The Harvard Crimson

Khurana Will Step Down After 11 Years as Dean of the College

BY MICHELLE

Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana, one of the longest-serving senior officials in Harvard’s administration, will step down at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, capping an 11-year tenure marked by backlash surrounding his efforts to combat final clubs and discipline pro-Palestine student protesters. Khurana announced his departure in an email to College affiliates Thursday afternoon, saying that serving as dean “has been one of the greatest honors and joys of my life.”

He also revealed that he had intended to leave office last year, but remained in the role to pro -

vide stability amid the leadership crisis sparked by former Harvard President Claudine Gay resignation earlier this year.

“A year ago, I was prepared to make this announcement as I began the final year of my second term and what at the time I believed would be the closing chapter of my deanship. However, fate had different plans, and at the request of senior leadership, I agreed to remain for an additional year to support transitions at the University,” Khurana wrote. Khurana will remain at Harvard, where he holds faculty positions in the College’s Sociology department and at the Harvard Business School, according to College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo. Prior to his appointment as dean in 2014, Khurana and his wife Stephanie R. Khura-

The Images That Defined Khurana’s Tenure as Dean

na served as Cabot House faculty deans — a position they held until 2020.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra praised Khurana in a separate email on Thursday for his leadership throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and his “commitment to inclusion.”

“I am particularly grateful for Rakesh’s continued service this past year, providing continuity during the changes in leadership at the FAS and the University,” Hoekstra wrote. During my first year as FAS Dean, I benefited enormously from his deep knowledge and experience, as well as his friendship.”

Hoekstra added that the search for Khurana’s successor

SEE PAGE 3

Garber Fires Warning Shot as Harvard Braces for More Protests

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 opened the fall semester on Thursday by warning students that they should be “prepared to be held accountable” if they engage in protests that violate University policies — firing a warning shot after a year of campus turmoil that featured a 20-day encampment in Harvard Yard.

Garber, in one of his first messages since his appointment as the University’s 31st president early this month, said in an email that Harvard will continue to face challenges even as he seeks to heal campus divisions and forge a path forward for the University.

While Harvard presidents typ-

Students Express Mixed Feelings About Khurana

PAGE 4. Rakesh Khurana was both adored and reviled by students. They expressed a range of opinions about the leadership of Harvard College’s longest-serving dean in more than one century.

ically send an uplifting message to students ahead of a new academic year, Garber struck a different tone this year as the University seeks to turn a new page after the resignation of his predecessor, former Harvard President Claudine Gay, punctuated a year that featured intense controversy, political scrutiny, and large-scale campus protests.

“We anticipate demonstrations and protests, as well as disagreement and argument,” Garber wrote. “We expect tension among individuals who hold opposing positions.”

“We will surely be tested again this term,” he added.

The warning to student activists in Garber’s messages also signals the University’s concern that intensified campus protests amid the ongoing war in Gaza and the

U.S. presidential election in November may plunge Harvard back into controversy. The University has already announced updated policies that effectively prohibit indoor protests and ban activities like outdoor camping and the use of unapproved signage.

Harvard has been heavily criticized by members of Congress for reversing suspensions and probations for students who participated in the pro-Palestine encampment that violated many of rules that were clarified months later. While Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine — the group responsible for the encampment — has not announced scheduled protest actions for the fall, a “liberation orientation” is currently

SEE PAGE 4

4 Candidates To Lead Harvard College

PAGE 3 Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra will make the first major appointment of her tenure when she selects Khurana’s successor. Here are four candidates to watch during the search process.

PAGE 10. Rakesh Khurana has served at the helm of Harvard College for 10 years. Look back on his historic tenure as dean through the eyes of The Crimson’s photographers.

BY EMMA H. HAIDAR AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

JULIAN

Danoff Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana In Quotes

have challenges

Harvard College Dean Khurana Stresses Value of

Vitality, Condemns Doxxings Amid Campus Turmoil Interview with The Crimson in November 2023

AMANDA Y. SU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Who Will Succeed Khurana? Four to Watch.

DEAN SEARCH. With Khurana’s year-end departure, the College needs a new dean. Here are four potential candidates.

BY MICHELLE N. AMPONSAH AND MATAN H. JOSEPHY CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana’s decision to step down in June threw Harvard, fresh out of a leadership crisis, into another search for a high-profile administrator.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra must now select a successor to Khurana, who will depart office as the College’s longest-serving dean in more than one century. She will likely look for a candidate who is ready to assume the deanship at a time of intense scrutiny on higher education and significant divisions among the undergraduate student body.

The next dean of the College must be someone “not faint of heart, who’s willing to preserve the principles of the institution and hang in there when there are tough decisions to be made,” said Thomas A. Dingman ’67, Harvard’s longtime dean of freshmen.

A candidate for the position should also have “the fortitude to lead during times that aren’t

easy,” Dingman added.

In a Thursday email to FAS affiliates, Hoekstra wrote that the process to select Khurana’s replacement will begin soon, with “input from students, staff, faculty, and alumni.” “We have big shoes to fill,” she added.

As Harvard prepares to launch its search for Khurana’s successor, here are four potential candidates to watch over the coming months.

Amanda Claybaugh Claybaugh, the dean of undergraduate education, has both extensive experience with undergraduates and administrative experience from working closely with Khurana over the past six years.

Claybaugh holds a faculty appointment in the English department and spent four years chairing History and Literature, the University’s oldest concentration. She also helped teach Humanities 10 — a popular course for freshmen students — and worked on integrating Expository Writing into its curriculum.

Claybaugh’s record as a teacher and one of the College’s top administrators positions her as an insider who could emerge as a frontrunner in the search process.

Anne Harrington ’82

Harrington, a beloved longtime faculty dean of Pforzheimer House who served as acting dean of undergraduate education, also boasts extensive experience in administrative and student-facing roles.

A former Harvard undergraduate, Harrington has served as a longtime faculty member in the History and Science department. And, like Khurana, Harrington is currently the parent of a current Harvard College student.

She also was extensively involved in the creation of the College’s Certificate for Civic Engagement, an initiative designed to promote public service among the undergraduate student body — a key initiative championed by Khurana.

David Laibson ’88

Laibson, a professor of Economics, may also become a top contender to succeed Khurana as one of the most well-known faculty members among the student body.

Laibson co-teaches Economics 10 — Harvard’s introductory course on economics — and serves as the faculty dean of Lowell House. Though his role as faculty dean is the only deanship Laibson has held, he boasts administra-

tive bonafides as well. Hoekstra, the FAS dean, appointed Laibson to serve as co-chair of an FASwide committee on classroom norms in February.

Eric Beerbohm

Beerbohm, a professor in the Government department and faculty dean of Quincy House, has the academic and administrative credentials that could land him the role of dean of the College. Though not nearly as acquainted with the undergraduate student body as other potential contenders, Beerbohm could prove to be a strong contender for the role. Hoekstra has also demonstrated confidence in Beerbohm, appointing him to serve as her senior adviser on civil discourse. The appointment demonstrated Hoekstra’s commitment to promote dialogue amid campus divisions over the war in Israel and Gaza. In 2023, Beerbohm was also named as the next director of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics by then-Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber ’76. The center

KHURANA FROM PAGE 1

Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana to Step Down in June 2025

Jan. 12, 2014

Rakesh Khurana Named Next Dean of College

Co-Master of Cabot House Rakesh Khurana is announced as the next dean of Harvard College, succeeding former College Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds.

Sept. 2, 2015

Harvard College Establishes First Honor Code

The College announced the launch of the first-ever honor code and the creation of the Harvard College Honor Council. Throughout his tenure, Khurana has served as chair of the Honor Council, which adjudicates cases of potential academic dishonesty.

May

would begin soon. Thesearch will be supported by a faculty search advisory committee and input from students, faculty, and alumni. Khurana’s departure comes after a tumultuous spring semester marked by an intense media spotlight on the College and the 20day pro-Palestine encampment in Harvard Yard. Khurana, who is the most well-known administrator among undergraduates, faced fierce criticism for his role in sanctioning students who participated in the campus protests last semester.

As chair of the Administrative Board, the committee charged with the application and enforcement of the College’s rules and policies, Khurana was deemed responsible by some students and faculty members for the decision to deny 13 seniors their undergraduate degrees at Commencement over their involvement in the encampment.

The University initially ignored the criticism and more than 1,000 people participated in a walkout during the degree conferral process at Commencement. But in a sudden reversal over the summer, the Ad Board dropped the suspensions of five students for participating in the encampment and downgraded disciplinary charges against other students after the Faculty Council disagreed with the severity of the sanctions.

And in July, the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, released degrees to 11 of the 13 seniors.

Earlier in his tenure, Khurana faced an uproar from many alumni over his failed effort to combat final clubs and unrecognized single-gender social groups. Harvard’s leadership claimed at the time that the groups were elitist and contributed to divisions in undergraduate social life, and sought to diminish their influence at the College.

Following Khurana’s recommendations, then-University President Drew Gilpin Faust implemented a policy in 2016 against final clubs that barred members from holding leadership positions in student groups and athletic teams, and from receiving the College’s endorsement for certain postgraduate fellowships.

The policies, however, failed to dismantle the male final clubs which were supported by wealthy alumni. And they unintentionally had a more severe impact on sororities, which were quickly forced to shut down or become co-ed groups. At one point in 2018, all of the sororities at Harvard had ceased to exist.

The University dropped its

sanctions against final clubs in response to a 2020 Supreme Court ruling on sex discrimination. Some female-only groups returned to campus after social groups sued Harvard over the sanctions.

Khurana’s efforts to go after final clubs impacted his approval rating among students on campus.

In 2015, shortly after he began serving as dean, 82 percent of graduating seniors viewed Khurana favorably. His favorability sank to 62 percent among the Class of 2016 and hit an all-time low of 42 percent in 2017 — a decline that was an apparent result of Khurana’s efforts to pressure single-gender social groups to go co-ed.

After reviewing the legal reasoning in the 2020 Supreme Court ruling, the Corporation voted to rescind its approval of the sanctions after consulting with Khurana and other senior Harvard officials.

In 2018, Khurana was also one of the high-ranking Harvard administrators who testified in the three-week long admissions trial that questioned whether Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policy discriminated against Asian American applicants.

Students for Fair Admissions first sued the University in 2014 alleging Harvard’s practices were discriminatory against Asian

American students.

As the case traveled up the courts, Khurana insisted that the College’s admissions policies were not discriminatory. He also was part of a group of Harvard administrators who traveled to Washington in 2022, when the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case.

The Supreme Court ruled against Harvard in June 2023, ruling its race-conscious admissions policy unconstitutional.

Khurana saw more success with the launch of the Intellectual Vitality initiative, an effort to promote a free exchange of ideas on campus amid concerns of student self-censorship.

The initiative — which began as covert meetings with a group of undergraduates, faculty, and administrators — debuted its public-facing programming earlier this year, which included a dialogue series, undergraduate survey, and training for proctors and tutors in residential houses.

Over his lengthy tenure at the helm of the College, Khurana also oversaw several significant administrative changes. In 2018, he established the Dean of Students Office, a merger between the former Office of Student Life and the Freshman Dean’s Office.

In 2022, Khurana led the creation of the Office of Student Services — which combined the Ac-

cessible Education Office, the Housing Office, the Office of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct, and the Office of the Registrar — in an effort to improve the College’s functionality and “organizational alignment.”

He also championed efforts to promote public service in undergraduate education, appointing the inaugural faculty director of Phillips Brook House and a new assistant dean for civic engagement. More recently, Khurana launched a new Certificate for Civic Engagement in March.

Khurana’s favorability rating has risen considerably among undergraduates over the years since the decision to drop the sanctions on final club. A survey conducted in May by The Crimson of graduating students in the Class of 2024 revealed that nearly 52 percent of respondents had a favorable view of Khurana while around 17 percent expressed an unfavorable opinion of him.

Khurana is also known by undergraduates for his frequent presence in dining halls and persistent efforts to stop students for a selfie in various corners of Harvard’s campus. Those pictures are often posted to his Instagram page, which is widely popular among students.

Hoekstra wrote in her email that Khurana’s tenure was “characterized by approachability and a genuine commitment to listening to the voices across the entire Harvard community.”

“And no one can take a better selfie, as evidenced by his engaging Instagram account, affectionately known as the Deanstagram, which captures his daily gratitude for this community of students,” she added.

In his own email, Khurana expressed optimism about Harvard’s future while also acknowledging that it will continue to face challenges in the years ahead.

“Institutions often seem as though they will endure forever, but we must not take for granted the stability and strength of this great university, and the depth of talent we have assembled,” Khurana wrote. “As one of our nation’s oldest and most renowned institutions, Harvard is not immune from the forces that lead to institutional decline — complacency, risk avoidance, protecting our reputation at the expense of our values.”

“Nurturing this institution is a team effort, and we are all caretakers of a legacy, entrusted with the responsibility to protect and strengthen it for those who come after us,” he added.

Sept. 30, 2021

Khurana Pushes for In-Person Instruction and Dining After Return to Campus Amid the College’s first in-person semester after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Khurana said his top priorities are preserving in-person instruction and meals in campus dining halls.

Feb.

With Khurana’s departure in June, FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra will have to select a new dean of Harvard College. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Khurana’s Departure Polarizes Students

MIXED FEELINGS. Many students said they mourned the loss of a campus ‘mascot’ even as activist groups celebrated.

Harvard undergraduates reacted with indifference and joy at Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana’s announcement on Thursday that will step down in June 2025.

While most students said they were unfamiliar with Khurana’s administrative record, they nearly unanimously agreed that he has maintained an electric presence on campus, calling him “down-to-earth” and praising his “go-getter attitude.”

“He doesn’t hide behind emails, he’s out and about. I see him crossing campus all the time, and he knows my name,” said Ariel F. Kohn ’26. “In a super wonderful way, he’s kind of the mascot of Harvard College.”

Doak M. Dean ’26 said that while he has never met Khurana, the dean is always recognizable, even from a distance.

“He’s got aura, is what he’s got,” Dean said. “He kinda glows.” Khurana’s vibrant presence on campus is supported by an infamous Instagram account, known among the student body for being littered with selfies and photos with undergraduates spotted around campus.

“People that get on the Instagram really come from all walks of life on this campus. They come in all sorts of clubs, all sorts of organizations, all sort of student groups,” said Harvard Undergraduate Association Co-President Jonathan Haileselassie ’26.

“I remember the first time I was on there, I was like, ‘Wow. This is so fun. This is awesome,’” Haileselassie added.

Graham W. Lee ’28 said he saw Khurana’s Instagram page before he applied to Harvard and added that Khurana “seems to really care about and appreciate” the students that he posts. Some undergraduates who worked directly with Khurana — through involvement in organizations like the College’s Intellectual Vitality Initiative, Honor Council, or HUA — praised his “energetic leadership style” and ability to listen.

HUA Co-President Ashley C. Adirika ’26 said she will “always appreciate” Khurana’s tendency to “notice the people in the room who are silent and ask them to speak up about their thoughts,” which she observed in their first meeting with him this spring.

“In a room like that, where it’s dominated by mostly men because I was the only girl in the room — a little bit intimidating —

Dean Khurana was like, ‘Ashley, what do you think? What do you feel?’” Adirika said. In early 2020, Tobias A. Benn ’24 brought his concerns about “student self-censorship” to Khurana during the dean’s office hours — a conversation that sparked the formation of the Intellectual Vitality Initiative. Benn said Khurana “listened attentively” and demonstrated that he took Benn’s concerns seriously.

“His capacity to dissect ideas, honed in his sociological studies, combined with his leadership skills from business, made him an effective and exciting person to drive the Intellectual Vitality initiative into a full-blown program,” Benn wrote in a state -

ment.

Ricardo A. Fernandes Garcia ’27 said he was impressed by Khurana’s “brave” embrace of difficult conversations just last week, when he worked as a proctor for the First Year Arts Program.

“During the pre-orientation proctor meeting, he opened the floor to questions, which I find very brave,” Fernandes Garcia said, adding that several students asked Khurana about his handling of the spring semester’s pro-Palestine encampment in Harvard Yard.

“I feel like he was a bit nervous in answering the questions, but he answered them,” Fernandes Garcia said.

Khurana — who chairs the College’s Administrative Board,

Former Penn President Magill Appointed HLS Visiting Fellow

Former University of Pennsylvania

Elizabeth Magill will join Harvard Law School’s

Center on the Legal Profession as a visiting senior fellow this fall, according to a recently updated copy of Magill’s curriculum vitae. Magill resigned as president just days after her disastrous testimony during a congressional hearing about campus antisemitism late last year, where she appeared alongside former Harvard President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally A. Kornbluth. The university presidents’ answers to questions about whether calls for the genocide of Jews violate their codes of conduct sparked national backlash and contributed to Gay’s resignation less than one month later. Both Gay and Magill have kept low profiles in the initial months after their sudden resignations. Magill’s research appointment at HLS marks her first new role since she stepped down from office on Dec. 9, 2023. A spokesperson for the Law School did not comment for this article. A representative for Magill did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Magill’s role at HLS was first

reported by the Daily Pennsylvanian, the University of Pennsylvania’s student newspaper.

In addition to her appointment at HLS’ Center on the Legal Profession, Magill will also join the London School of Economics as a visiting professor.

This will be Magill’s second affiliation with HLS after serving as a visiting professor of law in spring 2009. Her appointment at the Center on the Legal Profession will be research focused, unpaid, and temporary. She will also remain a tenured professor on Penn’s faculty.

The Center on the Legal Profession is led by HLS professor David B. Wilkins ’77 and lecturer Bryon Fong. The Center’s advisory board members include Kenneth I. Chenault and Kenneth C. Frazier — two members of the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body.

The Center researches the “ structures, norms, and dynamics” of the global legal profession, according to its website.

the body responsible for implementing College policies — faced intense backlash following the controversial and later-reversed decision to suspend and withhold diplomas from pro-Palestine protesters. Still, several students said their familiarity with Khurana did not extend beyond his student-facing charisma.

“I think he seems to have acted with people’s best interests in mind and at heart,” Rebecca M. Hirschfeld ’27 said.

Christina L. Shi ’27 said she noticed backlash against Khurana over the College’s response to the encampment, but was unsure of his exact involvement in the decision to suspend protesters — a sentiment shared by several stu-

GARBER FROM PAGE 1

dents.

“I don’t know specifically what he did with that situation, but I did see people commenting crazy stuff on his Instagram,” Shi said.

But for students who directly faced the consequences of Khurana’s Ad Board, his involvement in disciplining protesters remains a fresh wound.

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, an unrecognized student group that staged the pro-Palestine encampment, wrote in a Thursday email that Khurana’s social media posts cannot “erase” his “rampant threats to student safety and free expression.”

“For 11 years, Dean Khurana has served as a friendly face obscuring Harvard’s investments

in Israeli genocide and apartheid. Last spring, Dean Khurana disciplined dozens of student protestors and neglected rampant threats to student safety and free expression, violent acts which no number of Instagram selfies or sentimental emails can erase,” HOOP wrote.

“Last year’s student body saw through his smiling facade and we will continue to lay bare the many masks of the University’s complicity,” the group added. College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo declined to comment for this article, instead referring The Crimson to emails from Hoekstra and Khurana on Thursday.

“As we reflect on Dean Khurana’s tenure, we recognize not only his numerous accomplishments but also his distinctive leadership style, characterized by approachability and a genuine commitment to listening to the voices across the entire Harvard community,” Hoekstra wrote.

Clyve Lawrence ’25, a leader of the Dename Winthrop project, said he has noticed that Khurana treats student activists on campus differently from other students.

“The reality sets in, especially once you get involved in organizing at Harvard — you realize he’s just another cog in the administrative machine,” said Lawrence, a Crimson Editorial editor.

“I felt he was colder after I introduced myself as part of Dename Winthrop,” he added. Lawrence said this change is difficult to see for students who are not involved in campus activism.

“It’s ironic because he’s visible when it comes to student life, but then when it comes to decision-making over things like divestment, he kind of disappears,” Lawrence said. “When it comes to meeting with students about their concerns being doxxed, he kind of disappears.”

Some students said they hope to take advantage of Khurana’s final year helming the College, including getting a feature on his Instagram. Haley M. Stark ’25 said she and her improv troupe, Three Letter Acronym, are hoping to collaborate with Khurana in a show this year.

“I think people would love to see him do something comedic and fun at the end,” Stark said.

Though the search for Khurana’s successor has yet to begin, students agreed that Khurana’s consistent presence on campus — and his Instagram — would be difficult to replace.

“I feel like the thing he will be missed for most is the Instagram posts,” Fernandes Garcia said.

“He’s my favorite influencer.”

Garber Warns Protesters Against Violating University Policies

being hosted by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions caucus of the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers.

A schedule of the “liberation orientation” revealed few details about the group’s activities, but a training on “security culture” is on the agenda.

HOOP has also been clear that they intend to continue to organize protests this fall.

After the University updated its list of campus policies in July, HOOP posted a short response on Instagram: “Not reading that, Free Palestine.”

One major test for Garber could come as early as next week during the University’s Convocation for freshmen students. In past years, pro-Palestine student groups have staged protests during the ceremony.

“We will continue to meet and manage difficult moments informed by our rights and responsibilities, and guided by widely communicated processes and policies,” Garber wrote.

“The challenges we faced in the last academic year have not abat-

ed,” he added. In his email, Garber also urged students to think about their “commitments to one another” and to listen to opposing viewpoints without rushing to judgment.

“Our future will be shaped by the concern and compassion we show—by our willingness to regard one another as fellow human beings, diverse in our views, ambitious in our interests, and committed not only to asserting what we believe but also to seeing the world through eyes other than our own,” he wrote.

It is a familiar message from Garber, who has emphasized the importance of promoting civil discourse as a cornerstone of his presidency. He announced the creation of an “Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue” working group in April, which has not yet published its findings.

“I enter this semester with an undiminished sense of purpose and an optimistic outlook grounded in realism,” Garber wrote. “Each of us has much to gain from being part of our extraordinary community.”

“I hope that we will choose to be stronger together than we could ever be apart,” he added.

Khurana

Khurana speaks with students in the Class of 2024 on the steps of Widener before their class photo in May. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

The Need for Nuance

This morning, in an email to Harvard College students, University President Drew G. Faust and Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana staked out their strongest position yet on unrecognized single-gender social organizations. Starting in 2017, members of such groups will be barred from holding team captaincies, gaining leadership positions within recognized student groups, or winning College support in fellowship applications. This is a critical step, but the administration ought to refine the policy to better reflect the nuance in campus social life.

Most significantly, we are troubled by the University’s choice to group male final clubs, female final clubs, fraternities, and sororities. Though all are technically single-gender social organizations, male final clubs are remarkably different in character. The intersection of male privilege, sexual entitlement, private space, and exclusive membership

that Harvard officials rightly decry is specific to those organizations. The most troubling statistic— nearly half of all female undergraduates who “participate” in the final clubs suffer incidents of sexual assaults—is a clear sign that the clubs need to be reformed.

By contrast, sororities in particular and also female final clubs provide a key social outlet for undergraduate women. Precisely because of the potentially hostile environments created by the male clubs, it is crucial that our campus have places for women to bond. With the just-announced policy, women lose an important space—one that is particularly crucial given the prevalence of sexual assault on campus. Demanding the male groups become co-ed is two valuable steps forward, but sanctioning all-female social organizations is unfortunately a step back.

These meaningful differences deserve meaningfully different treatment. Indeed, we believe that the outsized influence that male final clubs exert on Harvard’s social sphere deserves still more ag-

gressive action from the University. In the past, we have questioned the wisdom of sanctioning final club members, but faced with the continued intransigence of the male clubs, the administration must be able to back up its reformist rhetoric with action. It is clear that mere conversations—conversations that have gone on for years between the clubs and Harvard—have not resolved the deep, structural, and horrific issues of sexual assault in many of these organizations.

Encouraging them to become co-ed is an important step, as we have said many times before. We hope that when parties and punch are planned in part by women, these spaces will become more welcoming and less exclusionary without the weight of gender disparities. More fundamentally, such a move will open the doors of these historic institutions and their alumni networks to the half of Harvard undergraduates who are currently shut out simply because of their gender. Requiring the clubs to become co-ed, however, should not be the only concession the adminis-

tration demands. Clubs must also address issues of socioeconomic, racial, and geographic exclusivity, perhaps through open punch policies like the one recently instituted by the A.D. Making their financial aid programs more transparent would also help broaden the clubs’ appeal. Going co-ed is a necessary step, but it is surely not sufficient. Khurana is right to revisit this issue to ensure the reforms are having their intended effects. These checkpoints would be excellent opportunities to make the sanctions policy more nuanced. While painting with a broad brush is tempting, a finer policy would, we hope, create a more transformative result for the Harvard community.

–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.

Fall 2020: More Questions Than Answers

This week — 118 anxious days after Harvard ordered its students leave campus mid-semester — the College made its long-awaited announcement detailing how the 2020-2021 academic year will unfold. One hundred percent online classes. Zero percent tuition reduction. Forty percent density in residence, with housing only guaranteed for freshmen. For them, plus the upperclassmen who manage to successfully petition for on-campus housing, alien and isolated living conditions await, marked by the prospect of three solitary bagged meals per day and two mandatory COVID tests per week. The only social spaces left open on campus? Laundry rooms.

Harvard’s cautious roadmap for reopening amid America’s surging coronavirus outbreak — guided by an evidence-based and expert-led risk management approach — stands in stark contrast to the denialist narrative coming from the executive branch of the federal government. Its playbook has been to downplay the pandemic’s spread, despite Friday marking a record high of new daily coronavirus cases and eight states setting records for daily coronavirus deaths this week, and to bully schools into reopening with international students as the bargaining chip.

President Donald Trump himself called Harvard’s plan “ridiculous.” We disagree.

Harvard’s decision to limit the number of undergraduate students on campus and to instigate strict social distancing and public health precautions for the 40 percent who do return is a responsible one.

These high-level choices reflect a broader belief in the value of public health and safety — and more fundamentally, of human life — that we share. They also reflect a belief in making decisions that are grounded in evidence, even when the evidence doesn’t make us feel great.

