The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
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VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 62
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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
| WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022
Slavery at Harvard These are the names of individuals enslaved by leadership, faculty, staff, and donors at Harvard University between 1636 and 1783. It is “almost certainly an undercount.”
Titus Bilhah Cesar Peter Obadiah Guinea Zillah Tobe Rose Cato Violet Cato Samuel Sarah ‘Young Jerry’ Cuffy Scipio Rose Jeffrey Peter Rose Violet Jem ‘The Spaniard’ Mononotto’s Wife Pequot Woman Indigenous Man Indigenous Girl
Juba Venus Dinah Bilhah’s Son Hope Dorcas Onesimus Brill Cicely Scipio Philicia Pompey Leos Flora Zillah Cuffy London James Agnes Frank Buff Hannibal Jeoffrey Jerry Jude Mira Violet Jenny Toney Hannibal George Cicely Cuffe Philip Ffeild Flora Jane Lucy Cesar Anne Cato York Cato Brister Freeman Violet’s Mother Mousse/Deyaha Cato ‘A Little Boy’ ‘The Moor’ Mononotto’s Son Mononotto’s Son Indigenous Man Pequot Boy Indigenous Woman Indigenous Woman Unnamed Individual Unnamed Individual Unnamed Individual
On Tuesday, Harvard University released a landmark report on its historic ties to the instutition of slavery. Appendix I listed the individuals above. For more about the report, see Pages 1 and 4. For a list of enslavers, see Page 5. For more about this cover, see Reverse.
THE HARVARD CRIMSON
To our readers: Today, The Crimson chose to dedicate our front page to the memory of individuals enslaved by leadership, faculty, staff, and donors at Harvard University. The people recognized on the cover are only those whom Harvard was able to identify. As the report says, this is “likely an undercount.” For these people, we often know only their nicknames; for a few, we know only their race and gender. This is the result of the systemic erasure that to this day continues to deny enslaved people their histories. Writing their names as best we know them, we are reminded that history is not just a collection of facts. It is a collection of stories. Behind each name was an individual: a brother, a mother, a wife, a son — a human. The forefathers of Harvard didn’t recognize their humanity, and shackled them in slavery. Today, we must reckon with the knowledge of this atrocity. At Harvard, we frequently encounter the names of enslavers like Mather and Winthrop. We rarely encounter the names of the individuals they enslaved. Today, as copies of this paper are distributed across campus, we hope to change that. We hope our readers will spend time with this issue and sit with these names — perhaps even say them aloud. Sincerely, Raquel Coronell Uribe ’22-’23 President of the 149th Guard Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Managing Editor of the 149th Guard
The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
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VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 62
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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
| WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022
HARVARD & THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY REPORT
SLAVERY ‘INTEGRAL’ TO HARVARD HISTORY Affiliates Enslaved Over 70 Black, Indigenous People By CARA J. CHANG and ISABELLA B. CHO CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Harvard University faculty, staff, and leaders enslaved more than 70 Black and Indigenous people over about 150 years, including some who lived on campus, according to a long-awaited University report released Tuesday that detailed and acknowledged the “integral” role slavery played in shaping the school. The report found that the institution of slavery was essential to Harvard’s growth as an academic institution, serving as a key source of the University’s wealth across three centuries. Harvard had “extensive financial ties” to slavery through key donors who built their wealth off of slavery, the report said — including some who are memorialized across the University today.
The report is Harvard’s most significant public acknowledgement of how it was supported and shaped by the institution of slavery. Its release comes more than two years after University President Lawrence S. Bacow formed the Presidential Committee on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery. On Tuesday, the University pledged to allocate $100 million to implement the report’s recommendations. “Slavery—of Indigenous and of African people—was an integral part of life in Massachusetts and at Harvard during the colonial era,” the report said. The report, which was conducted by a team of Harvard faculty, offered seven recommendations, including a public memorial, partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and a Legacy of Slavery Fund.
SEE SLAVERY PAGE 4
University Pledges $100 Million for Redress By CARA J. CHANG and ISABELLA B. CHO CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
A headstone for Cicely — a Black woman who was enslaved by Harvard treasurer William Brattle, Class of 1722 — sits in Cambridge’s Old Burial Ground, located West of Harvard Yard. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Here are Five Findings from the Report By ELLA L. JONES and MONIQUE I. VOBECKY CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Harvard University released a landmark report on Tuesday that detailed the school’s extensive ties to slavery. The 130-page report, which comes two years after University President Lawrence S. Bacow launched the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery, documented how the University was shaped and supported by the institution of slavery. Here are five key takeaways from the long-awaited report.
Enslaved People Worked and Lived on Harvard’s Campus for More Than 150 Years The report found that slavery existed directly on Harvard’s campus. “Over nearly 150 years, from the University’s founding in 1636 until the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found slavery unlawful, Harvard presidents and other leaders, as well as its faculty and staff, enslaved more than 70 individu-
als, some of whom labored on campus,” the report reads. Enslaved people lived and worked at the school, feeding and caring for generations of students and faculty, the report said. At Least 41 Prominent Harvard Affiliates Enslaved People Harvard faculty, staff, and donors enslaved over 70 individuals, according to the report. At least five Harvard presidents — Benjamin Wadsworth, Nathaniel Eaton, Increase Mather, Joseph Willard, and Edward Holyoke — owned slaves. Dozens of prominent donors and University leaders also enslaved people, the report found, including at least 10 members of the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body. At least three people who enslaved individuals on Harvard’s campus served as stewards — a prestigious position in the early years of Harvard College “that commanded respect and status,” according to the report. Between the University’s
SEE TAKEAWAYS PAGE 4
Harvard committed $100 million to redress its ties to slavery after a historic report released Tuesday found that slavery played an “integral” role in shaping the University. The report — written by a team of 13 professors commissioned by University President Lawrence S. Bacow in 2019 — detailed Harvard’s history with slavery over three centuries and included seven recommendations for the University to “take responsibility for its past” and “leverage its strengths in the pursuit of meaningful repair.” In an email to Harvard affiliates Tuesday signed by every member of the Harvard Corporation, the school’s top governing board, Bacow accepted the report’s recommendations and announced the creation of the $100 million fund. Bacow wrote that some of the money will be made available for immediate use, while the rest will be held in an endowment to sustain efforts long-term. “I recognize that this is a significant commitment, and for good reason,” he wrote. “Slavery and its legacy have been a part of American life for more than 400 years. The work of further redressing its persistent effects will require our sustained and ambitious efforts for years to come.” The seven recommendations in the report “seek to remedy harms to descendants, to our community and the nation, and to campus life and learning,” the committee wrote. The report recommends that Harvard continue to publicly acknowledge and research its ties to slavery; engage with direct descendants of people who were enslaved by Harvard affiliates; and partner with other schools and nonprofit organizations to eliminate inequities in education stemming from centuries of slavery, with a focus on the American South and the Caribbean. Efforts to identify direct descendants are ongoing,
Two undergraduate houses at Harvard College — Mather and Winthrop — are named after slave owners, while a few other are named after the relatives of enslavers. PEI CHAO ZHUO AND TRUONG L. NGUYEN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHERS
SEE REDRESS PAGE 4
HUA Hopefuls Debate Ahead of Election Grad Council Elects New Leadership By J. SELLERS HILL CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
On the eve of the Harvard Undergraduate Association’s inaugural officer elections, six co-presidential tickets outlined their visions for the new student government in a virtual debate hosted by the Harvard Political Union Tuesday. With a paltry turnout of just a few dozen attendees, the debate marked a return to the low student participation level that largely defined the elections of its predecessor, the Undergraduate Council. Prior to the debate, a trickle of students turned out to a candidate meet-and-greet event, held in Harvard Hall due to inclement weather. The debate, moderated by Shang Wang ’24, solicited the tickets’ plans for funding disbursement, communications, and special initiatives. Running a satirical campaign centered around the minting of an “H-Coin” cryptocurrency, Ian M. Espy ’23 and Ishan A. Bhatt ’23 challenged their opponents to commit to changing the title of “co-president” to one of less prestige.
