The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
|
VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 48 |
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
| THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022
EDITORIAL PAGE 4
NEWS PAGE 5
SPORTS PAGE 6
Students who could not avoid virtual learning deserve a tuition refund
Phi Beta Kappa inducted 25 Harvard juniors into the Alpha Iota Chapter
Crew takes to the water in spring for the first time since 2019
Medical School Apps Decrease By PAUL E. ALEXIS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Applications to Harvard Medical School fell back to near pre-pandemic levels this year after a sharp increase last cycle. HMS accepted 199 students in the 2021-22 application cycle — 2.9 percent of the 6,914 people who applied. Applications to the school fell by around 14 percent, or 1,088, compared to last year but remained slightly higher than prior to the pandemic. HMS Admissions Dean Robert J. Mayer said the 2020-2021 cycle represented an anomaly at HMS due to the pandemic. “Because of the pandemic, people who had planned to do something between college and medical school — gap years, if you will — found that they couldn’t do it, and they opted to apply directly to medical
Applications to Harvard’s Health Care Schools
school,” he said. “I wouldn’t make much of the decline,” Mayer said. “Everything was flat except for last year.” Overall, the number of applications to all three of Harvard’s health care schools — HMS, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health — have increased since the start of the pandemic two years ago, according to data provided by the schools. The Harvard Dental School accepted 35 of the 993 people who applied after it saw a slight drop in the number of applicants compared to last cycle. Just over 2,900 people applied to the School of Public Health this cycle, sustaining the upward trend of the past two years. HSPH did not
HGSE Ends Teaching Offering The program is the second undergraduate education program ended in recent years By PATON D. ROBERTS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Harvard Medical School
Harvard School of Public Health
SEE APPS PAGE 3
through the website. According to a tweet from Schiffmann, the platform had over 1 million active users two weeks after the launch. But soon after the platform’s debut, concerns over a lack of security measures — such as host and user verification and tracking — circulated online. Some experts criticized the website as a platform that could expose vulnerable refugees to human trafficking. Bruce Schneier, an adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, said the website’s concept had significant oversights. “It assumed basically goodwill on the part of everybody, and it’s sad because it’s a project that was done purely out of goodwill,” he said. Schneier said the website and its shortcomings serve as “a lesson in the limits of tech solutionism.” “They didn’t really understand the complexity of what
The Harvard Undergraduate Teacher Education Program, which provided College students with teaching credentials prior to graduation, was recently ended as part of an effort to direct students interested in teaching to the Graduate School of Education’s new Teaching and Teacher Leadership master’s program. UTEP is the second undergraduate education program to be ended in recent years after the Harvard Teacher Fellows was rolled over into TTL last October. The UTEP allowed “Harvard undergraduates to earn certification as a secondary teacher during their time at the College,” according to an archived version of its website. Students completed the program — consisting of both classwork and fieldwork — across two semesters, often during their junior or senior year. Participants took four academic courses and clocked a minimum of 460 hours in the field over the two semesters. “When HGSE redesigned its master’s program, one of the key goals was to advance the training and engagement of aspiring educators, while building on the lessons and all of the success of earlier teacher preparation programs, including UTEP,” HGSE spokesperson Bari E. Walsh wrote in an email. “Now, all of HGSE’s teacher preparation efforts are wrapped into the new Teaching and Teacher Leadership master’s program.”
SEE WEBSITE PAGE 5
SEE TEACHING PAGE 3
Harvard School of Dental Medicine CAMILLE G. CALDERA — FLOURISH CHART
Refugee Website Concerns Experts By OMAR ABDEL HAQ and ASHLEY R. MASCI CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
When two Harvard College freshmen — Avi Schiffmann ’25 and Marco Burstein ’25 — launched the UkraineTakeShelter website last month, their goal was to help Ukrainian refugees find safe haven as quickly as possible. “Every single day that we didn’t have this website up, there were more people that could be not finding housing,” said Schiffmann, a web developer who previously created a popular Covid-19 tracking site. “We just really wanted to help as soon as possible.” As war rages in Ukraine, Schiffman and Burstein’s website allows refugees fleeing the country to match with potential hosts in Europe for short-term and long-term stays. The site quickly gained traction and garnered national media attention. Within a week, more than 4,000 people had offered up their homes to refugees
Local artists wrapped the Charles Sumner statue on Mass. Avenue in solidiary with Ukrainians, who have been wrapping their statues to protect them from destruction. TRUONG L. NGUYEN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
NCAAPLDF Leader Discusses Voting Rights at IOP Meet the Lawyers Defending Harvard By KATE DELVAL GONZALEZ and JOHN N. PEÑA CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
By RAHEM D. HAMID and NIA L. ORAKWUE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
William F. Lee ’72 and Seth P. Waxman ’73 were college students when Harvard’s admissions process evolved to consider race as a factor, becoming a model that was subsequently copied nationwide. “It was really in the very early days of Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policy,” Waxman said. Over 50 years later, Harvard’s race-conscious admissions practices are in jeopardy as a lawsuit alleging discrimination against Asian-American applicants heads to the Supreme Court in the fall. The court agreed to hear the case filed against Harvard by anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions alongside a similar lawsuit against the University of North Carolina. Waxman will defend Harvard before the Supreme Court as the University’s lead counsel. Lee — who serves as the senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, the school’s highest governing body — served as lead counsel during
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Harvard Today 2
the case’s trial phase. Attorneys Felicia H. Ellsworth and Danielle Conley joined the defense team during the early phases of the trial. Conley has since left the legal team to serve as Associate White House Counsel, replaced by Debo Adegbile. The team of four works with approximately a dozen other lawyers on the case. Waxman and Lee have maintained deep ties to Harvard since matriculating as freshmen. Both joined the University’s Board of Overseers, with Waxman serving as the board’s president from 2010-2011. Lee later assumed his post of senior fellow of the Corporation. Lee traces his support of race-conscious admissions to his parents — immigrants from China. “They came to the country with $25 to their name,” Lee said. “They really believed in America and American education.” “My dad was right — that education is key to creating equality in any society, but particularly in America — that opening up a Harvard educa-
Janai S. Nelson, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, discussed the judicial system’s role in fighting racial inequality at a forum hosted Wednesday by the Harvard Institute of Politics and the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project. Khalil G. Muhammad, director of the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project and Kennedy School professor moderated the event, which was part of a series called Reckoning With the Past, Rebuilding the Future. Nelson said she expects Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson ’92 — the first Black woman ever nominated to the bench — to be confirmed later this week. Three Republican senators — Susan M. Collins (R-Maine), Lisa A. Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) — have said that they plan to support Jackson’s nomination. If all 50 Senate Democrats vote to confirm her, she will have well over the majority of senators required.
