and actually dismantle the infrastructure of white supremacy,” she added. While ESAC and related groups held many demonstrations, including a demonstration of green wristbands at the 1998 Cultural Rhythms event and yearly demonstrations during Junior Parents Weekend, the group’s main demand was never met. ‘There is such a strategy of just delay in university organizing settings where the administration probably rightly so just thinks, ‘We get these people out, the momentum is gone,’” Ching said. Harvard spokesperson Anna Cowenhoven declined to comment on the University’s response over time. Ching added that she sensed they were creating “incremental change” through their activism. In 2009, Harvard established an Ethnic Studies secondary before renaming it in 2012 as “Ethnicity, Migration, Rights.” The secondary gives students an opportunity to “pursue sustained, interdisciplinary study of ethnicity, migration, indigeneity, and human rights,” focusing on “Asian American, Latinx, and Native American studies,” accord-

ing to its website. The Asian American Studies program in particular within Ethnicity, Migration, Rights was expanded in 2021 after contributions totalling more than $45 million from alumni to endow professorships, fellowships, and fund research in the field. In addition, History and Literature introduced an ethnic studies track in 2017 that addresses “the roles of diaspora, migration, and colonialism in shaping cultural and social movements.” Lauren Kaminsky, the director of studies for History and Literature, wrote in a statement that ethnic studies is contained within the History and Literature concentration, which she described as providing students “a way of approaching their studies rather than any particular content area.” “In the same way that we expect students to be able to study European Studies or the Medieval World in other concentrations, History and Literature should not be the only place where a student can pursue Ethnic Studies,” Kaminsky wrote. She added that she hopes to see an increase in faculty specializing in Ethnic Studies. “The key to expanding course offerings in Ethnic Studies is fac-

In 2019, students protest the tenure denial of Lorgia García Peña, a Romance Languages and Literature professor. ALLISON G. LEE— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

ulty hiring,” she wrote. Indeed, in 2022, three new professors, History professors Jesse E. Hoffnung-Garskof ’93 and Erika Lee and Government professor Taeku Lee, were hired as part of a cluster hire for ethnic studies. Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay, who was announced in December as Harvard’s next president, said in a May interview with The Crimson that the next FAS Dean should “build out the cohort” of ethnic studies faculty. But many students see these changes as inadequate, and there remains broad support for the creation of a degree-granting ethnic studies concentration. In December of 2016, the Ethnic Studies Coalition petitioned Harvard to create an ethnic studies concentration and research center, which Kaminsky said partially inspired the History and Literature ethnic studies track. Again in 2019, there was a surge of protest, including a sitin at University Hall in support of ethnic studies after Romance Languages and Literatures associate professor Lorgia García Peña was denied tenure. A Harvard College Open Data Project Report in 2021 also confirmed that a majority of students

across different fields of concentration strongly or somewhat supported the creation of an ethnic studies concentration. This year, the Task Force for Asian American Progressive Advocacy and Studies, Harvard Ethnic Studies Coalition, and the Coalition for a Diverse Harvard hosted the first Ethnic Studies Week, which featured events such as a teach-in and panel discussion. In an op-ed in The Crimson the week after, Joseph W. Hernandez ’25 said there is a continued need for an ethnic studies concentration. “As a Government concentrator, I’ve felt this neglect firsthand, as it’s been a struggle to find ethnic studies courses that would count towards my concentration,” Hernandez wrote. Ching, who came to Harvard 29 years before Hernandez, expressed similar regret at the lack of ethnic studies at Harvard in her time in college. “To think about how much of a better attorney or advocate or thoughtful practitioner I would have been had I had more meaningful access to the scholarship,” Ching said. “It really saddens me.” cam.kettles@thecrimson.com jo.lemann@thecrimson.com

Harvard Moves Toward ‘No Tolerance’ for Smoking and Drinking BY TYLER J.H. ORY AND AUSTIN H. WANG CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 and Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III released a 16-clause statement outlining a strengthened alcohol policy on Oct. 22, 1997, leading to radical changes to Harvard’s alcohol and smoking rules in the late 1990s. “We are moving towards a no tolerance posture,” Epps said in an interview at the time. The policy called on student organizations to observe alcohol-related regulations; senior tutors, freshman deans, and house masters — now called faculty deans — to prevent underage drinking at Harvard functions; businesses to “be strict” in checking identification; and police to enforce alcohol-related laws. The statement came after the alcohol-related deaths of two MIT students and claimed that “intoxication is associated with every form of adverse social behavior occurring at Harvard.”

Smoking in all undergraduate houses was banned six months later in April 1998. Still, the strengthened policies did not seem to leave a significant impression on the average Harvard undergraduate. “Rather than being a complete reversal, it was more like turning the dial a little bit in the sense of slightly less drinking,” Ben J. Lima ’98 said. Adam M. Kleinbaum ’98 remembered “frequent pronouncements” about reducing drinking on-campus and “some rules that prohibited hard alcohol.” The changes in smoking rules may have left a deeper memory. Lima recalled a “continuous progression” towards less smoking in the United States. “I remember my parents saying that when they were young, that smoke would just be everywhere, people would smoke anywhere and everywhere, which seemed strange to me,” he said. Lima said he noticed smoking becoming increasingly “segregated to specific places” in his childhood, such as “smoking”