SEE HUA PAGE 3 INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Harvard Today 2
By PATON D. ROBERTS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
The Harvard Graduate Council elected Carlos A. Gonzalez Sierra, a joint-degree student at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School, as its new president on Monday. Gonzalez Sierra, currently a third-year in the joint J.D. and masters in public policy program, said he believes he will be the first Latinx president of the Council. Harvard Divinity School student Mayank D. Kumar will serve as vice president of the body. Gonzalez Sierra edged out one opponent, community engagement chair and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student Landon A. Fortenberry. The vote tallies were not made public. “The overarching goal is to make HGC a more effective body, and I will focus on three areas: one, supporting student-driven advocacy initiatives; two, fostering inter-school collaborations and connections; and three, strengthening the internal operations of HGC,” Gonzalez Si
Co-presidential candidate Zachary J. Lech ‘24 speaks at the HUA candidate open house Tuesday. J. SELLERS HILL— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
News 3
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erra said. In his candidate speech, Kumar, the incoming VP, said he has “the right attitudes and skills to thrive in” the position. “I am going to assist the activities of the council with humility, integrity, safety, and focus on really listening to the body and students, and doing the best I can to advocate for students,” he said. The Council voted on six other positions, but only some were filled. Three positions — operations chair, governance chair, and information chair — will remain vacant until the fall, when Council representatives will vote in another election. Harvard Extension School student Mir Jahanzeb “M.J.” Mehdi, who joined the meeting via Zoom, was elected as the body’s finance chair after originally running for four positions. Mehdi and Anthony J. Donahue both ran for chair of governance, but neither was elected to the role. Gonzalez Sierra said he is “very confident” the empty positions will be filled in the fall.
SEE COUNCIL PAGE 3
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APRIL 27, 2022
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HARVARD TODAY
For Lunch BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich Chicken Fingers Vegan Creamy Pasta
For Dinner Bulgogi Chicken Locally Caught Fresh Fish Vegetable Lo Mein with Tofu
TODAY’S EVENTS Creating a STEM Final Exam Study Schedule Virtual, 3-4 p.m.
IN THE REAL WORLD
At this webinar, the ARC will discuss the best strategies for devising a multi-day schedule in prepation for a three-hour STEM final exam. They will touch on practice exams, course resources, how to manage multiple upcoming tests, and more!
Vice President Kamala Harris Contracts Covid-19 Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for Covid-19 via a rapid antigen test and a PCR test and will be isolating and working from home until she recovers from the infection. As of Tuesday, she is not symptomatic and has been taking Pfizer’s antiviral pills in order to reduce the odds of developing a severe illness.
Russia Plans to Cut Off Natural Gas Supply to Poland and Bulgaria
Creative Connections for Undergrads Virtual, 4-5:30 p.m. This web session offered by CAMHS is a confidential and safe space for undergraduates to connect with others and engage in self-expression and exploration through art-based intervention, digital media, and other creative modalities. Introduction to the Fulbright Scholarship Virtual, 4 p.m. Are you interested in traveling the world and helping others learn English? Look no further than the Fulbright Scholarship.
Students cross the street on a cold, rainy day on campus.
TRUONGL. NGUYEN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRA-
PHER
AROUND THE IVIES PRINCETON: Faculty Committee Approves Minors Program, Renames
‘Concentrations’ to ‘Majors’ —THE DAILY PR INCETONIAN
COLUMBIA: Columbia Engineering Announces Astronaut Sunita L. Williams as Speaker for First In-Person Class Day Since 2019 —THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR
Russia is shutting off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria after the countries refused demands to pay in rubles, Russia’s official currency. Anna Moskowa, the climate minister of Poland, reported on Tuesday that Poland will not experience a shortage in gas despite the news. Bulgarian officials also reported no restrictions on gas consumption for the time being.
More than Half of Americans Have Now Had Covid-19, Study Finds
A recent study revealed that 58 percent of Americans have contracted Covid-19 at some point. More than 75 percent of American children have been infected since the start of the pandemic, per the study.
BROWN: Better Brown Now Pushes for Housing Changes —THE BROWN DAILY HERALD DARTMOUTH: Students Elect David Millman and Jessica Chiriboga as Student Body President and Vice President —THE DARTMOUTH
COVID UPDATES
LAST 7 DAYS CURRENTLY
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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY Ceiling Collapes in Weld Hall
A 38-square-foot chunk of plaster from the ceiling collapsed in a room in Weld Hall, the oldest unrenovated building in Harvard Yard at the time. Only one student, uninjured but visibly shaken, was in the room at the time of the collapse. April 27, 1961
Students Want Elective Council, Poll Indicates
A poll conducted by the Harvard Student Council revealed student preference for an elected student government body providing mostly advisory functions. Many students included written comments calling for the Council to be abolished. April 27, 1950
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
The Harvard Crimson Raquel Coronell Uribe ’22-’23 Associate Managing Editors Kelsey J. Griffin ’23 President Taylor C. Peterman ’23-’24 Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Associate Business Managers Managing Editor Taia M.Y. Cheng ’23-’24 Isabelle L. Guillaume ’24 Amy X. Zhou ’23 Business Manager Editorial Chairs Guillermo S. Hava ’23-’24 Orlee G.S. Marini-Rapoport ’23-24
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Copyright 2022, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.
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.
