The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLIX, No. 24

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

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VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 24

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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022

EDITORIAL PAGE 4

NEWS PAGE 5

SPORTS PAGE 6

The Accessible Education Office must be accessible.

The City of Cambridge started a $2.5 million small business relief program.

Women’s ice hockey secures ECAC regular season championship.

String of Vandalism Plagues Adams House HUPD Probes Racist Signs

By CHRISTINE MUI and LEAH J. TEICHHOLTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Adams House’s Hampden Hall has been plagued by a string of vandalism — ranging from racist language and crude drawings to defaced photos and targeted notes — since at least last October.

Students who live in Hampden Hall, a six-floor swing housing complex located above the Harvard Bookstore, have reported ongoing graffiti and offensive notes left in the elevator and on bulletin boards, windowsills, and walls. Though the acts have been reported on multiple floors, they have been mostly concentrated on the third floor.

In a Wednesday email to Adams House residents, Faculty Deans Mercedes C. “Mercy” Becerra ’91 and Salmaan A. Keshavjee and Resident Dean Charles “Chip” Lockwood called the repeated acts “completely unacceptable” and “antithetical” to house expectations.

“We will continue to do everything we can to stop this, and anyone found responsible will face immediate disciplinary action,” they wrote.

The faculty deans also wrote that they had filed a report with the Harvard University Police ­

Department and increased the presence of Securitas guards in the hall. Per HUPD records, the report was filed on Tuesday to investigate vandalism dating back to Oct. 1 of last year.

HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano wrote that the graffiti and tagging filed in the report were “not bias-related,” and Tuesday night was the first time vandalism had been officially reported to the department.

Residents say that the vandalism has persisted over the course of several months.

Hampden third-floor resident Emily E. Sanchez ’23 said she saw and crossed out the phrase “N-WORD,” in reference to the racist slur, written on a windowsill earlier this semester.

Last fall, residents on multiple floors noticed that their name tags had disappeared from their doors. Some name tags were crumpled in a pile and left on the first floor, per a November email resident tutors sent to their entryway.

Fifth floor resident Emma F. Kearney ’22 wrote in an email that she found the disappearance of her nametag “odd,” but did not originally assume it was an act of vandalism.

Then, the acts began to “escalate,” Sanchez said, to graffiti

SEE ADAMS PAGE 3

By J. SELLERS HILL and MERT GEYIKTEPE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Harvard University Police Department is investigating a racist attack levied against Harvard Undergraduate Council President Michael Y. Cheng ’22 earlier this month.

After two signs calling Cheng a racist anti-Asian slur and bearing the phrase “SAVE THE UC” were discovered on Cheng’s door in Quincy House earlier this month, HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano confirmed the department is investigating the incident as a “bias-related suspicious act.”

Following the incident, Quincy Faculty Deans Eric Beerbohm and Leslie J. Duhaylongsod deplored the flyers and offered their support to Cheng in an email to House residents.

“We want to say in the ­

Adams House’s Hampden Hall has experienced a string of vandalisms since at least last October. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

SEE HUPD PAGE 3

Pro-Palestine Activists Call for Israel Trek Boycott

By VIVI E. LU and LEAH J. TEICHHOLTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine hung flyers across campus last week urging undergraduates to boycott Harvard Israel Trek, an annual subsidized spring break trip to Israel and the West Bank.

Organizers for HOOP — a student group spearheaded by the Palestine Solidarity Committee that calls on Harvard to divest holdings linked to Israel’s presence in Palestine — posted flyers with QR codes linked to a document that alleges trip-goers are “complicit in apartheid and settler colonialism.”

The PSC previously distributed a petition urging undergraduates to boycott Israel Trek in 2019, which was ultimately ­

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine launched a campaign calling for a boycott of the annual Harvard College Israel Trek. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

canceled due to Covid-19.

Applications for this year’s trip closed last October. According to Israel Trek student leader Ty L. Geri ’23, more than 450 students applied for just 100 spots.

The trip includes a visit of the West Bank and discussions with high-ranking Israeli and Palestinian officials. In emails about the trip sent last semester, organizers say the trip provides participants an opportunity to explore “unique and nuanced realities at the core of Israel’s geopolitical landscape.”

HOOP organizer Christian B. Tabash ’21-’22 said he rejects the idea that the trip can provide a balanced perspective on the conflict between Israel and Palestine despite including the West Bank on its itinerary.

“It doesn’t matter if you

spend a few hours in the West Bank, a day in the West Bank, a few days in the West Bank, or if you talk to a Palestinian,” Tabash said. “That is irrelevant, because power is unequal and Palestinians exist as the colonized.”

Nadine S. Bahour ’22, who is also a HOOP organizer, said she does not oppose Harvard students visiting the region but rather the way the trip “sells itself to be a balanced perspective.”

“You’re going at the expense of Palestinian refugees — over five million Palestinian refugees that can’t visit the region,” Bahour said.

As part of its campaign, HOOP has compared attending Israel Trek to visiting South

SEE BOYCOTT PAGE 5

Affiliates Horrified Justice Department Ends China Initiative

by Ukraine Invasion

By ISABELLA B. CHO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

By MILES J. HERSZENHORN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Harvard students and affiliates reacted with shock and horror to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch a military invasion of Ukraine in the early morning local time on Thursday.

Explosions rocked cities across the country, including Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a massive escalation in a war between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists that has been ongoing for over seven years.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced 137 Ukranians have been killed since the invasion began, in a speech on Friday shortly after midnight local time.

Georgiy A. Kent ’22, a former president of the Lowell House Society of Russian Bell Ringers, organized an “emergency” ringing of the bells Thursday afternoon where they performed the Ukrainian national anthem.

“Given the news with Rus­

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Harvard Today 2

sia’s invasion of Ukraine, I decided that the Lowell Bells could do a symbolic gesture in solidarity and show our support for Ukraine,” Kent said.

He said the Bell Ringers hoped to send the message that “we support the Ukrainian people’s decision to be a free and sovereign nation, and we support democracy and peace.”

Ilya Timtchenko, a U.S. citizen of Ukrainian background and chair of the Ukrainian Caucus at the Harvard Kennedy School, said the invasion of Ukraine gave him flashbacks to the Euromaidan protests of 2013-2014, which led to the ousting of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

“It is a flashback in terms of where you see people getting worried, unifying, trying to resist, or resisting what Russia is trying to do,” he said. “But at the same time, right now, the scale is much bigger.”

“There, you’re dealing

SEE UKRAINE PAGE 3

News 3

Editorial 4

The United States Department of Justice on Wednesday shuttered its controversial China Initiative, an anti-espionage crackdown that ensnared a top Harvard faculty member last year.

Several high-profile academics — including Harvard professor Charles M. Lieber — were charged under the program. Lieber, the former chair of Harvard’s Chemistry Department, was convicted of lying to federal authorities about his ties to a China-backed recruitment initiative last December.

Lieber is set to be sentenced at a later date — but experts say the DOJ’s move to end the China Initiative is unlikely to impact his fate.