SEE LAWYERS PAGE 5
SEE IOP PAGE 3
News 3
Sports 6
Editorial 4
Janai Nelson, the president and director-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, spoke at the Institute of Politics on Wednesday. PHOTO COURTSEY THE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
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APRIL 7, 2022
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HARVARD TODAY
For Lunch Coconut Curry Chicken Korean BBQ Beef Quesadilla Seitan Cheese Steak Sub
For Dinner Chipotle Chicken Pork Carnitas Red Bean Jambalaya
TODAY’S EVENTS Yoga: Balance de Cuerpo y Mente Smith Campus Center, 2 p.m.
IN THE REAL WORLD
This yoga workshop is hosted by the Center for Wellness and Health Promotion and welcomes those of all levels. During the class, you will learn to calm your mind by controlling your breathing while moving and healing your body.
No Charges Filed Against Police Officers Involved in Fatal Shooting of Amir Locke Prosecutors declined to file charges against the Minneapolis police officer who killed Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man, during a no-knock warrant service in February. The shooting led to protests in the city and sparked calls for police accountability.
A Roadmap Towards Accountability and Reparations: The Case of Jineth Bedoya Virtual, 3:30 p.m.
Future of Human Engagement with OkCupid Founder Virtual, 4:30-5:30 p.m. The Harvard Innovation Lab hosts a conversation with Sam Yagan, the co-founder of OkCupid and former CEO of Match.com. Come to hear more about Yagan’s journey as an entrepreneur and his insight on how human behavior and social engagement is shifting in our digital world.
The large windows of the Malkin Athletic Center and Lowell Bell Tower illuminate the night. MEIMEI XU—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
After the U.S. Treasury blocked Russia from paying its debt payments in dollars, the Kremlin announced on Wednesday that it sent $650 million worth in rubles as bond payment.
AROUND THE IVIES
Putin’s Daughters Targeted by U.S. Sanctions
YALE: Yale administrators and Ukrainian students aim to increase Ukrainian
In a new round of sanctions issued Wednesday, the United States targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters. The move has pushed a family that has long lived in secrecy into the spotlight.
admissions —THE YALE DAILY NEWS
COLUMBIA: ‘It’s hard to imagine a leadership change’: Students, administrators celebrate Valentini after decade as deany —THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR PRINCETON: USG speaks with administrators on Princeton’s ‘sexual climate’ —THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
UPENN: Penn’s COVID-19 case count nearly doubles, reaching eight-week high —THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN
COVID UPDATES
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Listen to Jineth Bedoya, the Laureate Colombian journalist, who is a major voice in advancing justice for women facing sexual violence in Colombia and wordlwide. The court rule in her favor that held the Colombian State responsible for Bedoya’s kidnapping, torture, and sexual violence served as a major step in establishing nonrepitition measures.
Russia Says it Has Transferred $650 Million Worth of Rubles to US as Bond Payment
230 In Isolation
1.17%
337
Total New Cases
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LAST 7 DAYS
CAMBRIDGE
481 1.94% 76%
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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY College, Grad School, ‘Cliffe Up Annual Tuition to $525
University administrators announced that tuition rates for the College and Grad School would increase to $525 per student. The increase, however, was met with a promise from officials to increase scholarship aid for veterans, nonveterans, and commuter students. April 7, 1948
Faust Struggles with Latin Skills in Faculty Meeting
During the Faculty of Arts and Sciences meeting on Tuesday afternoon, University President Drew G. Faust revealed her weak spot in Latin. While presenting honorary degrees to newly tenured members of the FAS who had not graduated from Harvard—a practice dating back to 1942—Faust struggled to read aloud a traditional Latin motto from a piece of paper, delivering the address in English. April 7, 2010
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
PuseyMinisterMarksFirstAnniversary By ROHAN RAJEEV CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
As his first year as Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church nears its close, Matthew Ichihashi Potts — who also serves as the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard Divinity School — reflected on his time as minister in an interview with The Crimson last week. Potts discussed his commitment to inclusivity at Memorial Church and the steps he has taken to this end, citing the Love United Black Fellowship, which he recently helped launch.According to Potts, the program is designed to make a space for “the Black church tradition and the religious experiences and expressions of folks from an African American religious tradition.” Potts shared how his own multi-faith background — as a
Christian minister with Buddhist roots on his mother’s side — has informed his approach to fostering dialogue among students and members with diverse backgrounds. “Everyone wants to ask questions like, ‘What does goodness look like? What does justice look like? How do we care for each other? What’s the right way to care for each other?’” Potts said. “And those kinds of conversations are just so much more fruitful and interesting when within a more capacious kind of space of dialogue.” Potts also expressed his gratitude for the transition back to in-person services, noting that due to pandemic-related restrictions on gathering sizes and other factors, this semester has come with unique challenges. “Our community felt really great at the beginning, because we were back in the space
and back together,” Potts said. “But also it meant that a lot of routines and habits and things needed to be rebuilt; what we do here is gather people, so when there are rules and restrictions around gathering, it just makes that work more challenging,” he said. “I think also more meaningful when we’re able to do it — but just more challenging.” In his capacity as minister, Potts has helped launch two in-person programs this semester with the goal of welcoming students to Memorial Church and extending opportunities through which they can get to know him personally. The first initiative, “After School Snack,” invites students to meet Potts and his family over some served refreshments. The more recently launched Wednesday Evening Communion offers students the chance to attend Mass and get milkshakes. Potts said his enthusiasm for
working with students extends back to his time as a Ph.D. student, when he also took on the role as a proctor for a first-year dorm. Reflecting back on that experience, the minister said he was thrilled to return to Harvard Yard to assume his new role at Memorial Church — especially to reconnect with students. “That kind of relationship isn’t something I’ve had since I was a proctor, and that’s really fun,” he said. For Potts, continuing to make Memorial Church a home for many is his ultimate goal. “We just have lots of different spaces so folks — whatever their religious identity, whatever they’re looking for — they feel like there’s a way in, and they feel like they have a home here someplace in one of our programs at the church.” rohan.rajeev@thecrimson.com
APPS FROM PAGE 1
Medical School Applications Decrease provide the number of accepted students. Overall, applications to HSPH are up by more than 50 percent compared to the 20192020 pre-pandemic cycle. This year, the school saw an increase of around 7 percent compared to last cycle. Kerri L. Noonan, the director of admissions at HSPH, said an optional survey of applicants to the school showed that the pandemic had an outsized impact on career choices for students interested in public health. “I think it’s just driven more people to look towards public health for a career,” Noonan said of Covid-19.