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
COUNCIL FROM PAGE 1
APRIL 27, 2022
HUA FROM PAGE 1
Graduate Council Elects HUA Co-President Hopefuls New Executive Committee Debate Ahead of Election “Since we didn’t fill them now, they will just be open then and we will actually have new people — new blood — coming in from the different graduate schools, so I expect to have a wide variety and a very diverse board coming in,” he said. Prabhroop K. Chawla, a student at the Divinity School, was elected as co-chair of program-
ming after running against Extension School student Ambria K. Jones, who was subsequently voted as the next co-chair of student well-being. The Council will elect the remaining cochair positions in the fall. Outgoing HGC president Peter Choi praised Gonzalez Sierra’s work over the past year, likening their relationship to for-
mer President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden. “He’s phenomenal and he’s smart — he’s engaged, he’s always been there, and super dependable,” Choi said. “Can’t be more thankful, and can’t be more excited that he’s taking this on.” paton.roberts@thecrimson.com
The Harvard Graduate Council elected new board members to represent the University’s twelve graduate schools.. PAYTON D. ROBERTS—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
“We’ve watched for three years as the race for the title has caused people to throw away being lighthearted and kind,” Espy said. “If you win, will you commit to changing the title of president?” Most candidates reported they were open to a change. Several of the tickets also committed to leveraging the HUA’s financial power for cultural initiatives. LyLena D. Estabine ’24 and Travis Allen Johnson ’24, whose ticket was endorsed by former UC President Michael Y. Cheng ’22 Tuesday night, said they would prioritize cultural organizations when distributing club funding, a staple function of the body. “[Cultural organizations] will be receiving a majority of club funding and we call on the other candidates as well to make that same promise and that same commitment,” Estabine said. Esther Xiang ’23 and Yousuf A. Bakshi ’23 said they would advocate for the creation of a multicultural center. “It’s more important than ever that we’re focusing on inclusion and belonging, and one of those ways is actually being able to build a multicultural center,” Xiang said. Xiang and Bakshi said they would use HUA funds to rent
a space in Harvard Square to serve as a multicultural center in the meantime. Maria F. De Los Santos ’24 and Zachary J. Lech ’24, a Crimson arts editor, said they would prioritize the creation of a space for Black students. “Even though I agree definitely with the multicultural center, I, personally, as a Black Latinx woman, feel like starting off with the Black house,” De Los Santos said. Jeremy J. Rasmussen ’24 and William R. Scheibler ’23, another satirical ticket, reiterated their plan to embezzle HUA funds. “For so long, we have been focused on the dishonesty of past politicians,” Rasmussen said. “I will not do that. I will commit right now; I’m going to embezzle the money.” In a race where two-thirds of the tickets feature former UC members, the composition of the HUA’s leadership was also a topic of debate. “Should individuals from the abolished UC be leading the new HUA?” Wang asked. In response, Panthier and Mathew, cited their time on the UC as evidence of their commitment to first-generation, low-income students. “We have run several programs to help FGLI students get MBTA passes to attend classes
at MIT, to visit Boston to run errands,” Panthier said. Xiang and Bakshi, who both resigned as UC members, portrayed their resume as an advantage. “Anyone and everyone who has genuine interest in making a change on campus should be able to run,” Bakshi said. “It’s really important, I think, to also have past experience,” Xiang added. Estabine, who helped draft the HUA’s constitution, highlighted this experience in her response. “I was on the UC, but I also took the UC down,” Estabine said. De Los Santos expressed her view that former UC members should not head the HUA. De Los Santos’ running mate, Lech, previously served on the UC. “I personally think no,” De Los Santos said. “If it’s the same people from before, is it really a new government?” The virtual debate’s Zoom chat also featured comical student input, including from anonymous audience member “Remy the Cat.” Voting for co-presidents and the seven other officer positions opened early Wednesday morning and will close at 11:59 p.m. sellers.hill@thecrimson.com
Sotheby’s to Auction Long-Lost 1852 Harvard-Yale Trophy Oars By DANISH BAJWA, ANDREW M. LU, and CALEB H. PAINTER CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
A pair of long-lost trophy oars dating back to the Harvard-Yale Regatta of 1852 will be put on auction at Sotheby’s in May and are expected to sell for up to $5 million. The oars, made of black walnut wood with silver engravings, were awarded to Harvard by future United States President Franklin Pierce after Harvard’s boat, named the Oneida, won against Yale’s boat, Shawmut, by four lengths in a twomile race. The regatta marked the first intercollegiate competition in the United States. “College sports in America is a uniquely American phenomenon. There’s no other country in the world that is so passionate in their fan bases for collegiate sports, and [the oars are] really the beginning of that,”
said Richard Austin, Sotheby’s Global Head of Books & Manuscripts, in a communication with Forbes. The contest — known as The Race — predates even Harvard and Yale’s football rivalry, which witnessed its first matchup over 20 years later in 1875. In the listing for the oars, Sotheby’s called the 1852 regatta “the very inception of organized American intercollegiate sports, now a pillar of the college experience.” “The camaraderie and intense rivalries born out of the intercollegiate spirit shape not only students’ and alumni’s lives, but have come to define the world of American sports— and American culture at large,” the listing reads. “These rivalries are legendary.” The auction will be conducted online from May 17 to May 24, where the oars are expected to rank among the most valuable memorabilia in all of
American sports history if they were to sell for $5 million. The Olympic Manifesto — the foundational document of the modern Olympic Games — holds the current record, having sold in 2019 for $8.8 million. The existence of the oars was unknown until a family in Medford, Mass., found them thirty years ago in the basement of a rooming house they purchased. Since their discovery, the oars have remained in the family’s private collection. The Harvard-Yale Regatta is the longest running intercollegiate athletic competition in American history, held annually since 1864 except during major wars and pandemics. Since 1878, the race has traditionally been held near New London, Conn. The 2020 and 2021 regattas were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The next Harvard-Yale Regatta will be held in less than two months on June 11.
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
APRIL 27, 2022
PAGE 4
SLAVERY FROM PAGE 1
Report Details Harvard’s ‘Extensive’ Ties to Slavery The committee studied the history of slavery, racism, and resistance in New England and at Harvard. It detailed how Harvard scholars provided an intellectual justification for racism. In the 19th and 20th centuries, some Harvard leaders and top faculty members “promoted ‘race science’ and eugenics and conducted abusive ‘research,’ including the photographing of enslaved and subjugated human beings,” the report said. The report found that some Harvard affiliates opposed slavery, fighting against racism on campus. But “on several occasions Harvard leaders, including members of the Harvard Corporation, sought to moderate or suppress antislavery politics on campus and among prominent Harvard affiliates,” it said. The Corporation is the University’s highest governing board. In an email to Harvard affiliates on Tuesday that was signed by every current member of the Corporation, Bacow accepted the committee’s recommendations. “Harvard benefited from and in some ways perpetuated practices that were profoundly immoral,” Bacow wrote. “Consequently, I believe we bear a moral responsibility to do what we can to address the persistent corrosive effects of those historical practices on individuals, on Harvard, and on our society.” The report identified doz-
ens of major Harvard donors and leaders who enslaved people — including many who are today honored with buildings and plaques across campus. The list includes last names familiar to any Harvard student: Winthrop, Mather, Leverett, Dudley, Stoughton, Wigglesworth, Wadsworth, Brattle, Holyoke. Two of Harvard’s undergraduate houses — Mather and Winthrop — are named after slave owners, while several other are named after relatives of enslavers. Wadsworth House and Wadsworth Gate are named after former University President Benjamin Wadsworth, Class of 1769, who enslaved at least two people. Wadsworth is one of at least five Harvard presidents who enslaved people. Between Harvard’s founding in 1636 and 1783, when slavery was outlawed in Massachusetts, some people enslaved by Harvard affiliates “worked and lived on campus, where they cared for Harvard presidents and professors and fed generations of Harvard students,” the report said. Harvard’s entanglements with slavery also extended well into the 19th century. The University and its donors continued to enrich themselves through the slave trade; plantation labor in the Caribbean and the American South; and the Northern textile manufacturing industry, which used cotton grown by enslaved people. The committee that pro-
duced the report was chaired by Radcliffe Institute Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin, who led a team of 13 professors from across the University. Some members of the group had studied Harvard’s ties to slavery prior to joining the committee, including former Law School Dean Martha L. Minow and History professor Sven Beckert. Minow will lead an implementation committee charged with operationalizing the report’s recommendations. The report called on the Harvard Corporation “to remedy the persistent educational and social harms that human bondage caused” to direct descendants, Harvard, and the country at large. “Harvard’s past entanglements with slavery and its legacies cannot be undone, but the present and future are ours— as a University community—to shape,” the committee wrote in the conclusion of its report. Harvard affiliates have for years called on the school to take steps to account for its ties to slavery. In 2019, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda penned a letter to Bacow demanding reparations from Harvard. Later that year, Tamara K. Lanier filed a lawsuit against Harvard alleging the University profits off of photos of enslaved people she claims are her ancestors. The case is now before the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Brown-Nagin said in an interview on Monday that the im-