“The underlying laws are the same,” said Derek Adams, a partner at the Potomac Law Group. “It’s not like you can’t bring a legal case based on allegedly false statements in connection with a grant application ­

SEE DOJ PAGE 5

Sports 6

Former Harvard Chemistry chair Charles M. Lieber (left) and his lawyer, Marc Mukasey, exited the federal courthouse in Boston after the first day of his trial in December. BRANDON L. KINGDOLLAR—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

TODAY’S FORECAST

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FEBRUARY 25, 2022

PAGE 2

HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Fresh Caught Atlantic Grilled Pizza Sandwich Vegan Pizza Arugula

For Dinner Herb Crusted Cod Spanish-Style Roasted Chicken Quinoa and Mindful Chicken

TODAY’S EVENTS Q&A with Foodie and Influencer, Rosalynn Daniels Virtual, 11-11:45 a.m.

IN THE REAL WORLD

Attend a Q&A with foodie and Brown Hands Media founder Rosalynn Daniels and learn about her career in food and content creation. This event is hosted by the Food Literacy Project and in honor of Black History Month.

Protests Against Attack on Ukraine Erupt in Russia

After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an attack on Ukraine Thursday, protests erupted across major cities in Russia as thousands of people took to the streets to voice their discontent against the attacks on Ukraine. According to OVD-Info, a Russian rights group, nearly 2,000 people were arrested in protests across Russia.

The Unimagined Community: Imperialism and Culture in South Vietnam Virtual, 12-1:15 p.m.

WHO to Train Countries on How to Make Covid-19 Vaccines

AROUND THE IVIES

The World Health Organization announced Wednesday their plan to open a training hub in South Korea to teach countries how to develop mRNA vaccines. The announcement was made to address inequality in global vaccine access after pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Moderna did not cooperate in sharing their technology.

Career Pathways in Francophone Countries Virtual, 3-4 p.m.

PRINCETON: Charlie Volker Finishes 10th in Four-Man Bobsled at Winter Olympics —THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

President Biden to Announce First Supreme Court Nominee

Register to attend OCS’s “Career Pathways in Francophone Countries” panel. Hear from alumni and graduate students about their work and how to expand your career and internship search to various Francophone countries.

Townhomes Residents —THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

Students walk in front of Sever Hall in Harvard Yard on a chilly and overcast Thursday. CHRISTOPHER HIDALGO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

PENN: Nearly 100 People Protest Penn’s Role in Evictions of University City COLUMBIA: Hundreds Gather as Ukrainian Students Lead Protest Following Russian Invasion —COLUMBIA SPECTATOR CORNELL: Dragon Day Roars On After a Two-Year Hiatus —THE CORNELL DAY SUN

President Joe Biden is expected to announce his first nominee for the Supreme Court as early as Friday. During his campaign, he promised to make the historic nomination of the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Supreme Court.

COVID UPDATES

CAMPUS LAST 7 DAYS CURRENTLY

Join this book talk and hear from Duy Lap Nguyen, an associate at the Harvard University Asia Center, as he reexamines the Vietnam War from a perspective that is often overlooked — that of the South Vietnamese.

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In Isolation

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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY America Heading into Sex Anarchy, U.S. Morals Falling, Sorokin States

Pitirim A. Sorokin, professor of Social Relations, spoke before the Social Relations Society about the rise of sexual freedom in America’s culture within the last few decades.

American society, he said, “is now permeated with a sexiness that oozes out everywhere.”

February 25, 1954

300 Descend on Manchester to Protest Draft Registration

More than 300 opponents of draft registration — including over 60 Harvard students — descended upon Manchester, N.H., stopping in front of the campaign headquarters of major presidential candidates to chant slogans and wave placards.

February 25, 1990

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

The Harvard Crimson Raquel Coronell Uribe ’22-’23 Associate Managing Editors Kelsey J. Griffin ’23 President Taylor C. Peterman ’23-’24 Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Associate Business Managers Managing Editor Taia M.Y. Cheng ’23-’24 Isabelle L. Guillaume ’24 Amy X. Zhou ’23 Business Manager Editorial Chairs Guillermo S. Hava ’23-24 Orlee G.S. Marini-Rapoport ’23-24

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Blog Chairs Ellen S. Deng ’23-’24 Janani Sekar ’23-’24

Technology Chairs Ziyong Cui ’24 Justin Y. Ye ’24

Sports Chairs Alexandra N. Wilson ’23-’24 Griffin H. Wong ’24

Copyright 2022, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.

Night Editor Kevin A. Simauchi ’21-’22 Assistant Night Editors Davin W. Shi ’24 Meimei Xu ’24 Story Editors Brie K. Buchanan ’22-’23 Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Kelsey J. Griffin ’23 Juliet E. Isselbacher ’22-’23 Simon J. Levien ’23-’24 Taylor C. Peterman ’23-’24

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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.

PAGE 3

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

ADAMS FROM PAGE 1

HUPD FROM PAGE 1

String of Vandalism Appears in Adams

HUPD Probes Racist Signs

akin to what “middle school teenage boys” might draw.

Throughout last semester, Sanchez said she noticed phallic drawings and crude language written on the elevator and third-floor bulletin board, where tutors had provided markers for students to leave notes.

Overnight on Dec. 10, several bulletin boards were torn down and a picture of the third floor resident tutors and their family was stolen and defaced. Earlier that week, on the sixth floor, flyers were removed from a bulletin board and strewn about the ground.

On Dec. 13, Becerra, Keshavjee, and Lockwood penned an email to Hampden residents calling the acts of vandalism

“unacceptable” and “insulting” and implored the perpetrators to stop.

“Adams House is far more than a collection of remarkable buildings. It is our home, and this type of behavior should not be accepted by any of us,” they wrote.

The main entrance to Adams House is located on Plympton St. Some of the acts appeared to be targeted at a third-floor resident. Victor A. Rangel ’23, said he noticed comments written on bulletin boards targeting him by name in November. The first note asked him to “open a window,” which Rangel said insinuated he had been smoking in his dorm.

Rangel, who said he does not

Students Create Therapy Group

By LUCAS J. WALSH and VIVIAN ZHAO CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Two College students launched a peer therapy group last semester that employs psychotherapy techniques focusing on interpersonal relationships to combat anxiety and depression.

Harvard Undergraduate Peer Therapy, led by Suhaas Bhat ’24 and Eric Li ’24, uses a therapy method called interpersonal psychotherapy, or IPT, to provide groups of six to eight students with support during an eight to 10-week program.

Bhat and Li say they were motivated to act based on the “mental health crisis on campus” and the dearth of mental health professionals in the greater Boston area. They finished their pilot group last semester and are launching their third group in the next couple of weeks.

“Therapy has, in the last decade or so, attained a dizzying height of cultural importance,” Bhat said. “Now when people are struggling, the number one advice is go to therapy.”

Bhat and Li said that one of the goals of their program was to increase accessibility to therapy by making it more responsive and affordable.

“I’ve been trying to schedule an appointment [with a private mental health provider] lately.

It’s so incredibly expensive and especially during the pandemic now,” Bhat said. “Demand is spiking and supply is frozen.”

The application process for HUGPT consists of a brief consultation to see if IPT suits a given student’s needs. Harvard’s Counseling and Mental Health Services advises the group and agreed to greenlight the program after Bhat and Li presented the IPT model to them.

