The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLV, No. 18 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Monday, February 12, 2018
The Harvard Crimson Harvard’s 29th President
it’s bacoW By the crimson news staff
H
arvard Corporation member Lawrence S. Bacow will serve as the University’s 29th president, members of the presidential search committee announced Sunday afternoon, ending a seven month-long search he initially helped conduct. Bacow, 66, formerly served as the president of Tufts University and the chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has also held roles at the Kennedy School, the Graduate School of Education, the Law School—and, most recently, on Harvard’s own search committee. Bacow will assume Harvard’s top post at a precarious time for higher education and for the University. He will face a presidency and Congress in Washington, D.C. that has proposed and enacted policies directly at odds with the University’s goals, including a new tax on large university endowments that will likely cost Harvard tens of millions of dollars per year. Bacow must also grapple with a chronically underperforming endowment, oversee Harvard’s expansion into Allston, and finalize the roll-out of a controversial College policy penalizing membership in single-gender social groups. Marking an unusual selection from within its own ranks, the committee approached Bacow to see if he would stop seeking the University’s next leader and interview for the job himself. He agreed to quit the committee in mid-December, months into a search that started over the summer. Senior Fellow of the Corporation William F. Lee ’72 said that, as the committee solicited nominations, many within and outside of Harvard recommended Bacow for the job. “He went through the same processes our other candidates but in the end he emerged as the person who we unanimously and enthusiastically believed was the best choice to lead Harvard forward. He is one of the most respectful, insightful, and experienced leaders in American higher education,” Lee said at the official press conference announcing Bacow’s selection Feb. 11. “He knows universities like few others, and he knows Harvard.” An economist and lawyer whose research focuses on environmental policy, Bacow led Tufts from 2001 to 2011. While at Tufts, he spearheaded that university’s largest-ever capital campaign to date, expanded financial aid and diversity initiatives, and created a new partnership with Tufts Medical Center. He holds three Harvard degrees—a J.D from the Law School as well as an M.P.P. and Ph.D. from the Kennedy School of Government—and attended MIT as an undergraduate. He joined COURTESY OF STEPHANIE MITCHELL—Harvard staff photographer
president page 3
The pick
The DAY
The ISSUES
From Medford to Cambridge
Bacow Hiding in Plain Sight
The Beginning of an Era
During Bacow’s tenure as the president of Tufts University, he faced a number of challenges similar to those he will likely encounter as Harvard’s president.
Harvard’s soon-to-be 29th president strolled into Loeb House the morning of his confirmation unnoticed and under the radar.
Lawrence S. Bacow will take Harvard’s helm at a time when higher education is under siege. In his first public appearance, the president-elect hinted at his priorities.
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ANNOUNCEMENT page 4
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HARVARD TODAY
monday | february 12, 2018
FOR Lunch
FOR DINNER
BBQ Chicken
Pork Tagine
French Bread Cuban Pizza
Shrimp with Fettuccini
Macaroni and Cheese
Spicy Tofu with Green Beans
Dirty Rice
Steamed Snowpeas
around the ivies Yale Sororities Announce Increase to Financial Aid Yale’s four sororities will each be given roughly $200 by the Yale Panhellenic Council in an effort to cover the cost of membership dues. The Yale Daily News reported that the move is the Panhellenic Council’s first attempt at launching a financial aid program. Dues for Yale sororities range from $350 to $750 leading some sorority members to question the effect of a $200 stipend. The Council will vote this week on the exact amount of money each sorority will receive.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Calls for Peace Treaty at Princeton Yukio Hatoyama, the former Prime Minister of Japan, called for a peace treaty between North Korea and the United States during a lecture at Princeton Thursday, the Daily Princetonian reported. In a wide-ranging speech, Hatoyama discussed his vision for an East Asian community similar to the European Union in service of a “stable anti-war consensus.” He also criticized President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, dubbing the trade agreement sans the United States “largely an exercise in futility.”
congratulations, mr. President Lawrence S. Bacow and his wife Adele speak with Angelica Z. Rudenstine, wife of former University President Neil L. Rudenstine, in the Barker Center Sunday afternoon. amy y. li—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Happy monday, harvard! New week, new president! In the Atmosphere… Partly cloudy forecast and 43 degrees. I mean, the universe isn’t saying “Screw you, it’s Monday,” but it’s sure not saying “Today’s gonna be a great day!” either.
Cornell Project a Finalist for Millions in NASA Funding EVENTS Decisions and Desserts: A Conversation with Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn Head to the Phillips Brooks House at 7 p.m. to hear some inspirational speakers tell you about major decisions they have faced in your life, because maybe hearing about other people’s decisions will help you with your own indecisiveness? Also, desserts.
A Cornell project that aims to sample the core of a comet is one of two finalists competing for $1 billion in funding from NASA, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. The proposed Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return mission, or CAESAR, is a 20-year project that would retrieve a piece of comet to shed light on the formation of Earth and organic matter. Cornell submitted a funding proposal to NASA’s New Frontiers program and anticipates a final decision in summer 2019.
The Epidemic of Poverty: The Government Imperative Come listen to this lecture by former health director of the city of Detroit and current candidate for the governorship of Michigan Abdul ElSayed. It will be held at the Knafel Center at 4:15 p.m. Lorenzo F. Manuali & Trula J. Rael Crimson Staff Writers
in the real world The World Is Obsessed With Kim Jongun’s Sister Everyone’s watching for tensions between North and South Korea during this year’s Winter Olympics, but instead of paying attention to conflict, people have become fixated on North Korea’s emissary to the Olympics: Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong.
Under Trump, ICE is More Active than Ever ICE arrests have spiked since Trump took office and analysis shows most of them have been non-criminal arrests. Some are thrilled; others feel this counts as grasping at lowhanging fruit.
BPD’s Black History Month Mistake Boston police are under fire after tweeting a tribute post to a white man for Black History Month. The post was quickly deleted, but we all know that, once something makes it to the Internet, there’s no turning back.
Mirai Nagasu Lands Triple Axel Figure Skater Mirai Nagasu became the first American to land a triple axel in an Olympic competition. The 24-year-old pulled off the trick in Pyeongchang, placing second to Russian figure skater Alina Zagitova.
COMMANDING THE ROOM WAIting at the dot
Lawrence S. Bacow addresses University officials and members of the press after being named Harvard’s 29th president on Sunday afternoon. amy y. li—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
The Harvard Crimson
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Staff for This Issue
“What about Larry?”
Night Editors Joshua J. Florence ’19 Phelan Yu ’19
The University Daily, Est. 1873 Derek G. Xiao, President Hannah Natanson, Managing Editor Nathan Y. Lee, Business Manager Copyright 2018, 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.
William F. Lee ’72, Senior Fellow of the Harvard Corporation
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.
Story Editors Graham W. Bishai ’19 Joshua J. Florence ’19 Hannah Natanson ’19 Mia C. Karr ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Kenton K. Shimozaki ’19 Allison W. Steinbach ’19 Brian P. Yu ’19
Design Editors Elena M. Ramos ’20 Morgan J. Spaulding ’19 Simon S. Sun ’19 Editorial Editor Jessenia N. Class ’20 Photo Editors Justin F. Gonzalez ’21 Kathryn S. Kuhar ’20 Amy Y. Li ’20 Megan M. Ross ’18
Sports Editor Jamie T. Chen ’20
The Harvard Crimson | February 12, 2018 | page 3
Bacow Will Take Office in July President From Page 1 the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, in 2011. Bacow’s selection marks a return to white male leadership after Faust— Harvard’s first female president— broke the centuries-long pattern when she assumed the University’s top job in 2007. Alumni and students called on the search committee to consider a diverse slate of candidates during the search, urging the group to particularly prior
Larry is one of the most accomplished, admired, insightful, and effective leaders in American higher education. William F. Lee ‘72
Senior Fellow of the Harvard Corporation itize candidates from underrepresented backgrounds. Prior to stepping down from the committee, Bacow met with a group of Latino alumni and students to solicit their input on the search. “I was in full listening mode,” Bacow said of that meeting as he exited Loeb House in Oct. 2017. This is not the first time Bacow’s name has been floated for the Harvard presidency. He made the University’s shortlist of candidates for the 2006-2007 search that resulted in Faust’s selection, The Crimson reported in Dec. 2006. During that year’s search, Bacow repeatedly denied any interest in the Harvard post.
“I am very happy at Tufts and have no desire to leave. I took this job expecting it to be my last. I still do,” Bacow told the Tufts Daily in 2006. Twelve years later, Lee, who chaired the search committee, praised Bacow’s leadership skills in a letter sent to Harvard affiliates Sunday announcing Bacow’s appointment. “Larry Bacow is one of the most accomplished, admired, insightful, and effective leaders in American higher education,” Lee wrote. Tufts President Anthony P. Monaco, who succeeded Bacow at the university, also lauded Bacow in an email to The Crimson earlier in the fall. “Larry is a national leader in higher education, and has a deep understanding of both the challenges and opportunities that universities face today,” Monaco wrote. The presidential search has been underway since University President Drew G. Faust announced over the summer she planned to step down in June 2018 after 11 years at Harvard’s helm. The search committee—originally comprising all 12 members of the Harvard Corporation and three members of the Board of Overseers—spent the ensuing months whittling down a list of more than 700 candidates to just one. The process was long and secretive. Search committee members convened 16 times, according to the press release, meeting behind the closed doors of Loeb House and in at least one searcher’s home in residential Belmont, Mass. in an effort to keep the identities of candidates under wraps. The search remained in “information-gathering mode” for the first few months as faculty, staff, and student advisory committees helped the committee gather input from thousands of Harvard affiliates worldwide. The search committee had begun narrowing its list by October. The Crimson reported in Dec. 2017 that the committee had winnowed its slate of finalists to under 20 names. Lee and other members of the search committee repeatedly declined to discuss the search or disclose the identities of other candidates. But
faculty and alumni named Business School Dean Nitin Nohria, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith, University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76, and Government Professor Danielle S. Allen as probable internal candidates. Ultimately, though, the committee chose one of its own. “I am humbled and honored by the opportunity to lead this remarkable institution–and to succeed Drew Faust, whom I have been privileged to count as a friend and an inspiration since we
I am humbled and honored by the opportunity to lead this remarkable institution—and to succeed Drew Faust whom I have been priveliged to count as a friend and an inspiration. Lawrence S. Bacow University President-elect
met over a decade ago,” Bacow wrote in a press release Sunday. Bacow will formally begin his duties as University president on July 1, 2018.