A plaque at Wadsworth House, the second oldest building at Harvard, memoralizes four enslaved people who lived and worked there. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
plementation of the committee’s recommendations will be on a “long timeline” since Harvard will need to create new infrastructure to support some of the proposals. “One of the things that I’m most excited about in the remedies is that they are meant to endure past any Harvard president, any faculty member, any student,” she said. “There’s a commitment to seeking remedies that are in place across gen-
erations, just as the system of slavery and its legacies affected multiple generations of individuals.” Brown-Nagin said certain recommendations, such as identifying direct descendants of individuals who were enslaved at Harvard, are already underway. The Radcliffe Institute will host a conference on Friday titled “Telling the Truth About All This: Reckoning with Slavery and its Legacies at Harvard
and Beyond.” The conference will feature two keynote speakers: Ruth J. Simmons, the president of Prairie View A&M University, and Ibram X. Kendi, the director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University. Bacow, Brown-Nagin, and University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 will also speak at the conference. cara.chang@thecrimson.com isabella.cho@thecrimson.com
TAKEAWAYS FROM PAGE 1
REDRESS FROM PAGE 1
Here Are Five Key Report Findings
Univ. Pledges $100 Mil. for Redress
founding in 1636 through the beginning of the American Revolution, only 10 men held the position — five of whom were from the same family. The work done by people enslaved by Harvard stewards “maintained the Harvard campus and sustained Harvard students,” the report said. Andrew Bordman II, who served as a steward for more than 40 years “stands out for having enslaved at least eight individuals,” according to the report. Harvard Benefited from ‘Extensive’ Financial Ties to Slavery Harvard had “extensive financial ties” to human bondage via benefactors who amassed wealth from slavery. During the first half of the 19th century, the report found, more than one-third of the money donated or pledged to the University by private individuals “came from just five men who made their fortunes from slavery and slave-produced commodities.” “Harvard’s donors in this period—and their wealth— were vital to the University’s growth,” the report said. “They allowed the University to hire faculty, support students, develop its infrastructure, and, ultimately, begin to establish itself as a national institution.” Harvard also amassed
wealth through investments in industries that depended upon the labor of enslaved people. “For roughly a century, Harvard had operated as a lender and derived a substantial portion of its income from investments that included loans to Caribbean sugar planters, rum distillers, and plantation suppliers,” the report said. “After 1830, the University shifted its investments into cotton manufacturing, before diversifying its portfolio to include real estate and railroad stocks—all industries that were, in this era, dependent on the labor of enslaved people and the expropriation of land.” Prominent Harvard Professors and Leaders Promoted Racist Theories Harvard leaders and scholars also provided intellectual justifications for racism through debunked “race science” and eugenics. Prominent Harvard professors including Louis Agassiz, John Collins Warren, and Jeffries Wyman all aimed to provide evidence supporting “race science.” “From the mid-19th century well into the 20th, Harvard presidents and several prominent professors, including Louis Agassiz, promoted ‘race science’ and eugenics and conducted abusive ‘research,’ including
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the photographing of enslaved and subjugated human beings,” the report said. “These theories and practices were rooted in racial hierarchies of the sort marshalled by proponents of slavery and would produce devastating consequences in the 19th and 20th centuries. Records and artifacts documenting many of these activities remain among the University’s collections.” Agassiz, whose name can be found across Harvard’s campus and Cambridge, was one of the country’s leading proponents of “race science.” Academic work at Harvard “provided an intellectual framework to justify the exclusion and marginalization of Blacks that would endure into the 20th century,” the report said. Enslavers are Honored Across Campus Today Donors who profited off of slavery and slave owners themselves are honored across Harvard’s campus today with plaques, statues, and buildings. Two of Harvard’s 12 undergraduate houses — Winthrop and Mather — are named after slave owners. Winthrop House is named after Governor John Winthrop and his direct descendent, Harvard professor John Winthrop, Class of 1732, who enslaved several people. Former Harvard President In-
crease Mather, Class of 1656, who enslaved at least one person, is the namesake of Mather House. Eliot House is named after Charles W. Eliot, the longest-ever serving president of Harvard, who “promoted eugenics and endorsed racial segregation,” the report said. Lowell House is named after former Harvard President Abbott L. Lowell, who sought to exclude Black and Jewish people. “Lowell’s perspective on questions of race — rooted in racial hierarchy and eugenics — shaped campus life,” the report said. Several other buildings on campus — including Wigglesworth Hall, Stoughton Hall, Leverett House, and the Dudley Co-Op — are named after relatives of slave owners. Many other notable donors and school officials who enslaved people and profited off of slavery are also comemorated across campus. “Still today, early Harvard benefactors who accumulated their wealth through slavery are memorialized throughout campus in statues, buildings, student houses, and endowed professorships—and indeed in other educational, civic, and cultural organizations across Massachusetts,” the report said. ella.jones@thecrimson.com monique.vobecky@thecrimson.com
Radcliffe Institute Dean and Committee Chair Tomiko Brown-Nagin said in an interview Monday. “We believe that Harvard’s intellectual, reputational, and financial resources should be marshaled in its efforts to remedy the harms of the University’s ties to slavery, just as past representatives of Harvard deployed these same resources and caused harm,” the committee wrote. Harvard’s efforts follow commitments by peer institutions to address historical ties to slavery. In 2020, Brown University permanently endowed a $10 million fund to finance educational opportunities at Providence, R.I., public schools, which serve a large number of students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. Georgetown University and the University of Virginia, among others, have similarly established endowments and scholarship funds. The report called on Harvard to partner with other institutions, particularly Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The committee recommended the creation of a new exchange program for juniors at Harvard College and various HBCUs and encouraged the provision of financial
support to enable HBCU faculty to go on sabbatical. The committee’s recommendations extended beyond higher education. The report also suggested Harvard provide high-quality educational opportunities “to support historically marginalized children and youth from birth through high school and college.” Several proposals encouraged the University to fund projects that engage with Harvard’s legacy of slavery through research, curricula, and “a permanent and imposing physical memorial, convening space, or both.” Acknowledging how slavery in New England began with the enslavement of Native Americans, the fifth recommendation specifically urged Harvard to address its ties to the enslavement of Indigenous people. Former Harvard Law School Dean Martha L. Minow will lead an implementation committee to realize the report’s recommendations, Bacow wrote in the announcement. The new committee will decide how the $100 million fund will be spent, according to University spokesperson Jason A. Newton. cara.chang@thecrimson.com isabella.cho@thecrimson.com
PAGE 5
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
APRIL 27, 2022
List of Human Beings Enslaved by Prominent Harvard Affiliates
PRESIDENTS
Enslaver
Harvard Affiliations
“The Moor”
1639
A plaque on Wadsworth Gate marks the site of Eaton’s home
Increase Mather (1639–1723)
President (1692–1701) Rector (1686–1692) Acting President (1685–1686)
“The Spaniard”
ca. 1681–1719
Mather House
Benjamin Wadsworth (1670–1737)
President (1725–1737) Fellow (1697–1707, 1712–1725)
Titus Venus
Wadsworth House and Wadsworth Gate A plaque at Wadsworth House acknowledges Titus and Venus
President (1737–1769) Librarian (1709–1712) Tutor (1712–1716) Fellow (1713–1716) President (1781–1804) Tutor (1766–1772) Fellow (1768–1772)
Juba Bilhah Bilhah's Newborn Son Dinah
1728–1740 1726–1740 1744–1748 1755–1765 1762 1757–1819
Cesar
1789
Edward Holyoke (1689–1769)
Overseer (1637–1644) Israel Stoughton Donor of 300 acres of land (1603–1644) John Endecott/Endicott Overseer (1642–1665) (1600–1665)
Unnamed Pequot Woman Dorcas
1637 1641–1653
Unnamed Pequot Boy
1637
Hope
1637–1640
As governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Leverett authorized the capture, enslavement, and distribution of hundreds of Native men, women, and children taken captive in King Philip’s War.
1675–1678
Unnamed "Indian" Girl Peter Brill Unnamed "Spanish Indian" Onesimus "A Little Boy" Obadiah
1679 1687 1713–1722 ca. 1681 1706–1716 1716 1717
Scipio Cicely
1697–1705 1714
Brattle Street and Brattle Square are all named for his family. The William Brattle House is named for his son, William Brattle. Cicely’s tombstone stands in the Old Burying Ground in Harvard Square.
1705 1745
The Dudley Community and three associated residences at Harvard are named for Paul Dudley’s grandfather, Governor Thomas Dudley.
