NEWS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON APRIL 14, 2023
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COLLEGE
College Committee Talks Campus Culture CAMPUS CULTURE. The “Intellectual Vitality Committee” discusses free idea exchange at the College. BY J. SELLERS HILL CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
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group of Harvard undergraduates, faculty, and alumni have been quietly meeting over the past two years to examine what they see as a lack of the free exchange of ideas at the College. Some members of the “Intellectual Vitality Committee,” facilitated by Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana, have also been invited to present to influential Harvard bodies including the Faculty Council and Board of Overseers — the University’s second-highest governing body. Committee member Shira Z. Hoffer ’25 wrote in a statement that the group welcomed those who “feel like Harvard could be doing better in striving toward veritas.” “The purpose of the committee is to brainstorm and implement ways to increase what we are calling ‘intellectual vitality’ on campus,” Hoffer wrote. “We believe that it is not just possible but crucial to engage with dissenting viewpoints, as long as we do so respectfully, and it is a passion for this engagement which brings us together.” College spokesperson Jona-
than Palumbo wrote in a statement that the College is committed to creating an environment of “open dialogue, vigorous inquiry, and intellectual exploration.” “Dean Khurana has appreciated multiple opportunities to discuss intellectual vitality with students and faculty for the past two years.” the statement reads. “We will continue to have these discussions to strengthen the College’s culture of open dialogue, respectful disagreement, freedom to express one’s views, and openness to changing one’s mind.” “Dean Khurana strongly believes in the importance of academic freedom, which allows students and faculty to engage in inquiry without fear of censorship or reprisal,” he added. Member Jaya J. Nayar ’24 said the group is considering a variety of initiatives, including changes to the College’s admissions essays, orientation programming, and expository writing program. Philosophy professor Edward J. “Ned” Hall, who helped form the group, said the committee has also discussed introducing an annual “citizens’ assembly” to debate campus issues. “There’s one that a lot of us on the faculty — and I think students too — would love to see the University administration take up, which is to just issue a very clear, forceful statement about the importance of free inquiry on a college campus,” Hall said.
Hall is also the co-president of the recently announced Council for Academic Freedom at Harvard, a separate, faculty-led group focused on supporting “free inquiry, intellectual diversity, civil discourse,” according to its website. Some members of the Intellectual Vitality Committee earlier this month presented to the Board of Overseers, in order to share experiences related to the free idea exchange on campus and to present their vision for improvement, Nayar said. “We are really trying to reencourage disagreement and look for healthier forms of disagreement, rather than having things that are spats on the email chains or in GroupMe’s that really devolve into nothing but hurt feelings and bitter sentiments,” Nayar said. Similar topics around free speech and academic freedom have recently come to the forefront at peer schools, including Stanford University and Cornell University. Still, professor of Astronomy Karin I. Öberg, a member of the Intellectual Vitality Committee, said she believes Harvard’s issues and solutions are distinct. “I do think there are sort of somewhat different flavors of this at different universities, and I think it’s important that Harvard, as Harvard, also figures out what its mission is,” she said. sellers.hill@thecrimson.com
University Hall, located in Harvard Yard, houses the offices of top College administrators, including Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana. THOMAS MAISONNEUVE—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
GRIFFIN FROM PAGE 1
Affiliates Slam Griffin Donation Over Gov. DeSantis Support about Harvard College’s acceptance of slavery in the 1700s,” Skocpol added. “Feel free to quote me.” In a statement, Jaquelyn M. Scharnick ’06, a spokesperson for Griffin and a former Crimson News editor, called Griffin “one of the strongest supporters of free speech and free inquiry in the country.” “Ken said as recently as today that no one who contributes to a politician agrees 100% with their views and policy positions,” Scharnick wrote. “This is as true for Ken’s financial support of Governor DeSantis as it was for his backing of the campaigns of President Obama and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.” In 2022, DeSantis signed a state law — widely known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law — forbidding kindergarten to third-grade public school classrooms from teaching about sexual orientation and gender. The law has been widely criticized by Democratic politicans.