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Graham W. Bishai, Derek K. Choi, Brandon J. Dixon, Andrew M. Duehren, Caroline S. Engelmayer, Joshua J. Florence, Angela N. Fu, Kristine E. Guillaume, Jamie D. Halper, Mia C. Karr, Dianne Lee, Hannah Natanson, Claire E. Parker, Daphne C. Thompson, Lucy Wang, William L. Wang, Derek G. Xiao, Michael E. Xie, Luke W. Xu, Leah S. Yared, and Brian P. Yu contributed reporting.
Bacow Takes Helm While Higher Education Under Seige By Kristine E. Guillaume Jamie D. Halper and Luke W. Xu Crimson Staff Writers
Lawrence S. Bacow will become the 29th president of the country’s oldest university at a time when higher education is under siege. Republican lawmakers are taxing large university endowments, threatening cuts to federal research funding, and debating the future of undocumented students and financial aid, among other issues. In an interview in November, outgoing University President Drew G. Faust called the endowment tax “a blow at the strength of American higher education,” expressing dismay at the turning tide in Washington against universities. As Harvard’s next president, Bacow will wade into this hostile political climate—and he bluntly acknowledged the industry’s skeptics in his first public appearance as president-elect. “These days, higher education has plenty of critics. And candidly, I think some of the criticism is fair,” Bacow said at the press conference Sunday afternoon announcing his appointment. The Harvard presidency has long required its holders to use the office as a platform to advocate for higher education writ large. Since the election of President Donald Trump in Nov. 2016, this task has become an increasingly pressing imperative. In their speeches Sunday, Bacow and William F. Lee ’72—the senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation and the head of the presidential search committee—both made reference to public and political disillusionment with higher education. Taking the podium to announce Bacow’s selection, Lee said the search committee sought “someone who also clearly sees and is ready to confront the great challenges facing us at a moment when the value of higher education is being questioned and a moment when the fundamental true of fact based inquiry is being questioned and called into doubt.” “We wanted someone who could hit the ground running because neither we, nor higher education, have time to spare,” Lee added. Bacow is not new to the higher education scene—he served as the president of Tufts University from 2001 to 2011 after working as the chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And he isn’t new to Harvard, either: he holds an M.P.P and Ph.D. in public policy from the Kennedy School, as well as a J.D. from the Law School. He returned to Harvard decades after graduating to serve on the Corporation—the University’s highest governing body—and in various capacities at the Kennedy School, the Graduate School of Education, and the Law School.
“I must confess that when I arrived at the Kennedy School in 1972 as a 20-year-old graduate student, I never could have imagined that I would be standing here today,” Bacow said Sunday. Despite his enthusiasm for a school where he spent many of his formative years, Bacow conceded that some of Harvard’s—and higher education’s— institutional patterns need to change. “We need to do a better job of controlling our costs, we need to do a better job of operating more efficiently,” he said. “We need to collaborate with others, with peer institutions, with industry. And we need to be vigilant to ensure that our campuses are always open to new ideas, that they are places where our members feel free to express themselves, and also where every member of this community feels he or
We wanted someone who could hit the ground running. William F. Lee ’72
Senior Fellow of the Harvard Corporation she belongs.” In an interview, Corporation and search committee member Shirley M. Tilghman said Harvard presidents are expected to champion “important public policy issues” facing higher education—for example, arguing for the “value” of a liberal arts education and the importance of federal research funding. Bacow shied away from mentioning any specific plans to lobby lawmakers in D.C. But he did express a commitment to advocate on behalf of undocumented students at the University, as Faust has done throughout her presidency. Approximately 65 undocumented students currently attend the College. Faust has spoken out forcefully against the repeal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obamaera program allowing undocumented youth to live and work legally in the United States. “I think we have to do everything we can to support those students who are here who have known no other country, who are talented, I think Drew has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and I look forward to also being a strong voice on behalf of them,” Bacow said. CAMPUS QUESTIONS Beyond national issues, Bacow will confront a number of challenges closer to home—namely, those stemming from what administrators call Harvard’s efforts to become a more inclu-
sive and welcoming campus. Central to the controversy over inclusion and belonging at Harvard is the May 2016 policy placing penalties on members of single-gender social organizations. During the question-and-answer period of the press conference Sunday, Bacow repeatedly used the pronoun “we” when discussing the rationale behind the penalties, referring to his role on the governing body that ultimately decided to preserve the policy in Dec. 2017 after more than a year of debate. Bacow reaffirmed his commitment to the controversial policy, calling the rule the “right one for Harvard.” “Part of what we’re trying to do is ensure that every student who comes to Harvard has an experience which is welcoming, and has an experience which makes them feel like a part of this community,” Bacow said. “President Faust and her team have put together a policy which we’ve had a chance to spend some time thinking about and will have more time to think about going forward.” He acknowledged he was a member of a fraternity as an undergraduate at MIT. But Bacow said he thinks “those were very different times.” “When I was enrolled at MIT, there were about 1,000 students in my class and I think less than about five percent were women, so there was no such thing as gender-neutral housing at MIT,” he said. “Fortunately, MIT has changed and Harvard’s changed.” At the press conference, Bacow also addressed long-standing calls from alumni and students arguing a candidate from an underrepresented background should be selected for the University presidency. Bacow defended his own record promoting diversity at other institutions. “During my time at both Tufts and at MIT, I worked very, very hard to promote excellence, and I think diversity is a pathway to excellence,” he said. “We need to look for the very best, and during my time at Tufts I’m proud of the record of bringing women and minorities and people of color into the senior leadership, into the faculty, and also into the student body, and I hope to do the same thing here.” Tilghman said the Corporation considered calls for diversity in its charge to find the “very best” person to lead the University for the next decade. “In order to execute that charge appropriately we looked very broadly and inclusively at candidates,” she said. “I feel as though we took very seriously our charge but we did it in a very broad way.” ‘A SCIENCE JUNKIE’ In recent decades, Harvard has placed large bets on becoming an engineering powerhouse in the 21st century. Two University presidents have made expanding into Allston a priority and Faust announced in 2013 that
the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences would make the move across the river. The new campus is slated for completion in 2020. Bacow, an economist and lawyer who specializes in environmental policy, will oversee the completion of this move—and with it, a continued expansion of Harvard’s science offerings. “Allston gives us a chance to forge new partnerships, both intellectually and others, between Harvard and our neighbors, between Harvard and our sister institutions, between Harvard and the rest of the world,” he said. Tilghman said Allston will be one of the “most important” focuses for Bacow when he takes office. “It’s a once-in-a-century opportunity for Harvard to expand in a way that will be beneficial not just to the institution but to Boston and to Massachusetts and ultimately the whole country,” Tilghman said. “It was clear that was going to be an initiative that had to be continued.” Growth in the sciences formed a critical consideration throughout the search, according to Tilghman. The committee met with Francis J. Doyle III, the dean of SEAS, multiple times in the early stages of the search. Bacow’s speech seemed to prove him similarly committed to advancing Harvard’s standing in the sciences. He called Allston an opportunity to “envision the university of the future.” “Our breadth has long been our great strength, and our great opportunity now is the chance to combine our strengths in new ways that help address some of the world’s most pressing problems,” he said. In response to a question raising concerns that Harvard’s science programs pale in comparison to those of its competitors, Bacow said he thinks “the sciences at Harvard are second to
a science junkie, it’s the reason I went to MIT as an undergraduate,” he said. “I’ve worked closely in my prior life with scientists, with engineers, math-
He inspires trust. He is not just smart, but wise. He is innovative and entrepreneurial. William F. Lee ‘72
Senior Fellow of the Harvard Corporation ematicians, and physicians, and I look forward to doing it here as well.”
University President-elect
‘BACK TO SCHOOL’ Throughout the search, nonetheless, Lee maintained the significance of soft skills in the search committee’s consideration. In a Nov. 2017 interview with the Harvard Gazette, a University-owned publication, he said he wants a president with “fundamental human characteristics.” At the press conference, Lee focused heavily on Bacow’s commitment to leadership and to the University. “He inspires trust. He is not just smart, but wise. He is innovative and entrepreneurial. He has high academic standards and excellent judgment in people,” Lee said. “He is a person whose natural instinct is to give credit but not take it, and as a result he is all about the institution and the people in the institution, and not about himself. He is someone who loves Harvard but whose love isn’t blind.” In an interview after the press conference, Bacow said he plans to spend the next few months before he officially takes on the role in “sponge mode.” “I’m going to be trying to learn as much as I can so that when July 1st comes around I’ll be in a position to be able to assume the responsibility and carry the ball from her and it will be a smooth handoff,” Bacow said. In the meantime, he said he is most excited to learn about the parts of Harvard with which he is less familiar. “I’ve spent my entire professional career on a college campus and I consider myself blessed to have been able to do that,” he said. “I’m looking forward to going back to school.”
none.” He particularly praised Faust’s initiatives on this front. Bacow said he thinks his love of science and his experience working with scientists at both MIT and Tufts will help him carry on Faust’s legacy. “I’m not a scientist myself but I’m
Staff writer Kristine E. Guillaume can be reached at kristine.guillaume@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @krisguillaume. Staff writer Jamie D. Halper can be reached at jamie.halper@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @jamiedhalper. Staff writer Luke W. Xu can be reached at luke. xu@thecrimson.com.
We need to do a better job of controlling our costs, we need to do a better job of operating more efficiently. Lawrence S. Bacow
Page 4 | february 12, 2018 | The Harvard Crimson
Boston’s Bacow: New President’s Past at Tufts Points to Future By Angela n. fu, lucy wang, and william l. Wang Crimson Staff Writers
When Kirkland House administrator Kate D. Cavell was an undergraduate at Tufts University, she spoke to freshmen on the first night of pre-orientation. Later that night, to her surprise, she received an email from then-Tufts President Lawrence S. Bacow. “He was in the audience, and he sent me an email thanking me,” Cavell said. “It meant so much to me as a student to get the acknowledgement of the President. That was a really special feeling.” Now Bacow—a long-time academic administrator—will once again have the opportunity to interact with Boston-area undergraduates in his capacity as university president. This time, however, those students live two metro stops south on the Red Line. Though Bacow was just announced as Harvard’s 29th president Sunday afternoon, his tenure at Tufts—as well as administrative roles at other universities—hint at likely leadership tendencies going forward. He will be the first Harvard president to have prior experience at the helm of another university since Nathan M. Pusey ’28, who led Lawrence University before being tapped as Harvard’s 24th president in 1953. In Bacow’s decade at Tufts, he, like Faust, conducted a capital campaign, weathered the 2008 financial crisis, and kept closely involved with undergraduate social life. Despite his years of experience, Harvard will present new challenges—but higher education experts and friends say Bacow has acquired the skills to face them.