Due to the pandemic, the School of Public Health did not require applicants to submit the GRE. Noonan said the survey of applicants showed that more than 45 percent of respondents indicated the test-optional policy influenced their decision to apply. She said the school will decide by June whether it will mandate the standardized test again going forward.The Harvard Dental School allowed for virtual applicant interviews this cycle — an “applicant-centered approach,” according to Sarah Troy-Petrakos, the school’s director of admissions. “Interviewees who opted for a face-to-face interview were
grateful to have the option to see the campus in person, and applicants who interviewed virtually were appreciative of the time and cost savings resulting from not having to travel to their interview,” Troy-Petrakos wrote in an emailed statement to The Crimson. She added that the school expects to offer a mix of virtual and in-person interviews moving forward. Noonan added that the Chan School plans to utilize virtual recruitment in the future after it did so successfully this year. “I think we’re able to reach so many more people through virtual recruitment,” she said. “I’ll connect with prospec-
tive students in Indonesia and then in the afternoon. I’ll connect with students in California.
“I think we’re able to reach so many more people through virtual recruitment.” Kerri L. Noonan HSPH Director of Admissions
“So it’s just been an amazing experience to be able to do this all virtually, and to see the number of people who really are participating in the virtual events.” paul.alexis@thecrimson.com
APRIL 7, 2022
TEACHING FROM PAGE 1
HGSE Merges Teaching Tracks Former UTEP student teacher Karolina M. Dos Santos ’14 said the program was difficult, but also valuable for her career. “It was very challenging, both academically and being able to meet the expectations of the student teaching, but it was so helpful to me in thinking about a career, in getting out of the Harvard bubble, in thinking about next steps,” she said. Orin M. Gutlerner, the associate director of UTEP from 2003-2008, also described the challenges created by the program’s intensity.
“Now, it doesn’t even make that much sense to come to Harvard if you want to go into education,” Garrett M. Rolph ‘22 Ed Secondary Peer Advisor
“A fundamental challenge was that UTEP was, in many ways, seen as an add-on program,” he said. “It was not an actual concentration, it satisfied very few concentration requirements in spite of the incredible demands and rigor of the program, and it was really all we could do to barely meet state licensure requirements and offer UTEP and still be able to attract even five or ten Harvard College students a year.” Meaghan E. Townsend ’21, a frequent advocate for pathways to education at Harvard College, said she was disappointed by the cancellations of the two programs — HTF and UTEP during the pandemic. “It was disheartening, over the course of the pandemic — at a time when the University and
so many schools were talking a big game about just how important education was, and what an educational crisis we were in — to now, as you’ve seen in coming to me, both of those programs are no longer there,” she said. Obtaining a teaching license, which Townsend described as a “clunky bureaucratic system,” is now available to Harvard College students through HGSE’s TTL master’s program. Garrett M. Rolph ’22, a peer advisor for the secondary field in educational studies, said the removal of HTF and UTEP have negative effects on the pathways for students interested in the teaching profession. “Now, it doesn’t even make that much sense to come to Harvard if you want to go into education,” he said. “It is harder for you to become a teacher at Harvard than it is at any other state school, at any other school that has some kind of a pathway to licensure, which Harvard has kind of eliminated now at the college level,” he added. Gutlerner said it is important to encourage prospective teachers at the College, reminiscing on meeting students who aspired to join the profession even from the start of their freshman year. “I think there’s a non-trivial number of students at Harvard — I imagine the same is true today — who do come to the College already with those kinds of intentions,” he said. “If those intentions are nurtured, and their desire to become great at this profession is nurtured over time, those are people who could literally change lives. paton.roberts@thecrimson.com
IOP FROM PAGE 1
NAACP Defense Fund President Talks Voting Rights at IOP Forum “I would like to think that her influence, based on our review of her record, and her sensibilities and her lived experiences may help the court,” Nelson said. Nelson spoke about voting rights in the United States, saying that restrictive voting bills passed around the country are working to limit the political power of Black and other minority voters. “We already have seen in some of the primaries that the voter suppression legislation that’s been passed — that we knew would really make it more difficult for people to vote — is, in fact, making it more difficult,” Nelson said. She said, though, that the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has had some success beating some laws in court. She pointed to a Florida bill, SB90, that was struck down by a federal judge last month.