and “non-smoking” sections in restaurants. Boston’s 1998 ban of smoking entirely in restaurants felt “new and unusual” to Lima. “Smoking was definitely more common than it is now, but not very widely practiced. I definitely knew some people who smoked, but that was the exception more than the rule,” Kleinbaum said. Lewis, who was dean of the College from 1995 to 2003, said he did not “remember any such no tolerance” policy, but he emphasized that College restrictions were focused on preventing deaths. “Those are the most horrible calls in the world to make,” he said. “I’m trying at all costs, to avoid, if possible, creating the circumstances where a tragedy like that can happen.” Lewis said the issue of excessive drinking on campus was not apparent to him until he began receiving the reports as dean. “I became aware of, and sensitized to, the problem of alcohol abuse, just when I started getting reports of numbers of students who were hospitalized over the weekends, taken by ambulance

somewhere so they could be kept alive,” he said. An incident involving a beer keg at one year’s Harvard-Yale football game led to ban of kegs at tailgate events, Lewis recalled. “A student was suffering from alcohol poisoning, and because the field where the tailgate was taking place was muddy, it was impossible for a rescue vehicle or EMT vehicle to reach it. It got stuck in the mud trying to get across the field to rescue that particular student,” Lewis said. “People are less inclined to try, for whatever reason, to try to down a whole case of beer than they are to down a whole keg of beer,” he added. Still, drinking was common at several spots on campus. Among the most popular for undergraduates was the Crimson Sports Grille, which closed in 2001 after a string of alcohol violations. Some also enjoyed alcoholic scorpion bowls at the Hong Kong Restaurant. Lima wrote that the “artsy crowd” favored smoking Dunhill cigarettes at the now-closed Cafe Pamplona “with a beret and

a copy of Being and Nothingness or Being and Time, really anything with ‘Being’ in the title.” Undergraduates often flocked to Pinocchio’s Pizza, affectionately called “Noch’s,” for greasy late-night fare after parties. “The combination of Harvard Yard and Harvard Square and the houses is just a fantastic place to be an undergrad, that’s for sure,” Lima said. Students also frequented the convenience store Louie’s Superette, whose owner was charged with selling alcohol to minors in 2004. Blanchard’s Liquors ended its room-delivery keg service after the alcohol-related 1997 death of an MIT student that sparked Harvard’s alcohol policy change. Kleinbaum, a former Crimson News editor, said students drank “to enhance the good time” they were having in college and was mostly “good clean fun.” “Not everybody drank but most people, I would say, probably did during college, and there wasn’t a whole lot of stigma attached to it,” Kleinbaun said. Some also found new, creative

ways to libate. During the 199798 academic year, Lima and his roommates built, decorated, and opened a 21-plus, invitation-only bar in a spare room in their suite, Dunster House E-22. “What happened was someone moved out, which means at the last minute, we had an extra space and we said, ‘What are we going to do with this extra space?’ and, ‘Let’s make it a place to throw parties and call it the Mask and Spear Pub,’” Lima said. “I think it was pretty successful. But again, only because if we’d been really causing problems, I’m sure they would have shut it down,” he added. Harvard’s drinking culture appeared to be more muted compared to other schools, according to Lima. “Being Harvard, I think a significant number of undergrads abstained entirely, since both drinking and smoking could be seen as obstacles to maximum achievement in both academics and personal health,” he wrote in an email. tyler.ory@thecrimson.com austin.wang@thecrimson.com

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

PROFILE

A Legacy of Leadership: Eric L. Johnson ’98 PUBLIC SERVICE. Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson ’98 said his interest in public service was sparked by his time at the PBHA. BY CAROLINE K. HSU CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Michelle J. Douglas, director of programs at the PBHA spoke of Johnson’s ability to “bring long-lasting memories to these children and give them something that they may never have ever had before.” “Eric really brought them together,” Douglas added.

Johnson. “I have not forgotten what it’s like to live in a neighborhood where you are routinely awakened by gunfire or where you lose friends to gun violence,” Johnson said. “And where there are regularly funerals at your local church for kids who look just like

f Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson ’98 hadn’t met Robert Bridgeman — then the director of programs at the Phillips Brooks House Association — while walking across Harvard Yard in his freshman fall, his life of public service might not have been the same. Bridgeman offered Johnson the opportunity to be the director of the Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program upon hearing about Johnson’s upbringing in “one of the toughest neighborhoods, if not the toughest neighborhood of Dallas.” CYEP offers summer academic and extracurricular enrichment to low-income youth in Cambridge. Johnson accepted the position and spearheaded CYEP’s activities, raised funds for the program, resided in one of the housing projects where program participants lived, and became certified to drive a passenger van to transport students. “I really decided, I think at that point, that what I really wanted to do with my life was to serve my community and particularly kids who are growing up in disadvantaged circumstances,” Johnson said.