‘A Champion of Undergraduates’
Former friends and Tufts students said Bacow’s tenure was marked by active, hands-on interactions with students as well as clear-eyed attention to undergraduate issues like student social life and freedom of speech on campus. Cavell called Bacow a “champion for undergraduates” and “a perfect pick” for Harvard. “He was the kind of president who
responded to every student email he received and attended our performances and our games,” Cavell said. “I got the sense that he was a real champion for students and particularly for undergraduates at Tufts.” John S. Wilson, a member of Harvard’s Board of Overseers who served as Assistant Provost at MIT, said Bacow’s “humanity” as MIT Chancellor became evident when he visited MIT students after a classmate took his own life. “It was was not something he had to do, it was just the nature of who he was,” Wilson said. “Even people who are in student affairs or mental health are not always comfortable or skillful in these situations. And he was that and then some.” In addition to one-on-one interactions with undergraduates, Bacow made several larger-scale policy decisions at Tufts on issues also relevant to Harvard. During his tenure, Bacow was outspoken on issues of free speech. Following racially charged incidents at Tufts—including a series of satirical articles in 2007 implying Muslims were violent and African-Americans were academically unqualified for college—Bacow advocated for freedom of expression and commissioned a task force that eventually created a university-wide policy on the issue. “The appropriate response to offensive speech is more speech, not less,” Bacow wrote in a letter to Tufts affiliates in 2007. “We must be vigilant in defending individual liberties even if it means that, from time to time, we must tolerate speech that violates our standards of civility and respect.” In the past year, Harvard student groups have sparked their own debates about free speech by hosting controversial speakers including sociologist Charles A. Murray ’65 and ex-pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli. Social life forms another issue that might follow Bacow to his new Mass. Hall office. Current University President Drew G. Faust has worked to limit the power of off-campus social organizations and re-center social life in the residential Houses; at Tufts, Bacow’s major social life interventions focused on alco-
hol consumption. In 2011, he ended a decades-long “Naked Quad Run” tradition at Tufts— akin to Harvard’s own Primal Scream— citing safety concerns with alcohol poisoning, physical injuries, and verbal clashes with law enforcement officials. Graduate School of Education Professor Richard Chait, who worked with Bacow at Tufts, said Bacow often personally intervened in the cases of undergraduate students transported to the hospital for excessive alcohol consumption. “He had a practice where he invited that student subsequently to meet him in his office and he’d talk with them more as a parent or father and try to get them to pledge that they would never put themselves in that position again,” Chait said. “He did that not because he was president of the university, but because he cared about the students’ lives.”
A Tale of Two Campaigns
While Harvard is about to conclude a record-breaking $8 billion capital campaign, fundraising will likely remain a priority for Bacow, who completed a $1.2 billion campaign at Tufts in 2011. Wilson said Bacow’s history in higher education campaigns has prepared him for the financial responsibilities that come with running one of the world’s richest universities. “He was a senior officer at MIT during at least two capital campaigns,” Wilson said. “So he certainly was effective at MIT, but then the facts are there about the way he did a very successful capital campaign for Tufts, the biggest in its history.” In that campaign, Bacow doubled the endowment to over $1 billion for the first time in the university’s history. During his tenure, the Tufts endowment grew from roughly $600 million in 2001 to over $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2011. “If you double anybody’s endowment, you’re having a meaningful, history-making impact,” Wilson said. Current MIT President L. Rafael Reif said that Bacow “did a spectacular job fundraising” at Tufts. “One important thing about fundraising is that you have to understand
people very quickly, you have to understand why they would be willing to give, why they give to an institution, and he’s very good at reading people and extremely good at understanding people,” he said. Despite Bacow’s success in fundraising, his plans were partially derailed by the 2008 financial crisis, which also constrained budgets at Harvard. In 2006, Bacow launched the Tufts campaign with the explicit goal of moving towards need-blind admissions. The need-blind policy, though, was suspended in 2009 as a result of financial constraints.
has worked with Bacow in the past and described the future University president as “incredibly empathetic.” “He’s obviously not a person of color, so he’s not that, that’s for sure,” Guthrie said. “But he’s very committed to issues surrounding diversity, at least in what I know of him personally.” Fellow higher education expert Thomas D. Parker ’64 said Bacow has a good record on diversity issues at his previous institutions, but will likely have to be particularly sensitive to them in his new role.
A Focus on Diversity
Many higher education experts and former colleagues said Bacow’s adept management at past institutions will serve him well in his new role. Chait said he was “ecstatic” when he heard Bacow would assume the Harvard presidency. Chait, a long-time colleague and close friend of Bacow, previously worked with him on the Board of Trustees at Wheaton College and served as an advisor to Bacow while they worked at Tufts. “This was an occasion where the best university in the world appointed the best president in the world. There’s delightful symmetry to the choice,” Chait said. Tufts professor and former Harvard Board of Overseers President Leila Fawaz, approached leaving a reception for Bacow held in Loeb House Sunday night, called his selection “a wonderful choice.” She said Bacow was well liked by “all the staff” at Tufts. Parker said Bacow’s “extraordinary track record” made him a clear choice for the presidency. “It’s obviously a very sound appointment. It’s a very safe appointment,” Parker said. “I can’t imagine anyone taking very serious exception to this appointment, which of course is one of the reasons it happened.” Chait pointed not only to Bacow’s long track record, but also to his “extraordinary combination of skills and traits.” “He’s sort of the Tom Brady of university presidents,” Chait said. “And by that, I mean he’s at the top of his game when most of his contemporaries have left the game.”
Faust—the first female president of Harvard—made issues of diversity key to her tenure. While at Tufts, Bacow created the University’s Office of Institutional Diversity. He has also repeatedly discussed the importance of the contributions of immigrants to the country. He often mentions he is a child of immigrants himself. Wilson said Bacow also worked as a member of the advisory board under the Obama administration when Wilson worked at the White House with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities initiative. “It was a no-brainer to have us with us in the first term of Obama administration for the advisory board,” Wilson said. “So he’s worked at multiple arenas, at a place like MIT, Harvard, Tufts, and in the HBCU arena in a different way. And has been effective in every arena where I’ve seen him operate.” Several former colleagues said issues related to diversity are a priority for Bacow. “The person that I know is very sensitive to gender issues, to diversity issues, to inclusion issues, so I think he would do a very good job working with people at Harvard,” Reif said. “I think he would be a great leader to clarify and explain Harvard’s position and to make significant progress in the diversity and inclusion front.” Nonetheless, despite calls for diversity during the presidential search, Bacow will be the 28th white man to hold Harvard’s highest office. Higher education expert Kevin M. Guthrie said he
‘The Tom Brady of University Presidents’
Bacow Election Marks The End of Months-long Pres. Search By caroline S. Engelmayer and Michael e. xie Crimson Staff Writers
Harvard’s soon-to-be 29th president strolled into Loeb House the morning of his confirmation unnoticed and under the radar. Past presidential candidates snuck through garages or up back-service stairways to avoid media attention as they met secretly with the Board of Overseers, Harvard’s second-highest governing body, to seek the group’s majority vote required to confirm their appointment. But not number 29. He walked right up to Loeb House’s white door on a rainy Sunday at 9:58 a.m., passing two Crimson reporters waiting outside, without once seeking to conceal his identity or hide his face. He did not even dip his umbrella. He did not have to—anyone watching would have expected him to be there anyway. After eight long months and more than 700 nominations, the search committee had settled on one of its own: Harvard Corporation and former search committee member Lawrence S. Bacow.
So I called him and said, “What about you?” And we had a good discussion and he decided to think about it. William F. Lee ‘72
Senior Corporation Fellow Bacow—whose name escaped press speculation throughout the search— exited Loeb a few hours later as the University’s president-elect. The Overseers’ vote to confirm a leader from within the selection committee itself is without precedent in recent Harvard history. Corporation and search committee member Shirley M. Tilghman said Bacow traded the title of searcher for candidate in December; the committee began interviewing Bacow, along with other presidential possibles, a month later in January. Bacow chose to step down after other searchers asked him if he was willing to be considered and he said yes, Tilghman said. “We then integrated him into the interview process as we would any other candidate,” she said. “He was not treated differently at all.” In many ways, the committee’s search this year was not too different
from past presidential searches, either. Like search committees of yore, the 2017 iteration solicited input from a wide range of Harvard affiliates and alumni; criss-crossed the country to garner advice from prominent players in higher education; and sought to keep the process totally confidential, meeting in out-of-the-way places like residential Belmont, Mass. and repeatedly declining to comment on the search. But ultimately—unlike in past years—the committee’s final pick was always hiding in plain sight.
‘WHAT ABOUT LARRY?’