She said voting bills passed in many red states — some of which ban volunteers from handing out free food and water — disproportionately affect people of color. “We know that there are certain communities — such as Black communities — that wind up waiting [in] line at a disproportionately longer rate than others,” she said. “One way to keep people there is to hydrate them and to allow them to have a few free snacks,” she added. Nelson said the NAACP has sought to address voter suppression on a state-by-state basis due to a lack of action from Congress. “We have to redouble our efforts because, unfortunately, we don’t have federal legislation that will protect the right to vote,” she said. “Now we are forced into this piece-by-piece, state-by-state
whack-a-mole strategy,” she added. She added that “we have not given up on federal legislation,” calling for Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. In an interview prior to the event, Muhammad said education can be a potential solution to addressing racial inequalities throughout the country. “We actually have to re-educate ourselves on why we have such inequality and racial inequality in the first place,” he said. “That includes children, adults, native-born Americans, and new residents of this country,” he added. Nelson called on young people to get involved in social justice activism. “We need people who are interested in social justice now as much as ever,” she said in an interview after the event.
From Weeks to Weld.
The Crimson thecrimson.com
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
APRIL 7, 2022
PAGE 4
EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD
COLUMN
Legally Conned
Where Are the Black Designers?
Students who could not avoid virtual learning deserve to get their money’s worth.
T
alk of tuition rebates for virtual learning recalls the very earliest days of the pandemic, when we were less acclimated to the obvious inadequacy of Zoom semesters. Thanks to the plodding pace of the legal system, though, the issue remains unsettled. Just last week, a federal judge allowed parts of a lawsuit seeking partial tuition reimbursement from Harvard to go forward. Whatever its legal obligations, we can’t help but think Harvard’s charging full tuition was unfair to many of its students. The class-action lawsuit, filed in May 2020 by students across the University, was initially dismissed by the Massachusetts District Court in October of that year. In partially reversing that decision, Judge Kelley limited the scope of the suit to students at the Law School, the Graduate School of Education, and the School of Public Health during the spring 2020 semester. As students who have experienced immense disruption in our educational lives over the past two years, we deeply empathize with the plaintiffs. We acknowledge that the University made a difficult, but sound, decision in shifting to remote learning when there was little available information about Covid-19. However, that does not detract from the fact that virtual and in-person learning are fundamentally unequal experiences.
Students come into Harvard excited for the “deeply transformative experience” that the University promises to provide, and this transformation can hardly be achieved through a computer screen. A crucial part of the value Harvard provides is the opportunity for students to learn who we are and how we want to spend the rest of our lives. To pretend that losing some of that value does not cheapen the degree is to adopt the profoundly cynical view that Harvard’s value comes purely through the credential it provides.
A crucial part of the value Harvard provides is the opportunity for students to learn who we are and how we want to spend the rest of our lives To be sure, students knowingly signed up for virtual school, at least after Spring 2020. But not all students have the financial means to take gap years during their time at Harvard. Undergraduates who take out federal loans or rely on various scholarships are often precluded from taking a gap year in order to avoid loans coming due pre-
maturely or scholarships withdrawing financial support. Graduate and professional students are often even more constrained by financial necessity. As a matter of fairness, it seems to follow that all students from across the University who could not choose to avoid a virtual semester ought to have received some sort of tuition reduction. Of course, good policy, let alone good law, does not always align precisely with total fairness. If the University is compelled to refund a substantial portion of tuition from the past two years, it may well push universities across the country to discount safety considerations in future, analogous situations. From the perspective of law or policy, it’s not clear what our courts or legislatures should compel Harvard to do. But we hope that decision-makers recognize the unfairness imposed on the students least privileged with the ability to freely choose between virtual semesters and alternatives. This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.
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OP-ED
Harvard’s Reaction on Ukraine is Telling By MUQTADER OMARI
T
he news of Russia invading Ukraine has shaken Harvard’s campus: immediately following the news break, students outpoured support on social media and protest plans quickly formed. Soon after, University President Lawrence S. Bacow publicly declared the University’s support for the Ukrainian government and announced that the Ukrainian flag would be flown above the John Harvard statue. However, as a Middle Eastern student, I couldn’t help but draw parallels between Harvard’s different reactions for wars initiated by the American government in the Middle East and those in white European countries. Moments after I gazed at the news of Ukraine on the TV screen, I couldn’t help but remember similar footage that came out of my own country of Afghanistan earlier last year. Afghanistan was entrenched in over 20 years of conflict with the American government, resulting in the collapse of the Afghan institution, the death of over 241,000 people, and the displacement of nearly six million Afghans. The invasion came to an end last year when President Joe Biden withdrew all troops from the country, leaving the Taliban to overtake control and sparking a massive humanitarian crisis that is expected to kill millions in the coming months. In response to the Taliban’s takeover, the Biden administration froze the assets of Afghan citizens and sanctioned the country, causing an economic collapse and the death of even more Afghans.
Though, unlike Ukraine, the Afghan people and students did not receive any statements of support from Harvard’s president, and no flag was waved on campus. Instead, Harvard ignored the conflict and signaled that the institution will only take a stand when it concerns white victims.