Overseer (1637–1641)
Governor Joseph Dudley Overseer (1702–1715) (1647–1720)
FELLOWS & OVERSEERS
Willard Street in Cambridge, west of Harvard Square
Wife and 2 Sons of Mononotto 1637 4 Unnamed Indigenous People 1637–1639
Governor John Leverett Overseer (1673–1679) (1616–1679)
Cotton Mather (1663–1728)
Fellow (1690–1703) Overseer (1707–1724)
William Brattle (1662–1717)
Tutor (1685–1697) Fellow (1703–1717) Treasurer (1713–1715) Minister (1696–1717)
Paul Dudley (1675–1751) Nathaniel Appleton (1693–1784)
Fellow (1697–1700) Unnamed "Negro Boy" Donated £133 to fund a lecture Guinea Fellow (1717–1779) Pompey Minister (1717–1783)
William Brattle (1706–1776)
Overseer (n.d.)
Philicia Hopkins Foundation Trustee (n.d.) Zillah
1731 1738
Francis Foxcroft (1695–1768)
Flora Leos Rose Tobe Overseer (1720–1757) James Zillah Hopkins Foundation Trustee (1720) Cuffy Unnamed "Negro Servant" Treasurer (1777–1807) London Cato Violet Treasurer (1773-1777) Frank Hannibal Agnes
1737–1742 1749 1714 1739 1739–1741 1757 1771 1764–1777 1768–1771 1777
Treasurer (1752–1773) Donor of £300 and books
1774
Lieutenant Governor Spencer Phip(p)s (1685–1757) Ebenezer Storer (1730–1807)) John Hancock (1736/7–1793) Thomas Hubbard (1702–1773)
FACULTY
Holyoke Street in Cambridge, south of Harvard Yard A plaque at Wadsworth House since 2016 acknowledges Juba and Bilhah
Governor John Winthrop Overseer (1637–1649) (1588–1649)
Hugh Peter(s) (1598–1660)
Overseer (1732–1757?)
Winthrop House. A sculpture of Governor Winthrop is displayed in Annenberg Hall. His portrait is in the University Portrait Collection Stoughton Hall is named for Israel’s son, William Stoughton (AB 1650)
Leverett House is named for John Leverett’s grandson and namesake, Harvard President John Leverett The Dudley Community and three associated residences at Harvard are named for Joseph Dudley’s father, Governor Thomas Dudleyz Mather House is named for Cotton Mather’s father, Harvard President Increase Mather.
1729
Unnamed People Referred to as "Negores" Mira Buff Jude Cato Sarah Jerry Jenny Jeoffrey Violet Samuel “Young Jerry” Unknown Number in Antigua
1783 1783 1783 1783 1783 ca. 1760– ca. 1815
The William Brattle House is named for this William Brattle, who built it A portrait of William Brattle is in the University Portrait Collection Brattle Street and Brattle Square are named for his family Foxcroft House (1822–1926) once occupied the corner of Kirkland and Oxford Streets; it was demolished to make way for Lowell Lecture Hall. 1745 1755
1777 1777
1783 1783 1783 1783 1783
Lieutenant Governor Thomas Oliver (1734–1815)
Overseer (1774–1776)
Edward Wigglesworth (1693–1765)
Divinity Professor (1721–1765) Fellow (1724–1765)
Hannibal
1736–1755
Wigglesworth Hall is built on the site of Edward Wigglesworth’s home and named for his father
Henry Flynt (1675–1760)
Tutor (1699–1754) Fellow (1700–1760) Acting President (1736–1737) Board of Fellows (1712–1758)
Toney
1738
A portrait of Flynt is in the University Portrait Collection
Judah Monis (1683–1764)
Hebrew Instructor (1722–1760)
Cuffy Cicely
1741 1747
John Winthrop (1714–1779) Thomas Danforth (1623–1699) STAFF
Memorializations
Dates
Schoolmaster (1637–1639)
Joseph Willard (1738–1804)
Andrew Bordman (II) (1671–1747) Jonathan Hastings (1709–1783) Edward Hopkins (1600–1657) John Hull (1624–1683)
MAJOR DONORS
Enslaved Persons
Nathaniel Eaton (1609–1674)
Professor of Math and Natural Philosophy (1738–1779) George Scipio Fellow (1765–1779) Acting President (1773–1774) Treasurer (1650–1668) Philip Ffeild Steward (1668–1682) Overseer (1679–1686; 1689–1692) Cesar "of Rose" Flora "of Rose" Steward/Cook (1703–1747) Jane "of Rose" Jeffrey "of Rose" Cato “of Anne” Cato Steward (1750–1779) Rose “of Anne” Anne Funded the Hopkins Foundation Unnamed Person Referred to as "the Negar" with Harvard as a beneficiary Cuffe Rose Lucy Peter
Donated £100
York Violet and Her Mother Benefactor of the Medical School Brister Freeman Jem Cato Funded a Professorship People Referred to as "Negroes" More than 60 enslaved people Funded First Law Professorship, in Massachusetts Isaac Royall Jr. Unknown number of enslaved forerunner of the Law School (1719–1781) people in Antigua Donor to and officer of Mousse/Deyaha James Perkins Unknown number of enslaved Mass General Hospita (1761–1822) people traded in St. Domingue Funded a Professorship Unknown number of enslaved Thomas Handasyd Perkins Donor to and officer of people traded in St. Domingue Mass General Hospital (1764–1854) Unknown number of enslaved Donor Mass General Hospital Samuel Gardner Perkins people traded in St. Domingue Donor to Professorship (1767–1847) Unknown number of enslaved Donor to the Divinity School Israel Thorndike people traded in the Caribbean and Mass General Hospital (1755–1832) Unknown number of enslaved Moses Brown Donor to the Divinity School people traded in the West Indies (1748–1820) 95 Cuban patrocinados, formerly enslaved people Donated Property in Cuba Edwin F. Atkins who were required by law to pay in order to leave plantation properties to which they were bound and Over $100,000 (1850–1926)
Edmund Trowbridge (1709–1793) John Cuming/Cummings (1728–1788) Thomas Hancock (1703–1764)
Endowed a Professorship Tutored/Boarded Students
As treasurer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Hull managed the sale of dozens of Native men, women, and children taken captive in King Philip’s War.
1759 1761
Oliver built Elmwood, also known as the Oliver– Gerry–Lowell House, which has been the residence of University presidents since the 1970s
Winthrop House is named for Professor John Winthrop and his ancestor Governor John Winthrop. A portrait of Winthrop is in the University Portrait Collection. Winthrop Street and Winthrop Square is named for Professor Winthrop. There is a hitoric marker at the site of his home.