William F. Lee ’72, the senior fellow of the Corporation and the chair of Harvard’s presidential search committee, was taking a car home from the airport when he had a thought: “What about Larry?” The idea had been germinating for a while. Lee said during a press conference Sunday—after officially naming Bacow the University’s 29th president—that individuals interviewed by the search committee suggested Bacow early in the process. The committee spent the first few months of the search in “information-gathering” mode, talking to hundreds of Harvard affiliates and reviewing presidential nominations. At first, Bacow himself dismissed the idea as ridiculous, the president-elect said during the Sunday press conference. “Some of [the interviewees] said, ‘What about you, Larry?’ and I said, ‘No, thank you,’” Bacow said. “I was there to get their ideas about others to lead Harvard.” “And then there came a point in which Bill Lee, the senior fellow, turned to me and—maybe you should describe what happened next, Bill,” Bacow said Sunday, addressing Lee. Lee pointed to that car ride home from the airport. By that time, several Harvard faculty members had contacted him “directly” to propose Bacow. Lee said his musings in the vehicle eventually led him to realize it would be “irresponsible” not to at least ask Bacow if he was interested. “So I called him and said, ‘What about you?’” Lee said. “And we had a good discussion and he decided to think about it.” “At least from my perspective, that was the moment,” Lee said. Lee did not specify when this moment occurred, but it may have come soon before Bacow’s December decision to step down from the committee. At that point, the searchers had been hunting for the successor to University President Drew G. Faust for roughly five months. The committee—comprising all 12 members of the Harvard Corporation and three Overseers—formed three weeks after Faust’s June 2017 announcement that she plans to step
down in summer 2018. In December, The Crimson reported the searchers had narrowed their pool of finalists to under 20 names. In the weeks that followed, the committee whittled that list even further,
Those of us privileged enough to lead this University are invested with a precious trust. Lawrence S. Bacow University President-elect
holding clandestine meetings to grill potential presidents for hours behind closed doors. The searchers gathered in committee member Tracy P. Palandjian’s Belmont, Mass. residence on Jan. 13 and spent almost the entire day in private deliberations. During that meeting, at least two chauffeured cars with tinted windows—perhaps bearing candidates—passed in and out of Palandjian’s long, concrete drive. The committee likely met with candidates during at least two other weekends in January, holding the interviews in both Boston and New York City, according to documents obtained by The Crimson. By late January, though, the searchers knew what they wanted. Tilghman said Sunday the search committee was certain Bacow was “the right candidate” for at least two weeks before the Feb. 11 announcement. Bacow—having checked with his wife, Adele—was on board. All that remained was to tell the Overseers.
‘I CAN’T TALK’
Hailing from around the world, they descended on Cambridge the weekend of Feb. 10: nearly all of the 30 members of the Board of Overseers, the Harvard Corporation, and some members of the Harvard Alumni Association. Almost no one knew ahead of time the weekend would culminate in the selection of the University’s 29th president. Those who did know—and even those who didn’t—largely kept their mouths shut. Members of the three bodies held at least two meetings in Loeb House over the course of the weekend: one Saturday evening and one Sunday morning. In the waning hours before the announcement, Overseers as well as Corporation and HAA members— treading the brick paths that bisect the green lawn in front of Loeb and skirting Crimson reporters—almost
all refused to comment. At 6 p.m. Saturday, several members of all three groups arrived at the front door of Loeb for a reception and dinner. Attendees said Overseers normally gather for a meal the night before official meetings. John P. Reardon, Jr. ’60, former executive director of the HAA, arrived at the dinner sporting a Harvard Crimson basketball hat and wielding a bluish-black umbrella. Asked what he was doing at Loeb House, Reardon commented on the weather instead. “It’s about to rain,” he told Crimson reporters standing outside. “I hope you have an umbrella.” Faust walked into Loeb House just before 5 p.m. Saturday. In response to questions about the presidential search, she said the Saturday afternoon gathering was a “general meeting.” Minutes later, search committee member Palandjian also walked in. Asked what the meeting was about, she replied, “I can’t talk.” A female Overseer—who arrived after 7 p.m. wearing a backwards baseball cap and who declined to give her name—hurried past reporters. She said she was late to dinner, adding the Saturday Overseer gathering would comprise discussion of the “usual things.” When Faust left Loeb a few hours later, she refused to answer questions but told Crimson reporters standing outside that her dinner was “great.” “You know what was greater?” she asked. “Harvard beat Penn.” The Harvard men’s basketball team toppled previously undefeated Penn Friday, 76-67. The next morning, Overseers began trickling into Loeb around 9 a.m. Members of the Corporation joined the Overseers roughly an hour later, many of them trekking on foot from the nearby Charles Hotel. Not Corporation member and searcher David M. Rubenstein, though. Rubenstein—spotted wearing a black-and-grey sweatsuit and walking through the lobby of the Charles earlier in the morning—rode in a chauffeured black Cadillac from the hotel to Loeb a few minutes after 10 a.m. On arriving at Loeb roughly a quarter of an hour later, Rubenstein declined to say what he was doing there. “I don’t know, I’m lost at the moment,” he said. Rubenstein’s fellow Corporation member and searcher Paul J. Finnegan took a slightly different tactic to evade reporters. Approached walking into Loeb House, Finnegan did not answer questions but noted he’d been following the Winter Olympics. He pointed out that a Harvard hockey player is currently competing for Team U.S.A. “You should really check it out,” Finnegan said. “It’s a cool story.”
NO. 29
At 3:15 p.m. on Feb. 11, the months of silence broke. Lee took the stage in Harvard’s Barker Center to officially and finally name Faust’s successor. “I have the great honor and privilege of introducing you in a few moments to the 29th president of Harvard University, Larry Bacow,” Lee said. Bacow, smiling and wearing a Harvard tie, approached the podium, shook Lee’s hand, and thanked the clapping crowd. “Those of us privileged enough to lead this university are invested with a precious trust,” Bacow said. “I promise to do everything within my power to prove myself worthy of that trust. Thank you very much.” Moments after stepping down from the stage, Bacow gathered his family—his wife and his two sons— for their first-ever photo as Harvard’s next first family. Later, leaving the press conference, several search committee members— finally willing to speak—praised Bacow’s qualifications and said they were excited to see him assume Harvard’s top job. “I’m absolutely thrilled,” search committee and Corporation member Susan L. Graham ’64 said. “I second that,” fellow searcher and Corporation member Jessica Tuchman Mathews ’67 said. “I think the reaction among the Overseers and staff and everybody was heard today and confirms our feeling that this was an extraordinary opportunity.” Fighting his way through a sea of Burberry trench coats after the press conference, former University President Neil L. Rudenstine said he believes Bacow is “fantastic” and “exactly right.” Searcher and member of the Corporation Kenneth I. Chenault added he thinks Bacow will be able to approach the top job from a worldly perspective, allowing him to connect well with those beyond the University’s gates. “I think he’s going to do an unbelievable job because he understands both the needs of Harvard, but also the needs of higher education,” Chenault said. “I think he will speak to the world in a very powerful way.” Near the close of the day Feb. 11, though, Bacow hardly wanted to speak at all. Approached by Crimson reporters as he exited Loeb House around 6 p.m., Bacow said he is excited to lead the University but felt almost too worn out to stand. “I’m tired,” he said. “I need to get off my feet.” Staff writer Caroline S. Engelmayer can be reached at caroline.engelmayer@thecrimson. com. Staff writer Michael E. Xie can be reached at michael.xie@thecrimson.com.
The Harvard Crimson | February 12, 2018 | page 5
Diversity Offices Move to Renovated Grays Hall By paula M. barberi and yasmin Luthra Crimson Staff Writers
The Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and the Office of BGLTQ Student Life have begun moving into their new joint office space in the basement of Harvard Yard’s Grays Hall after nearly a year of renovations. Construction began in the spring of 2017 and the basement project was officially completed at the end of the fall semester, though both offices are still unpacking boxes, according to Director of Diversity Education and Support Robin M. Johnson. The space sports a kitchen, three all-gender bathrooms, a no-shoes “serenity room,” a library, a seminar room, and offices for staff and student interns, all connected by a walkway referred to as the “activity thread.” “[The architects] were very in-
I think it’s good to have a centralized location on campus that students can associate with our work and our events. Ming Li Wu ‘21 Programming Intern, Office of BGLTQ Student Life tentional about creating this activity thread where students can sit and study or just hang out in general. There are outlets everywhere so that they can plug in their materials,” Sheehan D. Scarborough ’07, director of the
BGLTQ office, said. Though the offices are located in the basement of Grays Hall, the new space does not have a “basement feel,” Scarborough said. The architects incorporated student requests for open areas after feedback from a town hall meeting held last fall by both offices in anticipation of the move. “Part of their plan was to excavate a lot of the dirt that was in front of the space and make this gradual incline, both that would be accessible for students in wheelchairs, but that would also feel inviting and not like you’re descending into a ‘dark space,’” Scarborough said. “It’s fully accessible, which is also a reflection of our offices’ mission. We need to be and we are.” Students working for the offices said they appreciate the new location in the Yard. “It very much feels like we have an accessible place for people to come,” Diversity Peer Educator Sunah S. Chang ’20 said. “I think it’s good to have a centralized location on campus that students can associate with our work and our events.” Ming Li Wu ’21, a programming intern at the Office of BGLTQ Student Life, said she noticed a significant increase in visitors following the move into the Yard. “We have a lot more student traffic,” she said. The Office of BGLTQ Student Life, founded in 2012, first opened in the basement of Boylston Hall. The office temporarily moved to 7 Linden St. in 2016, sharing the space with the Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the Bureau of Study Counsel while awaiting the completion of the new space in Grays. “Because we were just sort of in a temporary space in the Bureau of Study Counsel, we haven’t been able to take ownership of the space even though we really enjoyed being there and having the BSC as our neighbors,” said Patric
Equity and Diversity Program Coordinator Grace C. Montero, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Administrative Fellow Ileana Casellas-Katz enjoy the common space outside their office in the renovated basement of Grays Hall. Griffin R. Andres—Crimson photographer
C. W. Verrone ’18, a communications intern at the Office of BGLTQ Student Life. “Now that we have a space that is really ours and that we’re able to coordinate with EDI, we can really sort of imbue it with our own philosophy.”
Though the new space is already in use—student interns at the Office of BGLTQ Student Life held a study break in the library on Feb. 7—the offices plan to host official opening celebrations in the coming weeks.
“We’re looking forward to planning an opening event for staff in the community as well as students. There is still some settling in to do, but we’re moving pretty swiftly to do that,” Johnson said.
