The Harvard Crimson - Volume CLI, No. 4 by The Harvard Crimson

THE HARVARD CRIMSON THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

| VOLUME CLI, NO. 4

| CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

CORPORATION

LEADERSHIP CRISIS

OPINION

SPORTS

Garber Should Resign From Vertex for Harvard’s Sake

Harvard Football Represented on Both Super Bowl Teams

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Frazier, Bae Join the Harvard Corporation APPOINTMENTS. CEO and chairman of pharmaceutical giant Merck Kenneth C. Frazier and private equity billionaire Joseph Y. Bae ’94 will join the Harvard Corporation, the University announced. SEE PAGE 4

Harvard’s Path Forward

INVESTIGATION

Dept. of Ed. Investigates Harvard for Alleged Bias COMPLAINT. The U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into Harvard following a complaint alleging the University failed to protect students from anti-Palestian discrimination. SEE PAGE 5

GARBER’S TASK. As the University continues to grapple with its leadership crisis and prepares for an impending presidential search, interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 faces a rocky path ahead. SEE PAGE 6 SAMI E. TURNER — CRIMSON DESIGNER

PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH

10 Potential Contenders for Harvard’s Presidency BY EMMA H. HAIDAR AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

FOOTBALL

Aurich to Be Harvard Football Head Coach SELECTION. Andrew Aurich, a tight ends coach at Rutgers University, will serve as the next head coach of Harvard’s football team, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. SEE PAGE 5

or the second time in two years, Harvard is searching for a new president. Claudine Gay, Harvard’s 30th president, was expected to lead the University for much of the next decade. Instead, she resigned just six months and two days into her tenure, becoming the shortest serving president in Harvard’s history. Now, Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 and the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — must find someone to lead Harvard out of its leadership crisis. After appointing two new members to the board on Sunday, the Corporation is primed to announce a presidential search committee and formally begin the process of selecting Harvard’s 31st president.

SEE PAGE 8

Foxx Issues Final Warning to Harvard

Crisis of Transparency in Schools, Parents Say

CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

ENDOWMENT

SEE PAGE 12

Alan M. Garber ’76, Interim Harvard President

Garber is one of the most obvious options to serve as Harvard’s 31st president. In an interview with The Crimson late last month, Garber, 68, did not remove himself from the running to become Harvard’s next permanent leader. Garber, who has served as the University’s provost for 12 years, has more experience in senior administration at Harvard than any other contender. Garber, who received a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard and an M.D. from Stanford, serves on the faculty of four Harvard schools. HMS professor Maryam M. Asgari wrote in a statement to The Crimson that Garber “would be my first pick for the next President.” “He has the requisite institutional knowledge and a proven track-record of effectively managing a diversity of ideas and deftly navigating both internal and

SCHOOLS

AND CAM E. KETTLES

FINANCE. Two Massachusetts lawmakers proposed a bill that would impose an annual tax of 2.5 percent on Harvard’s endowment. The bill affects private education endowments greater than $1 billion.

one year. While there are no official restrictions on the position, the last four presidents have graduated from Harvard. Harvard professor and education governance expert Richard P. Chait also told The Crimson in September 2022 that being eligible for tenure at Harvard “has the greatest effect” on the search. While former U.S. President Barack Obama, a graduate of Harvard Law School, was rumored to be a potential contender for the Harvard presidency, a person directly familiar with the matter told The Crimson that Obama is not in the running. The Crimson spoke with Harvard alumni, professors, and donors to determine a list of 10 possible candidates for the University’s top job.

CONGRESS

BY EMMA H. HAIDAR

Proposed Endowment Tax Bill

Harvard doesn’t use an external search firm, instead relying on a committee that typically includes all 12 Fellows of the Corporation — as the board’s members are formally known — and three members of the Board of Overseers, the University’s second-highest governing body. After a search committee is named, they typically conduct broad outreach among students, faculty, alumni, donors, and higher education experts to create a candidate pool. Months before selecting Gay, Pritzker solicited advice and nominations from affiliates via email. The Corporation wrote in a Jan. 2 email announcing Gay’s resignation that the search for her successor will include “consultation with the Harvard community.” Later in the process, the search committee will develop a short list of candidates. While Gay’s selection was the shortest in 70 years — lasting just five months — the process typically takes just less than

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce issued a final warning on Wednesday for Harvard to fully comply with its request for documents and communications related to its investigation into antisemitism on campus. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chairwoman of the committee, wrote in a Wednesday letter to interim President Alan M. Garber ’76 and Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 that “the Committee is prepared to issue a subpoena” if the University does not fully comply with the request. Foxx accused Harvard of “obstructing” the committee’s investigation into campus antisemitism in the letter and warned the University that if it does not provide the committee with the requested documents and communications — including emails

and text messages between members of the Corporation relating to antisemitism — within a week, the committee will issue a subpoena. The committee requested a lengthy list of formal documents and informal communications from the University in a Jan. 9 letter, although it initially announced an investigation into antisemitism at Harvard on Dec. 7, two days after former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s controversial testimony in Congress. Harvard responded by providing more than a thousand pages of publicly available documents on University statements, court cases, and letters from nonprofit organizations, which Foxx previously said was “woefully inadequate.” Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement Wednesday evening that Harvard was “cooperating with the Committee’s inquiry and has provided extensive information.”

SEE PAGE 4

BY DARCY G LIN AND EMILY T. SCHWARTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Anna B. Shin, whose second-grader attends Graham & Parks School, attended last month’s school council meeting for an “open discussion” about her child’s education. But instead of active dialogue, Shin was met with Principal Kathleen M. Smith and other school administrators rotely writing down parents’ questions and concerns, pledging to return with answers. The responses, Shin said, never came. In interviews, eight parents of Graham & Parks students said they had deep concerns about a lack of transparency from Smith. They said they were confused about the future of Graham and Park’s project-based learning approach, upset by rearrangements of assistant teachers in classrooms, and put off by the police presence outside of school.

But as Cambridge Public Schools has engaged a law firm to investigate allegations of toxicity against Smith, parents who support Smith praised her for advancing systemic changes that aim to improve student performance and reduce inequality at the school. Graham & Parks’ School Council parent representatives wrote in an emailed statement to The Crimson that “Smith has shown immense fortitude by refusing to let us look away from the stark reality we face as a school.” ‘A Crisis That Requires Immediate Action’ Anger against Smith has been brewing for months. Since her arrival to Graham & Parks in July 2022, parents have harbored concerns about Smith’s leadership. Parents claimed she is uncommunicative

SEE PAGE 11

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

LAST WEEK

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

COLLEGE

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION

CITY POLITICS

HUHS Expands Mental Health Visits

Garber Will Not Return as Provost

Affordable Housing is Top Priority

MENTAL HEALTHCARE. Harvard University Health Services announced on Monday it would remove visit limits for outpatient mental health care and medical consultations under Harvard’s student health insurance plan. HUHS Director Giang T. Nguyen and Chief Medical Officer Kathy G. Niknejad noted other benefits remain unchanged. The announcement comes amid the University’s most tumultuous period in decades as Harvard grapples with a leadership crisis and lingering tensions on campus over the war in Israel and Gaza. BY ALEX CHOU AND

PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH. Interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 said he will not return to his role as provost after the University appoints Claudine Gay’s permanent successor but declined to say whether he would be a candidate in the search. Garber’s answer indicates that he will either retire after his stint as Harvard’s interim president or take on the role full time. In the interview, Garber said he had no information about the search to fill the Corporation seat. Garber declined to comment if Gay’s selection was too rushed. BY EMMA H. HAIDAR

CAMBRIDGE. Cambridge residents named affordable housing as their top priority and gave the city government a 69 percent approval rating, according to the city’s annual Resident Satisfaction Survey. The city contracted Polity Research Consulting, LLC to survey 400 adult residents in September on governance, quality of life, and other policy issues. Cambridge’s performance in most categories from the survey were similar to the other cities in the analysis. Because of this, Huang said some of the analysis was not “particularly helpful.”

CAMILLA J. MARTINEZ—CRIMSON STAFF WRITTERS

AND CAM E. KETTLES—CRIMSON STAFF WRITTERS

BY AYUMI NAGATOMI AND AVANI B. RAI—CRIMSON STAFF WRITTERS

Get breaking news. thecrimson.com/subscribe AROUND THE IVIES

The Week in Photos

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ALLOWS PLAYERS TO UNIONIZE

MBTA MAINTENANCE RED LINE SHUTDOWN— The Red Line closed for maintenance on Feb. 5 as part of a project to reduce slowdowns and increase safety by upgrading track infrastructure. The closures will end on Feb. 14.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled on Monday that Dartmouth’s men’s basketball players are university employees and can vote on whether to unionize. If they chose to join a union, the team would be the first-ever labor union for NCAA athletes. The team seeks to join the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union. Dartmouth College remains against unionization, according to a Monday article in The Dartmouth.

BRIANA HOWARD PAGÁN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THC

THE DARTMOUTH

Read more at THECRIMSON.COM

BROWN HUNGER STRIKE FOR PALESTINE SINCE FEB. 2 Student protesters for Palestine began a hunger strike on Feb. 2, refusing food until the Brown Corporation considers a proposal for divestment from companies that operate in Israel. The strike comes amidst a broader push among Brown campus activists for the university’s divestment from Israel. In December, 41 student protesters who occupied Brown’s University Hall to demand divestment and a call for a ceasefire were arrested by the Providence Police and Brown Department of Public Safety. THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

CORNELL EXTENDS TESTOPTIONAL ADMISSIONS FOR NEXT YEAR The Cornell admissions office announced on Tuesday that it would extend its test-optional and test-blind policies for next year’s admissions cycle. Currently, several of Cornell’s colleges, including the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering use test-optional admissions. Several others, including the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Cornell S.C. Johnson College of Business, operate on a test-blind basis, according to the Cornell Daily Sun. The decision comes amid a national debate on the merits of using scores for college admissions.

BOOK TALK— Bestselling author Celeste Ng spoke at the Harvard Book Store Wednesday. ADDISON Y. LIU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

PROTEST— Pro-Palestine student groups staged a protest in the Science Center Plaza on Thursday. ELYSE C. GONCALVES — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN

PENN BEGINS SUBMITTING DOCTUMENTS TO US HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Penn began submitting documents to the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Wednesday, according to reporting by the Daily Pennsylvanian. Wednesday marks the deadline given to Penn to comply after the beginning of the investigation two months ago. The investigation began after the Dec. 7 congressional hearing on antisemitism, in which former Harvard president Claudine Gay testified alongside former University of Pennsylvania president Elizabeth Magill and MIT President Sally A. Kornbluth.

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

Listen to The Crimson’s News Podcast Today INTERIM PRESIDENT GARBER’S UNEASY RELATIONSHIP WITH HARVARD UNIONS Our reporters discuss how Garber’s interactions with the graduate student union in 2016 could shape his relationship with Harvard unions today.

NEXT WEEK

THE HARVARD CRIMSON FEBRUARY 9, 2024

What’s Next

IN THE REAL WORLD HOUSE REPUBLICANS FAIL TO IMPEACH MAYORKAS, VOW TO HOLD A SECOND VOTE The United States House of Representatives defeated a Republican-led effort to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas after 4 Republicans broke with party ranks on Tuesday. The failure delivered a major blow to House Republicans’ agenda, which has pushed to impeach Mayorkas for months over his failure to secure the United States border with Mexico. House Speaker Johnson (R-La.) vowed to call a second impeachment vote in the near future.

FUTURE OF UKRAINE, ISRAEL AID PACKAGE UNCLEAR AFTER CHAOS IN CONGRESS The United States Senate blocked a national security and border reform package on Wednesday. The package, which House Speaker Johnson vowed would be dead on arrival to the House, included more than $60 billion in aid for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel. A path to supporting U.S. allies remains unclear, after Republican senators said they would not support a foreign aid package before the crisis at the southern border is addressed.

Start every week with a preview of what’s on the agenda around Harvard University

Friday 2/9

Saturday 2/10

Sunday 2/11

WOMEN’S TENNIS ECAC OPENING ROUND

SPOTLIGHT TOUR: THE GOOD LIFE, WITH EMILY FENG ’25

SCREENING: IN OUR DAY

Harvard Art Museums, 2 p.m.-2:50 p.m. Emily Feng ‘25 will talk through several works on display and ask if “the good life is the same thing as the moral life,” inspired by her philosophical studies. Her tour stops will include a Persian bowl, a Buddhist sculpture, and a French painting.

Harvard Film Archive, 3 – 4:30 p.m. Hong Sangsoo’s In Our Day, premiered at the New York Film Festival, features the stories of two artists: an actress who’s moved in with her friend and an aging, alcoholic poet. Both receive a surprise visitor that makes them reflect on art, their careers, and life itself.

Monday 2/12

Tuesday 2/13

Wednesday 2/14

FEELING THE HEAT: HOW HOUSEHOLDS MANAGE HIGH ELECTRICITY BILLS

CARTOONING AND GRAPHIC MEDICINE WORKSHOP: FOR THE HEALER, FOR OUR HEALTH, FOR OUR LEARNING AND LAUGHTER

THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND THE ROAD TO 270

Murr Center, 11:00 a.m. Come watch the Harvard Women’s Tennis play against Yale in the opening round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship on Friday! Free pizza will be available for fans in attendance.

Harvard Kennedy School Rubenstein Building, 12-1:15 pm Abigail Ostriker, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University Center for the Environment, will talk about how households manage high electricity bills.

Countway Library, 5-6:15 p.m. In this workshop, taught by Dr. Jack Maypole, participants will learn about applications of cartooning in medical practice and try their hand at creating cartoons of their own.

JFK Jr. Forum, 6-7 p.m. Join Steve Kornacki, Political Correspondent for NBC News, in a conversation moderated by Emmy-winning journalist Betsy Fischer Martin and Harvard College student Jack Silvers. Kornacki will discuss the upcoming presidential election.

Thursday 2/15

Friday 2/16

LOVE LANGUAGE: A LANGUAGE EXCHANGE MEETUP

BECOMING A MAN AT A.R.T.

Loeb Drama Center, 7:30-8:30pm Come experience the world premiere of Becoming a Man, a new play from Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus. Follow P. Carl as he affirms his gender identity after fifty years of living as a woman. This story is about “the courage—and the community—we need to become ourselves.”

Language Center, Science Center B06, 4-6 pm Come participate in a variety of conversation prompts and ice breakers in the spirit of Harvard multilingualism! There will be light refreshments provided at the event.

KING CHARLES DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER King Charles III has been diagnosed with a form of cancer and will undergo treatment just 18 months after ascending to the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The announcement came after King Charles, 75, was discharged from the hospital after a procedure treating an enlarged prostate. Buckingham Palace did not specify the form of cancer, but the King will suspend all his public engagements as he receives treatment.

TAYLOR SWIFT AND MILEY CYRUS WIN BIG AT THE GRAMMYS Taylor Swift made history on Sunday becoming the first person to win Album of the Year four times, after notching the honor for her 2022 album Midnights. The night also handed Miley Cyrus two Grammys, including Best Solo Performance for “Flowers.”

SUNSET OVER LEVERETT

HALEY FINISHES SECOND TO ‘NONE OF THESE CANDIDATES’ IN NEVADA Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley suffered an embarrassing defeat in Nevada’s Tuesday primary to “none of these candidates,” but vowed to continue in the race. Former President Trump did not compete in the primary, but won Thursday’s caucus where all delegates were awarded after being the only major candidate on the ballot. Nevada’s confusing dueling primary-caucus was declared “game rigged for Trump,” by the Haley campaign, who dismissed the loss after not campaigning in the state.

JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE HARVARD CRIMSON J. Sellers Hill ’25 President

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE Miles J. Herszenhorn ’25

Matthew M. Doctoroff ’25

Managing Editor

Business Manager

Magazine Chairs Hewson Duffy ’25 Kaitlyn Tsai ’25

Design Chairs Laurinne Jamie P. Eugenio ’26 Sami E. Turner ’25

Tommy Barone ’25 Jacob M. Miller ’25

Blog Chairs Eve S. Jones ’25 Hayeon Ok ’25

Multimedia Chairs Julian J. Giordano ’25 Addison Y. Liu ’25

Arts Chairs Anna Moiseieva ’25 Allison S. Park ’25

Sports Chairs Katharine A. Forst ’25 Jack K. Silvers ’25

Technology Chairs Dennis S. Eum ’26 Neil H. Shah ’26

Associate Managing Editors Elias J. Schisgall ’25 Claire Yuan ’25 Editorial Chairs

Associate Business Manager Mathias Melucci ’26 Meredith W.B. Zielonka ’25 Copyright 2024, 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

Night Editor Yusuf S. Mian ’25 Assistant Night Editors Xinni (Sunshine) Chen ’27 Hannah W. Duane ’26 Sally E. Edwards ’26 Asher J. Montgomery ’26 Tyler J.H. Ory ’26 Veronica H. Paulus ’25 Sami E. Turner ’25 Olivia W. Zheng ’27 Story Editors Ryan H. Doan-Nguyen ’25 Rahem D. Hamid ’25 Miles J. Herszenhorn ’25 Yusuf S. Mian ’25

John N. Peña ’25 Rohan Rajeev ’25 Paton D. Roberts ’25 Elias J. Schisgall ’25 Claire Yuan ’25 Design Editors Sami E. Turner ’25 Laurinne Jamie P. Eugenio ’26 Hannah S. Lee ’26 Tomisin M. Sobande ’26 Angel Zheng ’26 Catherine H. Feng ’27 Nicole M. Hernández ’27

Addison Y. Liu ’25 Helen L. Piltner ’25 Marina Qu ’25 Jack R. Trapanick ’26 Lara R. Berliner ’27 Arts Editors Samantha H. Chung ’25 Editorial Editors J. Sellers Hill ’25 Ian D. Svetkey ’25 Sports Editors Emma S. de Jong ’26 Nghia L. Nguyen ’26

Photo Editors Julian J. Giordano ’25

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.

Ops

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

HARVARD CORPORATION

Frazier, Bae to Join Harvard Corporation NEW MEMBERS. The University announced Sunday that Kenneth C. Frazier and Joseph Y. Bae’94 will join the Harvard Corporation. BY EMMA H. HAIDAR AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

enneth C. Frazier, former longtime CEO and chairman of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., and private equity billionaire Joseph Y. Bae ’94 will join the Harvard Corporation, the University announced Sunday afternoon. Frazier will join the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — on Feb. 7, filling the vacancy left by David M. Rubenstein’s departure in June 2023. Bae will join the board on July 1, when longtime former treasurer Paul J. Finnegan ’75 concludes his 12-year tenure on the board. Frazier and Bae were elect-

ed by the Corporation and confirmed by the Board of Overseers — Harvard’s second-highest governing body — which both met over the weekend for deliberation about the leadership crisis facing the University. Frazier, a Harvard Law School graduate, sits on the board of Weill Cornell Medicine and is a member of the HLS Dean’s Council. He formerly served on the boards of Exxon Mobil Corporation and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Frazier notably resigned from the American Manufacturing Council in 2017, after former President Donald Trump’s controversial comments on the white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA. He donated at least $5 million to the University in the 2023 fiscal year. Bae, a co-CEO of global investment firm KKR, serves on the Corporation Committee on Finance, as well as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Council and FAS Committee on Financial

Aid. Bae also co-led a group gift of $45 million in 2021 to expand the FAS Asian American studies program. Harvard’s secretive governing boards — in particular the Corporation — have come under heavy scrutiny over its handling of the University’s leadership crisis. Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 resisted calls to resign in January. Bae and Frazier’s appointments help clear the way for the Corporation to announce a presidential search committee to select former President Claudine Gay’s permanent successor. In past years, presidential search committees were composed of all 12 Fellows of the Corporation, as its members are formally known, and three members of the Board of Overseers, the University’s second-highest governing body. “Academic excellence and academic freedom lie at the heart of Harvard’s essential mission of teaching, learning, and scholarship,” Frazier told the Harvard Ga-

Longtime pharmaceutical executive Kenneth C. Frazier, left, and private equity billionaire Joseph Y. Bae ‘94 will join the Harvard Corporation. COURTESY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY

zette, a University-run publication. “So does creating a climate for honest, good-faith, respectful discourse on difficult issues, in a spirit of open-mindedness, empathy, and understanding,” he added. “I look forward to working with the Corporation to meet this challenging moment, to strengthen our university community,

and to extend Harvard’s leadership in higher education and research,” Bae told the Gazette. In a University-wide email announcing the selections, Garber and Pritzker wrote that they are “very much look forward to welcoming both Ken Frazier and Joe Bae to the Corporation.” “Our work is sure to benefit from their leadership qualities,

their wide-ranging expertise and experience, and their devotion to higher education and Harvard,” they wrote. Bae and Frazier will each serve for a six-year term, with the possibility of extending their tenure for a second term. emma.haidar@thecrimson.com cam.kettles@thecrimson.com

Planning Underway for Harvard’s Renovation of Eliot House BY DANIELLE J. IM AND JACKSON C. SENNOTT CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Initial planning for a renovation of Eliot House as part of Harvard’s House Renewal project began in January, according to a Saturday statement from Harvard spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo. House Renewal, a project to renovate all 12 of the College’s undergraduate houses, is “one of the largest and most ambitious capital improvement campaigns in Harvard College history,” according to the Harvard Gazette, a University-run publi-

cation. The Eliot project will follow the ongoing renovation of Adams House, which has been plagued by delays and a ballooning budget because of setbacks related to Covid-19. “The project is currently on schedule for the broader house renewal timeline,” Palumbo wrote. Leading the designs is architecture firm Kieran Timberlake, which also partnered with the University for renewals of Quincy House’s Stone Hall, Leverett House’s McKinlock Hall, Dunster House, and Lowell House. The renovations of Eliot House will include “the full re-

placement of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems; upgrades to the building envelope including insulation; new doors and windows,” Palumbo wrote. The renewal will also include “interior reconfiguration to address accessibility, code, and privacy issues,” he added. Eliot House, which opened in 1931 and is five stories tall, does not currently have an elevator. Palumbo also wrote that a “preservation survey” of each House was conducted during the early planning phase of the renewal project to identify “significant interior spaces and elements that should be pre-

served.” The renewal will “take the utmost care to preserve the historically significant spaces and features of Eliot,” he added. Situated on the banks of the Charles River at the corner of Memorial Drive and John F. Kennedy Street, Eliot House was first commissioned in 1931 by University President Abbot Lawrence Lowell, class of 1877, and was designed by Boston architectural firm Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbot. Eliot House Faculty Deans Stephanie A. Paulsell and Kevin J. Madigan — who are stepping down from their roles at the end of the academic year — wrote in

a statement to The Crimson that house affiliates are “looking forward” to the project. “The Eliot community is looking forward to working with the architects and the university to renew the house for future generations of Eliotites while retaining the architectural features and character that play such a crucial role in shaping and sustaining Eliot’s close community,” they wrote. According to Palumbo, the University “will follow a process consistent with previous House Renewal projects” to temporarily relocate some of Eliot’s more than 400 residents who will be displaced by the renovation.

“Student feedback is collected and incorporated into planning, an approach that will be maintained with Eliot House,” Palumbo added. In a December interview, incoming Eliot House Faculty Dean David F. Elmer ’98 said he and Bonnie Talbert will have “one year to get to know the community in Eliot House itself, before we all move to the swing housing, over at the Inn at Harvard.” The Inn currently serves as overflow housing for Adams House residents displaced by ongoing renovations. danielle.im@thecrimson.com jackson.sennott@thecrimson.com

Peabody Museum Removes Nearly 40 Native American Objects BY NEERAJA S. KUMAR AND ANNABEL M. YU CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology removed nearly 40 Native American and Indigenous cultural objects from their displays to comply with new regulations from the Department of the Interior. The Interior Department issued updated regulations in December requiring museums to receive consent from Native American and Indigenous tribes before displaying or researching cultural objects or human remains — which are covered under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act — by 2029. In response to the regulations, which took effect Jan. 12, the Peabody closed the entire first and fourth floor and most of the exhibits on the third floor on Jan. 16 while the museum consulted

with tribal leaders on which items should be removed. When exhibits on the first floor reopened Monday, more than 30 objects — including many which were used in sacred or funerary ceremonies — had been removed and replaced with signs labeled “Items removed because of: Cultural Sensitivities.” Some others had been removed from a third floor exhibit, which reopened Jan. 22. In panel text titled “Ethical Stewardship in Action,” the Peabody wrote that the objects “may have been repatriated or returned to a community or they may be part of a cultural practice that should not be shared with the public.” The removed objects include dolls representing spiritual deities from the Zuni tribe, which were rarely displayed in public per Zuni custom when the Peabody acquired them in 1905, and a feathered and beaded plague possibly from the Patwin band of the Wintun nation which was often

used to commemorate the dead, contain sacred foods, and celebrate marriages. An entire display of dance and ceremonial objects was removed from the Peabody’s California collection as well. Anthropology professor Joseph P. Gone ’92, the faculty director of the Harvard University Native American Program, said though NAGPRA was “a really important way forward,” the new regulations were necessary to address its shortcomings. Gone, a member of the Aaniiih-Gros Ventre tribal nation of Montana, said that the objects’ exhibition in the Peabody was a “testament to a very harrowing time in history” for Native American tribes. “Others took advantage of that moment, and extracted all of those materials from us,” Gone said. “This final rule represents some changes that are going to really make it possible to complete this important set of works that

The Peabody Museum removed nearly 40 Native American and Indigenous cultural objects from their displays. EMILY L. DING — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

will help to remedy this long tawdry history in ways that will benefit the tribal communities,” he added. After a 2022 University report revealed that the Peabody held the human remains of thousands of Native Americans, Harvard pledged to accelerate their return as required under NAGPRA. Last

month, the museum announced it would fund travel expenses for tribal leaders to visit Harvard for repatriation efforts. Though a fourth floor exhibit titled “All the World is Here” remains closed, all of the museum’s exhibits will reopen Feb. 17. “We do look forward to the day

when tribal communities can rest easier knowing that they’ve had their say, they’ve had their relationship and voice heard in these museum spaces and these ancestors and objects have gone home,” Gone said. neeraja.kumar@thecrimson.com annabel.yu@thecrimson.com

CONGRESS FROM PAGE 1

House Issues Final Warning to Harvard, Threatens Subpoena “We have made eight submissions, including one on Monday, in connection with their inquiries, and plan another submission for Friday,” Newton wrote. “We have had frequent conversations with the Committee and intend to continue responding to their requests as we receive them.” Republicans on the House Committee of Education and the Workforce have sought to put pressure on Harvard since it became embroiled in controversy following the University’s initial response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The committee is also investigating the University’s response to allegations of plagiarism against Gay. Foxx’s letter on Wednesday also revealed some previously undisclosed information about the Corporation’s response to the crisis fac-

ing Harvard since October. The Corporation met at least four times in October and early November, which has not been previously reported. Foxx wrote that the University provided “a single identical sentence” describing three meetings in October as including “discussion of recent developments on campus and in the broader University community related to the war in Israel and Gaza.” The University’s minutes from a Nov. 6 meeting of the Corporation — while heavily redacted — said Gay initiated a discussion “centered on the continuing campus impacts of the war in Israel and Gaza” over lunch, according to the letter. Harvard also sent the committee a set of recommendations drafted in late December by an advisory group on antisemitism established

by Gay. Foxx wrote that the document, provided by the University Feb. 2, was the only “document of significance” in its submission thus far. “Harvard’s responses have been grossly insufficient, and the limited and dilatory nature of its productions is obstructing the Committee’s efforts,” Foxx wrote. “This is not surprising, given Harvard’s similarly limited and unhelpful responses to the Committee’s inquiries of Harvard’s handling of allegations of plagiarism by then-President Claudine Gay,” Foxx added. The letter, which condenses the list of requested materials, asks for meeting notes from Harvard’s governing boards since Oct. 7, all communication relating to antisemitism, documents concerning

disciplinary procedures, as well as documents relating to Garber’s presidential task force on antisemitism. Foxx wrote Harvard has not submitted any meeting minutes from the Harvard Management Company or the Board of Overseers — the University’s second-highest governing body — relating to antisemitism or the war in Israel and Gaza. According to the letter, the University told the committee that “after a reasonable search and review to date, Harvard has not identified meeting minutes in connection” with the request. “The Committee’s requests did not contain any limitations of scope justifying these omissions and redactions, as it requested ‘all…meeting minutes and/or summaries,

whether formal or informal’ within specified date ranges,” Foxx wrote. “Given the publicly documented antisemitism on Harvard’s campus, especially since the October 7 attacks, it would be shocking if the Board of Overseers and Harvard Management Company thought protecting Harvard’s Jewish students was so insignificant that the topic was not worthy of discussion at a single meeting,” she added. The warning comes as House Republicans are facing their own leadership crisis of sorts as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas or pass a stand-alone military assistance bill for Israel during a series of embarrassing votes on Tuesday.

Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.), the fourth-ranking House Republican and a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, has served as one of the University’s most vocal critics in Congress. While Stefanik was one of the first to call for Gay’s resignation, she has vowed to continue the committee’s investigation into Harvard after Gay stepped down from the presidency. “Our robust Congressional investigation will continue to move forward to expose the rot in our most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions and deliver accountability to the American people,” Stefanik wrote at the time. emma.haidar@thecrimson.com cam.kettles@thecrimson.com

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON FEBRUARY 9, 2024

INVESTIGATION

Dept. of Ed. Investigates Bias at Harvard COMPLAINT. The Department of Education launched an investigation into Harvard after more than a dozen anonymous students filed a civil rights complaint. BY EMMA H. HAIDAR AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

he U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights launched an investigation into Harvard on Tuesday, one week after a group of students filed a complaint alleging the University failed to protect them from anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab harassment and intimidation. The Muslim Legal Fund of America filed the complaint on behalf of more than a dozen anonymous students, which claimed the University violated students’ rights under Title VI, which protects people from

discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The department also opened an investigation into the University late last year following a complaint alleging Harvard failed to protect students from antisemitism on campus. Chelsea Glover, senior civil litigation staff attorney at the MLFA, said in a press release that we “applaud the DOE’s swift action.” “These students rightly felt abandoned,” Glover said. “Harvard’s primary responsibility should be to its current students, not wealthy donors and alumni with personal agendas that harm students who support Palestinian freedom.” Christina A. Jump, the head of the MLFA’s civil litigation department, added in an interview Tuesday that the probe will allow for a “a neutral investigator from the outside” to examine the students’ allegations. Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a state-

ment that the University supports “the work of the Office of Civil Rights to ensure students’ rights to access educational programs are safeguarded and will work with the office to address their questions.” The MLFA said that the students were targeted for participating in vigils in support of Palestine, and experienced doxxing and racial profiling from students and professors. Students’ pictures can be taken on campus without their permission and used to doxx them, according to Jump. Harvard, however, requires photographers to request permission for photographing on campus for public use. “Students who reported the harassment to Harvard administrators received slow and ineffective responses and often met with closed doors, and in some cases threats to limit or retract their future academic opportunities,” the MLFA wrote in a press release.

The complaint also alleges that students were targeted specifically for wearing a keffiyeh — a traditional Palestinian scarf — and faced both verbal and physical harassment while on campus. “When they simply walk around campus wearing the keffiyeh, they have been verbally attacked, they have had things thrown at them,” Jump said in an interview with The Crimson last week. Jump added Tuesday that multiple students who felt “threatened” in the classroom reported their concerns to professors, but faculty members did not receive sufficient guidance from the University. A Harvard spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the additional allegations Tuesday evening. The investigation comes two weeks after interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 announced two presidential task forces: one on antisemitism and one on Islamophobia

and anti-Arab bias. The decision was largely applauded by affiliates as a step in the right direction, though the antisemitism taskforce co-chair Derek J. Penslar faced fierce pressure to resign over allegations he downplayed antisemitism on Harvard’s campus. Jump said the task force “has yet to be proven to have any effectiveness to it.” “It could just be yet another talking point,” she added. Garber said in an interview with The Crimson last week that the University’s critics should “judge us based on what these task forces produce.” A timeline has not been established for the task forces to produce recommendations. Dozens of students allegedly affiliated with a controversial pro-Palestine student statement were doxxed online and had their personal information displayed on digital billboard trucks that drove around Harvard Square throughout Oc-

tober and November. The University launched a number of digital safety initiatives and contacted doxxed students directly following the attacks. While former President Claudine Gay previously formed an antisemitism advisory group in October as well as a task force for doxxed students, she was criticized by some affiliates for not creating a similar advisory group to support Muslim and Arab students. Some doxxed students criticized the University’s delayed response in establishing a doxxing task force and felt the initiative was ineffective. When the University announced a temporary task force on Oct. 24, students’ personal information had been circulating for more than two weeks. The investigation is one of at least three Title VI probes opened by the Department of Education into Harvard since July 2023. emma.haidar@thecrimson.com cam.kettles@thecrimson.com

Faculty to Vote On Advancing Deadline to Join Courses BY TILLY R. ROBINSON AND NEIL H. SHAH CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is expected to vote next month on a proposal to move up the deadline for registering for new courses and push back the pass-fail deadline. The proposed amendments to the student handbook, discussed at an FAS meeting Tuesday afternoon, would move the deadline for adding courses to the second Monday of the semester without instructor consent and third Monday with consent. The deadline for dropping courses would remain the fifth Monday of the semester. The proposal also seeks to allow students to change a course’s grading basis to pass-fail as late as the eleventh Monday of the semester — a notable shift from the current fifth Monday deadline.