I couldn’t help but wonder why the conflicts in nonwhite countries seem too foreign and far removed to my classmates, yet the Ukrainian war is rightfully deserving of support Similarly, Harvard’s student body, which has historically been disproportionately wealthy and white, also ignored the conflict. While there were many petitions signed by students and different on-campus organizations imploring the University to support Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian students, Middle Eastern students suffering from similar tragedies were once again left out of any support beyond their own cultural organizations. I believe the racist rhetoric perpetuated by the American media — which alludes inhumanity to one group and humanity to the other — is to blame for much of the dialogue around campus. Though, still, I couldn’t help but wonder why the conflicts in nonwhite countries seem too foreign and far removed to my classmates, yet the Ukrainian war is rightfully deserving of support. The an-
swer was loud and clear: one is white, and the other is not. Such clear bias and racism among the student body here at Harvard not only shows the daily struggles Harvard’s students of color face, but also reflects the institution’s historically racist campus. The support the Ukrainian people received is not only important but required. However, Middle Eastern students like myself, who have family back home and are victims of war, have every right to call out the institution they attend and their fellow peers on their racist bias. Many of us went through similar tragedies in life and had to flee our countries, yet Middle Eastern students did not receive nearly as much public support as white refugees from Harvard and its community. If Harvard’s goal is truly teaching future world leaders in a diverse living environment it needs to ensure that it supports all of its students equally regardless of their skin color or religion. For years, Harvard has fostered a community that not only supports subtle and outright racism but also helps it thrive. Harvard and its student body need to acknowledge their racist biases and Harvard needs to invest in communities that its actions have long oppressed. While the support for the crisis in Ukraine should be applauded, the crisis around the world in non-white countries should not be ignored either. —Muqtader Omari ’25, is a first-year College student in Wigglesworth Hall.
Onyx E. Ewa ALL BLACK EVERYTHING
I
t’s been a little over a week since the 2022 Academy Awards, and while I did not watch the ceremony, I did watch the red carpet coverage. I love red carpets; I always enjoy seeing who the classicists, the innovators, and of course, the fashion victims will be each year. In addition to being an interactive runway, the red carpet is also a venue for celebrities to make political statements. This year, a number of stars sported blue #WithRefugees ribbons in solidarity with the victims of the Ukrainian invasion. In addition to overt political messaging, some attendees made subtle political statements through the designers they chose to wear. While big-name brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Valentino dominated the red carpet, a few nominees appeared in clothes from lesser-known designers of color. After the racial reckoning the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences faced due to the inequities in its nomination process, there has been a growing awareness of racial issues in media and celebrity culture at large. Despite a newfound consciousness of the necessity of prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all realms, there is still work to be done. At the 2018 American Music Awards, actress Tracee Ellis Ross chose to wear clothes designed solely by Black fashion designers, in order to raise the profile of Black-owned brands and to highlight the marginalization and erasure of Black designers in the fashion industry. At this year’s Academy Awards, a small minority of nominees appeared in outfits produced by Black designers. When I was brainstorming this piece, I was planning to write specifically about the black clothes made by Black designers on the Oscars red carpet. However, I was shocked by the relative absence of Black-owned brands from the scene. After sifting through six digests of red carpet looks, I was able to identify only seven (out of more than 100) attendees whose looks were produced by Black designers. While representation of Black celebrities at awards shows has improved substantially, it is essential to prioritize increasing representation of people of color in surrounding industries as well: fashion, beauty, styling, journalism, and more. Will Packer, producer of this year’s Oscars, appeared on the red carpet with his wife, actress Heather Packer. He wore a gold tuxedo jacket with black accents by Hideoki Bespoke, while she wore a Jovana Louis emerald green strapless dress with an oversized bow adorning the back. Hideoki Bespoke’s founder Diedrick Thomas specializes in custom tailoring, and has designed looks for T.I., Gucci Mane, and Steve Harvey, among others. In his role as producer, Packer hired the show’s first all-Black production team and partnered with Black-owned brands for many elements of the ceremony. He says the decision to attend the event wearing clothes by Black designers was intentional, as he hopes to increase exposure for Black brands. In 2019, costume designer Ruth E. Carter (best known for her work on Black Panther) became the first Black designer to win an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Carter attended the event in a sculptural ensemble by Jovana Louis, which featured a black and white mermaid gown, and a white jacket with hyper-modern circular sleeves. The brand, founded by Haitian-born fashion designer Jovana Louis Benoit, creates high-quality ready-to-wear couture garments that are intended to fit women with curves. Actress Niecy Nash and her wife, singer Jessica Betts, both appeared in outfits by luxury athleisure brand Richfresh. Actor David Oyelowo wore a yellow and black printed suit by the Los Angeles-based African-inspired fashion brand Kutula. I both love and study fashion, but sadly, I can only name a few Black fashion designers. While racial diversity of models in the fashion industry has improved substantially over the last decade, there is still a disappointing lack of representation of Black designers and brands. In 2021, Pyer Moss’ Kerby Jean-Raymond became the first Black American designer to be admitted to the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the Parisian governing body of the haute couture industry. Only 4 percent of the members of the Council of Fashion Designers, the primary trade association for fashion designers in the U.S., are Black. The organization is currently working to improve diversity in the fashion industry through an inhouse employment placement program that is intended to place Black talent in the fashion industry, as well as through educational programs that center equity and inclusion.Fashion is the way we express parts of our identities to the world. Our garments reflect our cultural backgrounds, ethnic origins, gender identities, and generally, our approaches to navigating our environments. Improving diversity in the fashion industry means creating more every single person to find a way to express their unique stories and lives through the garments that are available to them. Red carpets are inspiring to me, because in their extravagance, they have the potential to be an especially open forum for self-expression. Events like the Oscars, the Grammys, and the Met Gala are opportunities for visibility for so many people who feel represented by the celebrities and artists who attend them. As Jonathan Michael Square, scholar of fashion and visual culture in the African Diaspora explains in his fashion and justice course, clothing is a way for marginalized people to understand their place in the world and gain access, visibility, and power. Uplifting and supporting fashion designers of color means creating more opportunities for all marginalized people to utilize clothing to define their place in the world.
—Onyx E. Ewa ’24 is an Art, Film, and Visual Studies concentrator in Winthrop House. Their column “All Black Everything” appears on alternate Thursdays.