Alums Discuss Workplace Misconduct UC Urges College Fund Hygiene Products By andrea m. bossi Crimson Staff Writer
A lumni and students gathered Saturday afternoon at the Office of Career Services for a roundtable discussion on sexual harassment in the workplace hosted by the Harvard Alumni for Global Women’s Empowerment. Attendees shared experiences, opinions, and insights on sexual misconduct in the workplace and strategized on how to combat it. Global WE is a shared interest group of the Harvard Alumni Association, with members in several countries. Discussion facilitator Julie G. Palmer ’84 said the roundtable sought to further Global WE’s mission: to em
You were taught to live by the rules, which is not a bad thing. But the world has changed. The world has changed a lot. Sajida H. Shroff
Vice President, Global WE
power women through education, dialogue, and connection among individuals working for women’s rights and freedoms worldwide. Both Palmer and Rebecca C. Ribaudo ’93, who co-facilitated the discussion, said they wanted to emphasize that not only women are victims of sexual harassment. During the event, discussion topics included corporate cultures and environments, the influence of the #MeToo anti-sexual assault movement on culture and opportunity, and how and when sexual misconduct occurs. The conversation also touched on taking action, ranging from being a good bystander to holding corporate Human Resource departments accountable. Sajida H. Shroff, vice president of Global WE, focused on differences in how society treats girls and boys. Shroff said girls are usually told to aspire to be “good girls” and that doing so will give them the most rewards in life. “You were taught to live by the rules, which is not a bad thing. But the world has changed. The world has changed a lot,” Shroff said. “I don’t think we were taught to change with the world.” Shroff said she now encourages girls to “be bad.” “Be strong, be yourself, be assertive. By being bad, I mean take responsibility for yourself and for your actions. Live up to your potential, and do what you need to do, as long as you’re not hurting other people,” Shroff said. While Global WE predominantly operates as an alumni organization, Gabriella D. Kaplan ’18, who serves
as College co-liaison for the group, shared excitement about her plans to start a Global WE chapter starting at
Crimson Staff Writer
We are hoping to begin an oncampus Global WE chapter next year. We are really excited because we have a cohort who are really on board. Gabriella Kaplan ’18 the College this fall. “We are hoping to begin an on-campus Global WE chapter next year,” Kaplan said. “We are really excited because we have a cohort who are really on board.” Event moderators said the discussion was a safe and supportive space. “We often let ourselves be disempowered, but the beauty of Global WE is that we raise awareness around different issues to inspire change on a personal level and, over time, hopefully, on a societal level,” Shroff said. “If you talk, something will happen.”
Never miss a moment.
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By Jonah s. berger
The Undergraduate Council passed legislation Sunday to collect feedback on its recent menstrual hygiene pilot program in order to convince College administrators to fully fund the distribution of hygiene products to all students. The UC-funded pilot, which debuted last spring for freshmen and expanded to all undergraduates in the fall, provided free menstrual products to students in dorms and Houses. According to Eliot House representative Arnav Agrawal ’20, the pilot program was only intended to be a temporary measure to demonstrate the need for widespread availability of these products on campus. “The ultimate aim of the pilot programs was not for the UC to do such pilot programs but to actually act as a catalyst for institutionalization,” Agrawal said. Agrawal argued the Council should not have been tasked with organizing and financing the pilot in the first place, calling on administrators to treat hygiene products like any other service they provide to students. “Typically, we shouldn’t even be doing this,” Agrawal said. “I didn’t see the administration conduct a pilot program or a feedback form when they provided everyone with free toilet paper.” “This is a basic utility that I think people should have,” he added. The UC aims to provide administrators with feedback in time for the products
to be made available to all students by this upcoming fall, according to the legislation. Also during the meeting, Finance Committee members announced the committee was overwhelmed with funding requests this week and was forced to make unusually high acrossthe-board cuts to its grants. The committee had allocated $25,500 for the week, but received $34,000 in requests, according to Finance Committee Chair Henry S. Atkins ’20. Making matters worse, Atkins said the budget shortfall looked as if it would not be a one-time occurrence, noting that the committee has already received almost $34,000 in requests for next week as well. Ivy Yard Representative Seth D. Billiau ’21, who serves as Vice Chair of Data of the Finance Committee, said after the meeting that, though funding requests have increased, he would not characterize the situation as “dire.” Billiau said the committee may be able to make use of unused money allocated last semester. “If everything holds like it is has in the past, we will get that money back,” Billiau said. “But we can’t budget for it, you know, right now.” Despite these assurances, Billiau wouldn’t rule out tapping into the Council’s emergency fund, a $20,000 pool of money set aside for pressing budget shortfalls. “It’s something we’re considering,” he said.
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Mass. Gubernatorial Candidate Speaks By Benjamin e. frimodig and isabel m. kendall Crimson Staff Writers
Activist and author Robert “Bob” K. Massie visited The Democracy Center on Friday to discuss his campaign for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Governor Charlie D. Baker ’79 this November. Massie was hosted by “Harvard Students for Massiechusetts,” a student group led by Ted G. Waechter ’18, a Crimson editorial writer. Throughout the conversation, Massie criticized the Baker administration. Massie, a graduate of Harvard Business School, is one of three confirmed candidates in the Democratic primary. Jay Gonzalez, the former Secretary of Administration and Finance for Mass. under Governor Deval L. Patrick ’78, and Setti Warren, former Mayor of Newton, are also running.
I think people are tired of Baker playing footsie with Donald Trump. Robert K. Massie Mass. Gubernatorial Candidate
In his speech, Massie—a self proclaimed “lifelong progressive”—discussed his focus on reducing econom-
ic inequality and placed particular emphasis on improving the Mass. public transit system and removing barriers to upward mobility. “Our budget is broken; we’re coasting along. We are not making investments. But most important we are not showing the rest of the country and the rest of the world what real progress looks like,” Massie said. “Progress that is a combination of technological brilliance, smart financing, but most important—justice,” he continued. Massie said the relationship between President Donald Trump and Baker, both Republicans, is a major concern. “I think people are tired of Baker playing footsie with Donald Trump,” Massie said. “I worry that the country is really drifting in a dangerous direction and that we do not have the leadership in this state to fight back.” Despite low approval ratings for Trump statewide, a majority of Mass. voters approve of Baker’s performance, according to a WBUR poll. Massie discussed Baker’s high approval ratings and the challenge of running against an incumbent. “The governor wants to encourage this idea that he’s unbeatable but that’s a mistake, anybody can be beaten,” he said. Massie ended the evening by taking questions from students and inviting them to visit his campaign headquarters. He urged them to remember their values and be passionate about them. “Life is constrained, liberty is constrained and there’s just not a lot of room for the pursuit of happiness,” Massie said.
Activist and author Robert “Bob” K. Massie visited The Democracy Center on Friday to discuss his campaign for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Governor Charlie D. Baker ’79 this November. isabel m. kendall—crimson Photographer
South Asian Student Groups Talk Aziz Ansari, #MeToo By paula m. barberi and simone c. chu Crimson Staff Writers
Undergraduate South Asian student organizations gathered to discuss the #MeToo movement, sexual harassment, and entertainment on Thursday evening in the wake of a recent viral article that accused comedian Aziz Ansari of sexual misconduct. The discussion, co-sponsored by the South Asian Association, South Asian Women’s Collective, and South Asian Men’s Collective, focused on the racial and power balance implications of the allegations against Ansari, published on website Babe.net. “When the Babe article broke, I was in conversation about it with a lot of my South Asian friends, both male and female, across the Harvard community,” said Simi N. Shah ’19, co-president of the South Asian Association. “And a lot of them, when we got back to campus,
were saying, ‘You know, I keep having these conversations with people, and I think it would be nice if SAA would do some sort of round table discussion.’” Members of the groups said they
Oftentimes, race is left out of the discussion when we discuss sexual harassment and sexual assault. Sruthi Palappanian ‘20 viewed the discussion, in part, as an opportunity to discuss race as it re-
lates to the #MeToo movement. “Oftentimes, race is left out of the discussion when we discuss sexual harassment and sexual assault,” Sruthi Palappanian ’20 said. “So we felt that it was really important for us to have this conversation and discuss it with an intersectional lens.” Aditi T. Sundaram ’19, co-president of the South Asian Women’s Collective, said the three organizations had previously united for health-related issues affecting the South Asian community, but that this type of formal community discussion was new. “This would be a first step in terms of talking about social issues and political issues,” Sundaram said. “The fact that we covered a lot of ground in an hour was really encouraging. It meant that this was something that was on people’s minds.” The student leaders of the organizations said they were grateful for the strong support shown by the students
Harvard, from the Law School to Longwood.
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who attended. “I think every one of us needs to continue these conversations outside of forums like this,” said Ida M. Paul ’20, a student who attended the event. This event was the first in a series of discussions hosted by the South Asian Association this semester, and many students said they hope to continue the conversation. Palappanian and Shah confirmed that plans for a follow-up discussion are in the works for the coming months, along with other political events. “There’s always so much more that’s left to be talked about. I don’t even think we started to scratch the surface, and there’s no way you could in an hour on a topic that requires so much attention and conversation and constant dialogue,” Shah said. Leaders of the groups said they hoped other groups on campus would consider holding similar conversa-
It shouldn’t take an incident like this Aziz Ansari case to start this conversation. Aashay A. Sanghvi ‘19
President, South Asian Men’s Collective tions. “It shouldn’t take an incident like this Aziz Ansari case to start this conversation. That shouldn’t be the catalyst,” said Aashay A. Sanghvi ’19, president of the South Asian Men’s Collective. “I think that more groups should come together and do it.”