If and when there was ever any conflict between organizations, he was always our mediator. It was clear that he had a gift for both representing people as well as being able to communicate well with everyone. Mark A. Thompon ‘98 Fraternity Brother of Eric L. Johnson ’98

Since June 2019, Johnson has served as mayor of Dallas, becoming the second Black mayor in the city’s history. He credits his experience at PBHA and his childhood as having shaped his views on public safety, the “hallmark” of his mayoralty and career. ‘A Real Interest in Leadership’ Johnson was raised in Dallas in a “low-income neighborhood” in a family of six. When he was a high school student, he experienced “the most violent years in American history in terms of homicides and violent crime,” according to

you and are your same age.” In his youth, Johnson attended the Greenhill School on a scholarship from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas. It was there that he discovered his love for history — which he later concentrated in at Harvard. While Johnson did not necessarily entertain a political career while entering college, he “always had a real interest in leadership.” On choosing to study at Harvard, Johnson said he was

“intrigued by the idea of attending a school that has been so successful in training so many great leaders for our country.” A resident of Cabot House, Johnson was involved with PBHA and the Harvard Black Students Association. He was also a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. “If and when there was ever any conflict between organizations, he was always our mediator,” said Mark A. Thompson ’98, Johnson’s fraternity brother. “It was clear that he had a gift for both representing people as well as being able to communicate well with everyone,” Thompson added. Leading community service efforts in BSA and his fraternity, Johnson was awarded multiple scholarships through PBHA as well as the John Lord O’Brian Award from the University, which is given to a student who shows “particular promise of a career in public service,” according to Johnson. Douglas said that Johnson was “definitely an overachiever and really, really passionate about helping kids.” “You could see that passion in his face when he did most anything in regards to the CYEP,” she continued. Johnson’s time at Harvard was “the turning point that I can point to in my career where I decided that’s really what I wanted to do

with my life,” Johnson said. After graduating from the College cum laude in 1998, Johnson attended the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, where he obtained a master’s degree in Public Affairs. Soon after, he earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania on a public service scholarship. Outside of academics, he worked in a number of public service positions, including working on narcotics prosecution at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. ‘Dallas is Home’ Despite leaving Texas to pursue higher education, Johnson always knew that he would return to Dallas “to make this community better.” “Dallas is home and Texas is home and it always has been and always will be,” Johnson said. Recalling her first impression of Johnson, Douglas said he seemed “a little eccentric, a little

cials, elected officeholders, and executives with nonprofit organizations,” according to the program’s website. “It really started to make me think about other ways I could serve,” Johnson said. “That program, if anything, was maybe the beginning of my thinking of running for mayor.” Sixtieth Mayor of Dallas In the 2019 mayoral election, Johnson won with 55.6 percent of the vote in a runoff election. Not long after he took office in June, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, bringing with it a “violent crime wave that sort of hit the entire country,” Johnson said. As crime rates surged, Johnson was reminded of the violence he grew up with in Dallas in the 1990s. “I did not want my kids, any folks who live in the city to go through what we went through back then — where the homicides just exploded, and people were afraid to walk outside, and all the

I feel an intense pressure to create more opportunities for children in particular who were not born in the best of circumstances and who need to hear a message and need to see an example of what can be done, what their lives can be, what they can accomplish. Eric L. Johnson ‘98 Mayor of Dallas, TX

sort of Texas.” “The pride that he has in his own city from growing up there and watching the evolution of the city of Dallas, and having a hand in crafting what it is today is definitely his passion,” Douglas said. “And again, it all is driven by, I believe, his love for children,. hHis love for education and learning.” In April 2010, Johnson won a special election for a vacant seat in the Texas House of Representatives for the 100th district, an office he would hold until 2019 when he became mayor of Dallas. During this period, he was also selected to become a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan think tank. Johnson participated in the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government program in 2018, a three-week program for “government off i -

Eric L. Johnson’98 serves as the Mayor of the city of Dallas, Texas. COURTESY OF MADDY MADRAZO— OFFICE OF DALLAS MAYOR ERIC L. JOHNSON

youth-related violence and the gang violence,” Johnson said. Lowering crime became one of Johnson’s main goals as he worked to ensure that police departments were adequately funded. He also sought to improve “non-law enforcement tools,” including improving the lighting in higher-crime areas, doubling down on violence interrupter programs, and partnering with the Dallas school district to improve social-emotional learning. Johnson touted decreases in violent crime in Dallas during 2021 and 2022 — a trend unlike other major U.S. cities. “That is directly attributable to the intensity that I brought to this issue because of how I grew up and what I experienced being an at-risk youth in the city of Dallas. I lived that life and I know what that’s like, and I just don’t want that for any kid in my city,” Johnson said. Johnson has also worked to provide young Dallas residents with activities and employment while they are out of school. He launched the Summer of Safety campaign last year and the Dallas Works program in 2020. “I feel an intense pressure to create more opportunities for children in particular who were not born in the best of circumstances and who need to hear a message and need to see an example of what can be done, what their lives can be, what they can accomplish,” Johnson said. Despite being re-elected to his second term with nearly 99 percent of the vote last month, Johnson has faced policy disagreements from “members on my own city council” and people he has “worked with for many years.” He described his “fight to get a new police chief,” since the former chief “did not fully comprehend the magnitude of the problem.” “I just did what I knew to be — based on my upbringing — what families who are actually having to live with the consequences of these decisions as they relate to public safety would want,” Johnson said. “Eric doesn’t thrive on what people think of him. He thrives on what he thinks he can do for the people,” Douglas said.