“What IPT is ultimately interested in writing is helping you create strong, healthy relationships and communicate your emotions healthily in those relationships,” Bhat said.

Scott Stuart, the director of the IPT Institute which certifies facilitators of IPT, said the Institute has trained more than 6,000 facilitators since its founding, but Bhat and Li are the first undergraduate students to be certified.

“This is the first time, to my knowledge, that there are undergrad students who are doing it on the college campus,” Stuart said.

“The beauty of IPT-G is that the group does the real therapy — the facilitator simply guides the process,” the HUGPT website reads. “Each and every person has spent many years navigating intricate and complex relationships, and our goal as facilitators is to allow members of the group to lead each other, learning and growing as they face challenges together.”

An average session consists of a brief initial group checkin, followed by the main focus of the session, which will vary from week to week, Li said. The goal of the session would be to structure their understanding of themselves and their relationships.

Harvard already offers several peer counseling programs, including Contact, ECHO, and Room 13, among others. However, there are significant differences between peer counseling services and IPT, per Stuart.

“Generally speaking, peer counseling is more supportive,” Stuart said. “Peer counselors generally are not trained in specific kinds of evidence-based practices for depression or anxiety.”

“For instance, peer counseling might work very well if somebody is having difficulty with loneliness or a sense of isolation,” Stuart added.

“But if somebody has a diagnosis of depression, for example, or a diagnosis of panic disorder, peer counseling is probably not going to be sufficient to treat that,” he added.

Stuart said that IPT is not exclusively reserved for people with diagnosed mental illnesses and those who are potentially headed toward a diagnosis can benefit from treatment as well.

For that reason, he said HUGPT fills a demand for a preventive intervention for students at risk for depression or anxiety at Harvard.

“I think it’s got tremendous potential for reaching a lot of people who really need preventive services,” Stuart said. lucas.walsh@thecrimson.com vivian.zhao@thecrimson.com

smoke, wrote below the note saying so. A flurry of notes later, including some defending Rangel, a bulletin board note that said “We beat Yale” was altered to say “We beat Victor.”

Then, again in early February, the words “Fuck yu” were added to a note on the bulletin board that originally contained a message of support — Victor’s name with a drawing of a heart.

Rangel said he believes the targeted notes could be partially “rooted in xenophobia or racism.”

“There’s at least 15 people living on our floor,” Rangel said.

“So the fact that someone would assume that I, as the only Latino man living on the floor, am the one smoking at the entryway is crazy to me.”

Elizabeth I. Ogolo ’24, a Hampden resident, said the note “felt like a racially-motivated accusation.”

In response to the ongoing vandalism, some Adams entryways began the spring semester with meetings discussing communal living norms, according to tutor emails. The Adams House faculty deans also hosted a gathering Thursday.

In a Wednesday statement emailed to The Crimson, Becerra and Keshavjee, the Adams faculty deans, deplored the acts as “deeply hurtful” to Adams residents.

Some Adams residents said the incidents have changed their perception of safety in the entryway.

“Knowing that there are peo-

ple of color on my floor, knowing that my proctors are Black people, knowing that I’m a Black person, knowing that the only people that seem to rarely be victimized in a lot of these situations happen to be white leaves a terrible taste in my mouth,” Ogolo said.

Sanchez, who recently applied to transfer out of Adams, said ongoing vandalism was a factor in her decision.

“I have no idea why anybody is doing it, don’t know who it is,” Sanchez said. “All I know is that it’s kind of annoying. It’s annoying and insensitive, and it doesn’t make Hampden feel like an entryway or like a home.” christine.mui@thecrimson.com leah.teichholtz@thecrimson.com

Faculty to Consider Credit for Remote Classes

By TRACY JIANG and JOSHUA S. CAI CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences is set to consider a proposal that would allow remotely-taught Harvard Summer School courses to be taken for Harvard College credit.

Previously, the College accepted only a subset of Summer School courses for credit, all taught in-person. But the school made an exception during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing remote courses to count for college credit. The Harvard Faculty Council approved a proposal to allow online summer school classes to count for credit at its Jan. 26 meeting, sending the proposal to the full FAS. The faculty will consider the matter at its March 1 meeting.

The Harvard College Student Handbook currently states that “Harvard College students may not count online Summer School courses toward their Harvard College degrees.”

The proposal comes after the FAS’ Standing Committee on Undergraduate Educational Policy was tasked with re-evaluating the matter. ­

Ahead of the faculty meeting’s vote on March 1, students have voiced support for the proposal.

Benjamin T. Rossen ’24 said allowing remote Summer School courses to be taken for credit would change how students approach structuring their education.

“I think it would definitely change the landscape and how people perceive class because even now the ability to learn remotely and to attend lectures asynchronously has definitely changed people’s schedules and how people prioritize going to lectures,” Rossen said.

Rossen added he believes the virtual course offerings would make people feel accustomed to taking more classes than normal. “Generally, you take four classes at Harvard, but I think with the virtual format, it might be even easier to take five or even six because of the convenience,” Rossen said.

Hannah S. Lamport ’23 echoed similar sentiments, adding that it could create a new course load standard.

“It could free people’s schedules up so that over the fall and spring semesters they have time

to take other courses outside of the standard requirements that they finish off during the summer,” Lamport said. “That being said, it could alternatively create a culture where you’re kind of expected to get more classes in.”

Alfonso J. Godinez Aguilar ’24, who plans to take Harvard Summer School courses this summer to fulfill concentration requirements, said he thinks the proposal would make summer school more “accessible” for him and other students.

“It would be an overall net positive thing just because it would make summer school more accessible for students that potentially might want to do internships or something somewhere else, or if they have family commitments over the summer,” Godinez Aguilar said.

“I think before the pandemic, people didn’t really value virtual school as much as they do now after having a good year of virtual school — like last year — under our belt, so I think definitely a lot of people’s minds have changed,” he added. tracy.jiang@thecrimson.com joshua.cai@thecrimson.com

strongest possible terms that this is absolutely unacceptable; none of these actions is consistent with Quincy’s focus on a safe, respectful, and inclusive community,” they wrote.

In their email, the Quincy faculty deans also solicited information about the incident.

Beerbohm and Duhaylongsod did not respond to an inquiry about the HUPD investigation.

Support for Cheng poured in following the attack. The Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Women’s Association released a statement, co-signed by 24 student groups, rebuking the “act of direct racism” and demanding stronger support for students of color at Harvard. ­

None of these actions is consistent with Quincy’s focus on a safe, respectful, and inclusive community.

Eric Beerbohm and Leslie J. Duhaylongsod

The UC also drafted a statement of solidarity, which was then rejected by Cheng, who called the move hypocritical and reiterated his belief that the perpetrator was a UC member.

“The person or people that are responsible for yesterday’s hateful attack, as well as the multiple kinds of other attacks targeting me, are potentially in this room right now,” he said at a UC meeting.