EDITORIAL A Working Relationship By eMMANUEL r. r. d’AGOSTINO
Much of the characterization of University President-elect Lawrence S. Bacow’s selection to lead Harvard has focused on his similarities to his predecessor, University President Drew G. Faust. The comparison is apt: As Tufts’s president, Bacow emphasized global initiatives and attempted to bring together different schools, similar to Faust’s outreach and “One Harvard” campaigns. Additionally, Faust oversaw Bacow’s appointment to the Corporation and praised his and others’ “intensity of commitment to higher education.” Those who claim Bacow’s leadership of higher education “echoes” that of his predecessor, however, overlook a key difference between the two. Faust’s path to the University’s top job—like that of University Presidents past—was defined primarily by her scholarship. A once and future historian and author of six books, Faust spent a quarter-century on the University of Pennsylvania’s faculty, where she received awards for teaching as well as chaired her department and a program in women’s studies. Her first exclusively administrative role was not until 2001, when Harvard hired her to lead the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, its smallest school-like unit; even then, she continued her scholarship as Lincoln Professor of History, a role she continues to hold. By contrast, while Bacow’s background in academia is similarly prolific, his curriculum vitae demonstrates greater administrative experience than Faust’s did when she was picked to lead Harvard. In addition to his tenure on the Corporation and as president of Tufts—each an important role in higher education at the national level—Ba-
cow served as chancellor of MIT, as director of Tufts Medical Center, and as President-in-Residence of a program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, to name a few positions. While Bacow has no dearth of scholastic credentials himself, he enters his new role with a degree of separation from his days as a faculty member that Faust did not. Especially in this light, if Bacow aims to lead the University effectively, a main goal of his must be the development of a strong working relationship with the University’s faculty. It would be unfortunately easy for Bacow not to prioritize this. Higher-profile issues, from the new tax on Harvard’s endowment to the University’s expansion into Allston, not to mention the transition into the presidency itself, may feel more urgent to Bacow. Nevertheless, he must not avoid the difficult, nuanced task of establishing and communicating his vision for his relationship with the scholars of the University. In that vein, Bacow will have to define his position on the extents and limitations of faculty governance. His membership in the Corporation may not serve as an auspicious beginning for his relationship with some members of the faculty, given the recent finalization of penalties for members of single-gender social groups at the College by the Corporation. Some faculty members have resisted what they consider the University’s lack of faculty involvement on the issue. Regardless, no matter what position Bacow takes on faculty governance, he and the Faculty will only benefit from his communicating and justifying it effectively. If Bacow does so urgently and does so well, he and the faculty have much to gain. For his part, Bacow will be best prepared to approach the aforemen-
tioned external challenges Harvard faces if the University itself is cohesive. The president of Harvard’s role as a spokesperson for higher education is derived from the strength of the University, which in turn stems from the academic accomplishments of the faculty themselves. The confidence of said faculty is therefore crucial if Bacow is to fairly and effectively represent Harvard. In turn, the University’s faculty will benefit from teaching and researching at a university whose leadership is aware of its needs. Bacow will inevitably not see eye-to-eye with the majority of the faculty on every single issue, and nor should he, but he should be clear about the extent of his agreement and disagreement with them on important issues to enable them to adequately balance their roles in academia and University governance. Faust— perhaps due to her experience as a faculty member herself—has emphasized the importance of listening in her relationship with faculty, and Bacow would do well to follow her lead on this. On the other hand, a toxic relationship with the University’s faculty can destroy a Harvard presidency (to use an extreme example). Bacow can, and should, not only avoid this but actively pursue a far more functional relationship. To do so, he must draw on both his administrative and academic experience to transparently communicate with faculty members about the roles he envisions them playing under his leadership. At this point, there is every reason to hope and expect that this will be the case. Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19, a Crimson Editorial Chair, is an Integrative Biology concentrator in Quincy House.
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Two Questions for Larry Bacow By dEREK k. cHOI
T
raditionally, the point of asking questions has been to find out something you didn’t know before, and that’s why it’s so much fun that the Harvard Gazette joined the press conference announcing the selection of Lawrence S. Bacow as Harvard University’s 29th president. The Gazette is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard Public Affairs and Communications, and so possibly the most interesting part of the presser for me was hearing what questions the University had decided to plant. In these carefully choreographed events, the choice of questions seems to suggest something deeper about Harvard’s intentions and concerns. This is no idle Kremlinology. The two questions posed by the Gazette— asking exactly how a searcher became the searched and how Harvard’s role in national politics may evolve—seem to offer a window into the minds of the search committee.
The most interesting part of the presser for me was hearing what questions the University had decided to plant. Up first was allaying and addressing the obvious concern that Bacow was not an expected choice, especially given that he was himself a Corporation member. It seems plausible that the search committee and Bacow worried that picking such a consummate Harvard insider might look insular or insufficiently imaginative. (Also notable: Shirley M. Tilghman, Corporation Fellow and member of the search committee, was chosen to be the president of Princeton in much the same way.) The fact the 29th president was drawn from the Corporation itself— that the search committee picked one of their own—is symbolically representative of the continued ascendance of the University’s highest governing body as perhaps its only governing body.
It’s easy to read this as another move towards centralization, especially when the press release took care to mention Bacow’s previous efforts to better knit together Tufts’s eight schools. Whatever the concerns some faculty or deans may have about the pooling of power in Mass. Hall, it’s hard to construct a more qualified resume than leading the faculty at MIT, becoming president of Tufts, and serving for seven years on the Corporation. He knows both higher education as well as the particular problems, potential, and people of this place. Quite apart from Bacow’s symbolic position in the institution, he may be the best person to lead Harvard forward. Yet if indeed the Corporation is an excellent training ground for the presidency, it seems likely this will not be the last such president-née-searcher. By contrast, the second question seemed intended for a broader audience, perhaps one less concerned with Harvard org charts and more worried about liberal snowflakes. In what seemed to be a reflection of Harvard’s problems with the federal government and popular perception, the Gazette’s question—and much of Bacow’s broader message—surrounded the University’s reaction to the political climate. We live in a political moment when both immigrants and Rust Belt workers feel shut out of the system, where Harvard seems politically under attack by a Republican White House and Congress, and where there’s been a resurfacing of the old charges that there’s something vaguely un-patriotic about what’s going on in college campuses. These represent some of the biggest threats facing Harvard, its finances, and its people, so I am glad that Bacow has continued Faust’s emphasis on tackling those challenges head-on. For now, his only vehicle is rhetoric, and he begins by accepting some of the criticism, presumably conservative, as “fair.” What comes next is a veritable fusilade of reflections on contemporary threats to the American dream. Both Bacow’s immigrant parents and his Michigan hometown, reeling from G.M. plant closures, are frequently referenced. Harvard, he said,
must do more for “those in this country who’ve been left behind” by the decline of stable manufacturing jobs. The press release declares that Bacow has “long been devoted” to how higher education can allow “pursuit of the American dream.” Indeed, the official video released by Harvard pairs three minutes of exposition about the uniqueness of Bacow’s American story with swelling music that would do Aaron Sorkin proud. But perhaps the message is made clearest in the very last line of his response to the Gazette: “I see this as an opportunity to serve,” he says. “To serve an institution that’s made an enormous difference in my life and in so many other people’s lives but also as an opportunity to serve higher education and in the process, I hope, serve the nation.” It’s all decidedly flag-wavy, and it tells an only-in-America story about Bacow that seems intended to cover Harvard and more broadly higher education in the blanket of patriotism. Bacow’s resume almost positions him as an elder statesman of higher education, and his frequent references to shepherding American universities through the dark years ahead have echoes of reasserting Harvard’s historical (though perhaps mostly self-imagined) primus inter pares status. These are all positive signs, and I am glad that Harvard’s 29th leader is so well equipped to understand, prioritize, and tackle these challenges. Political and economic turbulence demand greater engagement from Harvard. They require a leadership with the instinct and ability to decisively act on behalf of the entire University. And a recognition of Harvard’s distinctively American history and character is not out of place. Ironically, when a Crimson reporter asked Bacow at the press conference about his top priority, he declined to answer, suggesting it was premature. Yet on Sunday, his answer, and that of the search committee, was fully on display. Derek K. Choi ’18, a former president of The Crimson, is a Government concentrator in Leverett House.
The Harvard Crimson | FEBRUARY 12, 2018 | page 8
A Lesson for the Nation By Caleb J. ESRIG
Y
esterday, Lawrence S. Bacow was named Harvard’s 29th president. In that role, he will lead the nation’s oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious university. He will add to his decades of service as an environmental policy researcher, a White House advisor, and a public policy expert. But it is all too easy to forget that his story might never have begun. His father, born in what is today Belarus, was brought by his family to America to flee anti-Semitic violence before the Holocaust. He was one of the lucky ones: At least 60,000 Jews were killed in Eastern Europe between 1917 and 1921. His mother came to the United States at age 19 after surviving Auschwitz, where about one million Jews were killed. She was the only member of her family and even her entire hometown to survive the Holocaust. Her story is a testament to survival but also to destruction. Indeed, of the roughly nine million Jews living in Europe before World War II, two out of every three were killed. It could have been different. Many of those who faced death tried their hardest to come to America. My own great grandmother managed to flee the same pogroms in Eastern Europe as Bacow’s father and eventually made it to Cuba where she waited for years before being finally granted entry to the U.S. Very few others succeeded in that path. Countless others were killed as the U.S. and other countries closed their borders. In 1939, for instance, more than 900 Jews aboard the ship St. Louis set sail from Europe to the U.S. by way of Cuba, but they were refused entry. After sailing so close that they could see the lights of Miami, they were forced to return to Europe. Hundreds of them were killed in the Holocaust. Even Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father, begged for help from an American friend, writing that the U.S. “is the only country we could go to.” This was because of the Immigration Act of 1924, which limited entry to the U.S. by European Jews. It was a means of excluding from the U.S. those who most needed its help. In 1938 alone, for example, the American consulates in Europe received 125,000 visa applications, but the vast majority were rejected. It is so disturbing, then, that just a few years ago, then-Senator and current Attorney General Jeff Sessions praised the 1924 law as an example for the U.S. to follow today. He expressed concern at the number of immigrants in the U.S., only adding to the many anti-immigration statements made by President Donald Trump. On their watch, the U.S. has more than halved the maximum number of refugees it will admit in a year. The Trump administration enforced a months-long severe restriction on refugees entering the U.S. early last fall. It has also fought for the deportation of immigrants facing persecution and violence in their home countries. These actions have real effects: With continuing violence in South Sudan, Afghanistan, Chad, Somalia, and Syria; massacres of minorities in Myanmar; and much more, the U.S. again faces the dilemma of helping those in desperate need of assistance, and we are again poised to The U.S. might be neglect our responsibility. turning its back now Bacow today is a product of the very on the parents of few European Jews a future Harvard lucky enough to have president. It might made it to America alive. Think of the be ending his or her untold contributions story before it begins. those others might have made to AmerTrump should be ica. Think of the research that might watching. have been done, the colleges that might have been led, the lives that might have been lived. And had just a few incidents been different, had a visa application been rejected or even the smallest decision gone another way, Bacow, or I, or most any American Jew might have been one of the members of that town whose name you will never know. His story should serve as a grave reminder to all Americans: Turning our backs on refugees has immeasurable human costs. Doing so risks losing those who might go on to make untold contributions. Indeed, as University President, he will be serving the nation like few others. Harvard University counts among its graduates eight American presidents, at least 52 billionaires, and more than 150 Olympic athletes. Its contribution to the nation is unsurpassed. During his press conference yesterday, Bacow said, “I would not be standing before you today, literally, if this country had turned its back on my parents.” Yet the U.S. might be turning its back now on the parents of a future Harvard president. It might be ending his or her story before it begins. Trump should be watching. Caleb J. Esrig ’20, a Crimson Associate Editorial Editor, is an Economics concentrator in Quincy House.