If approved, this proposal would mark yet another major adjustment to the FAS course registration policies, which were overhauled this semester to implement a new previous-term registration system. The decision to replace shopping week — which allowed students to easily switch courses during their first week on campus — with the new policies has divided Harvard’s faculty. The proposal, presented by Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh, followed a 2022 report which suggested moving the pass-fail deadline to the last day of the semester while moving the add deadline up even further: the end of the first week without instructor permission and the second week with it. During the meeting, Math professor Melanie Matchett Wood said freshmen often switch between introductory math cours-

es covering overlapping content, meaning students may still be prepared to swap courses several weeks into the semester. English professor James T. Engell ’73 added that he was concerned that the proposed deadline to join new classes would be too early. After the deadline, students seeking to add a new class would need to petition the Harvard College Administrative Board, which enforces academic regulations for undergraduates and levies disciplinary sanctions. Engell said he has welcomed several students into his classes later than the proposed two-week deadline, but would have hesitated to present the case of at least one such student to the Ad Board. The latecomer, he added, ultimately became a star student in his course. tilly.robinson@thecrimson.com neil.shah@thecrimson.com

HKS Distances Itself From Event Featuring Palestinian Professor BY WILLIAM C. MAO AND DHRUV T. PATEL CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Andrew Aurich, a tight ends coach at Rutgers University, will serve as the next head coach for Harvard’s football team. NICHOLAS T. JACOBBSON — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Andrew Aurich to Serve as Next Harvard Football Heach Coach BY JO B. LEMANN AND TYLER H. ORY CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Andrew Aurich, a tight ends coach at Rutgers University, will serve as the next head coach of Harvard’s football team, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Scott A. Larkee ’99 and Joel K. Lamb ’93 — the two internal finalists for the role — were notified of the decision by Harvard Athletics Thursday morning. Aurich’s selection comes just two days after The Crimson reported he was one of four finalists for the job, alongside Larkee, Lamb, and Sean Ryan, an offensive analyst for the University of South Carolina. College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo did not deny the

hiring when reached for comment Thursday morning, telling The Crimson that the College “does not comment on personnel matters.” The announcement comes three weeks after Tim Murphy, who coached at Harvard for 30 seasons, announced his retirement from the position. In an email to donors obtained by The Crimson announcing the “national search” for a new head coach, current Athletic Director Erin McDermott wrote that Harvard Athletics was not using a search firm, but rather its own network. McDermott also wrote that at the finalist stage, a group of three alums — Eion Hu ’97, Ryan J. Fitzpatrick ’05, and Andrew J. Berry ’09 — would interview the candidates and provide their feedback to McDermott.

All three are prominent alumni of Harvard Football. Fitzpatrick played for 17 seasons as a quarterback in the NFL and Berry is currently the general manager for the Cleveland Browns. The decision to hire Aurich comes despite players advocating for an internal hire. In particular, players have emphasized Larkee as their preferred candidate. A former Princeton offensive lineman and offensive coordinator, Aurich also spent one year in the NFL as a defensive assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before his second stint with Rutgers. Unlike Harvard’s previous two hires for the head coaching position, Aurich has never before served as a head coach. jo.lemann@thecrimson.com tyler.ory@thecrimson.com

Amid fierce backlash to a Harvard Kennedy School event featuring controversial Palestinian professor Dalal Saeb Iriqat, the school and its dean distanced themselves from the event in a statement on Sunday. Professor Tarek E. Masoud, director of the Middle East Initiative, invited Iriqat to speak at the Kennedy School on March 7 for a conversation as part of his “Middle East Dialogues” series. Masoud wrote in a Saturday post on LinkedIn that he organized the series of conversations to help students engage in “hard conversations about hard things with people we don’t agree with.” Iriqat came under fire from some pro-Israel activists for several controversial posts on X following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In one post, Iriqat described Oct. 7 — a terrorist attack that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians — as a “normal struggle for 4 #Freedom.” In the statement, the Kennedy School wrote that Masoud “chose and invited the speakers for the series himself.” “Dean Douglas Elmendorf personally finds abhorrent the comments by Dalal Saeb Iriqat quoted in the press that justify and normalize the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas,” the statement added. “An invitation to speak at the Kennedy School never implies an endorsement of a speaker’s views

by the Kennedy School or members of the Kennedy School community.” Masoud said in a Sunday interview that while he “obviously” disagreed with Iriqat’s views on the Israel-Hamas war, he believed her perspective was shared by many Palestinians and was important to hear. “If you are going to engage with Palestinians, you’re going to have to engage with these ideas,” he said. “My view is that we have to subject these ideas — and all the ideas that we encounter — to polite but rigorous inquiry,” he said. Masoud said he chose the slate of interviewees to give his students the opportunity to “fearlessly and rigorously” interrogate a range of perspectives on the conflict in Gaza and broader struggles in the Middle East. “For too long we haven’t done this work because we were more concerned with psychological safety rather than education,” Masoud said. “What I want is for our community to transcend emotions when confronted with ideas or speakers that we dislike, bring our best selves and strongest arguments to the table, and have it out,” Masoud said. Iriqat is among five public figures invited to be interviewed by Masoud for the “Middle East Dialogues” series. The other public figures Masoud will interview this semester include Jared C. Kushner ’03, the former senior advisor to president Donald Trump;

Matt Duss, a former foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); Salam Fayyad, the former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority; and Einat Wilf ’96, a professor and a former member of the Israeli Knesset. The criticism comes as Harvard faces a congressional investigation over antisemitism on campus and a lawsuit filed by six Jewish students who alleged the University allowed “severe and pervasive” antisemitism. Douglas W. Elmendorf, the outgoing Kennedy School dean, faced intense faculty backlash in January 2023 after reports emerged that he disinvited longtime Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth from a year-long fellowship at the school over Roth’s criticism of Israel. Elmenzorf later reversed his decision and appointed Roth to a fellowship at HKS’ Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Masoud added that he views the participants in his series as interviewees, rather than speakers, to whom he “will pose tough questions in a civil manner.” Despite the criticism of his series, Masoud said he has invitations for several additional interviewees “in the works” and hopes to finalize plans. “It nonetheless is the case that anything you do on Israel and Palestine is going to ‘court controversy,’” he said. william.mao@thecrimson.com dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

COVER STORY

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Garber Must Confront Campus Turmoil, Political Pressure ELYSE C. GONCALVES — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

INTERIM PRESIDENT Alan M. Garber ’76 must win back students, faculty, and donors who remain angry at the University. BY EMMA H. HAIDAR AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

he office of interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 looks like the workplace of someone who didn’t expect to be there. The furniture in Massachusetts Hall’s corner office was hastily replaced, the desks bare — without personal items or framed photos — and the bright red walls that his predecessor Claudine Gay never even had the chance to repaint were turned a dull beige. But Garber, the longtime provost charged with leading Harvard through its most tumultuous period in more than 50 years, has bigger things to worry about than interior design. The University is facing investigations by Congress and the Department of Education and dealing with the fallout from a growing donor exodus, all while trying to urgently ease tensions on a campus deeply divided over the Israel-Hamas war. Following Gay’s resignation early last month, Garber — who spent the last 12 years behind the scenes as a powerful but largely invisible senior administrator — was tapped to step into the spotlight and guide Harvard out of its current crisis. He will now need to win back the support of faculty, alumni, and donors who remain angry with Harvard for what it did and did not do, said and did not say — all while trying to maintain calm on campus as the University continues to appear in national headlines on a nearly daily basis. Meanwhile, Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 must lead a presidential search for Gay’s permanent successor — a job Garber has not denied interest in — even as the board itself has come under serious fire for its handling of plagiarism allegations against Gay. Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment for this article.

Garber’s tenure will likely be one of the most consequential for the University in recent history. In his first interview with The Crimson as interim president, Garber insisted that he is up for the challenge. “I am happy to be serving as interim president at a time when Harvard is facing a number of crises,” he said. ‘An Extraordinarily Painful and Disorienting Time’ In his first University-wide message as president, Garber acknowledged that he was assuming office at a “painful and disorienting time for Harvard.” “Since I first arrived here as an undergraduate in 1973, I cannot recall a period of comparable tension on our campus and across our community,” he wrote. “That tension has been exacerbated by concerns about how we address and combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bias; safeguard free expression; and foster a climate of mutual understanding.” After Harvard faced three months of nonstop campus protests and reports of students facing antisemitism and Islamophobia, Garber and other senior University administrators looked to implement a spring reset ahead of the new semester by combating hate, cracking down on campus protests, and creating a space for dialogue about the war in the Middle East. The first step was forming twin presidential task forces to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia at Harvard. “Reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic acts on our campus have grown, and the sense of belonging among these groups has been undermined,” he wrote in an email announcing the task forces. “We need to understand why and how that is happening — and what more we might do to prevent it.” Garber, however, immediately faced backlash over his decision to appoint History professor Derek J. Penslar as co-chair of the antisemitism task force. Many of the same critics who called on Gay to resign over her congressional testimony called on Garber to remove Penslar —

the director of Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies — over allegations that he downplayed the significance of antisemitism on campus. Though Penslar reportedly considered stepping down from the task force, he received an outpouring of faculty support and has not relinquished his role. Garber also resisted pressure to remove Penslar from prominent affiliates like billionaire donor Bill A. Ackman ’88 and former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers. It was Garber’s first controversy, and he emerged mostly unscathed. Harvard faculty members also largely voiced support for Garber’s joint task forces, a departure

ministrators will take a stricter approach to demonstrations on campus and the enforcement of disciplinary measures. “I read that guidance as a threat,” said John K. Wilson, a former fellow at the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. “Whether it’s an empty threat or a real threat, I guess we would find out depending on how they react.” Last fall, unregistered student groups — which are technically prohibited from campus protests — frequently staged protests within Harvard’s buildings. The Harvard College Administrative Board opened disciplinary cases against several students for their participation in protests, in-

“

I am happy to be serving as interim president at a time when Harvard is facing a number of crises.

Alan M. Garber ’76 Harvard interim President

from the criticism Gay faced for only forming an antisemitism advisory group last semester. Paul Reville, a professor of education policy and administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said the faculty groups were just one step to “stabilize the University and to basically lead a new chapter.” “It’s not a solution in and of itself,” he added. “It’s not a silver bullet.” ‘A Threat’ One day after announcing the task forces, Garber and all of Harvard’s top deans implemented the next step in the University’s plan: a “Guidance on Protest and Dissent,” endorsed by the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body. The guidance, which limited protests to reserved event spaces or outdoors spaces that don’t restrict pedestrian or vehicular traffic, served as a warning to activists on campus that ad-

cluding a 24-hour occupation of University Hall and a classroom walkout. Pro-Palestine activists on campus were criticized last fall for chanting phrases like “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea,” with Gay herself publicly condemning some language used in campus protests. The approach Garber will take to handling controversial protest chants remains unclear. In an interview last week, Garber initially left open the possibility of instituting speech codes in classrooms, before he clarified in a follow-up statement that he did not support the idea. “What I have found the most disturbing of all are situations or experiences students describe where they have felt they could not speak in class because there are attacks on Israel or maybe Israelis,” Garber said. “They feel unsupported in contradicting them.” While Garber said he “favors free speech,” he added that there

should be “a discussion about what are the limits.” Reville said it is difficult for universities to strike a balance between free speech and student wellbeing. At Harvard, he added, Garber is unlikely to find an immediate resolution. “People support what they help create,” Reville said. “If you have a process in the community that engages the community — so they feel seen, heard and responded to — you have a much better chance of putting in place a policy that can be sustained over time. Harvard’s first major protest of the spring semester took place on Thursday, nearly three weeks in — a sign that the new “Guidance on Protest and Dissent” deterred activists, at least initially. According to a person with knowledge of the protesters’ plans, unrecognized campus activist groups intend to heed the new guidelines, but will continue to plan and attend protests. The Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee — a recognized pro-Palestine group — plans to strictly adhere to the regulations, and will not partner with unrecognized organizations, according to the source. ‘All Kinds of Voices’ As Garber attempts to heal a wounded campus, he also continues to face pressure from Republican lawmakers in Washington who are threatening to cut Harvard’s federal funding and major donors who have suspended their philanthropic relationships with the University. Instead of Gay’s resignation driving donors back to the University, the exodus has only continued. On Jan. 31, less than one month into Garber’s tenure, billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin ’89 — who donated $300 million to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in April — pledged to suspend any future financial contributions. “Until Harvard makes it very clear that they’re going to resume their role as educating young American men and women to be leaders, to be problem solvers, to take on difficult issues, I’m not in-

terested in supporting the institution,” he said during a keynote talk at a conference hosted by the Managed Funds Association in Miami. But Paul A. Buttenwieser ’60, a longtime Harvard donor and former member of the Board of Overseers, criticized the outsized power of external voices. “One of the major obstacles is all the people who are not students, faculty, and staff at Harvard, who are insinuating themselves — often through withholding contributions or stopping contributions — and doing all sorts of public statements,” he said. “I really think there are a lot of very bad actors who are intruding upon the University in a way that’s been very malignant,” added Buttenwieser, a former Crimson editor. While Griffin was the most recent major donor to publicly slam Harvard, others — including billionaires Leonard V. Blavatnik and Leslie H. Wexner — withdrew their support late last year and have not publicly signaled a desire to change course. Asked about the potential for donor influence in higher education, Garber said the University’s donors “believe in our mission and believe in the specific ways that we can make the world a better place. They have been aligned with us in terms of our goals as a university.” “We listen to all kinds of voices that speak about Harvard University,” he added. Some faculty, however, expressed concern that the financial pressure from donors could threaten the University’s policy against donations influencing academic freedom. “That’s been a formal policy, but it’s been compromised,” said Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School. “Because the view has been encouraged that, ‘Of course, if you’re going to give half a billion dollars, we’re going to listen to you about policy judgments we make related to your money.’” “This is not a design of your third vacation house in Colorado,” Lessig added. “This is a university that’s got an incredible tradition and lots of complicated balances that need to be drawn in

THE HARVARD CRIMSON FEBRUARY 9, 2024

COVER STORY

The Harvard Corporation has come under heavy fire and scrutiny in recent months over its handling of the University’s leadership crisis. QUINN G. PERINI — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

order to make it the best it can be.” Garber and Harvard are also engaged in a tense back-andforth with the House Committee on Education and the Workforce over its request for a litany of internal documents related to its investigation into campus antisemitism, including internal communications from top administrators and members of the Corporation. Committee Chairwoman Virigina Foxx (R-N.C.) issued Garber and Pritzker a final warning to comply with the request for documents — and threatened to subpoena the University if Harvard’s submission does not meet the committee’s standards. Harvard has made eight submissions to the Committee since the investigation started, Newton, the University spokesperson, wrote in a statement on Wednesday. Stanley M. Brand, an attorney who has represented congressional witnesses for almost 50 years, said that while Congress might threaten Harvard with legal action, it would take “arduous, long and drawn out proceedings in court” to do so. “They can huff and puff and say, ‘We’re gonna hold you in contempt,’ but that takes months, if not years, to bring to fruition,” Brand said. Still, some have called on Pritzker and the Corporation to do more to defend the University against political attacks. Reville said the Corporation should set limits on requests that “border on harassment from Congress and other sources who clearly have an agenda to undermine universities like Harvard.” “It can’t be left just to an interim president to — on his own — stand up for Harvard,” Reville added.

Garber, who for 12 years has wielded considerable power behind the scenes, has now been cast into the spotlight. ADDISON Y. LIU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

‘They Know’ The University’s precarious position has led Harvard’s biggest supporters and loudest critics to turn their ire to Pritzker and the Corporation. Harvard’s critics, like Ackman and Foxx, alleged the Corporation failed to thoroughly investigate allegations of plagiarism against Gay. Affiliates who are generally supportive of the Corporation, however, have also questioned why the board remained silent for one week after Gay’s congressional testimony even as she faced a relentless stream of bad press. “Believe me, they know that they have brought harm to Harvard,” said Jeffrey S. Flier, former dean of Harvard Medical School. “They’re being criticized very broadly,” Flier added. “And they need to show in some explicit way that they take that seriously.” After Gay — once heralded by Pritzker as the leader to shepherd the University into the next decade — abruptly resigned following three months of nonstop campus turmoil, the Corporation had to return to the drawing board and embark on its second

Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 has rebuffed calls to resign. ADDISON Y. LIU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

presidential search in as many years. But some faculty members have said they’ve lost faith in the Corporation to make far-reaching decisions for the University, like selecting the next president. “I and a lot of people that I talked to have very little confidence in the Harvard Corporation at this point to make such a decision,” said Maya R. Jasanoff ’96, a professor of History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “I think we have to have a serious conversation about whether the existing Harvard Corporation is fit for purpose in terms of selecting the next president,” Jasanoff added. Summers said that he hopes the search for Harvard’s 31st president will learn from “the failures of last semester.” “I would hope that this Corporation search will be very different in process and outcome than what has taken place recently,” Summers said. One of the Corporation’s main responsibilities for the upcoming semester is to establish a search committee which will vet potential candidates for the presidency. The committee is usually composed of the 12 Fellows of the Corporation and 3 members of the Board of Overseers. Last weekend, the Corporation and the Board of Overseers laid the groundwork for appointing a presidential search committee at the boards’ most recent meetings. The boards met for hours behind the closed doors of Loeb House and the Faculty Club before announcing the election of two new Fellows to fill vacancies on the Corporation, both of whom will presumably serve on the next presidential search committee. Even as the Corporation looks toward a president to lead the University in the aftermath of the crisis, Pritzker and Garber will need to work together for the time being to find a path out of the turbulence. But how long that partnership lasts could be up to Pritzker and the presidential search committee. Garber said the presidency will be his last administrative role at Harvard, regardless of whether he is offered the role permanently. “I am happy in my current position,” Garber said. “I’ll just leave it at that.” emma.haidar@thecrimson.com cam.kettles@thecrimson.com

THC Read more at THECRIMSON.COM

Committee Chairwoman Virigina Foxx (R-N.C.) warned the University and threatened a subpoena. MILES J. HERSZENHORN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

LAURINNE JAMIE P. EUGENIO — CRIMSON DESIGNER

PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH FROM PAGE 1

Who Could Take Over as Harvard’s 31st President? external relations,” she added. Despite being a central figure in many of the University’s academic union disputes, Garber largely avoided the spotlight over the years. His biggest disadvantage, however, might be his age. Garber was expected to retire toward the start of Gay’s tenure, before the leadership crisis propelled him into the presidency. He was also among the first top administrators to publicly acknowledge mistakes in the University’s initial statement after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and billed himself as a unifying force since becoming interim president. Harvard Law School professor Noah R. Feldman said that “Alan has been doing an extraordinary job as provost for a long time, and so far seems to be doing an excellent job under very challenging circumstances.” John F. Manning ’82, Harvard Law School Dean As HLS dean, Manning, 62, is a bit of an outlier among Harvard’s top deans. Manning is a conservative who clerked for former Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin G. Scalia. He also gained a reputation for promoting intellectual diversity among an outspoken faculty and student body. Manning joined the Harvard faculty in 2007, as part of an effort to recruit more conservative faculty, and gradually rose through the HLS ranks to deputy dean in 2013 and then dean in 2017. Lawrence Lessig, a professor at HLS, said that Manning has been an “outstanding” dean who he would be “very sad to lose.” “What’s most striking about John is, though he comes from a conservative background, he is masterful at knitting together people of all different perspectives to address issues that are complicated in a healthy and productive way,” Lessig said. Compared to other law schools, HLS has avoided major blow-ups over free speech issues under Manning’s leadership, Lessig said. The biggest controversy of Manning’s tenure as dean came after Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, an HLS lecturer at the time, was nominated to the Supreme Court in 2018. After several women accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, protests erupted on the Law School’s campus and some students called on Manning to remove Kavanaugh

from his teaching position. While Kavanaugh eventually decided to leave his teaching position at Harvard and Manning resisted calls to take a public stance on the confirmation, it was among his most controversial periods as dean. “He’s not just an administrator,” Lessig added. “What he does and is able to do as dean of the Law School is to set a tone and manage the intellectual environment in a way that is productive.” Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Dean Brown-Nagin, 53, who was rumored to be a serious contender in the last presidential search, will likely be considered again by the committee searching for Harvard’s 31st president. In addition to the Radcliffe deanship, Brown-Nagin is also a professor at the Law School and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Brown-Nagin chaired the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery established by former University President Lawrence S. Bacow in 2019 until 2022. She then co-authored the committee’s 2022 report that documented the University’s institutional connection to the slave trade and revealed that Harvard faculty and staff enslaved 70 Black and Indigenous people. Harvard pledged $100 million to implement recommendations made by Brown-Nagin’s committee. Brown-Nagin is also an extremely accomplished scholar, who won both the Bancroft Prize in 2012 and the 2023 Order of the Coif award for her books on the Civil Rights Movement. Paula A. Johnson ’80, Wellesley College President Johnson, 64, is one of the strongest potential external candidates to become Harvard’s 31st president. She has served in her role leading Wellesley since 2016, but previously taught as a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, and founded the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. JoAnn E. Manson, a professor at HMS who has known Johnson for over 30 years, wrote in a statement that she would be “an outstanding candidate” for the Har-

vard presidency. “When she was the Executive Director of the Connors Center, I served with her as Co-Director and saw her skills first-hand in building programs and interacting collegially and inclusively with people from all walks of life,” Manson said. As a current college president, Johnson is one of a small pool of potential candidates who have both a substantial academic portfolio and experience helming an institution of higher education. “She is a really good listener -she has a genuine interest in hearing input from others and listens intently to their feedback,” Manson said. Danielle S. Allen, Harvard Government Professor Allen, 52, who also serves as director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, was reportedly considered for the Harvard presidency during the past two searches. Allen ran the Safra Center for Ethics for eight years before stepping down in 2023. A highly accomplished scholar, she was appointed a University professor in 2016 under former President Drew G. Faust — the highest recognition a member of Harvard’s faculty can receive. Allen also had political ambitions, staging a failed campaign for governor of Massachusetts in 2022. She suspended her campaign before the primary elections. “She has had the experience of putting herself into a wide range of direct contact with people from every walk of Massachusetts life all the way up to the very senior kind of academics,” Lessig said. “I think one of the qualities that a president needs is the ability to meet people where they are for who they are,” Lessig added. Following Claudine Gay’s resignation, Allen even publicly responded on X to an immediate swell of support for her candidacy, writing that her work as a faculty member was her “only focus.” “Look, friends, I appreciate the kind words out there — & don’t mind the not so kind things,” she wrote. “But let’s all just take a breath,” she added. “My heart just hurts for Claudine right now.” Allen is currently running for Democratic State Committeewoman for Middlesex and Suffolk in Massachusetts. James E. Ryan, University of Virginia President Ryan, 57, is another potential exter-

nal candidate who would be familiar to many Harvard affiliates. Ryan previously served as dean of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education from 2013 to 2018. He left Harvard for UVA in 2018, assuming the presidency at a tumultuous moment for the Virginia institution. One year earlier, white supremacists had marched through Charlottesville, a rally which resulted in numerous injuries and one death. Michael J. Klarman, a professor at Harvard Law School who has known Ryan since teaching him in law school, said that the tragedy which played out near UVA’s campus helped convince Ryan that the presidency was something he needed to take on. “I don’t think that Jim went into university administration because he has some ambition to be an important person,” Klarman said. “I think it’s because he cares so much about education, and he feels like he can make a real contribution.” Ryan is adept at navigating charged political situations and finding common ground, Klarman said. Ryan’s proven fundraising track record could also serve as an advantage in the selection process, especially at a time when some of Harvard’s most generous donors have pledged to halt donations. During his tenure as HGSE dean, he helped raise $346 million for the school’s capital campaign, surpassing the $250 million goal. He is currently leading a capital campaign at UVA, which passed its $5 billion goal 18 months early. George Q. Daley ’82, Harvard Medical School Dean As the leader of one of Harvard’s biggest schools, Daley is another potential internal candidate to succeed Gay. Daley has served as HMS dean since 2017, after first joining the HMS faculty in 1995. “Dr. George Daley is an incredibly thoughtful leader, a visionary, an excellent communicator and has demonstrated an incredible track-record for enhancing philanthropic-led new initiatives on campus,” Asgari wrote in a statement. As Dean, he helped HMS stabilize its finances in 2022 — putting the school in its best financial position since 2009 — despite strain caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. He has also invested heavily in increasing funding for HMS researchers. Daley was one of the signatories of the University’s widely criticized initial statement on the Isra-

el-Hamas war, along with the rest of Harvard’s top administrators, including Garber, Brown-Nagin, and Manning. HMS professor Michael S.D. Agus described Daley as someone able to “listen to new perspectives” and “describe his own initial responses as imperfect.” He “was able to circle back and make some substantial improvements on his messaging to the community with real moral clarity,” Agus added. HMS, however, has faced intense scrutiny when federal prosecutors accused a former morgue manager at the school of stealing and selling human remains that had been donated. Daley was quick to strongly condemn the alleged theft, but the scandal prompted an onslaught of lawsuits against the Medical School and could damage Daley’s potential candidacy. Jenny S. Martínez, Stanford University Provost Martínez, 52, became Stanford’s provost in October and is also a strong potential candidate for the Stanford presidency. After former Stanford President Marc T. Tessier-Lavigne resigned in July, the University began a search process for their next president. That process is expected to conclude this spring. As provost, Martínez is likely a contender to succeed Tessier-Lavigne. Martínez, who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1997, has taught at Stanford since 2003. She served as the university’s law school dean from 2019 to 2023, and faced heavy scrutiny over her own free speech issue on campus, Martínez made national headlines with her response to a protest during an on-campus speech 5th U.S. Circuit Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump. After students interrupted Duncan — accusing him of threatening the rights of women, Black people, and LGBTQ people — the judge called the students “bullies” and demanded the school apologize for his treatment. Martínez apologized and said the school had not enforced its speech policy, which prohibits such disruptions. While Martínez was protested by students for apologizing, she appeared to successfuly weather the storm, becoming Stanford’s provost just months later.

Tamar S. Gendler, Yale Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Gendler, 58, is another potential candidate for the Harvard presidency who might be even more likely to take the helm at her current institution. Gendler, the dean of Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, currently occupies the same position Gay held before ascending to Harvard’s presidency. Yale’s own presidential search process, which started in September 2023, will almost certainly conclude before Harvard’s. Gendler’s current term as Yale’s FAS dean is slated to end on July 1. A strong external candidate, Gendler received a doctoral degree in Philosophy at Harvard before teaching at both Syracuse and Cornell. She has served as chair of Yale’s philosophy department and deputy provost for humanities and initiatives before assuming her current role in 2014. HLS Professor Feldman said Gendler has been “an extraordinarily successful dean” who is “an extraordinarily warm and lovely person.” John B. King, Jr. ’96, State University of New York Chancellor King, 49, would bring both extensive higher education leadership and political experience to the Harvard presidency, having served as U.S. Secretary of Education under Obama. He currently serves on Harvard’s Board of Overseers. Before being appointed chancellor of the SUNY system in December 2022, King headed The Education Trust, a civil rights nonprofit focused on bridging opportunity gaps in education. He was also New York State education commissioner for three years prior to joining the Obama Administration. King ran for governor of Maryland in 2022, pledging to address racial equity in state schools. Like Allen, he did not win his state’s Democratic primary. He now oversees the largest public higher education system in the country. Sarfraz A. Mian, a professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, said King’s leadership at the 64-campus system impressed him. “He has brought scholarship at a higher level,” Mian said. “I would like to keep him.” emma.haidar@thecrimson.com cam.kettles@thecrimson.com

EDITORIAL

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

FEBURARY 9, 2024

XINYI CHRISTINE ZHANG — CRIMSON DESIGNER

STAFF EDITORIAL

Keep the Corporation, Lose the Corporatism CORPORATION ELECTIONS. It’s frustrating that the Corporation selected new members with similar credentials. We wish they’d change it up a little. BY THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

our financiers, four academics, a litigation partner, a nonprofit leader, a businessman, and a billionaire heiress. Sound like the board of a big bank or a publicly traded company? Think again. These are the fellows of the shadowy Harvard Corporation — the body that governs Harvard, hires its president, sets its budgets, and shapes the priorities of the nation’s foremost university. Yesterday, we learned that two others will be joining this exclusive club in the coming year — pharmaceutical executive Kenneth C. Frazier and private equity bigshot Joseph Y. Bae ’94. Few doubt their private-sector credentials. How they will contribute to the diversity of a university gov-

erning board already saturated with top corporate talent, however, is far from obvious. The appointments of Frazier and Bae are two more data points in a disconcerting trend of appointments from large corporate multinationals to Harvard’s highest governing board. While a background in business can provide valuable leadership experience, in many ways, the skills and methods rewarded by Corporate America stand at odds with what we would hope to see in the governance of a place of learning. Rather than continuing to select financiers to serve at Harvard’s helm, the Corporation would be wise to tap into more talent from the academy and other institutions outside the corporate world. As long as current members of the Corporation select successors, disrupting the path from Wall Street to Mass. Ave will be no easy feat. The Corporation reportedly chooses new members with a commitment towards maintaining a similar level of representation from fellows across business, academia, and law. When a financier leaves, it is quite reasonable to expect a financier will replace them.

That said, we can hardly in good conscience endorse sweeping structural changes to Harvard’s corporate governance while chaos still reigns. Major changes to such an important institution must be judiciously considered — not knee-jerk reactions to still-ongoing events. As the Corporation navigates chaos, it must not overreact to the caprices of public opinion, which have in recent weeks included calls for Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 to resign from her post — a totally facile proposal that fails to address the real issues plaguing Harvard and higher education. This kind of two-bit punditry cannot guide how Harvard responds to its greatest crisis in decades. Corporation fellows not only manage thousands of employees and billions of dollars, but also serve as stewards of Harvard and its mission. They keep a steady hand on the tiller, able to weather the storms of politics and public opinion, in part by virtue of their insularity. That insularity does not entail that the Corporation must remain so opaque. We continue to believe the Corporation needs to increase the transparency of its ap-

proach to governance. A case in point: Harvard’s official website lists only two public statements on former University President Claudine Gay: The first “unanimously” supports her; the second laments her resignation. The total lack of public communication in the intervening period epitomizes the Corporation’s woefully inadequate approach to explaining its decision-making to the Harvard community and the wider world. Frazier and Bae represent safe, unsurprising picks for a centuries-old governing board undergoing a crisis in its confidence. Once more, the names change, but the backgrounds don’t — the Corporation, it seems, is happy to settle for more of the same.

myself within the treacherous history I once thought I could know without truly confronting. By facing these often terrifying narratives headon, I have learned to navigate the realities that plague

trate: I am afraid that my physical appearance creates a preconceived notion of inferiority so I feel pressure to either speak with eloquence or remain silent indefinitely. I am afraid of not being able to afford my current or future education, so I work throughout the semester and during breaks. I am afraid of being looked down upon by those I care for most, so I strive to prove myself to them in any way I can. I don’t aim to suggest that fear should dictate our lives. Rather, I present these examples as proof that fear instills a vital sense of urgency in each of us, reminding us that complacency can kill. Confronting fear is ugly and sometimes unhealthy but often necessary. Fear is raw and real; to suppress it would be to deny human nature. In fact, facing my fears — especially those that stretch generations — has helped me realize the truest version of myself: Fear has driven me to seek change, achieve goals, and strive to better understand the world around me. If engaging with generational trauma is my greatest fear, then my greatest hope is that doing so will not only be an instrument for my individual growth, but also one step in a journey toward collective improvement and societal progress.

–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.

OP-ED

Facing Black Fear BY JAILA C. MABRY

eeing my people in pain.” It’s my go-to answer to the classic “biggest fear” question — whether it’s asked in a group of friends, during an intimate conversation, or as an icebreaker. It’s also the reason why, for most of my life, I refused to engage with media that emphasizes Black trauma, like “12 Years a Slave” or Toni Morrison’s oeuvre. For years, I avoided such works — despite their cultural significance and global acclaim — precisely because they raise questions I didn’t always want to ask, let alone answer. More recently, though, I’ve learned the power of engaging them head-on. Take “The Strange Thing About the Johnsons,” a short, satirical drama on sexual assault — a taboo subject, especially within Black families. While disturbing, the film has equipped me with many of the tools necessary to have nuanced conversations about uncomfortable truths of the Black experience. Engaging critically with these issues has given me the space to decide where I stand, what I will tolerate and what I must speak out against, and who to surround myself with. Ultimately, engaging with Black trauma — as much as it scares me — is the best way to learn how to protect myself from it. In the movies, books, and now too at Harvard, it is only by facing these fears that I snap out of complacency and grow.

My first field trip at Harvard brought me to the Royall House and Slave Quarters, one of the last preserved freestanding quarters for enslaved people in the North. The best way to describe how I felt upon arrival was unsettled. I’d spent my entire life actively avoiding spaces like this one; I was overcome with an uneasiness in the presence of a history I had always known. The enslavement and systemic oppression of Black people in America are inextricably intertwined with everything else I know about my people’s history. Neglecting this history for years made it all the more glaring when I finally confronted it. From “Selma,” a historical retelling of the 1965 voting rights campaign in the South to “Get Out,” a hor-

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Ultimately, engaging with Black trauma — as much as it scares me — is the best way to learn how to protect myself from it. ror film which explores benevolent racism — Black trauma, including my own, transcends genre. It was not until I watched these films that I gained insight into a narrative deeper than any abstract history textbook could offer. It was not until I entered the Royall House and Slave Quarters that I could place

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Fear, while often valued for its crucial role in survival, should also be celebrated as a motivating, empowering force when faced and overcome.

the world I inhabit. Racism is alive and well, and while I attend an institution that has implemented initiatives to combat this truth, there is still much work to be done. It is easier to leave history in the past if you choose not to recognize it staring you in the face in the present. By engaging with generations of Black trauma, I can more clearly identify and cope with it in my own life. Fear, while often valued for its crucial role in survival, should also be celebrated as a motivating, empowering force when faced and overcome. After all, it is from grappling with fear that we learn some of life’s most valuable lessons. And by fears I don’t mean roller coasters or the mice in our dorm rooms — I mean the intangible fears that we so often choose to ignore under the guise of protecting our peace. For those who may not relate, allow me to illus-

–Jaila C. Mabry ’27, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Wigglesworth Hall. This piece is a part of a focus on Black authors and experiences for Black History Month.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

EDITORIAL

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

STAFF EDITORIAL

Plagiarism Is the Right’s Newest Weapon SHERRI CHARLESTON being accused of plaigarism is emblematic of the right’s latest method to discredit academia. Harvard must fight back by proactively making sure their scholars are unimpeachable.

these plagiarism charges as tools in their siege on diversity initiatives. Following the allegations against Charleston, Christopher Brunet — one of the first journalists

BY THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

s the culture wars lurch on, the right has found a perfect weapon with which to hit the university — taken straight from the academy’s arsenal itself: claims of plagiarism. Harvard’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Sherri A. Charleston faces accusations of 40 counts of plagiarism — allegations that bear striking similarities to those levied against former University President Claudine Gay just weeks ago. We have harshly and unconditionally condemned plagiarism — and we continue to do so here. While Charleston’s role may be administrative rather than academic, her academic record has been called into question, and Harvard must respond accordingly, lest it repeat the mistakes it made with Gay. Far away from our Cambridge campus, however, conservative commentators are deploying

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You might be wondering: How does plagiarism in a 15-year-old dissertation implicate diversity, equity, or inclusion?

to publish a story accusing Gay of plagiarism — seized the opportunity to denigrate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts: “Here is a crazy idea: rather than replace her, just eliminate the position” of chief diversity officer, he wrote on X. You might be wondering: How does plagiarism in a 15-year-old dissertation implicate diversity, equity, or inclusion? There’s the rub: Plagiarism has absolutely nothing to do with DEI. And plagiarism allegations against one diversity officer are not an indictment of diversity, eq-

uity, and inclusion writ large. (Much the same way that plagiarism accusations against one designer, who incidentally is the wife of an outspoken hedge fund manager, does not discredit the design industry as a whole.) Today’s right-wing activists are conflating academic dishonesty with DEI — a necessary response to Harvard’s legacy of exclusion — in an attempt to kneecap higher education and diversity programs nationwide. At universities, where the scholarly enterprise is predicated on academic integrity, brandishing plagiarism allegations against university employees is uniquely effective at discrediting personnel. The genius of these attacks is that they corner Harvard between condoning academic dishonesty and conceding to conservative efforts smearing DEI campaigns. Now, with rapidly-advancing digital tools, plagiarism-hunting is only getting easier. The type of plagiarism of which Gay and Charleston have been accused — involving copied language — is the kind most easily detected by software. It strains the imagination to believe that similar misconduct is limited exclusively to two prominent Black women. Running through every academic’s record with a fine-tooth comb would surely reveal more instances of substandard cita-

tions or scholarly sloppiness. Yet Gay and Charleston in particular have been singled out as figureheads for DEI, subjected to racist and sexist vitriol, and, in the case of Gay, carelessly cast to the wayside as collateral damage in a larger attack on universities. Moving forward, Harvard must make sure that plagiarism attacks fail for lack of ammunition. If conservative organizations — or even muckraking journalists — can run extremely extensive plagiarism checks, Harvard can too during its hiring process. Our university must ensure that future employees are unimpeachable through better vetting — not only to uphold our values of academic integrity, but also to ensure that this newfound weapon in the war on higher education can no longer be deployed. Academic integrity is not only what’s at stake; it’s the entire academic project too.

COLUMN

SEARCHING FOR HARVARD

FORGING HARVARD’S FUTURE

Harvard Shouldn’t Do Activism

‘From the River to the Sea’ for Me — But Not for Thee

INSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE. Harvard should focus on academic impact in the outside world, not weigh in on disconnected political and social issues.

POLITICAL SLOGANS. Israeli government officials have used “from the river to the sea” to advocate for violence — we should call them out for this.

BY LORENZO Z. RUIZ

BY MAYA A. BODNICK

arvard doesn’t know what it wants to be. The trials of the last three months have clarified that fact, but Harvard’s identity crisis did not begin in the fall of 2023. It took time to fester until, suddenly, we were amazed to watch it give way to international controversy. Over the last century, the University has adopted an increasingly public stature, coming to conceive of itself as an institution with a unique national purpose. Vexingly, though, it has failed to decide precisely what that purpose is. Are we a school or a brand or a research lab? Are we political or apolitical? Are we a venue for debate or instruction? Do we exist for students or society? The day after University President Claudine Gay’s resignation, the Corporation wrote of Harvard’s commitment to “contributing through scholarship and education to a better world.” I am surely not alone in asking: What does that mean? To the traditionalists, the academy should embrace the kind of cloistered scholarship and education that flourished in early European universities and the learned monasteries that preceded them. To the reformists, the university should involve itself directly in affairs beyonds its gates, contributing to a vision for the world by means more direct than merely instruction and research. These dueling visions for the academic project lie at the core of Harvard’s identity crisis. A national political brawl centering our university only brought it to the fore. In many ways, I fear Harvard has leaned too heavily into the latter self-conception and endangered itself in the process. We have confused this institution’s mission to better the world through scholarship and education with a broad project of directly shaping that world. At some point, we — Harvard’s stakeholders — began to impose on the University expectations that it would take explicit stances

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We have confused this institution’s mission to better the world through scholarship and education with a broad project of directly shaping that world.

on social and political issues reflective of our own (disproportionately progressive) ideological or moral impulses. It has done so to its detriment. Many among us envision a Harvard that continually comments on world events, metes out blame, and prescribes remedies based on explicit institutional values. It is natural, when one feels oneself and one’s identity as wrapped up in the identity of an institution, to seek affirmation in the words and deeds of that institution, particularly when it carries such social sway as Harvard. But those wishes, while understandable, are unsustainable. In the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, society at large pressured Har-

vard into taking on a role as a direct political actor. The University’s leadership, of course, demonstrated incompetence in this capacity. They failed at articulating a satisfactory posture and at calming both affiliates and outside critics. Why? Because the role of a university is not to render verdicts on geopolitical disputes and pronounce those rulings in public statements. The campus controversy that began the chaos of the last few months should have been resolved between students and their administrators. It was not. That it wasn’t is the product of years of pressure from affiliates, the media, and the nation at large for Harvard to pick sides, and of an administration that caved to

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I want a proud, proactive Harvard that is sure and transparent in motive, and whose surety enables a feisty, earnest defense of academic freedom.

expectation, all the while neglecting to keep its behavior within the scope of its mandate to inform the world. That flaw was fatal. By failing to stand behind a well-defined and sensible mission, Harvard made itself an easy target for political attack. Harvard has a purpose, and it is not to formulate and advocate the moral values of the average Harvard affiliate. And it is surely not to lounge in tweed, puffing on pipes and scrutinizing Thucydides for another 400 years. Rather, we must harken to an archetype Harvard pioneered in the 20th century. We must remember the middle way of the modern university, which charts a course between scholasticism and activism, granting students and faculty the freedom to learn, share, debate, refine, and eventually mobilize their ideas beyond the university. Let this be Harvard’s purpose. It bears noting, however: Harvard must remain a vocal, forceful advocate for higher education — in some sense, its face. If Harvard’s purpose is to steward the academic project, its sole social responsibility is to advocate, in the most aggressive and expansive terms, with every brick and book and billion of its being, that project and that project alone. Nothing further. I want a proud, proactive Harvard that is sure and transparent in motive, and whose surety enables a feisty, earnest defense of academic freedom. Indeed, in recent weeks, I have been outspoken in my desire for a “vengeful Harvard,” prepared to sternly confront its detractors and dismantle the rhetorical scaffolding of anti-intellectualism. To accomplish that, the University must unify its purpose behind a fortified, generous academic character. That requires that we, the Harvard community, let it.

–Lorenzo Z. Ruiz ’27, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Greenough Hall. His column, “Searching for Harvard,” runs bi-weekly on Mondays.

ince Hamas’ bloody terrorist attack on Oct. 7, the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” has become a rallying cry for pro-Palestine activists at Harvard and around the world. While activists claim that this chant calls for freedom and human rights for Palestinians, critics — including several Jewish organizations, powerful Harvard donors like Bill A. Ackman ’88, and even former University President Claudine Gay — have condemned the phrase and argued that it’s often perceived as an antisemitic threat. As a Jewish student and a liberal Zionist, I agree with many of these criticisms. I’m disturbed that my classmates have chanted this phrase despite Hamas adopting it as one of their slogans. For many, the chant implies ethnic cleansing — and, for some, genocide — of Jewish Israelis. That said, Hamas isn’t the only group that uses “river to the sea” rhetoric. The Israeli right has routinely invoked similar language to describe their violent efforts to create a single Jewish state. The original platform of the Likud party, for example, stated that “between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.” More recently, in 2022, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party declared in his coalition’s agenda that “the Jew-

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Clearly, these coalition leaders use “river to the sea” rhetoric to advocate a broader annexationist agenda. ish people have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop the settlement of all parts of the Land of Israel — in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan and Judea and Samaria.” (Many ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition refer to the West Bank territory by its Biblical name of “Judea and Samaria.”) And in a speech on July 19, Israeli Minister of Justice Yariv G. Levin said “the entire Land of Israel will be ours as it should be.” Clearly, these coalition leaders use “river to the sea” rhetoric to advocate a broader annexationist agenda. In 2018, Netanyahu helped pass a law that declared “the right to exercise national self-determination” in Israel as “unique to the Jewish people.” And over the past several decades, Israel has been slowly and systematically expanding the settlement presence in the West Bank. Now, over half a million Israeli settlers live in the Palestinian territory. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, right-wing Israeli political leaders have gone so far as to advocate for tactics in Gaza that border on ethnic cleansing. Last month, 12 cabinet ministers and 15 Knesset members in Netanyahu’s coalition attended a conference calling for new Jewish settlements in Gaza after the war. “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba,” said Israeli Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, comparing Israel’s strategy in Gaza to the mass

displacement of Palestinians in 1948. It’s hard to imagine a more explicit call to violently remove the Palestinian people from their land. Although both the Israeli right and Hamas use “river to the sea” rhetoric, the two groups are far from morally equivalent. Hamas is a terrorist group intent on genocide, while Israel is a democratic nation. Despite this distinction, the fact remains: Several powerful ministers in the Israeli government have a horrifically violent vision for the future of the Palestinian people. And both sides use “river to the sea” language — not just pro-Palestine activists.

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Several powerful ministers in the Israeli government have a horrifically violent vision for the future of the Palestinian people. Pro-Israel advocates have very vocally condemned pro-Palestine protesters at Harvard chanting “from the river to the sea.” Yet these same critics, at least in my experience, conspicuously ignore the strikingly similar rhetoric from Netanyahu’s coalition. As a strong supporter of free speech, I don’t think the University should discipline students for chanting “from the river to the sea” — or for similarly offensive pro-Israel statements if they were to be voiced on campus. But free speech doesn’t mean immunity from strong disagreement. In our public discourse at Harvard, we must speak out against violent “river to the sea” language and policies — from both sides, not just from pro-Palestine activists. We can’t be one-sided in condemning speech and policies that advocate for ethnic cleansing. At Harvard, I haven’t witnessed students or faculty explicitly repeat Likud’s “river to the

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In our public discourse at Harvard, we must speak out against violent “river to the sea” language and policies — from both sides, not just from pro-Palestine activists. sea” rhetoric or even defend the Israeli right. But we still have an obligation to criticize powerful Israeli leaders who actively support ethnically cleansing of the Palestinian people. If right-wing Israeli politicians speak at Harvard, we should ask them hard questions and hold them accountable for their rhetoric and policies, just as we criticize Palestinian protesters for using similar language. And we must also call on the Biden administration to increase pressure on Netanyahu around this issue. The stakes are too high to stay quiet.

–Maya A. Bodnick is a Government concentrator in Mather House. Her column, “Forging Harvard’s Future,” appears bi-weekly on Tuesdays.

METRO

THE HARVARD CRIMSON FEBRUARY 9, 2024

HEART City Contract Stalled BY SALLY E. EDWARDS AND ASHER J. MONTGOMERY CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

ents noticed, and a number of people were confused.” “That communication — what was happening, when it was happening, or why — didn’t reach all the parents,” he added. Several parents said they were also intimidated and confused by the presence of police during dropoff and pick-up at Graham & Parks, which they said had occurred only in the past two school years. In an email, Cambridge Police Department spokesperson Robert Goulston wrote that “the principal of the school often requests a police presence during drop off and pick up because it gets congested with parents picking up and students walking and busses coming and going.” One parent said the culture at Graham & Parks has led them to consider pulling their child out of the school. In their Jan. 2 letter, Coalition members also raised fears about teachers leaving. In their statement to The Crimson, members of the School Council urged parents not to select “one perspective or story to guide your judgment of the situation,” calling on them to instead engage directly with the School Council. The school’s future, Henry said, depends on caregivers’ ability to engage in respectful conversation. “I appreciate and understand that not all parents are going to see see the situation the same way. We don’t have to,” Henry said. “I think part of what’s at stake here is how do we behave when we disagree?”