1700 1733 1716/17 1718–1730 1723 1740 1718–1730 1758 1718–1740 1761 1774 1771 1771 1658 1675–1678 1742 1767 1753–1822 1755–1788 1763 1763
The Bordman home, where enslaved people lived and worked, was purchased by Harvard and used as the College House. The land where that building stood is now part of the site of the Smith Student Center. Jane’s tombstone stands in the Old Burying Ground in Harvard Square. A stone tablet next to the Littauer Center marks the site of Hastings’s home, north of Harvard Yard Hopkins is the namesake of the town of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, which was administered to generate revenue for Harvard until 1832 Hull’s name is included in the Upper Frieze at the Boston Latin School, which honors its most “historically significant alumni” Trowbridge Street east of Harvard Yard in Cambridge Harvard Law School owns a portrait of Trowbridge
Hancock Professorship of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages
1732–1783 1732–1783
Royall Professorship of Law Harvard Law School owns a portrait of Isaac Royall Jr. and his family Royall House and Slave Quarters, in Medford, Massachusetts
1790s–1831 1789–1793
Perkins Professorship of Astronomy and Mathematics
1789–1793
Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts
1789–1793 1791–1793
The Perkins Room in Massachusetts Hall is named for a descendant of Samuel Gardner Perkins A professorship in orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School is named for a descendant of Israel Thorndike
1791–1793 1884
The Atkins Institution in Cuba (botanical gardens was operated by Harvard until the Cuban Revolution in 1961)
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
APRIL 27, 2022
PAGE 6
EDITORIAL OP-ED
COLUMN
A More Democratic Student Government Wouldn’t Have Elections By TOMMY BARONE
I
n just a few days, the Harvard Undergraduate Association will hold its first elections. They will be its first sin.To understand this requires understanding how we arrived here. When the roiling controversy (and outright bigotry) that met the proposal to replace the Undergraduate Council ended with the HUA’s resounding affirmation by over three-quarters of students, there was a sense of finality. Just like that, they were gone — the self-righteous UC careerists, the racists that supported them, the hated, moribund form of a decades-old body known for bureaucracy, ambition, and little else. These are the kinds of victories that we like to believe inaugurate real change. But it hasn’t. The HUA suffers from precisely the same structural flaw that ruined all of its predecessors, from the original sin of student government: that we elect it.In some sense, student government represents us. Its constitution says so. The sickly-sweet overseriousness of its campaigns looks like real representative politics. But the core of representation lies in the people doing the representing. In a community as small as ours, government is personal — unlike in national politics, we have the privilege of knowing who represents us and the values they hold. The people are the soul of student government. And they continually fail it. They are not, to be sure, all or even mostly bad people. Intentions aside, they do hard, thankless work that has kept clubs funded and delivered valuable initiatives. But, at a school chosen for resources and prestige, student government can seem the shiniest trophy in an embarrassment of riches. High stakes, a grueling campaign process, and the thankless work that comes after form a powerful mechanism for self-selection. Elections for any Harvard student government invariably choose at least a handful of people who are calculating
and insincere. They, most prominent of their peers, define the institution. Totally irrespective of how it performs, then, students dislike and reject our student government because they feel that it does not represent us, that its values and methods fundamentally diverge from ours. That’s how a student government that made Lamont an overnight library, established the blue-light alarm system, centralized online information about clubs, and delivered summer storage dies — because policy comes second to character when the scale is personal.This is the original sin of student government, and it taints the body from the moment it comes into existence. Though our institutional memory seems hazy on this point, it has doomed every student government that has come before this one too. In 2019, a UC abolition campaign declared “a campaign to end campaigns”; in 1983, a UC representative hoped to “eventually abolish the Council”; in 1965, the Student Council, from which Dunster House seceded, was abolished, a development foreshadowed by a 1950 petition contending that “there is nothing that the Student Council does which would not either be done better by someone else or be better not done at all.” The problem is endemic. Buying into the technocrat’s hope — the blind belief that a smarter, newer system will succeed where all others failed — is foolish, ahistorical, and will ensure that this campus goes on hating the generally decent people that govern it while periodically tearing the whole thing down.To break this sordid chain of failures demands a clean break, a solution that aligns the student body with its representation by making them one and the same. The most democratic, most representative student government is one that doesn’t hold elections at all. Instead, students would be far better served by a number of official, entirely volunteer-based advisory bodies focused on particular issues facing the student body (mental health, social life,
etc.). Such a model would untether representation from willingness to campaign and eliminate the poisonous electoral self-selection that has destroyed every student government to date. These bodies would work within our community to advocate for students, interface with administration, and spearhead voluntarist initiatives that directly, meaningfully improve student life. The mental health group, for one, could coordinate with student counseling organizations to help the Dean of Students Office overhaul our hole-filled mental-health support system. The social life team might apply for funding to hold school-wide social events like Yardfest for example. Club funding, meanwhile, should be transferred to a new, independent, application-based student body unswayed by politics and invulnerable to dissolution. The chaos of post-UC, pre-HUA club funding attests that this change is long overdue. The HUA got some of this right, but the original sin remains. In reducing the number of elected positions, the HUA begins a more furious race for the prestige of just nine spots. On its inaugural ballot, you will find a powerful testament to this stasis masquerading as change: Four of the six tickets vying for HUA co-President feature long-time members of the UC. The original sin of this school comes with awkwardly fitting a fractured template for representative government from the outside world onto a community small enough to lead itself cooperatively. To absolve it, we must choose something different, better — a politics of direct democracy, of personality, and of action. Our history, because we fail to learn it, repeats itself. For this failure, the moment it is born, the HUA will fate itself to die. —Tommy Barone ’25, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Weld Hall.
OP-ED
Usually, Racism is Mundane By ERIC D. HWANG
F
or most Asian Americans, racism isn’t being hit in the back of the head with a crowbar in New York City. It isn’t the violent horror stories you see in the news. To many of us, racism is mundane. It’s unremarkable. It’s simply a passing part of day-to-day life. It’s a low hum in the background that we have learned to tune out over time. I can still remember when I made this realization: the first time I was called a slur by a stranger. It was only a few weeks ago, at 9:30 p.m. I had just finished eating at a Korean restaurant in Allston with a group of five friends. Five of us, including myself, were Korean; the last member of our group was Chinese. Within 50 feet of exiting the restaurant and stepping out onto the dreary sidewalk, I saw a pair of white men, cladden with sweatpants and unkempt beards that showed hints of whitening. They were smirking casually, almost drunkenly. As we passed, they offered each of my friends and I a small nod
First came the bewildered confusion. Quickly after, though, came the anger. and sloppy, slurred “ni hao.” First came the bewildered confusion. Quickly after, though, came the anger. I began to feel a burning in the bottom of my chest, but as I began to raise a righteous finger in protest, my friends lowered my hand. After we took a few more steps, one of them told me, “it’s not worth it.” As we stopped at the corner up ahead to wait for the crosswalk light to change, I turned to my friends and said, “I can’t believe that just happened.” My friend turned back towards me, eyebrows raised, and remarked, “you haven’t been
called the c-word before?” The most surprising part of the whole incident, to me at least, wasn’t being labeled Chinese by a stranger with zero prompting (and to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with being Chinese; the problem is the deliberate belittlement of my Korean heritage by diminishing all East Asians to simply “Chinese”). I knew that
It’s a fear that is mundane and omnipresent: a faint, usually unnoticeable worry that permeates all aspects of life. being racially insulted was only a matter of time once I returned to the U.S. I was surprised by the nonchalant reactions of my friends. To them, this was normal — hardly worth addressing. As we stood at the crosswalk, the mood was somber, but the topic of conversation quickly moved on. Within a minute, it was as if the past few moments had never happened. We never talked about it again. In retrospect, I realize that the reason this was my first time remembering being called a slur is because I moved from New York to Korea in eighth grade. In other words, I had left the states before I really understood what it meant to be called a slur. For minorities in America, however, slurs are just a part of life. Even as I’ve been writing this op-ed, a Chinese friend came up to me and informed me that he had been called out with racist comments more times than he could count. The Asian American experience with racism isn’t just the muggings or shootings you see on the news. After all, the two men didn’t get in our faces. They didn’t follow us as we passed by. They didn’t shove any of us or throw a punch.
The Asian American experience with racism is the fact that I wasn’t all that surprised by randomly being labeled Chinese. It’s the way that my friends treated the incident as if it was hardly worth mentioning and how we’ve never talked about what happened afterwards. It’s how in the face of blatant, explicit racism, my friends’ instinctual reaction was to internalize it and pretend it never happened. The Asian American experience with racism includes the fear of escalation that prompted my friends to lower my hand, not just the violence that may have resulted had they not done so. It’s a fear that is mundane and omnipresent: a faint, usually unnoticeable worry that permeates all aspects of life. To many Asian Americans, racism has become a normalized fact of being. It’s not always — in fact, it’s usually not — as explicit as it was that night in Allston. The way I usually encounter racism is when people ask me if I’m a U.S. citizen even after hearing my perfect English for an entire conversation. It’s when I think back to when a classmate complimented how smart I was in third grade and I’m no longer sure if it was a comment based purely on my merits as an individual. It’s a less visible kind of racism than the hate crimes that make the news. It’s also a less terrifying kind of racism, but an exponentially more tiresome one. It adds a tiny weight to every aspect of your life; even though the added weight is usually unnoticeably small, when it’s aggregated over every day and every week, it becomes exhausting. It’s a quiet, subtle kind of racism, but one that is utterly inescapable: a kind of racism that you fail to notice until you are called a chink by a stranger in Allston and — like a crescendoing wave — it hits you all at once. — Eric D. Hwang ’25, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Stoughton Hall.