The Harvard Crimson President Derek G. Xiao ’19 Managing Editor Hannah Natanson ’19 Business Manager Nathan Y. Lee ’19
The University Daily, Est. 1873
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Sports
The Harvard Crimson | February 12, 2018 | page 9
Harvard Knocks Off Penn, Moves to Top of Standings Men’s basketball By Stephen j. Gleason Crimson Staff Writer
A career day from sophomore forward Chris Lewis propelled the Harvard men’s basketball team to a 76-67 win over Penn on Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion. The Alpharetta, Ga., native finished the contest with 25 points and five rebounds to cap off a weekend in which the Crimson topped two of the Ivy League’s top teams in less than 24 hours. Harvard (12-11, 7-1 Ivy League) now sits atop the Ancient Eight standings alongside the Quakers (17-7, 7-1), with five teams tied for third place. “A lot of it comes from the trust my guards have in me,” Lewis said. “They told me they were going to feed it inside from the beginning and, with that faith they had, I knew I’d be able to work the way I wanted to.” Lewis was a force to be reckoned with all afternoon. Rather than double-teaming the Harvard big man, Penn coach Steve Donahue opted to let Lewis—rather than the Crimson’s perimeter players—beat his team. And beat it he did. The sophomore scored 25 of his team’s first 54 points, all while not committing a single personal foul. Lewis hit hook shots in the lane, beat his defenders with post moves, slammed down easy dunks, cleaned up his teammates’ misses, and got to the free throw line. “Trying to play through Lewis this weekend was a huge point for us,” Bassey said. “I know for all the guards collectively, [we] thought if we can get it in there, it just makes it easier for us because Chris is such a force down there. If they’re not going to double-team, he’s just going to work oneon-one or if they do, then it makes it easy to kick it out and he’s finding us.” Harvard showed no ill effects from a tip-off that came just 19 hours after the conclusion of its victory over Princeton. The Crimson made four of its first eight field goal attempts and a 17-3 run in the first half gave Harvard a cushion entering intermission. After the Quakers got 14 of their first 17 points in the paint, the Crimson made it a priority to pressure the visitors into tougher shots. The strategy worked wonders as Harvard forced misses on nine of Penn’s first 10 threepoint attempts and an 8-for-23 start overall. On the other end, the Crimson rode Lewis and was able to get good looks at the basket, with 12 of its first 15 points coming in the paint. “I was very impressed and I wasn’t
as concerned about them being up to play and the energy, playing hard,” Amaker said. “When you get in moments like that, you get concerned that you get so fast, want to do it so well and so hard that you get sloppy or you don’t have the execution. That wasn’t the case with us. We took care of the ball, we were pretty sharp and followed the game plan.” Following a 9-2 run to start the second half, it looked like the Crimson was on the verge of being able to coast to an easy win for the second night in a row. Lewis set his career high with 12:20 to play and the Quakers seemed incapable of stopping him as the Harvard lead grew to 16 with just under 11 minutes to play. However, Penn made it interesting down the stretch and showed flashes of why it entered the contest unbeaten in conference play. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Ryan Betley cut the Crimson’s edge to single digits for the first time since the opening minutes of the second half. A Darnell Foreman jumper made it seven with 2:32 to play. “Saturdays in our league are always a challenge,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “Penn playing their third game this week and all three on the road with travel, the toughness and fight they have, they are very good. I was very impressed with that, with them, and even more impressed with the way our kids were able to handle this whole weekend.” But seven was the closest that the Quakers would get. Just as he did against Cornell a week earlier, sophomore forward Seth Towns delivered a three down the stretch to put the game on ice. Towns finished with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Penn missed three of its final four field goal attempts as sophomores Justin Bassey and Christian Juzang combined to hit free throws at the same clip. Bassey is often an unsung hero for the Crimson. He is typically tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter player, with his contributions often going unnoticed in the box score. On Saturday, however, Bassey was especially aggressive on the offensive end, attacking Penn’s defense en route to four assists and six free throw attempts. All told, the sophomore finished with 12 points—his second-most in a game this season—and seven rebounds all while forcing the Quakers’ perimeter players into tough shots. One of those perimeter players was Penn senior guard Caleb Wood. Harvard was able to hold the Quakers’ top three-point shooting threat to an 0-for-8 mark from long range. As a
LEWIS CAREER HIGH A day after guard Christian Juzang surpassed a career-high in scoring, sophomore forward Chris Lewis did the same with a 25-point game against Penn. Harvard now sits atop the Ancient Eight. Timothy R. o’Meara—Crimson photographer
team, Penn converted on just six of its 24 three-point attempts. “A lot of it is personnel,” Bassey said. “A lot of it is knowing when you can help and being very aware of when they’re moving. Especially this weekend, Penn and Princeton, they both do a great job of finding their shooters and keeping them moving off a lot of screens. It’s always nice when we practice that as a team and it’s more of a team effort especially when we’re trying to switch a lot of things.” For its part, the Crimson also did not light it up from distance, making just five three-pointers, well below its average of 9.9 triples in Ivy League contests. However, the hosts made up for the lack of range with Lewis’ presence inside and their ability to get to the charity stripe. After attempting just six free throws in the first half, Harvard took
15 after the break, converting on 13 of them. For as much as the Crimson benefitted from a bevy of free throw attempts, it was perhaps even more successful when it came to limiting Penn’s trips to the line. While Lewis set the bar by not picking up a single personal, his teammates followed suit by only committing nine all game. The Quakers only shot nine free throws, an impressive stat considering that they got to the line 16 times in last night’s matchup with Dartmouth. “We weren’t over-extended to where we were always chasing,” Amaker said. “I thought we really played inside-out defensively. We tried to keep people in front of us and we were trying to trust and rely on help.” Another consequence of Lewis’s dominance down low was that Har-
vard was able to do a remarkable job of protecting the basketball against Penn. A week after coughing the ball up 13 times at Cornell and two weeks after an 18-turnover performance at Brown, the Crimson had just six giveaways on Saturday. Harvard turned the ball over just twice in the game’s first 31 minutes. “It’s very refreshing and we talked about it at the half that we did a tremendous job of taking care of the ball and we did it pretty much throughout the whole game,” Amaker said. “It’s exciting to see that our kids are growing. We are getting better. It’s nice to have that happen for these guys because they put a lot of work in to see this happen.” Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at stephen.gleason@thecrimson.com.
Harvard Earns Spot in ECAC Playoffs with Two Victories Women’s ice hockey By eamon j. Mcloughlin Crimson Staff Writer
The Harvard women’s ice hockey team booked its spot in the ECAC play
offs by picking up back-to-back comefrom-behind wins in its final two home matches of the season. Harvard beat Union on Friday night 3-2, before finishing off Rensselaer 5-2 on Saturday to complete its first weekend sweep of the season.
“We knew the position we were in heading into this weekend, and being able to pull a 4-point weekend and also get our first sweep of the year came at a pretty critical part of our season.” freshman forward Becca Gilmore said. “It doesn’t stop there though, we may
GILMORE GIRL Freshman forward Becca Gilmore added a goal and two assists for Harvard on Friday, and a goal on Saturday. The Wayland, Mass., native has a total of 27 points and 17 assists in 26 games to her name this season. Timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer
have clinched a spot, but we’re still going into this weekend trying to improve our standing in the ECAC tournament.” HARVARD 5, RENSSEALER 2 The Crimson (10-13-2, 8-9-2 ECAC) came back after trailing to beat Rensselaer (9-17-6, 6-11-3) by a score of 5-2 in its final home game of the season. Senior forward Kat Hughes scored twice and assisted another, while Gilmore and Brooke Jovanovich added a goal and two assists each for Harvard. Harvard was tested defensively in the first period. Sophomore goalie Beth Larcom racked up 18 saves in the first frame alone. Senior forward Haley Mullins and Gilmore were called for hooking and checking, respectively, and Hughes almost broke away for a goal-scoring chance despite being in a three versus five situation. Three impressive saves from Larcom kept the game scoreless through the end of the two-man advantage, and the first period ended with neither side being able to break the other down. Rensselaer struck early in the second period after a shot from Engineers’ junior defensive player Josefine Hansen squirmed past Larcom and was tapped in by Rensselaer rookie Aimee Raithby. Jovanovich leveled the score just one minute and six seconds later, finding the net following a pass from Hughes for her eighth goal of the season. With 16:06 played in the second period, Gilmore and Jovanovich combined for a second Harvard score, with the Gilmore putting the the chance away after some skillful control took her past a defender and the goalie in one motion. Hughes added a third for Harvard before the end of the period, after a defense-splitting pass from Gilmore in the right circle found the wide-open forward just beyond the left goalpost. The assist marked Gilmore’s 25th point in 26 games. Freshman defense Emma Buckles increased Harvard’s advantage to three goals when she put away a loose puck in front of goal nine minutes into the final period, but this scoreline was short-lived, with Rensselaer’s junior forward Makenna Thomas respond-
ing just over a minute later to pull the Engineer’s back within two at 4-2. Hughes managed to put the game away with 1:39 to play, finishing on an open net following passes from Jovanovich and Gilmore, to end the game by a score of 5-2. The result ensures a playoff spot for Harvard with two regular season games remaining. HARVARD 3, UNION 2 Harvard came out on top 3-2 against Union (5-13-1, 7-20-4) on Friday night in the first of its final two home contests of the regular season. Two-point performances from Gilmore, Jovanovich, Hughes, and freshman defensive player Kate Glover secured the comeback victory for the CrimsonHarvard found itself down early in the second period, after Union sophomore forward Katelynn Russ found the net just three minutes into the frame. Harvard responded less than five minutes later, after Gilmore jumped on a loose puck and fired into the Union goal to tie the score. Glover and Jovanovich picked up assists on the play. Midway through the third period, Gilmore and Hughes struck twice within just 1:08 of one another, putting Harvard up by a score of 3-1. Union managed to pull within a goal with 25 seconds remaining, but the Crimson was able to protect its lead long enough to ensure the victory, and collect an important two points in its playoff search. Friday night’s victory meant that Harvard had a chance to secure a playoff spot in front of its home fans on senior day. A win meant a top eight finish, and thus a playoff berth, but anything less meant that Harvard would have to wait for next weekend’s games against first placed Clarkson and third placed St. Lawrence for a chance to clinch. “There’s something to be said about clicking after playing together for a while, and this weekend we definitely did.” Hughes said. “But I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we were all working really hard the whole game. It really translates when you’re just hustling that extra inch, things will go your way.” Staff writer Eamon J. Mcloughlin can be reached at eamon.mcloughlin@thecrimson.com.