Cheng was elected UC president in November following a contentious campaign in which promised to “defund” the body and rewrite its constitution. His administration has been at odds with some UC members. sellers.hill@thecrimson.com

UKRAINE FROM PAGE 1

Affiliates Show Support for Ukraine w ith protests, whereas right now you’re dealing with a full fledged war,” Timtchenko said.

Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf warned that war in Ukraine meant that the world will be fundamentally changed in a message sent to HKS affiliates on Thursday.

“The consequences of this war will extend well beyond Ukraine,” Elmendorf wrote.

He said the Kennedy School plans to host a series of discussions to “understand the causes and consequences of what is happening in Ukraine,” including an event with professor and former U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash B. Carter that will “probably” be held at an Institute of Politics forum next Wednesday. ­

Pictures worth a thousand words.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

Mariana Budjeryn, a Ukrainian research associate at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, said she was grateful for the outpouring of support from her colleagues at HKS. “Everyone basically came out and reached out to me and expressed their horror, but also their words of concern for my family back in Ukraine,” she said. “I just can’t emphasize enough how, even though that seems like such a small thing, how in a time like this, that kind of support matters.”

Nadezhda Vikulina, a graduate student, said she attended a protest outside the Massachusetts State House on Thursday to show that as a Russian, she is opposed to the war.

“The war is horrifying, and

we have very little power or choice to be involved in the war at all,” she said. “None of my friends from Russia — not a single person I know — is rooting for this war.”

Polina Galouchko ’23, a Russian citizen, said she is now being forced to reconsider her relationship with her home country. “I don’t feel like I identify anymore with the country that wages a war on its neighbors,” she said.

Alexander Zhigalin ’23, an international student from Russia, said he is afraid student visas for Russian citizens will stop being issued or that existing visas will be nullified as part of Western sanctions against Russia.

“It’s very uncertain if I’d be

even able to stay on the student visa — if I’d be even able to finish Harvard, let alone stay here in the U.S.,” he said. “That’s very hard to predict and just gives you a very hopeless feeling.”

Leise H. Sandeman, an HKS student, organized a joint petition between public policy schools at Harvard, Oxford, and Princeton to condemn the invasion of Ukraine. As of Thursday evening, the petition had amassed more than 300 responses, two-thirds of which were from HKS. “It’s absolutely necessary to show solidarity with Ukraine and with the Ukrainian people,” Sandeman said. “Silence is truly complacency in this case.” miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

PAGE 4

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

COLUMN

The Inaccessability of the Accessible Education Office

Rewriting The Rules of Grammar — and of Demographic Destiny

H

arvard’s Accessible Education Office is among the most important institutions on campus. Ensuring that disability poses no barrier to getting a Harvard education is one of our highest duties as a community. Unfortunately, funding that effort is not a very flashy business; no buildings to name, ribbons to cut, professorships to endow.

The AEO is chronically underfunded.

Harvard can change that.

The AEO is chronically underfunded. Harvard can change that.

We appreciate the heroic effort of individual AEO officers while acknowledging the difficulty of getting a hold of them. Students often feel that long wait times compound the difficulties the AEO is trying to resolve in the first place. Succeeding at Harvard is a difficult feat on its own. A disability, even properly accommodated, makes it that much harder.

The University adds a third layer of difficulty by under-resourcing the office with the power to alleviate the first two.

A well-resourced office is particularly important when the process of accommodating disability requires so much documentation. We recognize the unfortunate necessity of some of that bureaucracy — the details of disability are important in crafting appropriate ac-

commodations, and some degree of verification is necessary. But this is an argument for more funding, not less.

We call on Harvard to provide that funding. For the richest university in the world, accessibility should be viewed as a basic essential, not a contingent luxury.

Fortunately, there is a clear path for securing that funding even if Harvard remains unwilling to shell out.

Court donors. CAMHS’s new 24/7 hotline, funded by the donation of a Harvard parent, provides a model for how to fund the efforts necessary to support our most vulnerable classmates. So long as we are dependent on the whims of donors, we should make donating to the AEO as appealing as endowing a professorship. Maybe that means putting naming rights in play, flattering donors with the attention of top administrators, marking donations with high-publicity events.

We can think of few better uses of our administrators’ time and our institution’s brand. Surely great leadership lies in part in keeping the most vulnerable in our community eminently in mind. And while they’re at it, the administration should increase transparency on how frequently the AEO is used. We suspect that if they did, the absurdity of giving the AEO six employees to jointly serve Harvard’s graduate and undergraduate population.

We watch as Harvard expands its campus, renovates buildings, and increases its endowment each year, while students’ most pressing needs for mental

health support and disability accomodation go underfunded. This is a natural consequence of the donor-dependent system which will prevail at Harvard for the foreseeable future.

All that remains is to choose those priorities. Surely one must be an Accessible Education Office that’s actually accessible.

It is not, however, an inevitable consequence of that system. More than almost any other institution in the world, Harvard has bargaining power with its donors. We have an incredibly powerful brand. When we lay out our priorities, when we actively pursue them, when we make tradeoffs to support them, we will get results.

All that remains is to choose those priorities. Surely one must be an AEOthat’s actually accessible.

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

Submit an Op-Ed Today!

The Crimson

This piece is a part of a focus on Black authors and experiences for Black History Month.

—Aldo D. Medina ’24 is a History and Literature concentrator in Eliot House. His column “A Hoosier at Harvard” appears on alternate Fridays.

Afro-Latinidad: Reconciling My Competing Identities

By ERIKA S. FAMILIA

F

The Spanish language is far from the only thing being rewritten in modern-day 2022 Hispanic America.

—Ericka S. Familia ’25, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Greenough Hall.

OP-ED

institution for the first time. At a school where few faces resembled mine, it was impossible for me to push my Blackness aside when “Black” encompassed the extent of what I was deemed by others.

The conflicting identities that I had suppressed until then were unexpectedly brought to the forefront, and I realized that in a country where race inevitably governs how we navigate the spaces we inhabit, refraining from acknowledging my Blackness was not an option. History and society dictated the choice that I previously believed I had the freedom to make within the comfort of my sheltered childhood. More disconcerting, however, was the realization that I was doing myself the same disservice as those around me — stripping my identity of the nuance it possesses. Finding myself unable to place “Black” and “Latina” together in a neatly packaged box, I felt the need to simplify my identity.

As I began to actively think about my Blackness for the first time in my life, my immediate response was self-resentment. I was overcome with the agonizing feeling that I had renounced the right to claim my Black identity after failing to do so for so long. However, as I examined the origins of my denial, I realized that my experience was demonstrative of a very prevalent phenomenon in the Dominican Republic. Historically, the Dominican state has fostered a systematic erasure of Blackness from the DR’s national identity, directly linked to the strong anti-Haitian sentiment that characterizes the sociopolitical climate in the nation. Despite having gained independence from Spain for the second time in 1865, the Dominican Republic recognizes February 27, 1844 — the day the nation drove the Haitian army out of Santo Domingo — as its official day of independence. This decision precisely encapsulates the disconnect from my Blackness that has dominated my unsettling sense

E

very time a Harvard preceptor, adviser, or administrator describes me as “Latinx,” or uses the term in my presence, I get a distinct feeling that somewhere, off in the distance, four Spanish voters each register with the GOP in Arizona, Texas, Nevada, and Florida, respectively.