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
APRIL 7, 2022
25 Juniors Inducted to Phi Beta Kappa Society By JOLIN CHAN and EMILY Y. FENG CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Twenty-five Harvard College juniors learned of their induction into the Alpha Iota Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society, through an email from the Office of Undergraduate Education on March 28. Three times during the academic year, Harvard’s chapter — led by Physics professor Howard M. Georgi ’68 — elects new members. Traditionally, 24 juniors are chosen in the spring, 48 seniors in the fall, and approximately 96 seniors leading up to commencement. Rather than the usual 24 students, however, this year’s “Junior 24” consists of 25 students. Logan S. McCarty ’96,
the Harvard PBK chapter secretary, wrote in an email that “there were a few students who had been left off of [the] original list of eligible candidates due to a clerical error.” In accordance with chapter bylaws, election committees held a second election with remaining students to select the 25th member of the “Junior 24.” Induction into PBK requires students to “possess a record [of ] outstanding scholarly achievement,” according to the chapter website. In March, Harvard’s chapter notified juniors of their nomination and invited them to apply. Nominees submitted transcripts, letters of recommendation, and personal essays. McCarty wrote in an email that election committees “look for students who exhibit academic breadth across the liberal
arts and sciences, as well as ambition and depth within their concentrations.” He added that this year’s applicant pool “had a relatively large number of students with joint concentrations, including some unusual combinations.” Henry A. Cerbone ’23, a special concentrator in Ontology of Autonomous Systems, said Harvard had allowed him to blend five fields of study for his degree: computer science, philosophy, mathematics, robotics, and biology. “I think that the proper home for this kind of study or academic field, so to speak, is at Harvard, where I think people are wonderfully cross- and interdisciplinary,” he said. Brammy Rajakumar ’23, a Chemistry and English joint concentrator, said she was “honored” to be inducted.
“I found out — then immediately had to go take a midterm,” Rajakumar said. “I was like, ‘oh, I don’t have to take this midterm anymore!’” Sterling M. Bland ’23, a joint concentrator in Sociology and African and African American Studies, said that he was “excited, but at the same time, a little apprehensive.” “[PBK is] one of those things that I think it’s a great honor to be a part of, but I also don’t want it to consume my identity or place extra pressure on me to perform [in] some kind of way because now I have a title,” he said. Bland, a Crimson Editorial editor, added that he hopes to be a “good representative” for his concentration. “Sociology has this reputation of being a concentration for people who aren’t particular-
SEAS Team Earns DOD Funding By RYAN H. DOAN-NGUYEN and CALEB H. PAINTER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
The Department of Defense awarded its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative prize to a team of researchers led by Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences professor Katia Bertoldi for the team’s work studying origami structures. Twenty-eight research teams across the country received the 2022 MURI award, splitting a total of $195 million in grants. Bertoldi’s team — which won $6.25 million — includes three other SEAS faculty members: Biologically Inspired Engineering professor Jennifer A. Lewis, Applied Mathematics professor L. “Maha” Mahadevan, and Engineering and Applied Sciences professor Robert J. Wood. University of Pennsylvania professor Eleni Katifori and Georgia Institute of Technology professor David Zeb Rocklin also serve on the team. Rocklin said the process of forming the team and deciding on a research focus was “very
interactive.” “You start to say, ‘Okay, well, we have all these talented people. How can we get together and how can we tell an exciting story about how we can really advance the state of the art?’” Rocklin said. “For us, with the people we had and what we worked on before it was really clear that multi-stable origami was going to be the underlying theme,” he added. The team’s work focuses on using origami and kirigami-inspired structures that can shift between several different shapes. Understanding how these structures transition between different states and what functions can be achieved in each provides useful insight for a large range of projects, from robots to solar panels. Engineers and physicists have been considering the applications of the Japanese art forms for the past decade, Bertoldi explained. But the funding is a major step for the team’s own efforts to study origami. “This grant gives us an opportunity to explore its integrity so we can really study mathe-
matical principles [behind Origami],” she said. Bertoldi noted the potential to use structures inspired by origami and kirigami for packaging.
It was really clear that multi-stable origami was going to be the underlying theme. David Zeb Rocklin Georgia Institute of Technology professor
“So, for example, if you want to protect a given object and then you have a crash, how do you direct the energy along specific paths to protect an object like that?” she said. “We are looking at these different needs and we are trying to design structures that are optimized for a given function,” Bertoldi added. The MURI award aims to foster the development of technologies that could aid the Department of Defense, per the
award’s website. But Rocklin said this is not the main focus of the team’s research. “It’s going to be something of potential use to the military, but it’s not focused on a particular application,” he said. “It’s about addressing fundamental science questions.” Rocklin said he finds the exploration of mathematical and scientific principles the most interesting part of the project. “The fundamental science questions of how can we actually take these structures and create new shapes and program spatial complexity into them in ways that nobody’s done before — that’s personally what I find to be the most exciting thing,” he said. Looking to the future of the team, Rocklin explained that the end goals of its research project have yet to be determined. “We have ideas for things that nobody has done before, and we have things we’ll try and we have backup plans if those don’t work, and we have a number of different avenues,” he said. “So I don’t know exactly where it will be in five years.”
ly hardworking in school,” he said. “I’m glad they picked me because I study sociology, and I work really hard in school.” Nishmi H. Abeyweera ’23, an Economics concentrator, was in a dining hall when she received the congratulatory email. “It was extremely validating to be recognized in this way,” she said. “I have made a lot of sacrifices for academics and for intellectual pursuits, and my family [has] as well.” Abeyweera also said that she had the opportunity to meet other members of the “Junior 24” in an induction ceremony held in the Winthrop Junior Common Room on Tuesday. “To talk with them about things that they were interested in, [to] see how passionate they were about their areas of interest, was very inspiring,” she said.