Sports
The Harvard Crimson | february 12, 2018 | page 10
Junior Forward Ryan Donato Heads to Pyeongchang men’s ICE HOCKEY By spencer r. Morris and sTUTI R. Telidevara Crimson Staff Writers
It was a normal night at the A.D. Club when Ryan Donato reached for his vibrating phone. The call was from the late Jim Johannson, senior U.S.A. Hockey executive and then-general manager for the 2018 American Olympic squad. What happened next changed the junior forward’s career— and life—forever. “I was next to [senior forward] Seb Lloyd,” Donato recalled. “He was like, ‘Was that what I think it just was?’” Yes, Seb. It was. Sitting in the A.D., one of Harvard’s all-male final clubs, Ryan first heard the news he would officially represent team U.S.A. in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. All Donato could do was thank Johannson for the opportunity of a lifetime and beg Lloyd not to divulge the secret. Wearing your country’s colors ranks among the highest possible distinctions an athlete can earn. For Donato, the sheer rarity of the opportunity makes it that much sweeter. For the first time since 1994, the National Hockey League is forbidding its players from competing in the Olympics. This decision, while widely unpopular among fans of the league, has opened the door for skaters not otherwise in contention for a roster spot, namely overseas professionals and American players with minor-league-only contracts. Johannson and team U.S.A. head coach Tony Granato did, however, dip into the college ranks to round out the roster for the 2018 Games. And that’s where the timing of the NHL ban worked in Donato’s favor. “It’s honestly a blessing. I think about it every day,” Donato said. “[The NHL’s decision] could have been... four years ago when I wasn’t even considered. Or it could’ve happened four years from now… I’m extremely blessed to be able to have this opportunity and just have all the dominoes fall in the right place.” This is not to say the junior hasn’t earned a spot on this year’s team—his 21 goals lead the country, and he left for South Korea as a major contender for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association player of the year. But recent history depicts a clear trend, and this trend typically doesn’t bode well for current college players with Olympic aspirations. America’s last five rosters have been occupied entirely by NHL players, and the last time a Harvard iceman represented U.S.A. Hockey in the Games while still in school came in 1992, when Ted Drury ’93 donned the red, white, and blue. So the league’s absence from the Games this year formed just the stroke of luck Donato needed to cash in on his stellar play to date in the NCAA season. Incidentally, Drury wasn’t the only Ted of note on that team, which placed fourth in Albertville, France. Ted Donato ’91, Ryan’s father and coach for the Crimson, also skated for the stars and stripes that year at the outset of his 796-game NHL career. Coach Donato said he thinks his son’s opportunity is once-in-a-lifetime. “I don’t think anybody really knew how [the roster] might shake out,” said the part-time bench boss, part-time dad. “[But] when we started to hear from some U.S.A. Hockey people that
this is not going to be an NHL team... it started to become a little bit clearer and a little bit more of a reality.” In short, even the greatest college hockey players haven’t had the Olympics on their radar in over two decades. That all changed late in the summer of 2017. Without guaranteeing anything, Johannson hinted that Donato was in the mix for a USA roster spot, and this entirely altered the mindset of the Boston Bruins prospect. Johannson’s advice was simple: play your best, try not to worry about the Olympics quite yet. If it happens, it happens. Johannson reiterated, though, that U.S.A. Hockey would be watching. “I think I’m on the list for sure,” Donato said in an interview in October. “I’ve been talking to some of their staff, but... what they’ve told me is just focus on your season.” “My tryout is how I play at the beginning of the season and how I play up until February,” he added. Donato’s play early on in the campaign comprised a convincing start. The Scituate, Mass., native inked the score sheet in each of his first 14 contests and kept the Harvard offense afloat after graduation eliminated one of the team’s forward ranks. Another element key to Donato’s season, as far as his parents and U.S.A. Hockey are concerned, has been the junior’s clean bill of health. Coach Donato said he could breathe a sigh of relief after his son boarded the plane to PyeongChang in one piece. “I was so excited for him that I was worried that he might get hurt before he even makes it over there,” coach Donato said. “I thought that would be just such a hard pill to swallow that I was really hoping and praying that that would not be the case.” In this way, Donato can already check off step one of his Olympic journey. But he and his father would argue that this journey started well before this season. Growing up the son of an NHL player, Ryan “always knew” he wanted to play hockey. The game left an indelible mark on his childhood, whether through watching games on TV or running around arenas where his father played—though, as coach Donato pointed out, back then he was less focused on his father’s game and more intent on fooling around with the other players’ sons. Despite much of his focus necessarily being on the ice, the elder Donato noticed his son’s budding love for hockey and embraced it. “We actually have video of him when he’s just... two years old, and people are asking him what his name is, and he refers to himself as ‘Ryan Hockeynato,’” coach Donato said. “And he loved to watch the goalies [on TV] so much that he used to drink out of his bottle when the goalie drank out of his bottle.” Ryan was eager to hone the skills required for high-level hockey, so he threw himself into the game. After successful stints at Dexter School, the Massachusetts Selects Hockey League’s Cape Cod Whalers program, and the United States under-18 national team, he was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the second round. A future in hockey had started to crystalize. “It’s something you always hope for,” coach Donato said. “Ryan was always one of the standouts on his team... but [special talent] is really hard to see [in advance]... By the time he was 15, 16, 17, he really started to show signs that he might be able to have a future playing hockey.”
DONAT MESS WITH HIM Donato has a killer instinct that hasn’t been seen before, even in his point-per-game campaign last year (21-1940). Last season’s Beanpot gave him a taste of big wins, going all the way to the Frozen Four. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer
Since his freshman year at Harvard, Donato has won a bronze medal with the American team at the 2016 World Junior Championships and has skated alongside some talented linemates, including now-NHL forward Alexander Kerfoot ’17. And while he has donned multiple jerseys over the course of his young career, Donato has practically grown to expect a blood relative behind the bench. In some form or another, a family member has been barking hockey instructions at the junior since since his first year at Dexter, where his uncle Danny still coaches. Both unable and unwilling to skirt his Harvard obligations to follow Ryan’s Olympic play, coach Donato said he is looking forward to finally playing just the father again. “I’m trying to help in any way I can, but ultimately, I’m really just there to support him,” coach Donato said. He couldn’t quite prevent himself from sharing some nuggets of advice, though, given his own experience at the international level. “I tried to get him excited about the idea of being part of the US Olympic team, not just the Olympic hockey team,” coach Donato said. “You want him to appreciate the other athletes, the other great stories, the once-in-alifetime opportunities that he’ll have to meet other people.” Ryan himself has seen the impression that professional hockey—in particular, international competition—has made on his father’s life. Donato will
thus heed his father’s advice in hopes of finding an experience as meaningful as his father’s this February. “What he’s kept on saying to me [is] that what’s important is the people behind the game,” Ryan said. “Those are the kind of people that you’re best friends with for the rest of your life… You’re lucky enough to have that chance.” Hockey is—and always has been— one of the most significant parts of the junior’s life. In this respect, he is certainly following in his father’s footsteps. The game has been so integral that it was almost strange for Ryan to articulate its typically unspoken importance. “Hockey is...” he paused, as if searching for the right words. “Everything for me. My family’s connected to hockey, my school life’s connected to hockey, my religious life is connected to hockey.” “If I didn’t have hockey, I’d be a completely different person,” he added. Pyeongchang marks simply the next chapter in a life dedicated to hockey. Donato is preparing to author these pages, and while there are no current NHLers on the Olympic team, there’s much to be gained from playing with experienced pros. “Being the young guy on the team... I really can’t pick,” Ryan said when asked which teammate he’s most looking forward to playing with. “[Captain Brian] Gionta’s one of them, obviously, [James] Wisniewski, those guys that have played a lot of NHL games. All
these guys have so much experience in their leagues and wherever they play... I’m excited to meet everybody.” For now, it is not totally clear how coach Granato, normally the bench boss at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, plans to use Donato. Anyone’s best guess is that the 6’0” centerman, who will likely play wing in the Olympic tournament, will assume the role of offensive spark plug on a team that may lack some firepower. “I’ve talked to coach Granato a handful of times,” Ryan said. “He’s a great coach, I can already tell. He’s going to be a lot of fun to play for... I think he wants me to be a guy... creating chances, scoring goals hopefully.” Adding to Donato’s excitement, he said he has received congratulations from the usual family, friend, and high school cohorts. But more unique, perhaps, are the words shared by Vice President Mike Pence, who will lead the American delegation at the Olympics. Earlier in the week, Pence penned a letter to Donato and his town of Scituate offering his congratulations. Any reservations Donato may have about his youth are mitigated by the fact that three other college players will suit up alongside him. Among them are St. Cloud State defenseman Will Borgen, Donato’s former teammate in the USHL and at World Juniors, and Boston University forward Jordan Greenway, whose Terriers squad ousted the Crimson this past Monday in the Beanpot semifinals. Between the Beanpot heartbreaker and the unrelenting conference schedule, Donato’s Harvard teammates could not give him a formal send-off before he boarded the plane to South Korea Wednesday morning. Plus, Ryan’s departure is surely bittersweet for a Crimson group that has struggled to beat the goaltender recently. “I kind of feel like I’m deserting them in a way,” Donato said. “[But] they’re all excited for me and this opportunity… These guys won’t be too lost without me. We have a great senior leadership and junior leadership.” Donato’s long-term future with Harvard is just as uncertain. With the Bruins showing all the signs of a Stanley Cup contender this season, Ryan could be calling TD Garden his home ice sooner rather than later. “It’s a scary thought,” Donato conceded. “[But] I pride myself on just trying to focus on the here and now… And at the end of the year, I’ll have a decision to make.” For now, the forward will make the most of the opportunity he has been given—partially by sheer luck, and partially, of course, by sheer skill. However fortuitous the timing and however rare the NHL’s boycott, “Ryan Hockeynato”—once just the curious son of an NHLer, and probably still a ministicks enthusiast—will soon sport the stars and stripes as he embarks on arguably the most honorable journey in all of sports. Staff writer Spencer R. Morris can be reached at spencer.morris@thecrimson.com.
LUCK, SKILL, ALL OF THE ABOVE Donato will miss the rest of Harvard’s February season as he swaps the crimson for red, white, and blue. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer
Staff writer Stuti R. Telidevara can be reached at stuti.telidevara@thecrimson.com.