Congressman Ruben Gallego, a Hispanic Midwesterner-turned-Harvard-graduate who currently represents Arizona’s capital in the House of Representatives, spoke out in 2020 against “the word” in the wake of his party’s down-ballot shellacking that year. One midterm election cycle later, and I’m inclined to believe that his words fell on deaf ears among Democratic leadership. I’ve been stunned to see “Latinx” continuously re-appear in official party campaign language to this day; in fact, one of these instances occurred earlier this month on social media. (In that case, the Democrats used “the word” in an infographic that broke down successful judicial confirmations into racial groups.)

I have no novel arguments of my own to make about the problems that arise from the “Latinx” neologism in this column - and besides, the matter has already been litigated many times in the past by national commentators across the ideological spectrum. (Some particularly recent examples include a writer at The Atlantic, the editor-in-chief of the National Review, pundits at POLITICO, and a columnist at The Washington Post.)

What I will argue today, however, is that the Spanish language is far from the only thing being rewritten in modern-day 2022 Hispanic America. For the first time in the history of modern polling, Latino voters are expected to cast their ballots roughly equally between the Democrats and the Republicans this year in a clear shattering of the so-called “demographics as destiny” theory.

The rightward shift of Hispanic Americans in post-2020 is an electoral development that The New York Times belatedly identified as a “political earthquake” only two months ago (although writers affiliated with the neighboring Wall Street Journal have eagerly characterized the Hispanic-GOP union as a “natural” pairing for a while now).

Such a pari passu manifested in the voting intentions of Latinos this year has immediate implications for short-term control of both Houses of Congress — indeed, the nation’s eyes have already turned to states like Arizona, Nevada, and Florida (all of which enjoy particularly high Hispanic American populations) as we head into the November midterm election. The defeat of an incumbent senator in any of these three states this year — Democratic or Republican — would almost assuredly upset the upper chamber’s current 5050 delicate balance.

My home state of Indiana is not exactly wellknown for its Hispanic culture and community relative to the aforementioned Sun Belt states; neither, of course, is the American heartland relative to other regions of the country. Still, Hispanic Midwesterners do, in fact, exist. And as one of these Hispanic Midwesterners in question, I vehemently believe that — perhaps to the chagrin of Carvillian “demographics as destiny” supporters — the post-2020 Hispanic “swing voter” tendencies currently observed in the Sun Belt and in the South will soon come to the Midwest as well.

I’m sure that political scientists nationwide harboring similarly-minded theories are gathering empirical evidence in support of that proposition as we speak. My own rudimentary reasoning, though, emerges from the Hispanic cultural values — family and hard work especially — that I am intimately familiar with. Gut feeling is admittedly another important motivator as well; call it a Hoosier hypothesis, if you will.

Speaking of conjecture, it’s also worth noting that it’s anyone’s guess as to which party is favored to either hold or re-take either national legislative chamber come Election Day. The only thing I can say on that front with confidence is the following: members of the Hispanic community nationwide are clearly paying closer attention to what candidates for office on both sides of the aisle — not just one — have to offer as policy solutions.

Are those candidates — and perhaps more critically, their respective political parties — returning that attention in kind as they try to get their respective messages across to potential voters and win over the Hispanic American electorate?

Only time will tell.

@thecrimson

or most Black people, February 27th is fairly insignificant, simply marking the second-to-last day of Black History Month. For me, it wholly defines my experience with Blackness.

In a way, it is fitting (although purely coincidental) that Dominican Independence Day is celebrated as Black History Month comes to a close, as for most of my life, I felt that I existed on the fringes of Blackness. The tensions between my Dominican-Hispanic and Black identities prevented me from feeling secure in my Blackness, even as my skin complexion made it unequivocally clear to everyone around me.

My Spanish-speaking household did not seem to fall in line with the stories we learned in school about Black History Month, so I naturally felt that February was intended to commemorate a history that I could not claim as my own. Despite Latin America being home to the largest Black population outside of Africa, this side of history was completely excluded from my curriculum. No evidence around me proved that being Black and Hispanic could coexist, and thus, I was forced to choose. As a child, I subconsciously chose the latter. I chose to detach myself from the Black identity not because I did not like my physical features, but because I had internalized a singular form of Blackness that I was unable to perfectly fit. I have always been called “morena” and “prieta” — both terms referencing my dark skin — by fellow Dominicans. I never questioned or objected to these names, but somehow I did not equate them with Blackness. I was confined in the interstitial state of knowing I was Black but being unable to use the term to describe my identity. For years, I clung to Latina, Hispanic, or simply Dominican.

I was forced to contend with my dormant identity crisis in high school when I began attending a predominantly white

Aldo D. Medina A HOOSIER AT HARVARD

of self. The founding of the DR as an independent nation was predicated upon a fundamentally antagonistic relationship with our predominantly Black Haitian neighbors, and in turn, a proximity to the white Spanish colonizer. Further, an indoctrination campaign most potent during the military dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo perpetuated the racist and colorist claim that it is impossible to be both Black and Dominican without devaluing the latter. Realizing that I was simply another victim of the systemic anti-Blackness that pervades the DR, I stopped vilifying myself for discounting my Blackness.

My distance from the Caribbean nation has allowed me to recognize that my Spanish-speaking household does not at all change how I fundamentally navigate life in a Black body in the United States.

This experience is what I have come to conclude is at the core of Afro-Latinidad.

The term Afro-Latina seems to have devolved into somewhat of a buzzword, but for me it is deeply significant. Embracing Afro-Latinidad liberates me from having to choose between aspects of my identity that I formerly believed to be mutually exclusive, as it allows me to feel secure in the fact that neither side of my racial and ethnic identity detracts from the other. Existing at the intersection of Black and Hispanic no longer produces the feeling of internal competition that I spent years attempting to expel.

Afro-Latinidad has afforded me the opportunity for reconciliation that I needed to finally subdue the tensions between Black History Month and Dominican Independence Day.

PAGE 5

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

DOJ FROM PAGE 1

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

BOYCOTT FROM PAGE 1

DOJ Shuts Down China Initiative Students Call for Israel Trek Boycott

— you can.”

The China Initiative has long faced criticism for allegedly targeting individuals of Chinese descent and straying from its initial goals.

In a speech at George Mason University’s National Security Institute on Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen said the Justice Department is moving away from the program in part because of concerns over racial targeting.

“By grouping cases under the China Initiative rubric, we helped give rise to a harmful perception that the department applies a lower standard to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct related to that country or that we in some way view people with racial, ethnic or familial ties to China differently,” he said.

Adams said Lieber’s case is different from others grouped under the China Initiative. Unlike other academics charged under the program, he said, Lieber was charged with making false statements in interviews with investigators.

“It wasn’t based on a cold record of documents,” he said. “It was really tied to his alleged

statements, when he made those statements to the government.”

In January 2020, Lieber told FBI agents that he “wasn’t completely transparent” in a separate interview with federal investigators two years earlier, according to a video clip of the interrogation played by prosecutors during the December 2021 trial.

Lieber was found guilty on two counts of lying to federal investigators and four counts of tax fraud.

Michael German, a former FBI agent who serves as a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, said the case against Lieber represented an example of the China Initiative’s overreach.

“The China Initiative was designed to stop espionage and trade theft by the Chinese government — it had nothing to do with an academic engaging in tax fraud,” he said. “It was an example of how an initiative designed to address one problem in fact was targeting people who had relationships with individuals or entities in China.”

German said the program spurred anti-Asian bias.

“This has been a long-standing problem, and I think the China Initiative just crystallized the bias that was already apparent in these Chinese espionage investigations,” he said.

Academics and advocates previously called on the Biden administration to wind down the initiative, warning of a chilling effect on academic collaboration abroad.

In a Jan. 5 letter to President Joe Biden, more than 50 organizations — including the Brennan Center, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and APA Justice Task Force — urged Biden to end the program.

“We respectfully request that your administration end the Justice Department’s ‘China Initiative,’ and take further steps necessary to combat the pervasive racial bias and targeting of Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists, researchers, and students,” the letter said.

Robert A. Fisher — a defense attorney for MIT professor Gang Chen, who was charged under the China Initiative in 2021 before his case was dropped by prosecutors last January — said the DOJ’s move to nix the program came as no

surprise.

“It seems like they’re really just getting back to the roots of the program which were anti-espionage, trade secret theft, economic espionage — going after legitimate spies in the U.S., which is what they should have been doing all along — and away from what it morphed into, which were the grant fraud cases,” he said.

However, the program’s closure is unlikely to affect Lieber’s conviction, Fisher said.

“They knew the Lieber case was going to trial in December — it was under this administration,” he said.

“I think the review was clearly going on then. I’m sure the Lieber case was received, and the decision was made that his case would have been done regardless,” Fisher said.

On Feb. 7, attorneys for Lieber filed a motion for an acquittal or a new trial, over a month after his initial conviction.

Lieber’s attorney, Marc L. Mukasey, did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts declined to comment on Lieber’s case. isabella.cho@thecrimson.com

Africa during apartheid. A poster hung around campus reads, “Would you go on a trip funded by South African apartheid?

No? Why go on Israel Trek?”

Geri said he respects HOOP’s right to put up the posters but disagrees with their claims.

“We’ve designed this itinerary to give the participants the opportunity to actually challenge these questions, ask these questions, ask the things that are on the poster, perhaps, to people on the ground that are trying to make a difference,” Geri said.

Estela Lacombe Fran​​ça ’23, who is attending Israel Trek this spring, said despite the boycott’s claims she believes the trip leaders are committed to providing a “diverse” perspective.

“The leaders are just constantly willing to speak to us about anything that we are concerned about,” Franca said.

“They make a really conscious effort to make sure that we have access to as many varied viewpoints as possible.” ­

Tabash said the best way for students to become educated about Palestine is through attending events hosted by the PSC and HOOP.

You’re going at the expense of Palestinian refugees — over five million Palestinian refugees that can’t visit the region.

Nadine S. Bahour ’22.

HOOP organizer

“The space in which Palestinians congregate and find community and organize, that is the best space at Harvard in which you’ll actually learn about the reality of this Israel-Palestine issue,” Tabash said. vivi.lu@thecrimson.com leah.teichholtz@thecrimson.com

Activists Call on Future City Cambridge Launches $2.5M Manager to Prioritize Housing Small Business Relief Program

By JULIA J. HYNEK and KALEIGH M. KUDDAR CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Local affordable housing advocates are calling for Cambridge to select a city manager who will prioritize lowering the city’s high cost of living as the search to replace Louis A. DePasquale begins.

The selection process for a new Cambridge city manager kicked off last month, and the city is expected to select its next top official in May. The Cambridge City Council has pledged to seek public input in the process via town hall meetings, an online discussion forum, and diverse focus groups.

Cambridge follows a council-manager form of government in which the city manager — not the mayor — is the most powerful public official.

While the city council is tasked with establishing the city’s goals and policies, the city manager runs the day-to-day operations of the government and controls its budget.

On Feb. 13, A Better Cambridge — a local affordable housing organization — released a letter calling for the next city manager to prioritize transparency, data-driven feedback, and affordable housing issues.

In the letter, the group said ­

the city manager has a big sway over housing issues as the overseer of the municipal budget.

“We’ve always been glad to see money spent on housing in a whole bunch of different buckets,” Rebecca “Becca” M. Schofield, co-chair of A Better Cambridge, said in an interview. “But I think we are really hopeful that, with the next city manager, we’ll be able to ramp up that spending and see some innovative solutions within the budget to current housing issues.”

In the letter, the group also called for the city manager to “embrace the possibilities of a growing and changing Cambridge,” instead of following the “status quo.”

“The next City Manager must be prepared to take bold leadership in guiding both medium-term and long-term urban plans that are responsive to our housing crisis and include real steps towards ending it,” the letter said. “Candidates should not see the job of City Manager simply as an ‘administrative caretaker’ role, merely preserving and protecting the status quo.”

Just a Start — another local affordable housing organization — calls for a similar vision.

“I think you’d want a manager that can continue to support

and lead the very strong staff that currently exists in the city.

At the same time, I think the city is at a point, and has the opportunity to do some bold things,” Carl Nagy-Koechlin, executive director of Just a Start, said in an interview.

The organizations also advocate for a city manager who will prioritize diversity in policy making decisions.

Suzanne P. Blier, a Harvard professor who runs the Harvard Square Neighborhood Association, said the city’s next top official should prioritize incorporating data-driven feedback.

“We want a city manager who’s going to hire highly qualified staff and to look at data in a thoughtful way as one is making decisions,” Blier said in an interview.

Some advocates lauded the City Council’s efforts to incorporate a wide range of stakeholder feedback in the selection process.

“I have been impressed with the process,” Blier said. “I think that the vice mayor, who is leading it, has done a very good job — and others who were in the mayor’s office — in reaching out to many people.” julia.hynek@thecrimson.com kaleigh.kuddar@thecrimson.com

By KATHERINE M. BURSTEIN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The City of Cambridge announced a $2.5 million restaurant and nightlife relief grant program for businesses impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this month.

The program will award grants of $10,000 to eligible businesses, prioritizing those owned by people of color, women, and other historically marginalized groups as well as those which have not been recipients of previous grants.

The American Rescue Plan Act will finance the awards, which will be available to “local, non-franchise cafes, restaurants, and entertainment venues (e.g. movie theaters, performance venues, galleries, entertainment promoters),” according to a press release announcing the program. Cambridge was allocated $88.1 million in ARPA funding to distribute for the purposes of local economic recovery.

Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui praised the economic relief effort in the press release.

“The uncertainty of the last two years has made operations difficult for restaurants and nightlife venues,” Siddiqui wrote.

“These grants, which will prioritize some of our hardest hit ­

businesses, will help restaurants and nightlife venues that have a long road to recovery.”

Theodora M. “Theo” Skeadas ’12, executive director of small business advocacy group Cambridge Local First, said the effort to support businesses is much warranted.

“These are businesses that are historically under-resourced relative to their more advantaged peers, and have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic,” Skeadas said. “I applaud their efforts to provide additional resources to business owners and businesses that are most adversely hit by the pandemic and all of the challenges that it entails.”

The grant’s focus on restaurants and nightlife operations will extend Covid-19 relief to organizations which may have been excluded from previous federally funded grant efforts.

Cambridge City Manager Louis A. DePasquale wrote in a press release that recovering Cambridge’s nightlife is “critical to our city.” “Cambridge’s restaurants and nightlife venues are a vital part of our community and these sectors have been among the hardest hit by this pandemic,” he wrote.

Kari Kuelzer, owner of Harvard Square restaurant and bar Grendel’s Den, said the an-

nounced grants were a small step in the right direction.

“When you’re the scale of a business like Grendel’s, most of the city programs provide only sort of a drop in the bucket amount of support. They barely pay a week of your rent,” she said. “It’s been a really rough road. I think every little bit helps.”

Zina Thompson, owner of Zina’s Hairdressing and a member of a city-wide advisory committee for Black, Indigenous, and people of color-owned businesses, said Cambridge was doing an “amazing job of supporting businesses.”

“They came to help us at such a crucial time,” Thompson said. “It’s a great thing for the younger generations to see how minorities can make it in this world.”

The Cambridge Community Development Department plans to offer further relief programs in the coming months, according to its spokesperson Brianna Garcia.

“The City will continue to find ways to support our local businesses as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 crisis and the community’s economic recovery,” Garcia wrote in an emailed statement. katherine.burstein@thecrimson.com

From Weeks to Weld.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

SPORTS

WEEKLY RECAP

SCORES

WOMEN’S HOCKEY VS. UNION L, 3-0 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S LACROSSE VS. HOLY CROSS W, 13-7 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. CORNELL W, 77-72 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S LACROSSE VS. NJIT W, 17-4 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S SQUASH VS. COLUMBIA W, 7-2 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S TENNIS VS.MIAMI (OH) L, 4-3 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S HOCKEY VS. QUINNIPIAC W, 1-0 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Crimson Falls to Columbia and Cornell on the Road

By NICHOLAS DALEY and A.J. DILTS CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

L As Harvard women’s basketball (12-12, 6-6) continued down the home stretch of its regular season this past weekend, a pair of road matchups with the Columbia Lions (19-4, 10-1) and Cornell Big Red (9-13, 4-7) presented key opportunities for the Crimson to solidify its spot in the Ivy League women’s basketball tournament in March. On Friday night, Harvard traded baskets in a competitive, high-scoring affair with Columbia before losing, 74-70. The Crimson was then unable to repeat its 42-point victory over Cornell on January 22, falling to the Big Red on Saturday night, 52-49. ­

HARVARD 70, COLUMBIA 74 The Crimson took the floor Friday night without two of its starting players, junior guard McKenzie Forbes and senior guard Tess Sussman. The combination of missing Sussman’s leadership and versatility on both ends of the floor and Forbes’ scoring prowess– which was on full display in her 30-point outburst in last Saturday’s game against Penn–posed a stiff challenge to a young Harvard team facing Ivy League second-place Columbia.

Not having Forbes and Sussman, however, provided opportunities for Harvard junior guard Annie Stritzel, first-year guard Elena Rodriguez, and others to step into increased roles against the Lions.

Typically Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith’s first substitute off the bench this season, Stritzel delivered a strong performance Friday night as a starter, shooting six-of-ten from the field for 17 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists. Rodriguez, who has shown flashes of stellar play in her first college season, logged 27 minutes as a starter and finished with seven points and four rebounds. Fellow firstyear guard Elle Stauffer also recorded a career-high in minutes (20) and tied her career-high in points (9) for the Crimson. “[Rodriguez, Stritzel, and Stauffer] primarily did [step-

up], and I thought they did a great job last night,” said Delaney-Smith. “We just fell short at the end. I would say we’re in a position to win last night despite missing two starters, and I was pretty proud of how everyone stepped up last night and I really liked our defensive effort.

We missed some key rebounds at the end of the game that took us out of his ability to be able to win. But again, proud of how we stepped up.”

Harvard’s star first-year guard Harmoni Turner picked right back up from her 23-point showing last weekend with the Crimson’s first bucket of the game on Friday. After trading baskets through the first eight minutes, Rodriguez finished an and-one layup to trigger an eight-to-two run that earned Harvard a 19-18 lead entering the second quarter.

The Crimson finished the game with 14 steals, and this defensive intensity was on full display before halftime. Three consecutive Columbia possessions ended in turnovers for Harvard with two minutes remaining in the half, including two steals from Stritzel that she turned into transition scores.

After Columbia’s sophomore guard Abbey Hsu knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to put the Lions up 35-31 at halftime, a seven-to-nothing Crimson run at the start of the third quarter narrowed its deficit to one, 41-40. Delaney-Smith described the message to her team at halftime that helped produce the scoring burst.

“I think [our halftime messages] are usually very similar. [...] We just try to tweak what offenses we’re running and pay attention to who’s hot from the other team and talk a little bit about our rebounding efforts, because we’re so undersized against everyone. Columbia had two pretty athletic, tall players that played the forward spots in both the four and the five. I think [one player was] 6’1”, but they do play taller than that because they’re extremely athletic and big. We’re stretched because we’re undersized.”

Turner, who led Harvard with 20 points on the night, unleashed her ability as a facilitator throughout the third

quarter with a pair of assists to Stritzel and Rodriguez, and her floater with two minutes left in the period tied the score at 50.

The Crimson kept up defensive intensity in the game’s final stretch, but poor shooting (6-of-22 from the field and onefor-five from the three-point line) allowed Columbia to slowly stretch its lead to 68-59 with three minutes left to play. The Lions would hold onto their lead, winning 74-70 and solidifying their second-place position in the Ivy League conference standings.

HARVARD 49, CORNELL 52 After a four-hour bus ride that got into Ithaca at 3:00 a.m. on Saturday, Harvard took the floor against Cornell for their second game of the back-toback. The game appeared to be a good opportunity for the Crimson to rediscover their winning ways; when the two teams met last month in Cambridge, Harvard came away with a 42-point victory.

But this time around, as the seconds ran out in the third quarter, Cornell found itself up two and with the ball under their own basket. Handed the ball for the inbounds play, Big Red guard Shannon Mulroy noticed Harvard’s Lindsay Lawson with her back to the basket. Mulroy quickly passed the ball off Lawson’s legs, collected the ricochet, and went up for a layup. After getting fouled on the shot, Mulroy buried two free throws to put her team up 38-34 heading into the final ten minutes.

The play seemed to be a microcosm of the night. Cornell met a shorthanded and weary Crimson team and caught them off guard, sending Harvard home from their road trip with a bitter loss. After the game, Harvard’s bewilderment was evident. “I don’t know what happened tonight,” said Coach Delaney-Smith. “We looked like we were a second behind in everything we did, and honestly, we didn’t deserve to win.”

Just one day removed from losing to a two-win Dartmouth team, Cornell was aggressive from the start of the contest, keeping Harvard off-balance on

STEPPING UP Despite strong showings from younger players such as junior Annie Stritzel and first-year Elena Rodriguez, the Crimson fell to both Columbia (70-74) and Cornell (52-49). ZADOC I. N. GEE—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

both ends of the floor and outrebounding the Crimson 16-7 in the first quarter. While the last matchup between the two teams saw Harvard score the game’s first 22 points, this time around, the Big Red led 14-10 after ten minutes.

The Crimson shut down the Big Red in the second quarter, holding the hosts to four points.

But the shorthanded visitors failed to capitalize, shooting just 5-16 from the floor to go into the break up by four. After halftime, Harvard quickly reached their biggest lead of the night at 28-21. After that point, however, Delaney-Smith’s team shot 2-14 from the field over the next seven minutes and watched their lead dwindle and disappear.

In the fourth quarter, Harvard tried to find the late run that has saved them numerous times this season. But Cornell managed to keep the visitors just out of reach, always staying one or two possessions ahead of the Crimson. With under two

minutes left in the game, Harvard showed some life. Guard Lola Mullaney knocked down a deep three to make the score 4850. The Crimson then executed a full court press to perfection, resulting in a Turner steal. But over the next minute and a half, Harvard was unable to convert multiple chances. After Turner had her last-second desperation heave blocked, Cornell rushed to center court to celebrate knocking off the Crimson for only the 14th time in the two teams’ 86-game history.

It was a game where Harvard’s lack of leadership and steady play in the form of Forbes and Sussman was glaring. Only four players scored a point for the Crimson, and the offense struggled to find a rhythm all game. Delaney-Smith noted that without Forbes, Cornell was able to pressure Harvard’s other primary shot creators into more difficult shots.

“Our shooting percentages were down, though, for both

Lola [Mullaney] and Harmoni [Turner],” Delaney-Smith said.

“Defenses can zone in on them, so you look for some other people to put the ball in the basket.

And no one’s consistently showing that kind of confidence right now, unfortunately.”

After a five-game winning streak, the Crimson are now in the midst of a three-game skid as they look to lock up an Ivy League tournament spot in the season’s last two games. In each of the last three contests, Harvard had chances to win. But instead of sitting at 9-3 in league play, comfortably ahead of Yale in the standings, the Crimson are 6-6, with a shrinking path to the third seed. They now sit just half a game ahead of Penn, but they still control their own destiny, and have a chance to right the ship by giving Princeton their first Ivy League loss next Saturday at Lavietes Pavilion. nicholas.daley@thecrimson.com aj.dilts@thecrimson.com

WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY

Harvard Secures ECAC Regular Season Championship

By CHRISTOPHER D. WRIGHT CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The No. 6/6 Harvard women’s hockey team has already raked in hardware this season, including the Ivy League championship and Beanpot title, but it entered its two final games hoping to add another to the trophy room — the ECAC regular season championship.

However, it would need a little bit of help. Since No. 7/7 Yale (22-6-1, 16-5-1 ECAC) was two ­

points ahead of the Crimson, Harvard would need to win out and hope that Yale would falter against one of its last two opponents. After defeating Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (9-23, 5-17 ECAC), 4-1 on Friday, the Crimson got what they needed, as the Bulldogs fell to Quinnipiac 4-1. As Harvard prepared for a Feb. 19 battle at Union, it knew that a victory would guarantee it the ECAC title. For the Crimson, it marked the culmination of a two-year journey after the

2020-21 season was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The year off has been a factor in not taking any game for granted,” senior forward Becca Gilmore said. “It is something that is in our hearts everytime we step on the ice.”

Harvard would go on to claim a 3-0 win over the Dutchwomen (5-28-1, 2-20 ECAC), capturing the eighth ECAC regular season title in school history and the first since 2015.

Entering the weekend

PETRIE POWER Senior forward Dominique Petrie sizes up her defender in a victory over RPI on Dec. 4. This weekend, the Crimson added another victory over the Engineers. ANGELA DELA CRUZ—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

slate,tthe Crimson had played seven games within the span of 14 days. Although this span included the Beanpot title, it ended with a loss to No. 9/9 Quinnipiac (23-8-3, 15-7 ECAC) and a tie with St. Lawrence (14-13-7, 10-8-4 ECAC). Due to this, Harvard head coach Katey Stone emphasized mixing on-ice results with off-ice recovery while preparing for the road trip to Upstate New York.

“We played a ton of hockey games in a two-and-a-half week stretch, so making sure we got the proper amount of rest to fill our tanks again was the focus,” she said.

fender Kyra Willoughby. However, this would be the only goal the Crimson would score in the second period, failing to convert on a power play shortly before intermission.

Ultimately, Harvard’s title chase would not be denied, as it found its championship-winning goal with five minutes left in the third, when senior defender Emma Buckles found the back of the cage following passes from Hyland and senior forward Dominique Petrie. After assisting on the previous goal, Petrie salted the game away with an empty net goal in the final seconds.

HARVARD 3, UNION 0

HARVARD 4, RPI 1

Knowing that a win would guarantee it the ECAC regular season crown, the Crimson traveled to Schenectady, N.Y., to do battle with Union.

“You don’t have to say too much in those situations. Our kids know what’s at stake and what they’re playing for,” Stone said.

Harvard would not be able to jump out to an early lead, as Dutchwomen goalie Sophie Matsoukas blocked every shot to amass 17 first period saves.

Union would also fail to generate offense despite a first period power play chance.

Twelve minutes into the second, junior forward Kristin Della Rovere broke the tie with a power play goal that was assisted on by first-year forward Taze Thompson and junior de-

In the first game of the road trip, the Crimson traveled to Troy, N.Y. to take on RPI. In her first game back after a threegame absence, sophomore forward Shannon Hollands scored the opening goal. The goal came six minutes into the game, as a near-post wrist shot slipped past Engineers goalie Amanda Rampado. Later in the first period, Harvard got another opportunity to score, as RPI’s Delaney Weiss was assessed two minutes for hooking. The Crimson seized the opportunity, as Gilmore found the back of the net only a few seconds into the power play.

One minute into the second period, Harvard went on the power play again when the Engineers’ Riena Jahnke was called for a two-minute minor

penalty. This time, the Crimson failed to convert, as shots by junior forward Anne Bloomer and Willoughby were all saved by Rampado. Harvard was not to be denied for long, though; halfway through the period, sophomore forward Courtney Hyland extended the lead to three off of a nice dish by Thompson. Later in the second, after RPI was given two minutes for roughing, the Crimson scored their second power-play goal of the night, as Thompson netted her eighth goal of the season.

Although the Engineers entered the game with an ECACbest 91.3% penalty kill rate, Harvard managed to add two power play goals to its total, its 26th and 27th, good for fourthbest in the NCAA. “The difference was our shot selection and our net front presence screening the goaltender, ‘’ Stone said.

Asia Taylor-Walters got RPI on the board early in the third.

However, the goal would not be enough to spark a comeback, as Harvard held on for the 4-1 victory.

The Crimson will return to action on Feb. 22 in the ECAC quarterfinals.

They will play host to the Princeton Tigers (11-13-5, 9-103 ECAC) at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.

The game is the first of a best-of-three series to determine who advances to the ECAC semifinals. christopher.wright@thecrimson.com