PBK Junior Inductees Class of 2023 Nishmi H. Abeyweera Economics Sterling M. Bland* Sociology & AAAS Henry A. Cerbone Special Concentration Monica Y. Chang Social Studies Iris Chen Mathematics & Philosophy Yanxi Fang Government Michael J. Frim Anthropology & Physics Tessa K. J. Haining Chemistry & Comparative Literature Isaac Heller Theater, Dance, and Media & Study of WGS Jennifer X. “Jenny” Hong Chemical and Physical Biology Juliet E. Isselbacher* Philosophy Aayush Karan Physics & Computer Science Do Yeon Kim Psychology Caleb K. King, Jr. Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations David A. “Avery” Parr Physics & Mathematics Christian Malachy M. Porter History of Science & AAAS Brammy Rajakumar Chemistry and English Ammaar A. Saeed Chemical and Physical Biology & Statistics Uday R. Schultz History Haneul H. Shin Computer Science & Mathematics Dominic J. Skinnion Government Lucas Szwarcberg Applied Mathematics Alison W. Xin Statistics Irvin Yi Economics Jason Zhou Statistics & Mathematics *denotes a current Crimson editor
LAWYERS FROM PAGE 1
Lawyers Discuss Defending Harvard opening up a Harvard education and other educations to broad demographic groups is critically important,” he added. Waxman recalled feeling “overwhelmed” upon arriving at Harvard for the first time, noting what the diverse student body offers. “When I got to Harvard, this just seemed like an impossibly wonderful gift,” he said. To prepare for the SFFA v. Harvard case, Lee said he is leaning on his experience trying approximately 200 cases. He added that preparing to present a case requires the effort of the whole legal team. “Seth gets to argue before the Supreme Court, but it will be the end result of work done by a whole series of people, and it’s collective experience that I think allows us to make a good presentation,” he said. SFFA first sued Harvard in 2014, arguing that the College’s admissions processes violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Two lower courts ruled in favor of the school before justices agreed to take up the case in January. Waxman reiterated his commitment to defending the College’s admissions practices, recalling when Robert W. Iuliano ’83, then General Counsel at Harvard, first asked him to represent the school. “I said, ‘I will gladly represent you however long this takes, and I’m going to win this case or die trying,’” he said. Waxman also stressed the importance of the Harvard case for the future of affirmative action in higher education. “I’ve had many, many consequential cases both in private practice and when I’ve represented the United States [as Solicitor General],” Waxman said. “But I would say in terms of importance and gravity, this is the first among equals.” rahem.hamid@thecrimson.com nia.orakwue@thecrimson.com
WEBSITE FROM PAGE 1
Experts Raise Concerns Over Website Seeking to Help Ukrainian Refugees they were doing,” Schneier said. “There were things that were subtle and important that they didn’t realize.” Schiffmann wrote in an email on Wednesday that he and Burstein thoroughly “considered both the social and technical aspects” of developing the website. In an interview last month, Schiffmann said he was aware of the website’s flaws when it first launched, citing speed as his primary concern during the development process. Since then, Schiffmann said he has been working to improve
the platform’s safety measures and has added an identity verification process for hosts that includes criminal and terrorist background checks, among other modifications. Nathaniel A. Raymond, a lecturer of global affairs at Yale University who worked as a consultant for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees agency, said he was primarily concerned that unsupervised minors would use the website. “This function of connecting people to temporary housing when they are exiting a conflict
zone is something that should not be done rapidly, lightly, and in an improvised way,” Raymond said. “It should be done in coordination with the lawful international authorities and the lawful national authorities to ensure that we don’t have even one kid go missing.” “That’s why I’m being so hard here — one kid who ends up with a trafficker is too many,” Raymond added. Burstein said in an interview last month that he and Schiffman originally did not include identity verification for website users to avoid requiring refu-
gees to disclose personal information. “We have heard from numerous aid organizations and numerous cybersecurity experts that it would be extremely detrimental to require refugees to upload personal information about themselves when they’re trying to flee a dangerous situation,” he said. However, in response to concerns about minors using the platform, the creators later implemented identity verification for the refugees, Schiffmann wrote in the statement on Wednesday.
Raymond also raised concerns about whether the platform is placing an undue burden on Eastern European authorities facilitating their own relief measures. “How does it integrate with those efforts that are being done by sovereign governments, which are the main point of contact for international aid agencies?” Raymond asked. Burstein said in the interview last month that he and Schiffmann are constantly incorporating feedback from professional agencies and critics. “We’re always listening to
what aid organizations, and what people on the ground are telling us, and that’s what’s informing our strategy,” Burstein said. Burstein said the ultimate goal of the platform is to be a tool for aid organizations. “Our main goal is to get this into the hands of and working with — and we currently are working with — those larger organizations that are doing a lot of the work on the ground,” Burstein said. omar.abdelhaq@thecrimson.com ashley.masci@thecrimson.com
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SPORTS
WEEKLY RECAP
SCORES
SOFTBALL VS. BU L, 0-5 ___________________________________________________________
WOMEN’S WATER POLO VS. MICHIGAN L, 10-12 ___________________________________________________________
BASEBALL VS. UMASS L , 5-9 ___________________________________________________________
WOMEN’S RUGBY VS. ARMY W, 17-15 ___________________________________________________________
WOMEN’S LACROSSE VS. DARTMOUTH W, 11-7 ___________________________________________________________
MEN’S TENNIS VS. DARTMOUTH W, 7-0 ___________________________________________________________
MEN’S LACROSSE VS. COLGATE W, 7-6 ___________________________________________________________
CREW
Harvard Takes to Spring Waters for First Time Since ’19 By MAIREAD B. BAKER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