Our trust that Harvard’s decision will protect our community’s health and safety doesn’t make its impact any less heartbreaking. Something serious is being lost here: The college experience we imagined pre-pandemic is gone. This journey we set out on together no longer feels shared, as class-years become splintered by geography, time zones, and an anticipated avalanche of leaves of absence.

To our classmates: This sucks so much. We miss you. But the situation we find ourselves in isn’t Harvard’s doing. Reprehensible federal governance is entirely to blame. Still, doing better than the Trump administration definitely doesn’t mean you’re doing great. Despite its stated commitment to transparent communication, the College’s initial rollout of its reopening plan has been confusing and left many questions unanswered.

What will life on campus look like for the 40 percent of undergraduates on campus? Will they be able to interact with … anyone? Administrators floated limited social “pods” of 10 to 15 students, but in the College’s bare bones and dystopian Residential Community Compact, they are nowhere to be found. With the deadline to petition for on-campus housing Monday, we’re still left wondering what campus life will look like — what traditions, joys, and degree of social interaction will remain.

And of perhaps equal significance, Harvard needs

to ensure that students taking time off — especially low-income and international students — have a place on campus to return to. Despite the logistical difficulties, Harvard needs to make good on its fouryear residential promise.

How will academics work? The College recently mandated two to four hours of live interaction per week, per course regardless of the timezone — how this will play out around the world is anyone’s guess. Classes requiring hands-on learning will have to be transfigured, if possible, to an online setting. Pre-registration, the norm for most other schools, is now required for the first time at Harvard. How will these new changes affect course offerings and experience?

Why charge full tuition? This decision implies that the entire Harvard experience — or at least the parts worth paying for — can be replicated in full on a laptop, sending a striking message about what Harvard believes to be the value of the education it provides. What are we paying for: the experience or the brand?

And what of the cost of living? “Obviously,” as Harvard’s top administrators put it, no one living off-campus will be paying for room and board. But the $5,000 the College will award students receiving financial aid — full or partial — seems deeply insufficient. It’s better this allowance exists than not, but it will significantly disincentivize both moving on-campus and taking time off for students who, amid mass unemployment and a recession, need the cash but might benefit from either of those options. Moreover, why isn’t this allowance distributed according to the degree of student’s financial aid? Likewise, the emergency satisfactory-unsatisfac-

tory grading system has been abandoned — but have the concerns that brought this grading system about gone away? Not really. How can students — or even faculty for that matter — be sure that the fall’s Zoom classes will really be all that much smoother than the spring’s? And why does the University presume the personal and socioeconomic issues that troubled many students in the spring have suddenly disappeared? How will campus mental health services adapt to provide online services, with demand likely to increase as the stress and disorder of pandemic life carries on without pause? That can’t be an afterthought. Every passing day of this global crisis makes it an ever more pressing concern.

Harvard shared its plans with only a month to go until shopping week. Presumably, the College needed time to iron out a comprehensive reopening plan and make a decision up-to-date with public health realities. Why, then, after so many weeks of waiting, are students still having to track down answers to obvious questions? We’re grateful for Harvard’s caution when it comes to public health, but student life concerns — now spread across the globe — require the same rigorous consideration.

A Palestine Exception to Commencement

We thought we were done talking about Harvard’s pro-Palestine encampment, but a deceptive, disastrous, and downright draconian administrative response has foisted it back into the spotlight. On Friday, the Harvard College Administrative Board suspended five students, placed another 20 on probation, and forbade 15 seniors from graduating at Commencement over their involvement in Harvard’s peaceful pro-Palestine encampment. Yesterday, in a stunning rebuke of that decision, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to confer degrees to 13 seniors who had previously been barred from graduating.

The University is well within its rights to enforce time, place, and manner restrictions on protest, and the participating students understood they were risking punishment in service of their cause — Harvard’s barrage of email reminders made sure of that. But the equal application of the rules is just as important as their enforcement. On that front, Harvard’s leaders failed to uphold their end of the bargain.

In communication with encampment organizers, interim President Alan M. Garber ’76 explicitly wrote that he would promote the consideration of precedent and the protesters’ ultimate willingness to dismantle the encampment when evaluating disciplinary cases. The sanctions handed down on Friday, however, are unprecedented in recent history. Participants in similarly, if not more, disruptive demonstrations faced far less severe disciplinary consequences — if any at all. In 1986, students protesting South African apartheid erected and lived out of a “shantytown” in the middle of Harvard Yard. The structures persisted through Commencement, prompting an apology from A. Michael Spence, then dean of the FAS. Students were reportedly hit with so-called “suspended suspensions,” effectively a slap on the wrist.

In 2001, students protesting for higher wages for Harvard workers erected 100 tents in Harvard Yard — far more than the number in the recent Palestine encampment — and occupied Massachusetts Hall for several weeks. College students were handed a mere few weeks of disciplinary probation, a far cry from multi-semester suspensions.

As recently as 2015, student protesters demanding fossil fuel divestment occupied Massachusetts Hall for a week but seemingly did not receive suspensions.

The cruelness of last week’s punishments speak for themselves: Students who peacefully and willingly packed up the encampment have been suspended for multiple semesters. Others will face probation. Some are at risk of losing their postgraduate scholarships — so much for Garber’s hollow invocation of “precedent.”

Typically, the phrase “Palestine exception to free speech” references a lack of protection for pro-Palestinian speech. Here, that exception is manifest in the stark severity in punishment doled out by the College relative to past protests.

Regardless of what went wrong, be it Garber’s reneging on his initial commitments or the Ad Board’s blatant disregard of his urgings, the effect remains the same: Disproportionate and harsh punishment has been meted out to students over their advocacy for a particular cause.

The swift and unilateral reaction from the student body only highlights the punitive and unbalanced nature of the Ad Board’s decisions.

At least a dozen student organizations have re -

leased statements decrying the Ad Board’s decisions, specifically noting the unequal treatment pro-Palestinian protestors have received. A petition demanding the reversal of the punishments has garnered over 1,100 signatories.

Faculty have taken note too, taking steps to ensure that seniors will be allowed to graduate at Commencement alongside their peers. As when the encampment first disbanded, we continue to call for amnesty for protestors. Such an outcome wouldn’t be some sort of departure from the norm — it would be precisely the same treatment afforded to protestors of the past. History should not be written over to justify unequal and arbitrary application of the rules in punishing students. Reverse the extreme punishments. Let our peers graduate.

JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Cambridge Rep. Faces Left-Wing Challenger

Minutes before she was slated to speak at a candidate forum hosted by the Cambridge Democratic Party Thursday evening, incumbent Massachusetts State Rep. Marjorie C. Decker listened as the crowd, bearing campaign signs and t-shirts, chanted her name in roaring waves.