After more than a year of negotiations with Cambridge city officials, the Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team remains puzzled by the lack of progress in contract negotiations with the city. Cambridge HEART — a public safety alternative that operates independently of the city’s emergency response services — is currently in negotiations with the city to receive a year-long contract. Co-director Corinne Espinoza said the organization, which they said provides “holistic” public safety and emergency support to Cambridge residents, has had over seven meetings with city leadership and has put together four separate applications in an effort to secure funding. Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern — who has been working with HEART since its establishment — said that the organization “could add a lot of value and another layer of support” for residents. Still, he said, contract negotiations between the city and HEART have “stalled.” “There seems to be a little bit of a disconnect between the city and HEART in terms of what needs to be provided to the city in order to enter into a contract,” McGovern said. “HEART has provided some information to the city — but the city is saying it’s not the correct information that we need.” Espinoza said they believe the organization could have launched an emergency response initiative months ago were the funding process more streamlined. “We’re really unclear about why our attempts at getting a contract have not been successful,” they said. “Honestly, we’re a little baffled because publicly the city always says that it wants to fund us — but then they don’t fund us.” According to city spokesperson Jeremy C. Warnick, the city received a proposal and an organizational budget from HEART in December. In a meeting on Dec. 20, “City Leadership provided feedback to the HEART team on what type of information all nonprofits, including HEART, are required to submit in order to be considered for funding,” Warnick wrote in a statement to The Crimson. But Espinoza said that the organization has not received consistent instructions from officials. “I’m given a set of instructions and I follow them — and then later, the instructions change and then I follow the new instructions, and then they change again,” they said. “We can’t know what’s going on.” McGovern said that the organization’s relationship with the city initially got off to a “rough start,” after HEART was “very critical” of the Cambridge City Council and Cambridge Police Department. “There wasn’t a lot of trust between HEART and the city and vice versa,” McGovern said. “I think the city was a little resistant to an organization that was new.” While McGovern said the city has become more “appreciative” of HEART, he said he does not understand why contract negotiations between Cambridge and the organization have stalled. In March, the City Council passed a policy order calling on City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 to fund HEART and negotiate a contract that would allow the organization to respond to certain 911 calls. A few months later, Cambridge finalized a $300,000 grant to HEART using federal Covid-19 relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. This week, the city received invoices totaling nearly $24,000 from HEART that are currently being processed, according to Warnick. HEART also requested and was reimbursed $30,000 from the city. “The City has also been working with HEART to support requests they have made to amend their grant agreement,” Warnick wrote. Espinoza said that on top of the ARPA funds, which they called “a special, emergency funding mechanism,” HEART will continue to seek a regular contract for services with city funds. “The city publicly states that they want to fund HEART,” Espinoza said. “So I continue to work toward that goal, even though it has not been successful yet.”

darcy.lin@thecrimson.com emily.schwartz@thecrimson.com

sally. edwards@thecrimson.com asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com

Rising Cambridge Public Schools budgets sparked worries among some City Councilors and School Committee members. JOEY HUANG — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Rising Cambridge School Budget Worries Some City Councilors BUDGET CONCERNS. Some City Councilors voiced concerns about rising school budgets in a Monday discussion. BY DARCY G. LIN AND EMILY T. SCHWARTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

ising Cambridge Public Schools budgets sparked worries among some City Councilors and School Committee members during a joint roundtable discussion Monday. Cambridge Public Schools Superintendent Victoria L. Greer and interim Chief Financial Officer Ivy Washington told the two bodies that CPS’ fiscal year 2025 general fund budget is projected to be $268.25 million — a 9.5 per-

cent projected increase from the previous fiscal year. But Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern and Councilor Burhan Azeem, in addition to School Committee member Elizabeth Hudson, raised concerns about the increased budget, which has risen every fiscal year since at least fiscal year 2012. McGovern, who speculated that city revenues could diminish in future years due to biotechnology labs leaving Cambridge, said it was important to evaluate “what’s working and what’s not working.” “We may find ourselves with our backs against the wall and that we simply just can’t afford to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” McGovern said, though he added that he did not want to see budget cuts. Azeem also expressed worry that “trade-offs are coming.”

“We might not have money to redo certain schools, or if we really do prioritize schools, we might not be able to do other things that the city is interested in,” he said. Greer and Washington attributed the increase to investments in the Universal Preschool Program, set to debut this fall, as well as cost-of-living salary increases and a 30-minute extension of the school day, components of the CEA contract agreement negotiated last fall. According to Greer, the district also spends twice the state average on guidance and counseling. Each CPS school building employs a school counselor, adjustment counselor, social worker and school psychologist. Greer also said that funds are going toward developing and implementing new middle and ele-

mentary school literacy curricula to reach the district’s “aspirational target” of 100 percent students meeting grade-level expectations for literacy and math by 2025. School Committee member Elizabeth Hudson said the rising budget calls for greater accountability on whether the district’s “really great, big, ambitious programs” are working. “In 2017, I think our total expenditures per pupil was $28,000. In 2022, all in, it was about $36,000,” Hudson said. “So that’s a 30 percent jump with no real change in student achievement scores.” When certain City Council members expressed interest in staying involved in school budget discussions, School Committee member Richard Harding Jr. said the School Committee needs time on its own to discuss the budget.

“While it may seem like we’ve had 60,000 conversations, we have not,” Harding said. This is very, very early in the process, so if we were to come back together, it should be after we have thoroughly had some conversations within the school committee.” After receiving feedback that the district did not engage residents and caretakers in budget-related discourse early on, the district began holding public meetings in December to discuss the budget, said Greer. The district will hold their fourth and final school open budget discussion on Feb. 13. The budget analysis and planning process will end in March, and the final budget is slated to be adopted in June. darcy.lin@thecrimson.com emily.schwartz@thecrimson.com

GRAHAM AND PARKS FROM PAGE 1

Graham & Parks Principal Faces Parent Backlash nd questioned why, during the a hiring process, negative accounts of her employment as the principal of a Newton elementary school did not cast doubt on her fitness to lead Graham & Parks. Last year, a group of anonymous parents formed the G&P Caregiver Coalition to voice their frustrations. On Dec. 4, the Coalition sent a petition signed by 116 parents, guardians, and caregivers to Smith and CPS officials demanding Smith be more transparent with parents about her decision-making processes. On Jan. 2, the coalition followed up with a letter to the School Committee, which included a 2019 report from the Newton Public School district that found Smith had fostered a toxic workplace environment when serving as principal of Underwood Elementary School. In the letter, the coalition claimed that the same problems existed at Graham & Parks, adding that Smith “has not learned from her experience at Underwood or improved her leadership practices.” “Our school is facing a crisis that requires immediate action,” the letter read, calling on CPS Superintendent Victoria L. Greer to remove Smith. Three days later, Greer responded to the Coalition in an email, writing that the district has engaged a law firm to conduct a “thorough review” into the allegations of workplace toxicity. In an emailed statement to The Crimson, Cambridge Public Schools spokesperson Sujata Wycoff wrote that “the district

has contracted with an impartial external review of all the concerns raised and allegations made by this small, yet vocal group of parents.” “The district does not, has not, and will not comment or respond to inquiries involving personnel matters,” Wycoff wrote. “Following the completion of the confidential review, the matter will be addressed in a manner that aligns with the appropriate employment laws and district policies and procedures.” A ‘50-Year Tradition’ Parent frustration has largely centered around concerns that Smith failed to embrace the school’s long-standing emphasis on project-based learning. Project-based learning involves “hands-on investigations, content-area research, fieldwork, and meetings with local experts in relevant fields” working toward a final project or product, per the school’s website. “She never was clear” that she supported the project-based model, one parent and Coalition member said. “Graham & Parks’ focus has always been project-based learning and a lot of the parents send their kid there for that reason.” In their petition, the Coalition called for a public forum to address “the status of G&P’s 50-year tradition of project based learning, explore how PBL can be used to continue to build equity, and listen to feedback from the whole G&P community.” But Christian G. Henry, cochair of Graham & Parks’ School Council and a Graham & Parks parent, disagreed with the char-

acterization that Smith has moved away from a project-based learning curriculum. Rather, he said, she has “inspired a reexamination of all the ways in which the structures and the policies and the practices of the school allow us to fulfill as a school.” In their statement, the School Council parent representatives wrote that “our school has been underperforming for some time” and that Smith has actively communicated about “the necessity of reallocating resources to address our highest areas of need.” According to Cambridge Public School’s 2022-2023 math and English/Language Arts testing results, Graham & Parks’ students performed slightly above district averages, though only 58 percent of students across grade-levels met or exceeded school expectations on both tests. Henry said Smith has clearly communicated her plans at School Council meetings — which are held monthly, according to Graham & Parks’s website — and has hosted events such as “principal’s coffees” for parents and teachers to speak with her about school culture and policy. But six parents, including Shin, said Smith largely avoided answering parent questions in these School Council meetings and other structured opportunities to correspond with parents, such as the principal’s coffee hours. One parent and member of the Coalition described the lack of room for discussion in such meetings as “upsetting.” Another said Graham & Parks parents have become accustomed to asking questions of and

providing feedback to school administrators. By contrast, Smith “didn’t want to hear, didn’t want to engage that way, didn’t want to answer questions,” another parent and Coalition member said. Confusing Changes Parents also objected to Smith reassigning paraprofessionals — school employees who work under certified teachers to support students — whom they said have traditionally been a staple in Graham & Parks classrooms. According to one parent and Coalition member, Smith divorced many paraprofessional and teacher pairings. Another said that paraprofessional and teachers’ longstanding pairings were “integral” to Graham & Parks’ project-based learning approach. Many of the pairings lasted several years, the parent said. The reason behind reshuffling the paraprofessionals was unclear to parents. But Henry, the School Council co-chair, said paraprofessionals were redistributed across classrooms due to budget shifts and to meet the particular needs of students in those classes.“My sense is the reassignment of paras was based on limited resources,” Henry said. “Not every classroom would or even really should expect to have two adults in every classroom.” Still, he said, the changes were poorly communicated to Graham & Parks parents, who were accustomed to the old system. “It has been tradition here” to have both a teacher and paraprofessional in each classroom, Henry said. “It was a change that par-

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

METRO

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

UNIVERSITY FINANCES

Proposed Mass. Bill Could Tax Endowment ENDOWMENT TAX. Proposed bill could impose an annual 2.5 percent excise tax on Harvard. BY AISLING A. MCLAUGHLIN AND MADELINE E. PROCTOR CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

wo Massachusetts lawmakers proposed a bill which would impose an annual excise tax of 2.5 percent on Harvard’s endowment. The bill – titled An Act to Support Educational Opportunity for All – affects private educational endowments greater than $1 billion. Given Harvard’s $50.7 billion endowment, per October’s Annual Financial Report, Harvard would be one of eleven Massachusetts private schools subject to the endowment tax. According to Bloomberg News, the tax would generate approximately $1.2 billion from Harvard, which would fund statewide education intiatives. Representative Natalie M. Higgins of Leominster – one of the bill’s two sponsors, along with Representative Christine P. Barber of Somerville – said the motivation for the bill was to increase educational access. “We’re not targeting these institutions because they are higher ed institutions. We are really redirecting this money, just to

The Massachusetts legislature is considering a proposal to impose a 2.5 percent tax on the endowment of Harvard and other universities. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

make sure that every single person in the Commonwealth has the opportunity to get a college education,” Higgins said. Higgins said that while over half of Massachusetts residents hold a bachelor’s degree, less than a third of her constituents in Leominster have access to a degree, — a demonstraiton of the

educational inequality the bill aims to mitigate. “We have a really tough history and reality of wealth inequality in Massachusetts,” Higgins said. Higgins added that an endowment tax would boost the state’s economy. “If we have more students being able to go and get a college de-

gree and contribute to the Commonwealth, and if we have more families able to access childcare without worrying about how they’re going to make ends meet, it’s going to benefit the entire state,” she said. Though Higgins said the tax “absolutely would not be an attack on higher education,” she added

that wealthy universitise “operate using a whole lot of privilege and access to resources that most other communities don’t have.” Sonya Hagopian, Vice President for Communications at the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, wrote in an emailed statement that the proposed

tax “would undermine the fiscal health of the higher education sector.” “Colleges and universities increasingly rely on philanthropy and endowments to keep tuition down, provide financial aid, drive research and innovation, and support public and community service,” Hagopian wrote. “Targeting them will have the exact opposite effect for affordability and access.” Harvard’s Office of Treasury Management declined to comment on the State House bill. Harvard leadership has historically opposed endowment taxes, arguing that such taxes are a “blow at the strength of American higher education.” A University spokesperson declined to comment. Rather than further taxing private endowments, Hagopian said that the state should invest in “needbased financial aid programs.” Higgins said that the tax would “make sure that every single resident in Massachusetts could have access to a college degree.” “Our bill would raise enough money to make it completely free to go to any of the 29 public colleges and universities in Massachusetts, and there would be money left over for early education and care,” Higgins said. aisling.mclaughlin@thecrimson.com maddie.proctor@thecrimson.com

Hearings for Suspected Cambridge Brothel Customers Will Be Public BY SALLY E. EDWARDS AND ASHER J. MONTGOMERY CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Hearings on whether there is probable cause to criminally charge alleged customers of a high-end brothel — including professors and elected officials — must be held in public. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

earings on whether there is probH able cause to criminally charge alleged customers of a high-end brothel — including professors and elected officials — must be held in public, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled Friday. Under Massachusetts law, the 28 individuals accused of frequenting a prostitution ring in Cambridge and Watertown will face “show cause” hearings, where a Cambridge District Court official will decide whether there is enough evidence to pursue misdemeanor charges of soliciting sex. The dates of the hearings have not yet been announced. Though show cause hearings are typically held in private, Supreme Judicial Court Justice Frank M. Gaziano ruled Friday that they will be held publicly. The ruling follows requests by the Boston Globe, WBUR, and other media outlets, which argued that an open hearing would be in the public interest.

Gaziano wrote that having open hearings “promotes transparency, accountability, and public confidence” to ensure that “each individual accused of these crimes, no matter their station in life, is treated equally.” He rejected appeals by the accused individuals’ lawyers, who argued that their client’s status as private citizens — rather than public figures or high-powered individuals — would not merit a public hearing. “They are private citizens who face adverse and embarrassing collateral consequences if their name and image are published before they have the opportunity to face this case at a clerk’s hearing or in a court of law,” the lawyers wrote in a January filing. But Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy insisted that the illegal operations catered to a “wealthy and well-connected clientele.” “They are doctors, they are lawyers, they’re accountants, they are executives at high-tech companies, pharmaceutical companies, they’re military officers, government contractors, professors, scientists,” Levy said in a news conference last

year. “Pick a profession, they’re probably represented in this case.” The Cambridge Police Department and an official from the Department of Homeland Security initially issued complaints against the 28 “sex buyers” in mid-December. Federal authorities first arrested the alleged ringleaders of the scheme in November, accusing them of operating a ring of brothels out of luxury apartment complexes through the greater Boston area and Eastern Virginia. The three individuals — Han Lee, James Lee, and Junmyung Lee — were accused of enticing women to participate in the network by offering them overnight lodging in the apartments. On Friday, they were officially indicted by the federal grand jury in Boston on charges of conspiracy to persuade one or more individuals to engage in prostitution and money laundering conspiracy. The indicted individuals could face sentences of up to 25 years in prison. sally.edwards@thecrimson.com asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com

Cambridge Announces Digital Navigator Pilot Program BY AYUMI NAGATOMI AND AVANI B. RAI CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Cambridge will launch a pil program helping low-income residents access affordable internet services and technological support, the city announced Tuesday. The announcement of the program comes nearly one year after the city released a report on the feasibility of implementing municipal broadband internet for all residents, which has long been a priority for elected officials. The Digital Navigator Pilot Program will hire “digital navigators,” who will be stationed in the Cambridge Public Library and public schools, to provide support to low-income residents. Services will include assisting residents in signing up for low-cost internet connections and setting up computers and other devices. Forty percent of low-income Cambridge residents lack the digital literacy for essential services such as “banking, contacting medical support, or purchasing groceries,” the city said in a press release. City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 said in the release that the pi-

lot program is a “significant step forward in bridging the digital divide.” The program — collectively led by the city’s Information Technology Department, the Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge Public Schools, Just A Start, and Cambridge Community Television — will “align” with statewide efforts to provide digital navigators, accord-