The ceasing of bitterly cold days and snowfall signals the time for rowers at Harvard to take to the Charles River and commence the spring season. This marks the first time Harvard Rowing has competed in spring waters since 2019. This past weekend brought the chance for Crimson rowers to welcome their Ivy League counterparts to the river and travel along the East Coast for competition against traditional rivals. RADCLIFFE LIGHTWEIGHT ROWING The No. 4 Radcliffe lightweight rowing team competed for the Class of 1999 and Class of 2004 Cups at Lake Carnegie, N.J., with traditional rivals Princeton and Georgetown, winning two out of four races in the regatta. The Black and White started its new season with quadruple wins over the No. 5 Hoyas in all four races: the varsity eight, varsity four, novice four, and pairs, securing the Class of 2004 Cup. The Radcliffe rowers ultimately succumbed to the No. 1 Tigers for the Class of 1999 Cup. Princeton outpaced Harvard by 5.2 seconds in the varsity eights and by 8.8 seconds in the pairs, which was enough to let the Tigers retain the Cup in their home waters. The Crimson did manage to push past the top-ranked crew team in both the varsity four and novice four races, posting a mere 4.5-second win in the varsity race. This weekend, Radcliffe lightweight rowing will compete in a two-day regatta at the Knecht Cup on the Cooper River in New Jersey. RADCLIFFE HEAVYWEIGHT ROWING The Radcliffe heavyweights greeted Ivy foe No. 4 Brown on the Charles River, opening their first home competition of the spring. It also marked the
Gliding Into a New Season Whether it be on the Charles River or at a competition elsewhere, the Crimson crew teams are glad to be back on spring waters after two years —OWEN A. BERGER
team’s first spring appearance since the 2019 NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. The Harvard varsity eight boat was unable to keep up with that of Brown, as the Bears outpaced the Black and White by 23.4 seconds. The Crimson sought to redeem its fate in the second varsity eight race, but fell to its Ivy competitor. Both Brown boats passed Harvard’s, with the Crimson’s furious late-race rally eventually falling 3.8 seconds short. In the varsity fours, the Radcliffe 2V4 boat beat the Bears’ second boat by seven seconds, but fell to the first boat, leading long-running rival Brown
to claim victory in Crimson waters. Next up for the heavyweights is a regatta at Fish Creek in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where it will face Princeton, Cornell, Bucknell, and Syracuse. The Black and White will face Princeton, Cornell, and Bucknell in the morning session and finish with a clash against the Orange in the afternoon. MEN’S LIGHTWEIGHT ROWING Harvard men’s lightweight rowing sent out eleven boats to the National Collegiate Lightweight Invitational in Overpeck Park, N.J. against ten collegiate
rowing programs. The regatta featured Ancient Eight rivals Columbia and Penn, as well as Cambridge neighbor MIT. The competition marked the spring contest for the first time in nearly three years for the Harvard lightweights. It also gave them the chance to compete against teams they had never raced before, including Gordon, Mercyhurst, Iona, and the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). The only win of the day for the Crimson was in the 3V boat, where the team pushed a 5.8 second victory past the Georgetown Hoyas. The Crimson battled all the way to the line in the men’s 1V
varsity eight boat, but ultimately allowed Princeton to scurry past Harvard by a little over a half of a second. Next on the docket for the lightweights will be the Biglin Bowl with Dartmouth and MIT, which the Crimson will host on the Charles River during Easter weekend. MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT ROWING The Harvard heavyweights hosted the Big Red in a dual on the Charles River this past weekend, picking up victory in all four races. The results broke with a historic trend; Cornell is the only Ivy League team with a
winning record all time against the Crimson. In the first race of the day, the first Harvard 4V boat led Cornell by 30 seconds, with the second trailing by 20.3 seconds. The heavyweights secured leads against the Big Red in both the 3v and 2V races as well, by 28.4-second and 11-second margins, respectively. The closest Cornell came to beating the Crimson was in the 1V boat race, when the Big Red came up short by 4.2 seconds. The Crimson heavyweights will compete next for the Stein Cup against Brown in Providence, R.I., on Apr. 9. mairead.baker@thecrimson.com
SAILING
Harvard Stays Smooth as Season Begins to Heat Up By BRAHM ERDMANN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Harvard’s sailing team earned strong finishes in each of their three team races this weekend, taking home fourth place at the interconference Marchiando Team Race, fifth place at the Dellenbaugh Trophy (NEISA Women’s Team Race Championship), and 13th place in the BU Trophy Fleet Race. The Crimson began its weekend with the Dellenbaugh Trophy Team Race, finishing with a 5-4 record in the 10-team race in Providence, R.I. They tied Brown University for fourth place on their home turf and then advanced to the second round, improving to a 5-2 record and moving up to second place behind Boston College. In the third and final round, Harvard stumbled to a record of 1-4, leaving them in fifth place at the regatta’s close. A dominant Boston College outfit took home the Dellenbaugh trophy, securing its spot at the Women’s Team Race National Championship in San Diego, California on April 23-24. The rest of the field – including Harvard – will wait to see if they qualify for the championship. Back home on the Charles River Basin, the co-ed team delivered a composed performance amid difficult circumstances at the interconference Marchiando Team Race, picking up ten wins and only five losses in the 16-team round-robin hosted by MIT.
“At MIT, conditions were a little bit tricky, the wind was shifting a lot,” said junior Eric Hansen, who competed in the co-ed regatta. Hansen sailed with fellow juniors Ariel Wang and Tyler Masuyama in separate boats over the day, and, despite the suboptimal weather, spirits and excitement among team members remained high. ”It was also the first time the three of us raced together,” added Hansen, in reference to the trifecta of boats consisting of Wang and himself in the first, sophomore Lachlan McGranahan and junior Cassia Lee in the second, and senior Henry Burns and junior Chris Wang in the third. Hansen gave high praise to the duo of Burns and Wang, whose boat stood out over the course of the regatta. “Henry has a ton of experience, he’s the only senior on the team at the moment, so we’re really looking to him for leadership,” Hansen said. “Chris is a super athletic guy, coming in as a walk-on, he’s become a huge part of our team and he’s having his best season so far.” When asked about what is next for the team, Hansen said, “We feel good, we have a lot of injuries on the team right now… we’re still not 100% about who’s going to be starting next weekend.” Harvard will now prepare for the NEISA co-ed championship race, which it will host on April 9-10. brahm.erdmann@thecrimson.com
Drifting Up to Boston The Crimson sailing squads competed well at their various outings last Saturday and picked up some much-needed experience for the future, especially given that senior Henry Burns currently serves as the lone senior on the young team.—TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA