The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLV, No. 48

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The University Daily, Est. 1873  | Volume CXLV No. 48  |  Cambridge, Massachusetts  |  Tuesday, april 3, 2018

The Harvard Crimson No one ever forgets the exact moment they received their Harvard acceptances. editorial PAGE 10

Student Activites Fee to Jump

Men’s volleyball nabs pair of crucial home victories sports PAGE 12

HKS Faculty and Staff Diversity 70 Black

60

Hispanic Women

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By jonah s. berger, caroline s. engelmayer, and michael e. xie

Asian

By Alexandra a. chaidez

Faculty

40

Crimson Staff Writers

The College will increase the student activities fee—an optional sum Harvard undergraduates pay as part of their enrollment costs—from $75 to $200 next academic year, Alexander R. Miller, associate dean for student engagement, said in an interview Monday. The $125—or 250 percent—increase marks the first change to the fee in over a decade. The Office of Student Life also plans to restructure the way it funds the Undergraduate Council, the College Events Board, House Committees, and the Intramural Sports Council starting fall 2018, Miller said. Before, the UC took charge of all money gathered via the activities fee and distributed it to campus student groups at the discretion of its finance committee. Now, though, the OSL plans to form a new committee—comprising both students and administrators—that will help allocate funds gathered through the activities fee. The committee will in part distribute funds according to student groups’ ability to engage with undergraduates, according to Miller. Miller said these changes are meant to make the funding system for student organizations more “sustainable” going forward. The activities fee increase and the funding system restructuring come at a time of widespread turnover and transition at Harvard. After 11 years at the helm, University President Drew G. Faust will step down in June 2018. President-elect Lawrence S. Bacow will take office in July. Money gathered via the activities fee only constitutes a portion of funding used to support undergraduate social programming. In recent years, the College has also relied on donations as well as a portion of the University president’s discretionary fund. Faust has provided part of her discretionary fund to the College, which has used the money to cover the cost of undergraduate social events, since at least 2015. By default, undergraduates pay the UC student activities fee, but they can avoid the charge by mailing a letter to the College before Sept. 30 each year detailing their reasons for opting out. All requests are honored, according to the Harvard College Student Handbook.

Crimson Staff Writer

Staff

First, it was Institute of Politics Director Maggie A. Williams, who announced last April she would leave the role she had held for three years. Next came Karen Y. Jackson-Weaver, who stepped down from her post as the Kennedy School’s dean of students last spring. And in November, after publicly declaring she did not feel supported at the Kennedy School, Alexandra Martinez—then the assistant dean for the diversity and inclusion office—followed suit. In the span of just over six months, the Harvard Kennedy School lost three prominent African-American women leaders. The departures came amid increasing scrutiny of diversity at the school, which has faced internal criticism for its lack of minority students, ­

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30 20 10 0 AY 2010-2011

AY 2015-2016

See DIVERSITY Page 9

Diana C. Perez—Crimson Designer

College Will Merge OSL, FDO in July By caroline s. engelmayer and michael e. xie Crimson Staff Writers

­ he Office of Student Life and the T Freshman Dean’s Office will merge into a new office—called the Dean of Students Office—starting on July 1, Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana wrote in an email to students Monday. Khurana said in an interview last week that administrators are merging the two offices to “integrate and strengthen the four-year residential experience.” “This new office will centralize services that are currently offered by both the OSL and the FDO in a way that ensures continuity in the extensive support systems–both academic and residential–that are available to all students,” he wrote in the email to students Monday.

See feE Page 9

University Adopts New Policy On Pregnancy

Diversity Remains HKS Challenge

See merger Page 7

The Freshman Dean’s Office, located at 6 Prescott St, will merge with the Office of Student Life effective July 1, the College announced Monday. Caleb D. Schwartz—Crimson photographer

Univ. Fights To Keep Admissions Data Private

SEE PAGE 9

By MOLLY C. MCCAFFERTY

By delano r. franklin and samuel w. zwickel

Crimson Staff Writer

Crimson Staff Writers

The University rolled out a new pregnancy in the workplace policy Friday morning following a new Massachusetts law aimed at preventing pregnancy-based workplace discrimination, The policy, which took effect on April 1, establishes that discrimination in hiring or employment practices on the basis of pregnancy is expressly prohibited and informs employees of their right to “reasonable accommodations for pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions,” according to a statement sent to University employees from the Office of Labor and Employee Relations on Friday. The change comes as a new piece of state legislation, the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, takes effect. Passed in July, the law describes ­

See policy Page 11 Inside this issue

Harvard Today 2

News 7

The University and anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions filed clashing briefs Friday outlining opposing arguments on whether the College’s admissions data should become public as part of an ongoing lawsuit against Harvard. In its brief, Harvard argued sensitive documents should “be filed provisionally under seal,” asserting the documents must remain confidential to protect applicants’ privacy and to safeguard the details of its admissions process. Students for Fair Admissions, though, asserted documents should be publicly filed. The group cited strong public interest and a “strong presumption of public access” in the case, claiming ­

Dean Dench

Interim dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Emma Dench, will become the school’s permanent dean in July. Caleb d. schwartz—Crimson photographer

Editorial 10

Sports 12

Today’s Forecast

Rainy & Overcast High: 46 Low: 38

See lawsuit Page 11

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