The sea of supporters served as a reminder of Decker’s strength and a testament to the deep network of backers she developed over her 25-year career in politics, beginning with her election to the Cambridge City Council in 1999.

But the forum itself was also a bitter reminder of how Decker’s grip over her home city has loosened as she enters the final days of a bruising primary fight against a left-wing challenger that has forced her legislative record into the spotlight.

Her opponent in the Sept. 3 Democratic primary is Evan C. MacKay ’19, a staunch progressive and former Harvard labor leader who has formed the most potent and well-funded threat to Decker’s candidacy since she was elected representative for the 25th Middlesex district in 2012. Decker, whose district encompasses Harvard’s Cambridge campus, sits on a six-figure pile of campaign cash and boasts endorsements from political heavyweights like Governor Maura T. Healey ’92. But successful fundraising and a potent message around government transparency have turned MacKay, who previously led the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers, into a serious threat for the longtime incumbent. In less than six months, the once-quiet district has been turned on its head as hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending pour in and make the race into among the most hotly contested in the state. Here’s what you need to know about the race ahead of Tuesday’s elections.

Old Guard, New Blood

As the Sep. 3 primary nears, the contest between MacKay and Decker has quickly become a referendum between Massachusetts’ political establishment and a younger, left-wing insurgency.

MacKay has tied Decker to the state’s political establishment, instead offering themself as a progressive alternative and catalyst for change.

“I want Cambridge to do even more to tax corporations and the rich. I want Cambridge to do even more on climate policy,” MacKay said. “Our state is really well-posi-

tioned there.”

Their message has resonated with the state’s progressive wing, securing an endorsement from Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, the foremost progressive stalwart on the Cambridge City Council.

MacKay is also receiving support from pro-transparency group Act on Mass, advocacy group Cambridge Bike Safety, and the Cambridge and Boston chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America, lending the insurgent campaign crucial organizing muscle as the race enters its final stretch.

But Decker has seized on the opportunity to defend her record, highlighting her work on health care reform as the chair of the powerful Joint Committee on Public Health. She has also crowed about steering millions of dollars in state funding toward Cambridge for infrastructure and other local projects. And she has relied on her connections, winning coveted endorsements from Healey, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Rep. Ayanna M. Pressley (D-Mass.), and five of the nine members of the City Council, including Mayor E. Denise Simmons and Vice Mayor Marc C. Govern.

Decker is also endorsed by Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, the Mass. Women’s Political Caucus, and the statewide chapter of the AFL-CIO. The Boston Globe endorsed her in a Tuesday editorial. Decker, already entering the race on a mountain of campaign cash — from May 2021 to January 2024, she never reported less than $100,000 on hand — has maintained her financial advantage over its course. Her fundraising

has vastly outperformed MacKay’s. But MacKay’s challenge has forced Decker on the defensive, and to spend more than she ever has against a primary opponent. In July alone, she spent over $42,000 — the most she has ever spent in one month throughout her entire career in Massachusetts politics.

Transparency Takes the Limelight

Throughout the campaign, MacKay has cast Decker as a stand-in for Beacon Hill’s lower chamber, the State House, which has long faced criticism for its opaque legislative processes and a committee system which allows members to vote in effective secrecy.

Decker has voted against amendments to House rules aimed at making lawmakers’ voting records more transparent, including 2017 and 2019 attempts by State House Republicans to mandate that committee votes be published on the State House website. Both amendments failed overwhelmingly amidst opposition from Democratic leadership.

In the Thursday forum, Decker appeared to reverse her position, saying that committee votes “should be online.”

Still, MacKay has continued to attack Decker for her history on the issue.

“We’ve done letters to the editor. We’ve met with her office, we’ve lobbied her,” MacKay said of Decker in an interview with The Crim-

son. “She has been a staunch opponent of the needed reforms within the State Legislature towards anti-corruption and transparency.”

In recent days, Decker’s personal dealings have also been the subject of scrutiny. She took in at least $800,000 between 2016 to 2023 from Boston law firm Berman Tabacco, according to financial disclosures first reported by the Cambridge Day — income that neither Decker nor the firm had previously discussed publicly.

Still, on the campaign trail, Decker has fiercely defended her record as a legislator.

In an early August mailer, Decker wrote that she aims “to be a responsive and accessible resource that people feel comfortable reaching out to” — highlighting her constituent newsletter and office hours, as well as publicly available resources to search legislation and view committee hearings online.

In a statement to The Crimson, Decker wrote that she is “a staunch advocate for transparency, accountability and honesty” and that she takes pride in “upholding good government.”

“I agree wholeheartedly that the legislature has an obligation to provide to the citizens of the Commonwealth information about their work,” she wrote.

An Entrenched Incumbent

Before MacKay’s run, Decker proved adept at firmly deflecting primary challengers — in large part because of her own rapid rise across Cambridge politics. She became the youngest woman ever elected to the Cambridge City Council, running on a cam-

paign that emphasized her roots in Cambridgeport’s public housing. “My campaign really strove to bring different people together on the issues,” she told The Crimson shortly after her victory at the time. She set her sights on state office soon after, mounting a 2002 primary challenge of her own to then-incumbent State Rep. Paul C. Demakis, whose district was split between Cambridge and Boston. Originally considered a long shot, it was her well-oiled campaign machinery — alongside endorsements from local favorite sons Matt Damon ’92 and Ben Affleck —

three primary challenges. In all cases, she never dipped below 83 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, MacKay’s run for the 25th Middlesex is their first foray into elected politics. They are a Harvard graduate student who, until entering the race, served as president of Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers — the union representing thousands of graduate students across the University.

During MacKay’s time in HGSU-UAW leadership, the union campaigned for the University to raise graduate student stipends to a “living wage” of $48,779 and sought mid-contract negotiations over graduate student salaries. Harvard answered the union’s demands in Dec. 2023 — less than a month after MacKay departed the HGSU-UAW presidency to launch their bid for office — by announcing that doctoral students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will receive stipends worth at least $50,000. During her closing remarks at the forum, Decker stressed that she was a familiar face for Cambridge.

“Transparency means every day, being in the coffee shop, being on a softball field, being on the basketball

“We have to recognize that a lot of the solutions rely with everyday people, and that our government should be accountable to everyday people,” they said. But the applause by that point had become more tepid. Decker had already worked the crowd.

CAMBRIDGE SCHOOLS

Probe: Claims Against Principal Baseless

BY DARCY G

An external investigation found that toxic workplace allegations against Graham & Parks Elementary School Principal Kathleen M. Smith were “unsubstantiated,” Cambridge Public Schools Interim Superintendent David Murphy announced in a Monday letter.

The findings throw additional cold water on a campaign to oust Smith by a coalition of parents who say she failed to communicate with parents and was toxic to her staff. Smith’s contract was extended for an additional year in March by former Superintendent Victoria L. Greer over their objections.