caroline.hsu@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

PROFILE

Murthy’s Path to U.S. Surgeon General THE NATION’S DOCTOR. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy ’98 said he often bases decisions on “inspiration in the moment.” BY J. SELLERS HILL CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

ivek H. Murthy ’98 isn’t quite sure what he’ll do next. “I’ve never been great about seeing too far into the future for myself. I have found, actually, that as time goes on, I tend to think more and more short term,” he said. Right now, though, Murthy has more than enough on his plate. His res u m e

features numerous board positions, nonprofit and business ventures, and a bestselling book. A father of two, Murthy now serves as surgeon general of the United States — the youngest person ever to be confirmed to the position and the first of Indian descent. Murthy looks back at his studies at Harvard — as a summer school student, undergraduate, and medical resident — as periods of formative exploration, interpersonal bonding, and personal development. Murthy, the child of Indian immigrants, first experienced Harvard as a high school student when he attended Harvard Summer School with his sister. According to Murthy, the school left him with a glowing impression. “I had a really wonderful time there,” Murthy said. Gerald B. Pier, one of Murthy’s summer school professors and later mentor, remembers the young student leaving an impression on him as well. “As I recall, he as a high school student scored the highest scores on the tests in the class,” Pier said. “That was pretty impressive given that there were plenty of Harvard upper division and graduate students who also took the class.” A Quincy House resident, Murthy said the transition from his public high school in Miami, Florida, to the College left him feeling “very inadequate” at many times. Though he had always imagined himself pursuing medicine, Murthy said he began to seriously consider history, economics, and literature when he came to Harvard. He was ultimately called back to medicine through VI-

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy ’98 said his choices are fueled by “inspiration in the moment.” COURTESY OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

SIONS Worldwide, a nonprofit organization focused on HIV/AIDS education that he co-founded with his sister during his freshman year. Murthy’s friends say he was as studious as he was kind, which set him apart from his peers. “Harvard kids can be super cerebral but sometimes lacking in emotional intelligence,” wrote friend and classmate Sewell Chan ’98. “That wasn’t Vivek — he was a brilliant student but also someone whose compassion and kindness stood out.” “I was always impressed by how persistent he could be, working for so many hours in a

“

As I get older, I realized that what I really want for myself and my kids when they grow up is I want them to be deeply fulfilled. I want them to contribute to the world in some way Vivek H.Murthy ‘98 U.S. Surgeon General

row,” said Akilesh “Akil” Palanisamy ’98, Murthy’s friend and roommate. “At the same time, he was always willing to have a conversation. If I wanted to talk to him about something, then he would stop what he was doing and then sometimes those conversations would go on for hours.” Murthy graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in biochemical sciences before earning his MD and MBA from Yale in 2003. Murthy said it was “incredible” to return to Boston for his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2003. “I came to work every day feeling like I was coming to see friends,” Murthy said. “We stood by each other during some of our darkest hours and we celebrated together.” In 2007, Murthy co-founded TrialNetworks, which aimed to optimize the quality and efficien-

cy of clinical trials. Two years later, he co-founded Doctors for America, a nonprofit advocating for improved health care policy. Barack Obama appointed Murthy to serve on the Presidential Advisory Council on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health in 2011. The next year, he cochaired the health care advisory committee for Obama’s reelection campaign. Staying true to his lack of a plan, Murthy said he let his passions steer him through these endeavors. “None of them were really the result of a lot of pre-planning or some five-year strategic plan,” Murthy said. “They were the result of feeling inspiration in the moment and then taking a leap and pursuing it.” Murthy’s wife, on the other hand, knew exactly what was in store for him. Alice Chen recalled being unsurprised when Murthy texted her to say he had received a message from the White House in summer 2013. “I picked up the phone and I said, ‘They just asked you to be surgeon general, didn’t they?’’” Chen said. “I just knew.” Despite serving as the nation’s doctor, Chen said Murthy still makes the time to be the “best dad.” “Even though he has this really important position, he comes home for dinner,” Chen said. “He’s there for the kids and for me and for the rest of the family in ways that are really special.” Looking ahead, Murthy said he hopes his family can give back to the world. “As I get older, I realized that what I really want for myself and my kids when they grow up is I want them to be deeply fulfilled. I want them to contribute to the world in some way,” Murthy said. After authoring a book on the power of human connection, Murthy is quick to highlight social bonding as a top priority. “I come back to this 25th reunion, if anything, wishing that I had spent more time with people — building friendships, getting to know my classmates,” Murthy said. “Even though it’s been 25 years, I’m hoping to make up for some lost time,” he added. sellers.hill@thecrimson.com

Kristen Welker ’98: From the Crimson to the White House BY CLAIRE YUAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Leading the crowd of reporters in the White House briefing room, Kristen Welker ’98 sat in the front row, poised to ask about the ongoing fight over the debt limit and budget deal. Unlike most of her fellow graduates from the Class of 1998, Welker spent the day before her class’ 25th reunion at the heart of the Joe Biden administration. Welker, NBC News’ chief White House correspondent and a co-anchor of Weekend Today, is a broadcast journalist currently leading NBC’s coverage of the Biden administration. Previously, she has also traveled around the world with former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama and reported on former President Donald Trump’s administration. In her line of work, Welker is no stranger to asking powerful individuals tough questions. Following Trump’s impeachment in 2021, Welker turned to him in the Oval Office and asked what it felt like to be the third president in United States history to face such a sanction. But Welker said those daunting moments were made easier by knowing that she was “prepared for the task at hand.” “If you are prepared, you know that you have the facts on your side,” she said. “Part of covering the White House — or any beat — is coming in every day and knowing that you have done your homework.”