Imagine what the city would be like if we actually had set out to solve the problem that we identified in the 2000s and actually had succeeded. Saul I. Tannenbaum Municipal Broadband Advocate

ing to the city’s press release. The pilot will be funded by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute — a state agency — and the federal American Rescue Plan Act. But the launch of the program could be impacted by the expiration of the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, municipal broadband advocate

Saul I. Tannenbaum said. The ACP subsidizes internet access to low-income households nationwide, but Congress has yet to recommit funds to the program. As a result, the Federal Communications Commission will freeze any new enrollments starting Thursday. “The access component — getting people on to the internet — depends on federal funding that’s about to expire,” Tannenbaum said. Though discussions around digital equity first began in 2007, when the city established a Digital Divide Committee, Cambridge has yet to establish a widespread municipal broadband network. While Tannenbaum said launching the new pilot program is “the right thing to do,” he also called for an “ongoing public review” of the city’s efforts. “The one thing here is just to imagine what the city would be like if we actually had set out to solve the problem that we identified in the 2000s and actually had succeeded,” Tannenbaum said. “I think it would be a much better city,” he added. ayumi.nagatomi@thecrimson.com avani.rai@thecrimson.com

Cambridge will launch a pilot program helping low-income residents access affordable internet services and technological support. MARINA QU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

ARTS 13

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Harvard professor Ya-Wen Lei sat down with The Crimson to discuss her latest monograph, “The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China.” COURTESY OF ADAM MESTAYN AND PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

HARVARD AUTHORS SPOTLIGHT

Ya-Wen Lei Discusses the Consequences of China’s Techno-Developmental State BY NICOLE L. GUO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

a-Wen Lei, Professor in the Department of Sociology at Harvard University and an affiliate of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies as well as the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, released her second monograph, “The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China,” on Nov. 21, 2023. Lei’s latest book delves into China’s burgeoning technodevelopmental regime and the grim consequences it holds for the country’s strained working class. The monograph itself is the culmination of years of fieldwork in China, with Lei spending weeks at a time in factories, conducting interviews with workers and observing the ongoing effects of rapid economic development on her interviewees’ lives. “What would happen to people whose employment was threatened by the transformation? And what does it mean for

the society to have this kind of rapid development, digital economy, would that significantly improve people’s life?” Lei said in an interview with The Harvard Crimson, exploring this “rapid transformation and its consequences” for different social classes in China. After earning a doctorate in sociology from the University of Michigan, Lei served as a Junior Fellow at the Society of Fellows at Harvard from 2013 to 2016. Since then, Lei has taught a course called “Contemporary Chinese Society” at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Having “always been teaching China,” as Lei said, it soon became apparent to her that there was a lack of coverage about China’s development after the financial crisis. This observation and her students’ curiosity motivated her to write the monograph. “There are not a lot of books on the post-financial crisis period. I didn’t find enough teaching material for me to teach students about what has happened in China,” she said. “A lot of students asked me, ‘What happened after the financial crisis?’ I wasn’t able to come up with good answers,” she said.

Accompanying the new techno-developmental state of China, Lei noticed that even among her working-class interviewees, people tended to have an overall positive view of the nation’s future. Parodying the four great inventions of ancient China, she noted how people have jokingly talked of the four great inventions of modern China: online shopping, mobile payment, shared bikes, and high-speed trains. “People see the country’s rising, and they think the government has done a good job in terms of moving the country upward on the globe. And also they see the improvements in their material life, and they think it’s meaningful for them to sacrifice a lot of aspects of life,” Lei said. However, it is undeniable that there are also voices of dissent against the workers’ dismal conditions. The factory workers Lei interviewed expressed discontent with their work life. In her book, Lei includes many of her interviewees’ personal anecdotes and quotes their ambivalent feelings about their low rank in society and the disadvantages that accompany it. “That’s the Chinese term they

used — they told me they believe they live in a cage with some kind of visible fence because, in the factory, there are boundaries,” she said. Several interviewees who had left factory life to find work elsewhere found that the novelty of physical freedom from the factory’s fences soon wore off. “They think they transformed from a robot in a factory to a driverless vehicle, or wandering on the street without meaning. They feel they realize that now they live in a new cage with an invisible fence,” Lei said. Working for online platforms, such as food delivery services, these workers still endure harsh work conditions, inclement weather, strict punishment systems set by algorithms, and discrimination from other Chinese people. For workers with families, those both inside and outside the factory face the added stress of their children being discriminated against by receiving limited access to quality education. In her book, Lei discusses the difficulties that workers of all social ranks experience in this age of digital economy. Even engineers — as vital as they are in ad-

vancing the nation’s science and technology — are subject to being cut off by the strict standards of their company’s performance evaluation system. The monograph explores how this phenomenon is part of the bigger picture of the Chinese government’s agenda to eliminate obsolete businesses. Many of the aforementioned social issues are downplayed by political leaders in order to keep the gilded surface of China’s techno-developmental state at the forefront of people’s minds. However, this is not to say Chinese people are unaware of these underlying problems or that they are blindly acquiescing to the state. “People wanted to express their views. The problem is that the political condition didn’t allow them to have that kind of discussion about humanity, about suffering, about meanings,” Lei said. With regard to the political situation, she said, “If there are more discussions, and then if there are more different kinds of solutions, then I think the situation would be better.” nicole.guo@thecrimson.com.

‘Out of Darkness’ Review: A Screen Left Better Unseen BY JOSEPH A. JOHNSON CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Rarely do mystery grab bags live up to expectations. Often, they are just lucrative ploys for retailers to offload unwanted stock to gullible consumers. AMC’s Screen Unseen program unfortunately follows this same logic, where guests can watch new films for five dollars plus tax, according to AMC’s website. This week’s film was “Out of Darkness,” a horror slasher set in 43,000 B.C.E. The film follows a Stone Age tribe as they embark on a daunt-

ing journey through an unknown land. Tensions mount once they learn a vicious predator stalks the woods, and the tribe is the only prey around. Key relationships fall apart at a time when they are essential to the tribe’s survival, leaving characters ostracized and fighting alone. The premise of “Out of Darkness” is fresh and highlights countless questions not normally asked in the horror genre: How did early cavemen communicate? What did they hunt, and how did they forage for food? What were intertribal dynamics like? How does this prehistoric

world — very different from our own — lend itself to new forms of intimacy and suspense? Despite these promises, the film was overshadowed by cheap jump scares, grotesque body horror, and an overdone “monster in the woods” trope. In “Out of Darkness,” characters are dragged away, mutilated, and murdered at regular intervals, coming across as lazy storytelling as opposed to excitement. For the first half of “Out of Darkness,” the monster exclusively comes in the form of foley sounds, rustling plants, and missing tribe members. Some

low-budget films pull off this type of psychological horror to blood-curdling effect. However, psychological horror in this film is used as a tool to cut down production costs rather than milk suspense. In essence, “Out of Darkness” fails to capture the magic of its A-rated premise. For example, scenes in which the tribe shares important exposition over artificial fire, such as flickering lights on a pitchblack sound stage, make up a very large portion of the film. If the dialogue were more engaging or the characters more endearing, these scenes might

serve a purpose other than to push the story forward. The spirituality and day-to-day life of early humans should have been the story’s main focus, with only brief departures into cerebral horror. As it is, the film does have one saving grace: its unsettling cinematography. Long shots of the vast wilderness, handheld tracking shots through the densely packed forest, and bird’s-eye shots from far above contribute to an eerie atmosphere similar to Robert Eggers’s “The Witch.” In a memorable sequence, the camera violently and spon-

taneously shakes to signify a lurking presence in the woods. The audience’s response: raucous laughter. Of course, that’s not what this shot was going for, but it wound up being one of the best in the movie for that very reason. It did something different, interesting, and worth watching. Despite its creative camerawork, “Out of Darkness” mostly amounted to an unpleasant and frustrating watch. What could have been a fascinating exploration of prehistoric life fell short as an uninteresting gimmick. joseph.johnson@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

ARTS

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

COURTESY OF ARIELLE C. FROMMER

CAMPUS

Harvard Book Store Hosts S.J. Maas Party BY HANNAH E. GADWAY CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

n Jan. 29, fans gathered at the Harvard Book Store to celebrate the midnight release of Sarah J. Maas’s new book, “House of Flame and Shadow.” Maas, a bestselling author of fantasy novels, has recently skyrocketed in popularity due to the rise of BookTok, or the subcommunity of readers on TikTok who share and discuss their favorite novels and authors. “House of Flame and Shadow” is the third installment in her Crescent City series, notably crossing

over with her equally beloved “A Court of Thorns and Roses” saga. The Harvard Book Store’s release party offered fans a chance to get a copy of the highly anticipated book at the moment of its release, as well as allow readers to connect with other members of her fandom. Participants were invited to dress up as their favorite Crescent City character, and many attendees sported custom jackets, shiny jewelry, and faux elf ears. To add to the whimsical ambiance, employees wandered between the shelves with Maas memorabilia like bookmarks, stickers, and temporary tattoos. Topping it all off, the bookstore

draped a black-and-gold photo booth across one bookshelf to give fans the opportunity to take their perfect book selfies. Activities were also provided to entertain the patrons. On the lower level of the store, a friendship bracelet-making station offered star-themed beads. The store also hosted a trivia game, quizzing readers on bookrelated knowledge by asking questions such as, “What is Bryce Quinlan’s father’s name?” or “Who was Hunt’s former lover?” Fans also swarmed over a prediction table, where they were invited to jot down predictions for the plot of the new book.

Conjectures about Maas’s novel ranged from sweet messages, like “Queen Aelin arrives,” to sad predictions that “Hunt dies :(.” One reader got even more creative with the hilarious note, “Nesta gets a Glock.” While all of these activities entertained partygoers, it seemed as if simply talking about Maas in person was the most exciting part of the night. Throughout the evening, fans chatted among the shelves of the bookstore, connecting over their shared love for Maas’s fantastical worlds. Some had used social media to find out about the event, while others had been guided to the store by Maas’s

website. The book’s release seems to have connected readers from across New England. Many of the customers traveled over an hour to attend the event, and some even crossed state lines. Once the clock began to inch closer to midnight, the store’s patrons eagerly lined up before piles of tightly wrapped book boxes. A countdown began at fifteen seconds to midnight, and the chant reverberated outside the store. “I could hear the countdown outside,” said Anthony J. Malysz ’25, who was passing by the store at the time. When midnight struck at

last, fans descended upon the tables lined with Maas’s gold-andblack book. Store employees took photos of fans hugging and holding up the novel, and some patrons immediately sat down to devour the first chapters. Reminiscent of the “Harry Potter” midnight releases of the 2000s, the Harvard Book Store’s midnight party allowed fans to connect over a shared passion for friendship and fiction. While the books are fantastical on their own, a different sort of magic — supported by a love of reading — permeated the Harvard Book Store on Jan. 29. hannah.gadway@thecrimson.com

‘Blue Raspberry’ Review: Katy Kirby Is an Exciting Voice BY ANDREW K. CHOE CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Released on Jan. 26, indie-folk musician Katy Kirby’s second album “Blue Raspberry” showcases a developed, distinct sound that focuses on the hard realities and deceptions of love. This impressive sophomore effort unites thoughtful production and songwriting to construct a compelling narrative of an intense, transformative relationship. In the first few bars of the album’s opener, “Redemption Arc,” Kirby’s soft-spoken, effortless voice steals the show. Flowing smoothly over heavy piano chords, her words soar yet still drip with veiled resentment as she begrudgingly grants a lover a second chance. Her singing is gentle to the point of feeling emotionally detached at first. But Kirby slowly pulls back the

curtain to reveal uncertainty and yearning by inserting subtle tonal inflections and strains that break up her otherwise immaculate vocal delivery. Expert arrangement contributes to this tension between a relationship’s aesthetics and substance. Piercing horns and a wailing string orchestra join the mix and crescendo as Kirby mockingly sings, “You’re doing the work now / You’re trying so hard / Oh, this one goes out to / Your redemption arc.” Kirby is at her best in these contemplative moods, and much of “Blue Raspberry” dwells in this space. Heavy piano chords are widely present, but the record also samples a broad array of sonic hues from folk, rock, and indie palettes. “Hand to Hand” creates its frustrated, exhausted tone through muted guitar plucking and warp-like distortion that shimmers in the background. Bring-

ing the acoustic guitar into the spotlight, “Party of the Century” utilizes a catchy and ringing lead guitar line to guide a more cathartic vignette of the reckless joys of being in love. “Cubic Zirconia,” the most polished song on the album, features the full gamut of textures and instrumentation. The upbeat tune starts with urgent electric piano chords that are soon joined by closely miked acoustic guitar strumming. Electric guitar fills expertly layer into the mix leading into the chorus, and Kirby’s voice floats sweetly on top of it all. The track is also remarkable in its rich, clever lyrics. “Cubic zirconia / Baby, no one can tell / When they’re up against your throat / You know they shine just as well,” Kirby sings. In this succinct metaphor, Kirby confronts deception in a relationship before conceding that a counterfeit reality may be good enough

for her after all. Yet, the threat of violence and catastrophe still lurks with the visceral image of hard gems digging into someone’s throat. Indeed, the song-

trived and repetitive at times, but Kirby’s subtle creativity keeps it fresh for the most part. On the aptly titled “Salt Crystal,” she recalls how “the rhine-

“

The album is a moving tribute to selfdiscovery and first loves that features some of the best songwriting and production in today’s indie-folk scene.

writing currency of this record seems to be metaphors involving minerals, glass, and other pretty things that glimmer but also distort one’s perception of reality. “Hand to Hand” contemplates a cracked glass jar; the title track pairs bittersweet memories with images of sugarcane. The crystal motif feels con-

stones on your baseball cap reminding me of when / The salt left crystal on the sunset of your sunburned skin.” Again, there’s undeniable beauty in these crystalline representations that highlight the love Kirby has for her significant other, but these sparkling metaphors also hint at the stinging aftermath to the

relationship. In her artist’s biography, Kirby describes how “Blue Raspberry” is an “exegesis of [her] first queer relationship” and its “crescendo and collapse.” The album is a moving tribute to self-discovery and first loves that features some of the best songwriting and production in today’s indie-folk scene. It’s autobiographical and personal but leaves enough room for listeners to find themselves in Kirby’s words. It’s a narrative that embraces contradiction, presenting a retrospective account that still feels viscerally lived and present.

4.5 STARS andrew.choe@thecrimson.com

‘Alt-Nature’ Review: Embracing Prose Poetry at Full Capacity BY VIVIENNE N. GERMAIN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

In her new collection of prose poetry, “Alt-Nature,” Saretta Morgan engages with the desert and the waters to meditate on love, violence, injustice, Blackness, and queerness. By intimately feeling the natural Earth, she unearths natural human feeling. “AltNature” is, in a word, full — and it finds success in its fullness. The collection’s premise deceptively suggests an excess of subject matter, but Morgan handles its many hefty topics effectively and gracefully. Morgan writes, “Listen how the officers have paused / for the territory to arrive. / The darker the berry / the longer there is to wait.” Her poetry communicates her ideas with appropriate gravity, but it does so with smooth, con-

cise language. It conveys complex meaning through mostly brief sentences and phrases, finding nuance without overburdening the reader with gory details. “Alt-Nature” investigates a broad range of challenging and complicated social and cultural experiences in a pensive, artful, and digestible way. Morgan wrote the collection while living between the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts, and she clearly drew from her environment to craft her writing. “AltNature” relies heavily on desert and water imagery, which lends itself to the outdoor spectacle of the American Southwest. Additionally, like the desert, one of her poetry’s most present ideas is dearth: emptiness, openness, aloneness, an absence, a lack. Morgan uses the desert’s perceived nothing to illustrate life’s overfull something, urging the reader to observe and consider

the substance in negative space. She writes, “Dearth, irrational, makes empty the valley. From elongated shadows, pulp of her desire.” Morgan embraces dearth not only through brilliant language but also through seemingly unoccupied areas — consequential blank space in and around her poems, as well as all-black pages that urge the reader to question whether they are empty or full. In addition to the written word, “Alt-Nature” flourishes through vacancy. While harmonizing environmental nature with human nature, Morgan does not baby the reader; her poetry requires attentive interpretation. In the poem “Dearth-light,” which discusses everyday human life and the necessity of self-love, Morgan writes, “only deserts witness the slow and complete life of water.” From an obvious,

straightforward reading, this statement seems unrelated to the human experience — but in its context, readers will grasp its pertinence. Morgan does not connect concepts through overly direct explanations, but her connections prove evident through her careful composition and potent imagery. In this way, inexplicit yet precise language produces the success of her work. However, it may create a barrier between her words and her readers. “Alt-Nature” is a highpressure poetry collection. Every word is deliberate and no word is superfluous, which makes her writing thick with ideas but incessantly heavy. Morgan’s ability to concentrate intricate meaning in concise language demonstrates impressive skill. Still, it may overwhelm some audiences. She writes, “This love story a horse still drunk from war, where

I am the incredible absence of her jaw. A soft pink gaining.” Morgan’s words thrive from their weight, which is clearly intentional, but this weight may deter some readers. At times, the collection feels exhausting to read or difficult to understand. However, her poetry’s weightiness is relevant, even crucial. “Alt-Nature” handles concepts that merit deep consideration: queer love, familial love, incarceration, racism, injustice, genocide, and the human body. In that case, the poetry’s density is not a flaw, merely an imperative limitation. Furthermore, Morgan’s pacing combats this obstacle. Most of her sentences — and sentence fragments — end with periods. This punctuation, along with the rich language, makes the reader proceed slowly and ruminate on the bountiful imagery. It’s difficult to speed through “Love, if you are where

I am. / Even your smallest of errors. / Your most wrecked door.” The meticulously steady flow permits understanding and encourages contemplation, which is essential to appreciating Morgan’s poetry. Both expansive and compact, “Alt-Nature” is ultimately outstanding. The dynamic poetry promises a refreshing swim through deep waters. It requires the reader to work — but the work is fulfilling. Morgan’s words will enthrall readers throughout the collection and linger in their minds after completing it, which makes the collection all the more valuable.