DeSantis has proposed expanding the ban to all age levels. He has also spoken out against children attending drag performances and gender-affirming health care for transgender minors as he prepares for a likely presidential run. Griffin has publicly endorsed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, calling DeSantis’ move “a really important point of view,” per Forbes. Ericka R. “Ricky” Sanchez, a Ph.D. candidate in English, said Griffin’s endorsement of DeSantis shows “disdain” for queer people such as herself. “It does feel quite antithetical to name this institution, or this part of the institution, after somebody who is so hostile to the survival of the people who make up the school,” she said. FAS spokesperson Anna G. Cowenhoven declined to comment and referred The Crimson to the official announcement in the Harvard Gazette, a University-run publication. The Gazette article does not mention Griffin’s
political views or activities. In the Gazette, Bacow praised Griffin’s “exceptional generosity and steadfast devotion,” adding that he appreciates “the confidence he has placed in us — and in our mission — to do good in the world.” “His choice to support FAS underscores the power of education to transform lives and to expand the reach of our research in every field imaginable,” Bacow said. Still, third-year Harvard Law School student Ash E. Tomaszewski said Harvard should have refused to accept the donation because of Griffin’s political contributions, adding that they were “disgusted” but “not surprised.” When it comes to funding, however, some argued that a potential donor’s political background should not come into the picture. Economics professor N. Gregory Mankiw wrote in an email that Harvard “should not judge the political views of its donors,” adding that he was “very grateful
for Mr. Griffin’s generosity.” Zad Chin ’24 said she was “glad” that Griffin had donated to the school, saying his political views should be “independent” of his giving to the school. She said if somebody is “generous enough to donate money to the school, I don’t see why we should not accept the money from him.” Laughing, she said that the flag outside Lehman Hall, which houses the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student center, was changed to include Griffin’s name “like, one second after the announcement.” Griffin is the third donor in the last nine years whose donation has renamed a Harvard school. In 2014, billionaire Gerald L. Chan’s Morningside Foundation donated $350 million to Harvard’s School of Public Health, which was renamed after his father T.H. Chan. The following year, Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences was renamed for
hedge fund billionaire John A. Paulson after a $400 million donation. The University has not historically renamed schools for donors. The last time before 2014 was in 1638, when John Harvard’s donation led to a renaming of the University. Lorenzo J.F. McClellan, a Ph.D. candidate in History, felt Griffin’s donation was “probably driven by vanity and a desire to see his name on a major Harvard institution,” adding that he “cannot imagine having $300 million to give to a charity and deciding that Harvard University was the scrappy institution in need of more money.” “It would be great if they topped up my stipend,” McClellan said of Harvard’s new unrestricted funds. Tomaszewski said they and Harvard’s graduate student union would advocate for the funds to directly benefit graduate students and other staff, but felt pessimistic about this coming to fruition.
“We have to beg and beg and beg for pennies,” they said. Other affiliates said they appreciated the donation. “I presume that the GSAS — which is very, very hard to raise funds for — will be a major beneficiary,” Harry R. Lewis ’68, a former dean of Harvard College said. “I am perfectly happy to have Mr. Griffin honored by that renaming.” Citing recent donations to science and engineering initiatives at Harvard, Lewis celebrated the fact that the arts and humanities will also benefit from Griffin’s gift. Still, while Lewis is not concerned with Griffin’s political activism, he hopes the school will support teaching and research rather than “administrative bloat.” “I would hate to see it used to pay administrative salaries that might have been eliminated if some belt-tightening had been necessary,” Lewis wrote in a follow-up email. rahem.hamid@thecrimson.com elias.schisgall@thecrimson.com
Harvard Freshman Competes on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ College Week BY JULIAN J. GIORDANO AND JOSHUA PARK CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Late one night during last semester’s reading period, Benjamin D. Langman ’26 was scrolling TikTok when he came across an advertisement to apply to be a contestant on the popular game show “Wheel of Fortune.” On a whim, Langman uploaded a photo of himself with a short blurb and woke up the next day to an email from a casting producer asking him to submit a minute-long video of himself talking. “So I sat up, I put on a Harvard shirt, and I proceeded to speak nonsense for a minute straight about how much I love vowels,” said Langman. That night, Langman got a call from the casting producer, who asked him to do a 30-minute interview on the spot. After another interview and a monthand-a-half long wait, Langman was on a plane to Los Angeles to record an episode for Wheel of Fortune’s “College Week Spring Break” show. Langman led the scoreboard
for the first two rounds of the episode, which aired on Friday, but was overtaken in the third “final spin” round by Malia Dunaway, a sophomore at Villanova University. Still, Langman went home with nearly $22,000 in prizes, including a trip to the Dominican Republic. During the competition, Langman correctly guessed phrases including, “POSING FOR A POLAROID,” “PULLING ANOTHER ALL-NIGHTER,” and “NOT MISSING MY PROFESSORS.” “It’s way harder than when you watch it online, sitting on your couch,” Langman said. Langman, who watched Wheel of Fortune and other quiz games like “Jeopardy!” growing up, described his experience competing on the show as “really surreal.” He said he was on the set for 10 hours, though filming itself took only 20 minutes. To prepare, Langman talked to Felix B. Bulwa ’22-’23, a Harvard student who competed on Wheel of Fortune in 2021. Langman said it was helpful to talk to Bulwa, who told him a lot of the show comes down to luck.
Benjamin D. Langman ‘26 competed on a “Wheel of Fortune” show that aired this month, winning nearly $22,000 in prizes. COURTESY OF BEN LANGMAN
The show filmed in late January, but Langman signed a nondisclosure agreement and was not allowed to discuss his reason
for flying to L.A. or the results with friends or professors. Langman said he intends to go on his trip to the Domini-
can Republic this year, and his friends — who are now aware of Langman’s appearance on the show — are eager to tag along.
“Lots of people around me are making jokes like, ‘Haha, when are we going to the Dominican?’” Langman said.