Welker said her job comes with the imperative that she is ready to ask sharp questions and seek out answers. “That is the role of a journalist: to really serve on behalf of the American people,” Welker said. “For the people who cannot be in the briefing room, who cannot be at the White House every day but who have important questions and important issues that they want addressed.” Over the years, Welker has won national acclaim for her work as a broadcast journalist. In 2011, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role in NBC’s midterm election reporting. Four years later, Welker won an Emmy, this time for her part in the network’s coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a passenger flight that was shot down by Russian-controlled forces. But Welker’s road to the White House started early, and her love for political journalism set in during high school. “I just got the bug,” she said. “My parents were involved in politics, and I got a very early front row seat to the role that journalists and journalism can have in our democracy.” Arriving at Harvard her freshman year, Welker joined The Harvard Crimson — the University’s independent student newspaper — and got her first taste of college journalism. One particular story, covering a fire that had torn through two Cambridge Street apartment buildings, left a lasting impression. “I’ll never forget,” Welker said.

“I went to downtown Boston, I was wearing nothing but a sweater — and I think it was freezing out — taking notes in a notepad.” “It was incredibly invigorating to be there,” she added. “I felt an immense sense of responsibility, and I think that really solidified my desire to be a journalist.” Welker, who concentrated in History, also wrote for the Harvard Independent. She said her work for both papers planted the “seeds of my skills as a journalist.” “I remember sitting by my phone waiting for an interview subject to call me back, going in late at night to come up with headlines for the Independent, to bounce ideas around, to be in editing sessions,” Welker said. Her time with college reporting taught her the “responsibility that journalists have to the community,” Welker said. “You realize that these stories matter to people,” she said. “You’re covering people’s lives. You’re covering events that are impacting their homes, their neighborhood, and just being a witness to history.” Despite the long hours she spent — and continues to spend — on journalism, Welker embraces the “awesome responsibility” of being a journalist and “writing the first draft of history.” “When you are passionate about something, it doesn’t often fit neatly into a nine-to-five schedule,” she said. “You have to work a little bit harder.” claire.yuan@thecrimson.com

Kristen Welker ’98 is News’ chief White House correspondent and a co-anchor of Weekend Today. Welker joined The Crimson her first year at the College. COURTESY OF NBC UNIVERSAL

EDITORIAL

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

1997–98 OPINIONS A LOOK BACK AT THE OPINION PAGES, 25 YEARS LATER JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

SEPTEMBER 24, 1997

FEBRUARY 19, 1998

Core Woes Persist Another Year

$111,618,000

hange is a necessary part of any academic institution that wishes to maintain a reputation of excellence; it is a sign that administrations are in touch with the needs of students and are willing to align their traditions with constantly changing standards and realities. Naturally, some changes are misguided, and others simply daily. With that in mind, we tried to make helpful suggestions concerning the Core Curriculum last term, but judging by the latest course catalog, 1997-98 promises to be another dark year where the Core is concerned. Two years ago, Core offerings were at an 11-year-high, with 105. But this year we have hit the abysmal eight-year low of 85. The Administration has been properly apologetic and Director of the Core Program Susan W. Lewis appears to have understood the problem: “I think students will appreciate more choice. That’s one thing that students have quite rightly complained about in the past,” she said. With this kind of keen insight, we are disappointed that the Core Review Committee

did not complete their reforms in time to have implemented some positive changes this year. Call us spoiled, call us whatever you want, but we do not want to hear reasons that Core offerings are at the lowest they have been since the Cold War. We either want the number of available courses to increase dramatically by next fall, to at least 95, or we want the Administration to junk this outdated system and figure something else out (see last year’s diatribes). Most important, we want to see the speedy implementation of departmental substitutions for Core classes. By its name, the Core Program should be at the very least a dependable and effective pillar of Harvard College’s curriculum. Instead, it is a withering branch that only inspires feelings of disgust.

–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

111,618,000: This is the additional money Harvard could spend if it increased payout from its $11.2 billion endowment by a mere 1 percent. We believe it should. This year’s payout — a paltry 2.98 percent — is well below the University’s oft-stated goal of spending between 4 and 5 percent of the endowment each year on general operating expenses. While it is understandable that Mass. Hall wants to proceed with some caution, this is the lowest payout since 1987. And this tightfistedness comes at a time of unprecedented percentage endowment growth — a healthy 25.8 percent last year. This year’s payout of $332.3 million is actually less than last year’s when inflation is accounted for. The rising tide of consumer optimism seems not to have raised any boats in Harvard Yard. The University’s explanation for this penny-pinching is that they must keep the flow of endowment funds steady from year to year. Administrators fear that a large influx of money in a good year could be followed by a drought during a bear market. They add that the majority of the endowment is restricted, reserved for certain uses within the University (salaries, buildings, etc.) and so to increase the payout of funds for, say, facility construction would be inefficient in

a time when the University is not looking to build. But there is a limit to how thin this rationale can stretch. After two record-breaking years of endowment growth, the University can certainly reward itself for its good stewardship by opening the bank vaults just a little — enough to fund those needs that Harvard students have been clamoring about for years, such as smaller classes, better advising, remodeled athletic facilities. Just how much money is this mere 1 percent? Last year, the University collected $147.9 million in undergraduate tuition. $111.6 million could wipe out 75 percent of this. True, every dollar spent this year means less money in the future, but Harvard is an institution ostensibly devoted to the acquisition of knowledge, not capital. Surely there must be a point when the Corporation, President Neil L. Rudenstine and their minions at the Harvard Management Company can look down from their mountains of gold, see us in the distance and toss some spare change toward today’s students.