Follow The Crimson Editorial Board on Twitter @crimsonopinion
Oh my Gawd I Got a Bee Mireya Sánchez-Maes INSECT INSIGHTS
I
t’s the last day of classes, our board plus has finally started to run out, and we’ve reached that special time of year when everyone is really nice to Eliot students in the hopes of getting invited to Fête. But as the semester winds down, I can’t help but notice the increasing number of slanderous whispers making their way through these hallowed halls. Harmful allegations are being levied against some of the most integral and long-established members of the Harvard community, and it’s high time we talked about it. So here it goes. Why is everyone hating on bees? The rebukes are relentless. At every turn, students viciously proclaim, “these bees are killing me,” and “omg for real, this bee ruined my GPA,” and “I hate bees.” The bullying has to end, and as Harvard’s premier entomological columnist, I have a unique responsibility to correct these defamatory rumors. So here’s the truth. Bees are not murderous villains sent to destroy your GPA. They’re winged insects, tired of being misunderstood.
The rebukes are relentless. At every turn, students viciously proclaim, “these bees are killing me,” and “omg for real, this bee ruined my GPA,” and “I hate bees.”smack dab in the middle of an article. Well, will you look at that? And to all you first years who still aren’t on board – I get it. Bees are scary, especially if you’ve never seen one before! But consider this a warning. Massachusetts is home to a large and diverse bee population, so before the semester ends, it’s highly likely that a significant number of these creatures will find a permanent home on many Harvard transcripts. So if you happen to meet your first bee this semester, don’t despair. There’s nothing inherently bad about them. In fact, bees are a natural part of college environments and are known to play an essential role in an organism’s growth! It’s only in mistaking these bees for a representation of our worth that we come into any real harm. (But don’t worry; even if your bee stings, the pain usually subsides within a day or two.) Contrary to popular belief, bees don’t magically appear at the end of the semester – they take time to grow and develop. So if it looks like a bee is creeping onto your transcript, it probably started developing a long time ago. Think back to the beginning of the semester. Did you skip lecture because the five-minute walk was “too far?” Did you copy pset answers from your unsuspecting lab partner? Did you foolishly assume that Gradescope deadlines were “suggestions?” If so, your bee has been a long time coming. (That’s what happens when you wing it!) But let me be clear, the issue here lies not with the bee, but with the cavalier lack of effort that went into it.
True learning is about personal growth, and grades can be misleading. Although bees have a bad reputation on campus, there’s nothing inherently wrong with them! In fact, many individuals perform hours upon hours of labor in the hopes that they might be lucky enough to successfully obtain some. The scientific community calls these individuals “beekeepers.” Here at Harvard, we call them “chemistry majors.” As these students know, bees are often born from the hard work of a difficult semester. So if you suspect a bee might take residence on your transcript and you’re not sure how to feel about it, ask yourself these questions: did you “give it your all” this semester? Did you devote yourself to learning and growth? Were you academically challenged? If so, then celebrate your bee! You worked hard for it, and its honey should be delicious. But if you were like,“Eh, Harvard has grade inflation so I don’t need to do the assigned reading. Let’s go play beer pong.” Then go stand in the corner and think about what you’ve done. Stepping away from the bee metaphor for a moment, I think it’s prudent to mention that grades are a poor indicator of academic growth to begin with. If you worked as hard as you possibly can and earned a Bee, then congrats! You should feel proud of your personal growth and hard work. Conversely, if you got a 4.0 GPA, but didn’t learn anything or cheated your way into it, then the accomplishment is empty. True learning is about personal growth, and grades can be misleading. Now coming back to the bee metaphor, there’s one more thing I need to address. It is no secret that Bees are an endangered species. Bees are so endangered, in fact, that some people claim it’s nearly impossible to earn one on Harvard’s campus, what with all the problematic inflation. On behalf of all Harvard students, I want to say that I wholeheartedly agree. Harvard needs to do everything it can to increase the number of Bees on campus. Just, you know, not to me. Never to me. Bee to everyone else, yes. — Mireya Sánchez-Maes ’24 is a joint concentrator in English and Theater, Dance, and Media in Currier House. Her column “Insect Insights” appears on alternate Wednesdays.
PAGE 7
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APRIL 27, 2022
SPORTS
IN OTHER NEWS
BASEBALL
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
The Crimson lost 12-4 to the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Tuesday to fall to 16-18 ahead of a weekend series at home against Dartmouth.
Harvard trounced Boston University 18-8 on Tuesday afternoon to improve to 6-7. It was a balanced effort, with eight Harvard players scoring multiple goals.
MEN’S LACROSSE
Crimson Topples Tigers, Ties for No. 1 in Ivy League By KATHARINE FORST and THOMAS HARRIS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
On Saturday, April 25, Jordan Field was electrified by the presence of over 2,400 fans as the No. 12 men’s lacrosse team toppled the No. 3 Princeton Tigers. Alumni, fans, and families were there to celebrate the team’s 2020, 2021, and 2022 senior classes, and the energy they brought was pivotal in the team’s victory. The win catapulted Harvard into a five-way tie with Yale, Brown, Princeton and Cornell for first place in the Ivy League and set the stage for a pivotal game against the Bulldogs this upcoming weekend. It will be the last contest of regular season play, a matchup between two historic rivals with massive title implications. “It’s an epic rivalry in every sport in Division I athletics. Going down there, it might be their senior day as well. I think that it is just another chance to get better, another chance to compete, and maybe give us a chance to keep on playing,” head coach Gerry Byrne stated. Of the Ancient Eight lacrosse teams, all but Dartmouth rank in the top 20 of Division I. This upcoming weekend of play will determine which four teams qualify for the Ivy League Tournament to determine the conference champion. The qualifying process will be a hardfought battle that comes down to not just win-loss percentage, but the quality of those wins, timing of the wins, as well as a number of other statistical factors. There is no clear number one team in the league, with each program making a run at different points throughout the season. On Saturday, Harvard struck first on a goal from first-year midfielder Owen Gaffney, who drove down the left alley before burying it in the back of the net. The first quarter saw both teams compete evenly, and by the last whistle Princeton was on top 5-4. Princeton picked up momentum at the start of the second, scoring four straight to make it a 9-4 lead. However, the Crimson chipped away at the
lead, gaining some steam with goals from first-year midfielder Miles Botkiss to break the run, and junior defensive-midfielder Bryn Evans. Harvard worked well in its sets on both ends. The offense, led by its trio of attackers – senior Austin Madronic, junior Hayden Cheek and first-year Sam King – spread out well, utilized space, and played patiently, not forcing its shots or feeds in the middle. “We played with confidence. We went into this game knowing that if we played our game the right way we were going to come out with a dub. And that’s exactly what we did. So, we executed our gameplan,” Botkiss noted. The middies had a great impact on offensive movement, and a number of players stepped up with impactful plays in pivotal moments. Byrne emphasized that a key to the team’s success was the cohesion of younger players alongside veterans. This was clear in midfield play, with first-years Andrew Perry and Lucas Hillsenrath working alongside players like junior Isaiah Dawson and senior Charlie Olmert to facilitate ball movement from the top. “We had a lot of players step up and make big plays when we needed them today, and in the past couple tough games we haven’t made big plays when we needed them. Guys like Lucas Hillsenrath came up huge in the fourth quarter. [He] hadn’t taken a shot the whole game and then … sealed the game with a game-winning goal,” Olmert said. “This was emblematic of the whole game, guys stepping up and making plays when called upon.” On the other side of the field, the defense, which showcased the communication of firstyears Tommy Martinson and Collin Bergstrom , as well as junior Chase Strupp, played one of its strongest games of the season. The unit did well talking through rotations on the mandown, and had confidence clearing 23 of 26 takes. Firstyear Ray Dearth and junior Chase Yager were instrumental in clearing the ball across mid-