“A review of the credible evidence does not support a finding of a toxic workplace,” the external investigation stated. “The evidence demonstrates that staff have had a variety of experiences under Dr. Smith’s leadership, some extremely positive, supportive and energizing, and others much less so.”

City officials hired law firm Norris, Murray & Peloquin LLC to conduct the investigation in January after the G&P Caregivers Coalition, an anonymous parent group, sent a petition and a letter to CPS officials demanding greater transparency from Smith and alleging that her leadership was toxic. The turmoil at Graham & Parks became the lynchpin of a second controversy at CPS, one surrounding Greer herself, who was accused of negligence in Smith’s hiring process and was pushed out by district leadership in May.

But the report assembled by the firm presented a much more mixed picture of the situation at Graham & Parks than the one described by parents. The report stated that “many of the incidents reported seemed

minor in contrast to the reactions they produced,” Murphy wrote in his letter. The investigation’s results contradict one of the main claims of the G&P Caregivers Coalition: that Smith’s hiring process was “a shocking failure,” citing a 2019 Newton Public School HR report which found that Smith had fostered a toxic workplace environment while principal of Underwood Elementary School. But though internal administrative policies suggested conducting at least one additional reference check prior to hiring Smith, “there was no evidence that doing so would have altered the hiring outcome,” the investigation found. Murphy’s handling of the af-

termath at Graham & Parks — where tensions have flared over email lists, in public meetings, and via a slew of open letters and petitions — will likely be the first real test of his tenure as interim superintendent, as CPS searches for a long-term replacement for Greer. In his letter, Murphy acknowledged that the previous school

year was “challenging” and praised Smith’s “steadfast commitment” to achieving “greater equity and improved outcomes for students.”

Still, he outlined a series of steps to fulfill the “obligation” of CPS to improve the climate at Graham & Parks, including a series of town-hall style meetings and small group discussions with teachers and parents.

Smith will be present at the town halls, Murphy wrote.

He added that former CPS principal Robin Harris, who he named a special adviser to the superintendent, will work out of Graham & Parks beginning the first day of school to facilitate “discussions with both staff and families about how to foster

a strong school climate.”

A working group of CPS administrators will also work on “prioritizing the cultivation of a listening-oriented but student-centered environment,” Murphy wrote.

Graham & Parks parent Christian Henry, the co-chair of the Graham & Parks School Council and among Smith’s most outspoken defenders, said he was optimistic about the path forward for the school.

“What was challenging is that there wasn’t a shared understanding of what was true about what was actually going on in the school,” Henry said.

“We need to continue to work together, to acknowledge and appreciate what it means to belong

on June 30. The hospital is currently offering the union a split raise in the first year of the contract: 13 percent for residents in their first four years after graduation and 9 percent for residents in their fifth through seventh years. The raise schedule also includes a 3 percent raise in the second year and

a 2 percent raise in the third year.

But José R. Dominguez, a member of the union’s contract bargaining committee, said the group is pushing for a more favorable contract, citing mental health and affordability issues facing members.

“We are fighting for a contract that ensures that we are fairly compensated, so we can afford to live in the community we serve,” Dominguez said. “We are fighting for a contract that guarantees affordable, accessible men-

tal healthcare while we’re caring for patients.” Union organizers and residents were joined by Cambridge Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern, City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Massachusetts State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, and State Rep. candidate Evan C. Mackay ’19, a former Harvard labor leader. In a brief address to attendees, McGovern — who said his four children receive healthcare at Cambridge Hospital — expressed his support for the union.

“Cambridge City Council is behind you, we’re with you, and we will continue to show up as long as you need us,” McGovern said at the rally.

Bargaining committee member Karla Chamorro Garcia, a first year resident in internal medicine, called on the CHA to offer more generous salary increases, which she said were necessary to support living in the notoriously-unaffordable Cambridge.

“We need more money so that we can live around the area,” Chamorro Garcia said. “Living in Cambridge is extremely expensive, more than I could have imagined.”

Several speakers at the rally called on CHA CEO Assaad Sayah and CFO Jill Batty to address their concerns and “put people over profits.”

CHA spokesperson David Cecere wrote in a statement that the hospital strives “to be an employer of choice, prioritizing fair wages and benefits for our employees. We routinely conduct market studies and are committed to providing competitive salaries for our employees across all job roles.”

“We are making every effort to come to an agreement with CIR and have included many benefits in our proposals,” Cecere wrote.

“We are confident that our positions are fair, support outstanding patient care, and reflect respect for the tremendous contributions our resident physicians and interns provide to patient care,” he added.

But residents said Wednesday that the hospital’s current wages are significantly below both those offered at peer hospitals and the minimum required to live

effectively in Cambridge. Last year, under the existing contract, residents and fellows in their first year after graduation made $68,810.57 — more than $6,000 below MIT’s Living Wage Calculator estimate for one adult with no children. With one child, the pay is almost $50,000 below a living wage, according to the calculator.

The union’s second major demand, improved mental health benefits, became particularly central after the hospital informed residents their access to online therapists would be limited to 10 visits per year in their next contract, according to bargaining committee member David Karjala. At the rally, Family Medicine PGY 2 Jean Chang said the new program was “beyond insuffi-

HOUSE LIFE

Dunster Faculty Deans Will Depart in 2025

Dunster House Faculty

Deans Cheryl Chen and Sean D. Kelly will step down at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, the deans announced in an email to House affiliates on Tuesday.

“Due to recent (happy!) changes in our lives, and after much careful thought, we have decided that it will soon be time to pass the torch to new Meese leadership,” Chen and Kelly wrote, referencing Dunster House’s mascot. Chen and Kelly, who are both philosophers, will end their tenure as faculty deans after eight years in Dunster, and just two years before they would have been forced to leave their roles upon reaching the end of their second five-year term. The announcement on Tuesday was largely expected after Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra announced in April that Kelly will serve as the next dean of the Arts and Humanities division. Kelly began his appointment on July 1. New Dunster faculty deans will be selected by the end of the fall semester to provide enough time to introduce and integrate them into the House, according to the announcement from Chen and Kelly. Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana wrote in a separate email to Dunster affiliates that Resident Dean Gregory K. Davis will partner with the College to form an advisory committee composed of House staff, affiliates, and students to provide input during the search process. Dunster will host “listening sessions” throughout the fall to hear student “hopes and aspi -

rations” for new faculty deans, according to Khurana’s email, which also included a form to nominate tenured faculty members for the position. Chen and Kelly will not be involved in the selection of their successors but said that they are “committed to welcoming them into this amazing community once they have been chosen.”