JANUARY 14, 1998

Early-Action Program Flawed BY THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

n December, Harvard made 1,048 New Year’s parties that much happier with early-action admissions to the Class of 2002, potentially 48 percent of the class. As the number of early-action applicants and acceptances continue to rise under Harvard’s non-binding system, we question what negative effects may be developing unnoticed. What is our concern? We fear that early-action may be creating a two-tiered accepted group with different standards and different demographics. Students who apply early are more likely to be at schools with good counseling systems and the advantage of good college advice long before senior fall. But for students at schools where this is not the case, their chance of being admitted will go down with every early admittee. This problematic trend stretches far beyond Harvard, of course; the entire application season has become preempted by early applications, which alter the competitiveness of a school’s applicant pool and its financial aid picture.

Harvard, as a leading school in early and regular applicants, can provide some lessons. The early pool is also less diverse than the regular pool, especially in the number of African-Americans (only 5 percent of those admitted to the Class of 2002 were African-American, compared with an average of 11 percent with the current undergraduate classes) — a glaring distortion. Adequate high school counseling is by no means universal, and even with the respectable breadth of Harvard recruiting, not every potential student is reached in time for them to consider early-action. As the number of early-action acceptances continue to rise, we question what Harvard and other schools who determine a large portion of their class early are giving up in the process.

Dissent: Staff Paranoid BY ALEX M. CARTER, DANIEL M. SULEIMAN, AND GEOFFREY C. UPTON

t must have been the cook in the billiards room with the candlestick. The staff has demonstrated some high quality paranoia in its position on the early action program, which can only be predicated upon the unsubstantiated claim that the admissions office has changed its overall demographic considerations — ethnic, racial, geographic, financial, etc. — while determining Harvard’s undergraduate classes. If 5 percent of the class of 2002 is black come May, then we will have a problem.

–Alex M. Carter ’00 was a History and Literature concentrator from Dunster House. Daniel M. Suleiman ’99 was a Social Studies concentrator from Leverett House. Geoffrey C. Upton ’99 was a Social Studies concentrator from Leverett House.

Dissenting Opinions: Occasionally, The Crimson Editorial Board is divided about the opinion we express in a staff editorial. In these cases, dissenting board members have the opportunity to express their opposition to staff opinion.

THC Read more opinions from the Editorial Board at THECRIMSON.COM

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

SOPHIA SALAMANCA — CRIMSON DESIGNER

TABLE GRAPE BOYCOTT

How Grapes Took Over Campus Discourse 1984 The United Farm Workers call for a national boycott of table grapes

SOUR GRAPES. In the fall of 1997, campus became consumed with ‘The Great Grape Debate’, deciding if the College should continue its boycott of table grapes or not. BY SABRINA R. HU AND SAMI E. TURNER CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

1992 Prompted by demands from students, Harvard Dining Services bans grapes from dining halls in support of the UFW boycott

Oct. 28, 1997 Harvard Dining Services decides to lift its boycott against grapes

Nov. 7, 1997 As a result of pressure from students, Harvard Dining Services announces that it will postpone serving grapes in dining halls until a referendum is held to decide the grape debate

Nov. 16, 1997 A resolution in the Undergraduate Council to endorse a “no” vote in the grape referendum fails

Dec. 3, 1997 Harvard students vote in a College-wide referendum to bring back grapes to the dining halls, ending the College’s boycott of table grapes

Nov. 2000 After 16 years, the UFW announces the official end of its third table grape boycott

n Dec. 3, 1997, Harvard College students gathered at the polls to vote on the fate of a small but powerful presence of Sunday brunch: grapes. Following a five-year boycott on table grapes at the College inspired by a national United Farm Workers grape boycott, Harvard announced at the end of October 1997 that grapes would be reintroduced to Sunday brunch. Shortly after the initial announcement, Harvard Dining Services faced pushback from the student body, particularly from Harvard-Radcliffe RAZA — a Mexican and Latinx affinity group — and the Progressive Student Labor Movement. Sergio J. Campos ’00, a leader of RAZA, said the motivation behind RAZA’s involvement was rooted in an “affinity” for farmers and migrant workers from Latin America. “We sort of felt that it was important for many of us to bring awareness to the conditions of the workers at the time, and we were worried about the symbolism of Harvard going against the boycott,” Campos said. Due to student pushback, Dining Services decided on Nov. 7, 1997, to postpone serving grapes in the dining hall until a College-wide referendum to decide the issue. Harvard’s campus became consumed in what became known as the “Great Grape Debate” on whether the College should continue its boycott of table grapes in support of the UFW or bring grapes back to its menu. “Nothing like this has ever come up,” then-Dining Services project manager Alexandra E. McNitt told The Crimson in December 1997. Leading the pro-grape camp, which pushed for the reintroduction of grapes, was Adam R. Kovacevich ’99. Kovacevich, who launched the Grape Coalition, was motivated by his family’s connection to the grape industry and sparked the movement to bring back grapes in order to open up conversation.