PRINCETONIAN GAFFES First-year midfielder Owen Gaffney surveys the field during Harvard’s monumental victory over Princeton. He opened the scoring in the first quarter and added a second goal, his 13th of the season, late in the third. DYLAN J. GOODMAN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
field, and played well in their one-on-one matchups. “I think this game our defense played well as a cohesive unit and our communication was on point; we excelled at our man-down play,” noted firstyear LSM Vince Cresci. “After getting stops we were able to push transition through our d-middies which gave us tons of opportunities to push the fast break and get early offense going.” Senior goalie Kyle Mullin had another standout performance, saving 18 shots at a 53% rate, with many of those being diving plays on the doorstep. He also led the clearing attempts, facilitating both outlets down low and long-bombs across midfield. His leadership was needed in turning around the deficit of the second quarter, and some clutch saves by the senior did indeed turn the tide. Another senior who turned in a strong last game on Jordan was FOGO Steven Cuccurul-
lo, who had one of his best performances of the season, winning 15 of 28 face off takes. His clamping was consistent, and he was able to dish it out to the wings to make big plays in the scrum. Senior FOGO Kyle Massimilian also came in clutch, winning three for eight. “Really great bounce back for the faceoff unit. Lots of guys stepped up on the wing. [Sophomore LSM Greg Campisi] played great as always and [Cresci] stepped up and made some really good plays in his first game action which was awesome,” Cuccurullo said. Cuccurullo had chemistry with wings like Campisi and first-year midfielder Andrew O’Berry, who played both ways in the game. Campisi looked strong in the middle of the field, showing off his crafty back-handed passes and one-handed ground balls, along with junior LSM Ollie Hollo, who yardsaled his Princeton midfielder with a beautiful
check at the fifty. “We did really well on ground balls. We started to defend a lot better at one side of the field and offense was getting the looks all day. Everything was kind of just put together today, it was awesome to see,” Campisi stated. The third quarter was a hard-fought battle, and Harvard was able to claw Princeton’s lead to just one goal, 12-11. The Crimson, cheered on by the 400 raucous alumni who came to celebrate the team, ratcheted up play over the final fifteen minutes to earna 19-16 victory. When asked about how fans’ presence set the game over the edge, players Campisi, King, Olmert, and head coach Byrne all emphasized that they had a tangible impact on the team’s energy during its second-half comeback. “There was the intersection of a beautiful day, with 400 alums, honoring our current seniors and past seniors … I think
that the calculus of all that makes you bring an extra level of effort and energy,” Byrne commented. Campisi added: “When you have the crowd packed, you have all the boys over at one end of the field … it gives you a little push on the back, a little extra energy to make all the plays that matter.” All is left to play for in the team’s final game of the season on Saturday, April 30. The contest against Yale, which will take place at Reese Stadium in New Haven, Conn. at 2 p.m., will help determine Harvard’s playoff fate. The game will be streamed live on ESPNU. Said Campisi: “We know we can win any game … against anybody, we just need to play our game. We need to do all the little plays that build up to the big plays. It starts with every man on the roster, from the bottom to the top.” katharine.forst@thecrimson.com
WOMEN’S WATER POLO
Record-Breaking Season Ends in Championship Defeat By EVER A. MARINELLI CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Last Sunday marked the end of a historic record-breaking season for Harvard women’s water polo. The Crimson finished with the highest number of victories and lowest number of defeats in program history, bested rival Princeton for a third time in the semifinal, and advanced
to its first championship game, where the team ultimately fell to No. 7 Michigan. “This team is the best women’s team I have coached at Harvard,” head coach Ted Minnis stated confidently. “I am very proud of our group … and playing in a championship game was pretty special.” No. 17 Harvard (23-7, 9-3 CWPA) began the weekend
with a decisive 16-0 win against Mount Saint Mary’s (8-24, 1-11 CWPA). The shutout from junior goalie Zoe Banks and freshman goalie Anne-Charlotte Gillard was the second this season – the first also from Banks against Mount Saint Mary’s at the start of conference play in February – and the third shutout in the Crimson’s varsity history.
WAHL THE WAY UP Junior attacker Borden Wahl rises to make a pass in a 2019 victory over Bucknell. Harvard narrowly bested its 21-8 record that season with a 23-7 mark this year. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
“It was really exciting to see [the shutout] happen and also really exciting to be a part of it,” Gillard said. “We went into Mount Saint Mary’s knowing that they weren’t very tough competition but that [the game] was really important for setting the tone for the rest of the weekend.” That confidence carried into the next day, where the squad locked in an 11-9 victory over its rival, No. 20 Princeton (2010, 8-4 CWPA). Saturday’s win was Harvard’s third consecutive victory over Princeton, a definitive change of pace from the Crimson’s 0-4 record with the Tigers prior to this season. Though Princeton closed the gap slightly in the fourth quarter, Harvard maintained a comfortable three to four point lead for a majority of the game. Junior attacker Evan Tingler tallied three goals, and senior center defender Inde Halligan, junior center Grace Thawley, and freshman attacker Erin Kim scored two each. The squad started off strong and was able to put pressure on the Tigers from the first quarter while maintaining their usual solid defense. Against a challenging opponent like Princeton, the team needed more than just their excellent gameplay and coordination between defense and offense. Tingler highlighted the importance of the mental game, and noted that a confident mentality – which she’s seen develop considerably since her freshman year – was a critical factor
in toppling their rival. “Coming in after COVID … [we realized] this is a blank slate and an opportunity to make Harvard women’s water polo whatever we want it to be,” Tingler said. “We were like, ‘this team right here is not going to lose to Princeton,’ and no longer are we a team that loses to Princeton every time. In fact, it’s the opposite.” The win sent the team to their first ever championship game, where they faced off against No. 7 Michigan (26-8, 12-0 CWPA). Despite an incredible effort and a strong defensive plan, the Crimson suffered on offense and fell 10-4 to the Wolverines, who were highly favored to win. “Obviously, Michigan is number seven in the nation, full scholarships, they’re very heavily funded, and they have really really good players from all over the world,” Tingler said. “We needed to shut them down defensively and so we came in with a solid defensive plan, but in that game our offense was lacking.” Minnis also noted that he felt the team missed some shots they should have made, but emphasized how proud he was of his players and their tenacity while rivaling for the conference title – a high-stakes position they had not played in before. “It sucks that we didn’t win the championship, but it’s the first time that our women’s program has been in the championship game,” Minnis said. “This
team has done a lot of firsts, they’re pioneers.” Though the loss itself was certainly hard, harder still was the conclusion of such a momentous season. Minnis and players alike noted that the truly difficult task was saying goodbye to such an excellent group of players. “You know it’s going to end at some point but this group is one that I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching and I won’t coach this exact group again,” Minnis said. “So [the loss] isn’t sad, it’s just more sad that we won’t compete together again.” The team graduates two seniors this year – attacker Quinne Pursell and center defender Inde Halligan – for whom this weekend concluded their collegiate water polo careers. “We had incredible upperclassmen coaching us and guiding the team,” said Gillard, reflecting back on her first year. “Our teammates served an integral role in helping us succeed this season.” The team looks forward to welcoming its new members in the fall and continuing that drive and enthusiasm that made the 2022 season so exceptional. “It’s a very special team that loves each other and fights for each other in and out of the pool,” Tingler said. “We look around in the water and everyone’s smiling, laughing, having a good time with each other. It’s just really special.” ever.marinelli@thecrimson.com