In addition to serving as Arts and Humanities dean, Kelly is also the chair of a faculty committee reviewing a request to dename Winthrop House and led a committee that helped design the College’s current General Education program. Chen will also remain a senior lecturer in the Philosophy department.

In his email, Khurana praised Chen and Kelly as “extraordinary leaders and wonderful colleagues.”

“Through their leadership among the Faculty Deans, in the Philosophy Department, in the Division of Arts & Humanities, and on University committees, Cheryl and Sean have been indispensable members

of the Harvard community and have made Harvard a better place,” Khurana wrote. “I look forward to continuing to work with them through the year ahead.”

One day before the announcement, in a Monday newsletter sent to the Dunster mailing list, Chen and Kelly welcomed new and returning Dunster residents and publicized House-wide orientation events for the coming weeks.

“We are excited and grateful to embark on our eighth year as Faculty Deans of this amazing House,” Chen and Kelly wrote in their Monday email, which offered no indication of their decision to step down.

The College has conducted two faculty dean searches in the last two years — for Pforzheimer House and Eliot House. Bonnie Talbert and David F.

Grammy award-winning singer Daya will headline Crimson Jam, Harvard’s annual outdoor backto-school concert for undergraduates, the College announced at a freshman orientation event Thursday morning. Daya, best known for her 2015 single “Hide Away,” which peaked at number 23 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in March 2016, will perform in the Old Yard on Friday, Sept. 6. She was also featured on The Chainsmokers’ single “Don’t Let Me Down,” for which she won a 2016 Grammy Award for best dance recording. Student groups Boom Boom Sauce, Midnight Curfew, and Vinyl Club will open the event, according to a College Events Board press release. The groups were

selected based on their performance at Battle for Yardfest, CEB’s annual “battle of the bands” competition. Previous Crimson Jam headliners include Nicky Youre and Social House. In 2021, B.o.B. was announced as the headliner but the event was indefinitely postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Giveon performed at a virtual rendition of the concert in 2020. The announcement comes as the Dean of Students Office and College Events Board, which organize annual concerts like Crimson Jam and Yardfest, face budgetary constraints when negotiating artist contracts. Students have increasingly opted out of the annual $200 Student Activities Fee, which provides funding for the College Events Board.

In interviews with The Crimson, Associate Dean for Student

Engagement Jason R. Meier has attributed student dissatisfaction with the College’s social events to a shrinking SAF fund.

“A lot of students don’t realize, by opting out, they’re exacerbating this larger problem that we already have,” Meier said in an April interview.

Student opt-outs have accounted for a $70,000 decrease in SAF funding during the 2024 fiscal year.

Still, students gave positive reviews of this year’s Yardfest headliner, Tinashe, who released her viral single “Nasty” only four days after her April performance in Tercentenary Theatre.

Undergraduates have until Sept. 1 to opt out of the Student Activities Fee, though those who opt out will still be allowed entry to Crimson Jam.

Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who ran an unsuccessful primary campaign against former U.S. President

Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, will headline the Harvard Institute of Politics’ fall 2024 cohort of resident

fellows.

Hutchinson’s selection, which was announced by the IOP on Wednesday, marks the second straight semester that the cohort will feature a Republican who briefly challenged Trump for the nomination. He will be joined by five other resident fellows, according to a press release.

The five other fellows include Alejandra Y. Castillo, a former assistant secretary of commerce for economic development in the Biden administration; Betsy Ankney, a Republican political strategist who managed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s unsuccessful bid for president; John Anzalone, the chief pollster for U.S. President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign; Eugene Scott, a host at Axios Live covering political leaders; and Brett A. Rosenberg ’12, a foreign policy expert who served on the National Security Council.

Unlike past classes of IOP fellows that included international leaders, the new fellows have all focused their careers on American politics. Rosenberg, the American national security expert, will likely be the only fellow whose study group will focus on foreign affairs.

Their selection suggests that

the IOP is hoping to expand its programming on domestic politics in the run up to the 2024 presidential election, which has already stirred up interest in the IOP and fueled a historic rise in its membership. Hutchinson said in the press release that he was “honored to have the opportunity this fall to share my experiences and perspectives” at a pivotal moment in U.S. politics.

“The timing is historic with our democracy facing a critical choice this fall as to the direction of our country,” he said.

For eight weeks, the fellows will mentor a cohort of undergraduate students and lead weekly study groups on a range of issues.

Éamon C. C. ÓCearúil ’25 and Summer A. L. Tan ’26, the cochairs of the IOP’s fellows and study groups program, said they were hopeful that the new cohort of fellows could serve as an example of effective dialogue on Harvard’s campus after a year marked by fierce debates over free speech on campus.

“While this semester will bring renewed challenges to and debates concerning those fundamental rights, we are hopeful that

study groups will remain a source of vibrant, productive, and gratifying discussions on Harvard’s campus,” said ÓCearúil and Tan.

IOP Director Setti Warren said the IOP was “thrilled” to learn from the resident fellows “in the final few months of this year’s historic election.”

“Their diverse experiences will no doubt inspire our students to consider careers in public service and prepare them to provide essential political leadership in the months and years ahead,” he added. The fall 2024 cohort — with its six fellows and zero visiting fellows — is smaller than usual and marks the first cohort in two years that will not have any visit-

“During

Pictured from left to right, the incoming

Inside Dean Khurana’s 10-Year Tenure

DEAN OF THE COLLEGE. In the email announcing his departure after a more than decade-long tenure in Harvard’s top administration, Rakesh Khurana wrote that serving as Dean of the College “has been one of the greatest honors and joys of my life.”

While Khurana’s tenure was marked by backlash surrounding his efforts to combat final clubs and discipline pro-Palestine student protesters, he is also known by undergraduates for his presence around campus, where he often stops students to take a selfie for his popular Instagram page.

Khurana, who is the longest-serving dean of Harvard College in more than one century, wrote in his email that what he will miss most “are the daily interactions I have been so privileged to have with our wonderful undergraduates.” In this photo essay, The Crimson looks back on some of the highlights of Khurana’s tenure.

OCTOBER 2014 — Newly appointed College Dean Rakesh Khurana sits down at lunchtime to chat with freshmen in Annenberg. In a Crimson interview that year, Khurana said he spent three-fourths of his time talking to students. ZORIGOO TUGSBAYAR — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

DECEMBER 2014 — Khurana speaks on behalf of Black Lives Matter protesters holding a silent demonstration during Primal Scream. The protestors were attempting to hold a period of silence in response to police brutality against black men. MAC G .SCHUMER — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

DECEMBER 2014 — Khurana joins students throwing paint powder as part of a 2015 Holi celebration. Holi is an Indian celebration of spring where participants douse each other with vibrant colors. ALANA M. STEINBERG — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Khurana