“I had seen these kinds of debates play out before, but where there hadn’t really been a debate,” Kovacevich said. “I was interested in having more of a balanced debate on that question of whether grapes should return to the dining halls.” “I had personal experience with it. My dad is a grape grower in California and I grew up around agricultural industry, and so that was a big driver for

not be earned,” Plants said. “But, you could make an action, send a signal on to the world, take a stance on something you believed in that you felt like represented the students, to try to use your influence to achieve positive change.” Leading up to the referendum, both sides went head to head in campus organizing — hanging up posters, laying out cards on the tables, debating in the Harvard

“

It was in the long haul, I think, part of a broader resurgence of campus activism that was taking place. Daniel R. Morgan ‘99 Former Progressive Student Labor Movement Member

me,” he added. The Crimson Editorial Board at the time took a stance in support of continuing the UFW grape boycott in support of the grape workers. But in a dissent from the Board, Adam J. Levitan ’98 called on students to keep politics out of the dining hall, writing that “students should not have politics imposed on their palettes.” Instead, Levitan suggested “stricter government enforcement of existing labor and pesticide regulations.” The grape boycott became a part of a larger moral debate about what role the Undergraduate Council — Harvard’s now-dissolved student body government — would play on campus. Adam S. Vaina ’98, a UC member, described the grape debate in the UC as split between two types of activism: advocacy for “actual changes in student life on campus” versus for “standing up for a certain global or national political issue.” “It seemed like a bit of, I would say, not very democratic approach,” Vaina said of the boycott. “I don’t think the minority should impose on the majority a consumer boycott.” Then-freshman Todd E. Plants ’01 believed the UC’s activism could be more outwardly focused. Plants sponsored a resolution in 1997 for the UC to endorse a “No” vote on the Dining Services referendum, in support of continuing the UFW boycott. “Obviously, being at Harvard, you get attention that may or may

Political Union, and even handing out grapes on campus. “I remember I contacted the trade association that represented the California grape industry and they arranged to have 15 boxes of grapes shipped to my dorm room in Quincy,” Kovacevich said. “And so one morning a produce truck arrives at Quincy and then unloads, and these massive boxes, so just distributing all those grapes on campus was a

massive undertaking, and I don’t even remember how I did it,” he added. Ultimately, the referendum came out in favor of bringing table grapes back to dining halls at the College. In November 2000 — three years after the College’s decision to bring back table grapes to the dining halls — the UFW announced the end of its third grape boycott. “I think actually our students choosing to end grape boycott was a domino that knocked it over nationally too,” Kovacevich said. Even though he was disappointed by the outcome, Campos looked back on the debate fondly. “I used to be very frustrated about the outcome, but as I’ve gotten older and reflected on it, I’m actually quite proud that a very diverse coalition sort of came out of the blue to really address this issue,” Campos said. Those involved with organizing around the grape debate on both sides found the experience to be meaningful and a source of inspiration for the work they do today. “I became an entrepreneur and in general, maybe, this experience helped the feeling that if you actually take matters into your own hands, you can actually get things done. So, for me, that was a positive experience,” Vaina

said. Campos, who is now a professor of law at the University of Miami School of Law and was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School in fall 2022, expressed similar feelings. “It definitely had a gigantic influence on me and the career I ended up having,” Campos said. “I came into college as a premed student and basically I went to law school, I became a law professor, and I became sort of more concerned with the practical aspect of policy trying to make sure that good things happen,” he added. Daniel R. Morgan ’99, a member of the Progressive Student Labor Movement, remembered the grape debate’s legacy as part of a resurgence of progressive activism on campus that aided collaboration across student groups. “It was also an occasion for a range of new coalitions to emerge among progressive activists,” Morgan said, describing partnerships between RAZA, PSLM, immigration activists, and environmentalists. “It was in the long haul, I think, part of a broader resurgence of campus activism that was taking place across the mid-to-late 1990s and was very much a contribution to that kind of surge,” he added. sabrina.hu@thecrimson.com sami.turner@thecrimson.com

Members of the pro-grape coalition share table grapes at a strategy meeting in Adams House in the fall of 1997. SAMUEL P. TEPPERMAN-GELFANT— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

SPORTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

CLASS OF 1998 REUNION

25 Years Later, Harvard’s NCAA Tournament Upset of Stanford Lives On Coach Kathey Delaney-Smith coached the Harvard Women’s Basketball team for 40 years and lead the team to win 11 Ivy League titles. DEREK G. XIAO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

ABOUT THE TEAM Harvard’s overall season record for Harvard was 22-5 for the 1997-98 season.

HARVARD’S HISTORIC UPSET. 25 years ago, then-No. 16 Harvard women’s basketball upset No. 1 Stanford at the NCAA tournament in a legacy that lives on in collegiate basketball to this day. BY MAIREAD B. BAKER AND AARON B. SCHUCHMAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Crimson had an overall winning percentage of 0.815 The Ivy record for Harvard Women’s Basketball in 1997-98 was 12-2 The Ivy record for Harvard Women’s Basketball in 1997-98 was 12-2 Harvard Ivy League winning percentage was 0.857 In 1998, Harvard women’s basketball won its thirdstraight Ivy League Championship The Crimson’s 1998 NCAA appearance was its third overall, all of which were made under head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith

ormer Harvard women’s basketball head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith racked up a long list of records and accomplishments during her time in Cambridge, including becoming the winningest head coach in the history of Ivy League basketball, becoming one of four Division I coaches to spend 40 years at one institution, and winning 11 Ivy League titles. However, Harvard’s historic upset of the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal in the 1998 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament may have been the biggest moment of Delaney-Smith’s tenure. Until March 14, 1998, a No. 16 seed had never beaten a No. 1 seed in either the men’s or women’s postseason basketball tournament. The Cardinals entered the NCAA Tournament as the competition’s top overall seed and the top seed in the West Region, while the Crimson earned

nal had won two national championships while reaching the Final Four five times, including in 1995-1996 and 1996-1997. After another strong season in 1997-1998, Stanford entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and the top team in the West Region, earning homecourt advantage at Maples Pavillion on Stanford’s campus, where the Cardinal had won 59 consecutive games. Despite the Cardinal’s top ranking, Stanford was facing two major injuries at the start of the postseason. Star forward Vanessa Nygaard suffered an ACL injury in the team’s final regular season game against Oregon State, while All-American Kristin Folkl, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, landed awkwardly during a late-season practice and suffered a knee injury, keeping both players out of the NCAA Tournament game. On the Harvard side, Allison Feaster had led the nation in scoring as the Crimson had raced to a 22-4 record (12-2 in the Ivy League) and an outright Ivy League title. Harvard had made the NCAA tournament in the previous two seasons, losing in 1996 to the third-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores and in 1997 to the first-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, each time in the first round. After a dominant season in 1997-1998, the Crimson were again ranked as a 16-seed, which provided added motivation for Harvard.

Harvard won the Harvard Invitational in the 1997-98 season after a 10-year drought Princeton broke Harvard’s 32-game Ivy League winning streak with a 5653 defeat on Feb. 14, 1998 Harvard avenged its loss to Princeton on Feb. 20, 1998 with a 58-52 victory in front of a crowd of 1,636 — the largest home crowd of the season Harvard’s historic 1997-98 season ended with a 8264 loss to the University of Arkansas on the second round game of the NCAA tournament

We didn’t feel like terrible underdogs going in. But I think the entire country thought we were underdogs. Alison Seanor Then–senior Gaurd

an automatic bid to the tournament as the Ivy League champion, where it was seeded 16th in the West region, and 62nd out of 64 teams. “We didn’t feel like terrible underdogs going in,” then-senior guard Alison Seanor told The Crimson in 2018. “But I think the entire country thought we were underdogs.” After hiring Tara VanDerveer as head coach in 1985, the Cardi-

“We were very upset about where we were seeded,” then-junior guard Dr. Suzie Miller recalled in 2018. “It was a slap in the face to be seeded 16…so we came in with a bit of a chip on our shoulder.” The first half of the game was defined by dominant runs from each side. Harvard surged to a 22-9 lead midway through the first half, but the Cardinal responded with a 25-11 run to

take a one point lead with under three minutes to play in the half. The Crimson roared back with nine unanswered points to

continue its Cinderella run in a second round game against the University of Arkansas, though it ultimately lost to the Razor-

BY THE NUMBERS

62 This means more for the Ivy League than Harvard. At some point we had to get a little respect, and as a 16 seed, I thought we didn’t get it. [The Ivy League] has had some great athletes, and our top team has always been competitive.

Kathy Delaney-Smith Former Women’s Basketball Head Coach

take an eight point advantage into the second half. In surging ahead, Harvard held the Cardinal to 31% shooting from the field in the first half while winning the rebounding and turnover battle. Stanford narrowed the lead in the early stages of the second half, and the lead changed hands throughout the rest of the game, keeping the score tight until the final buzzer. Inside the final two minutes, Miller gave Harvard a 66-65 lead with a jump shot, and after a defensive stop by the Crimson, Miller hit a three pointer to extend Harvard’s lead to four points at 69-65. The Crimson held on for a 71-67 victory, the first time a No. 16 seed had defeated a No. 1 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament — and also the first time Stanford had lost in the first round of the tournament since 1982. Leading the way for Harvard was Feaster — scoring nearly half of Harvard’s points with 35 — while also grabbing 13 rebounds. “This was one of the best wins I’ve ever experienced. I can’t tell you how much adversity we faced just coming in here, but somehow we did it,” Feaster said after the game. Her coach Delaney-Smith spoke with a similar sentiment at the time, sharing, “I’m really happy because no one thought we could do this but us. We prided ourselves on breaking records [this year], and this certainly tops that list.” After a history-making defeat of the Cardinal on their own court, the Crimson tried to

Harvard was ranked 62nd out of 64 teams entering the 1998 NCAA Tournament

backs 82-64. To this day, no other team in collegiate women’s basketball has achieved such a victory in the NCAA Tournament. In 1998, Delaney-Smith noted how much this particular victory meant not just to Harvard, but the entire Ivy League. “This means more for the Ivy League than Harvard,” she said. “At some point we had to get a little respect, and as a 16 seed, I thought we didn’t get it. [The Ivy League] has had some great athletes, and our top team has always been competitive.” In Harvard’s 2022-23 season, it made another mark in the record books by playing in the Great Eight of the NCAA’s WNIT tournament. Delaney-Smith has since retired, but with new head coach Carrie Moore at the helm, another historic NCAA tournament run has certainly been maintained within the program’s goals for the coming years. mairead.baker@thecrimson.com aaron.schuchman@thecrimson.com

The nation’s leading scorer Allison Feaster posted 35 points in the upset victory

31 Harvard held the Stanford Cardinals to 31% shooting from the field in the first half

59 Stanford had won 59 consecutive home games before the 1998 NCAA Tournament

12 Harvard won 12 Ivy League games in 1997-1998 to win the league title outright

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5 Then-junior gaurd Suzie Miller scored five points in the final two minutes to secure the win