4 STARS vivienne.germain@thecrimson.com

FIFTEEN MINUTES

THE HARVARD CRIMSON FEBRUARY 9, 2024

arah S. Richardson is the Aramont Professor of the History of Science, a Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and the director of the GenderSci Lab. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. FM: In 2018, you founded the Harvard GenderSci Lab, which works to generate feminist ideas for scientific research on sex and gender. What prompted you to establish the lab? SSR: I was newly tenured. With my academic freedom and the resources I had access to, I wanted to formalize a model for producing scholarship that I’d had access to informally until that point. We had a gender and science reading group that had started to organically write together and think together. It brought scientists and medical folks together with people like me—historians, philosophers, and gender studies scholars. I thought that was about the most exciting thing happening in my whole life. The GenderSci Lab was created to be a platform to really dig deep into this model of what I call “radical collaboration.” The other thing that made me want to found it is that, over the years, I’ve had a stream of students from the sciences coming over to gender studies and saying, “I really am inspired by feminist work on science, and I want to know how I can bring that into my scientific research.” We didn’t have any tools for them. How do you learn how to do research? In a lab. How are they comfortable learning to do research? In a lab. Creating the space where we’re working together on research questions, and we’re doing the work, was the best way to train up a new generation of feminist and queer scientists. So they could actually practically learn how to bring these critiques, perspectives, values, and principles into scientific research design, and the questions that they ask, and bring a whole new perspective to their fields of study.

Q&A:

SARAH S. RICHARDSON ON FEMINIST SCIENCE AND EMAIL ISSUES THE HISTORIAN OF SCIENCE sat down with Fifteen Minutes to discuss gender, science, and her ideal superpower. “Science is done by humans in context in cultural spaces, and is inflected by those contexts,” she says. BY ELLIE S. KLIBANER-SCHIFF CRIMSON MAGAZINE ASSOCIATE EDITOR

FM: There are moments when it feels that biological scientists and social scientists are operating in totally separate realms. For instance, I think I felt that disconnect a lot during the Covid-19 vaccine rollout a few years ago. From your work at the intersection of both those areas, what thoughts do you have about science communication, and the dissemination of biological findings to wider audiences? SSR: A lot of my work starts from the premise that science itself is a social practice. That it would have been alarming or confusing that scientific advice was not immediately taken up by a wider public comes from an idealized conception of science that doesn’t recognize that. Science is done by humans in context in cultural spaces, and is inflected by those contexts. We have diverse relationships to the authority of scientific expertise,

and the points of debate. I’m passionate about this practice of being able to see and anticipate different perspectives, and to articulate them in their most fulsome and charitable way. And so I do think that this inflects my teaching, my writing, my thinking, and makes being an academic so joyful for me. FM: Are you reading any interesting books right now? SSR: Yes, I’m actually reading Naomi Klein’s book “Doppelganger” at this very moment. It’s a personal and reflective take on exactly what we were just discussing — the wildness and weirdness of the Covid era and the post-Trump era. And the politics that brings together, say, a yoga influencer and a rightwing January 6 Trumper, which she calls “diagonalist politics,” a term she borrows from a sociologist. It’s speaking to issues that I think many academics are struggling with, which are the proliferation of disinformation, and social media and its role in that, and transformations of our politics that are deeply troubling. I’ve been reading that with some urgency. I’m also reading a book, Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s “The Worst Journey in the World,” it’s one of the funniest books I’ve ever read, and also just searing. It’s a personal account of an Arctic expedition. So when you’re having a hard day, it sure makes things seem easier when you are reading about what they put up with. FM: What’s an urgent problem on your mind? SSR: My not-so-serious answer is email. I really think that we are reaching overload with digital communications. It is a real challenge to my ability to find space to think, and the offloading of administrative practices has become so extreme as a professor, it is hard for me to actually find the time to do the things that are core to my job. I don’t think it’s going to be pleasant for our futures as writers, thinkers, academics, if we cannot grapple with this constant flow of information. In terms of big issues, naturally the biggest issues facing us are the rise of fascist nationalist movements of all kinds, and climate change. The two of those coming together point to the possibility of major shifts in global politics.

FM: You do so much interdisciplinary work, orienting biological thinking in philosophical and historical conversations. How do these different fields enrich one another? SSR: Each field has its own toolkit and its own way of posing questions, and then its own set of assumptions. The core of it is training students who can read and write across diverse fields and to diverse audiences. My hope is that that practice of constant self-criticality, or really systematizing that by embedding oneself in these interdisciplinary environments, leads to humility, and to more sophisticated and nuanced frameworks and concepts and research on sex, gender, and sexuality.

FM: Finally, can you tell us about any exciting project that you’re working on?

SACHI LAUMAS — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

and diverse histories in relation to it. It’s not just a question of science communication, it’s about understanding the history, practice, and politics around the authority of science. FM: How have you seen the public’s conceptions of gender and sex shift throughout your career?

Science is done by humans in context in cultural spaces, and is inflected by those contexts. We have diverse relationships to the authority of scientific expertise, and diverse histories in relation to it.

SSR: I’ve been at this about 20 years. During that time, there have been dramatic changes in sex and gender systems, including the normalization of things like gay marriage in a very rapid period of time. It’s more and more the case that people identify, for example, outside of the gender binary. Of course, there’s been the public debates over trans recognition and rights that are moving through the courts, through the health space, and are activating right-wing movements around the world. We see those changes in our classroom, in the kinds of folks who show up and the hopes and interests that they come to, for example, a gender and science course with — what kinds of voices they hope to hear from, what kinds of readings are of interest. For me, I have to really keep up, and I often say that the gender studies classroom is one where I’m learning as much as I’m offering.

SSR: No, I did not. I always wanted to be a professional who made my own income. I wanted to be a writer, and a researcher, and a thinker, and maybe an activist. I wavered between grad school and law school. I chose grad school with the idea that it was maybe more fun than being someone’s assistant in my 20s. I just followed the path as I received good feedback and uptake of my work. So here I am. It’s been enormously gratifying. I am a happy academic, I like to say. To the extent that I’ve been able to play a positive role in students’ lives, that’s a surprising and very gratifying part of the life of being a professor.

FM: Did you always want to be a professor?

FM: How did you get into this field?

SSR: I’ve always been very intrigued by the practice and sociology of science. My grandfather was a very prominent scientist. He was Martin Rodbell, a Nobel Prize winning biologist. I was the oldest grandchild and he took a very special interest in me and often brought me around to the lab or to his scientific gatherings. He had an interdisciplinary mind as well, having done his undergraduate in French literature, and liked to talk about cells as a giant metaphor for societies. When I was in college, the Human Genome Project was heating up. There was an efflorescence of social studies scholarship around the genome, and what it meant, and what impact it was going to have on society. I caught the wave, and I caught the bug. I had a chance to be in that moment of exciting exploration of the social meaning and impact of scientific research, and have not stopped finding wonderful things to think about in that space since. FM: You were a championship high school debater. Do you use any of the skills you learned in debate in your work today? SSR: Absolutely. In fact, this is, I think, the reason why being a professor is a great fit for me. I basically get to be a full time debater. I am very interested in the shape of ideas and in the questions, the tensions,

SSR: The GenderSci Lab has a new project that we call Sex in Motion. The project is looking at the interaction between gender norms, musculoskeletal health, and athletics. We are looking at how different gendered ideas about participation in sport and athletics at every level contribute to differences and bodily comportment and health outcomes. Among the projects within that we’re first looking at sex disparities in ACL knee injury among athletes. Already it’s been an incredibly gratifying journey, learning about the world of sports, and about the skeleton, and how gendered social contexts contribute to our risk of injury. ellie.klibaner-schiff@thecrimson.com

FM Fifteen Minutes is the magazine of The Harvard Crimson. To read the full interview and other longform pieces, visit THECRIMSON.COM/ MAGAZINE

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

SPORTS

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

FOOTBALL

A Super Bowl Harvard Duel HISTORIC FIRST For the first time in history, two Harvard football alums will face off in the ultimate match-up of the NFL this Sunday in Las Vegas. BY JACK K. SILVERS AND GRIFFIN WONG CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

istory will be made on Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers square off in Las Vegas, as two Harvard football alums will meet in the Super Bowl for the first time in NFL history. So when fullback Kyle Juszczyk ‘13 and defensive lineman Truman Jones ‘22 dress up with a Super Bowl LVIII title on the line, two bets will have paid off no matter the game’s final outcome. Juszczyk and Jones, both fouryear contributors for Harvard, gambled on themselves by declaring for the National Football League (NFL) draft after graduating. Sunday’s game is a chance to add a championship ring to their already illustrious resumes. Although seven previous Crimson players — including Juszczyk, whose 49ers lost to the Chiefs, 31-20, four years ago — have appeared in the league’s ultimate contest, next Sunday will mark the first time that both teams in the Super Bowl will have a Harvard alumnus on their roster. It is one of only six schools — along with Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Southern California — with at least one representative on each squad. John Dockery ’66 — a halfback-turned-quarterback who tried his hand at professional baseball before a successful career as a defensive back in the NFL — paved the path for Crimson players to achieve the pinnacle of the sport when his New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III to lift the trophy on Jan. 12, 1969. Since then, only a few have followed in his footsteps. The other Harvard players to have won the Super Bowl are Jamil Soriano ’03, Matt Birk ’98, and Cameron Brate ’14. Still, despite losing in his only championship game appearance, Juszczyk may be the most successful. When he takes the field in Las Vegas, he will become the only Harvard player to play on the game’s biggest stage twice. In 2020, he became the first Crimson alumnus to score a Super Bowl touchdown, and he will almost certainly be instrumental in any San Francisco victory on Feb. 11. This year, he has played in 46 percent of the 49ers’ offensive snaps, lining up all over the field in various formations. “I just really love that 49ers offense, all the stuff that they can do,” said Scott Larkee ’99, Harvard’s defensive coordinator. “They got a lot of cool schemes

that involve Kyle moving all over the place and [running back Christian] McCaffrey running wild.” Juszczyk’s talent was clear early on, as even in his first season at Harvard — a veteran-led program in which freshmen typically do not receive much playing time — he managed to compile 124 yards and three scores. But his breakout really came during his junior season in 2011, when he racked up 512 yards, f o u n d the end zone seven times, and led Harvard to an Ivy League title. For his efforts, he earned All-Ivy First Team and All-America Second Team nods despite a crowded tight ends room that also included Brate and Tyler Ott ’14, who has carved out a lengthy career as a long snapper for the Baltimore Ravens.

“It had to be probably about his junior year where it was like, ‘He’s really good,’” Larkee recalled. “And then as it got more towards draft time, it was like, ‘Wow, this kid could get drafted.’” His senior year was even better, as he led the team with 52 catches, 706 yards, and eight touchdowns, being named FirstTeam All-America by Associated Press. Ultimately, Juszczyk finished his Harvard career with 125 catches, 1,576 receiving yards, and 22 scores — all of which rank in the top ten in school history. In the 2013 NFL Draft, he was taken by the Ravens with the 130th overall pick, becoming the earliest Crimson player selected since linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski ’00, who was taken 119th overall by the Seattle Seahawks in 2000 and went on to reach a Super Bowl with the team in 2006. The Medina, Ohio native was drafted the year after the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII over the 49ers, the team he would join four years later. At six-foot-two, 235 pounds, Juszczyk wasn’t quite big enough to play tight end professionally, but he was undeterred. With the Ravens, he mostly appeared as a running back before transitioning to fullback with the 49ers — and becoming one of the greatest fullbacks in recent NFL history. Over his 11-year career, he has started 127 of the 172 games he has appeared in, racking up almost 2 , 5 0 0 yards and 16 touchdowns in the passing game and another 211 yards a n d five scores on the ground. He is an eight-

Defensive lineman Truman Jones ’22 will be one of two Harvard football alums playing in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

time Pro Bowl selection, and, this year, was named an Associated Press All-Pro for the first time. The four-year, $21 million deal he signed with the 49ers in 2017 was, at the time, the largest deal given to a fullback in NFL history, a record which was topped by the five-year, $27 million pact he inked to stay in San Francisco four years later. “Kyle is such a good football player, and I think he’s better at fullback now than when he got here,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan in the lead-up to San Francisco’s Jan. 20 win over the Green Bay Packers. “And I think when he got here, he was the best fullback in the league.” Along with Birk and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05, who had a 17-year career spanning nine different franchises, Juszczyk is arguably the Harvard alumnus who has achieved the most success on the NFL level. Back in Cambridge, his exploits did not go unnoticed. Jones — the 148th team captain in Harvard football history — first met Juszczyk and Fitzpatrick at a dinner organized by the Friends of Harvard Football, a group of the program’s donors and supporters, in the spring before his senior season, where members of the graduating class

could learn from program alumni. “They did give me a little bit more confidence, just knowing that, ‘Okay, the level of football from Ivy League to NFL isn’t that drastically different,’” Jones said. “You’ve seen examples of people that do it.” Jones, like Juszczyk, had a late breakout season that solidified his position as an NFL prospect. He posted a stellar sophomore year in 2019, being named to the All-Ivy League Third Team. Then, after a slow 2021 season, he rebounded in his fifth year, leading the team with 13 tackles for a loss, six sacks, six quarterback hurries, and three blocked kicks, earning a unanimous selection to the AllIvy First Team and a share of the Bushnell Cup, awarded to the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. NFL teams took notice. Despite a Pro Day in which he displayed elite athleticism, he went undrafted. Jones, however, was snapped up by the Chiefs shortly thereafter. Kansas City’s interest in him had been noted throughout the process, as he was one of just 30 prospects to participate in a pre-draft workout with the team. “He can kind of do it all. And then, in his fifth year, some of the things he did on tape are just mind-boggling,” Larkee said. “I was really surprised that he didn’t get drafted, but obviously he was just below that, and he’s doing great with the opportuni-

Fullback Kyle Juszczyk ’13 celebrating a touchdown in Harvard Stadium. MARK KELSEY — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

ties he’s got so far.” Jones impressed in training camp and preseason, making two solo tackles in a 33-32 win over the Cleveland Browns in the Chiefs’ final preseason contest. It was enough for him to make the Chiefs’ 16-man practice squad, allowing him to participate in scrimmages with the team. “That was a crazy time,” Jones recalled of making the roster. “I was just super excited to still be with the Chiefs. I feel like I really was a great fit here, could see myself getting on the field here, and also just felt like the coaches respected what I brought to the table as a very physical defensive end but also being intelligent and smart and being able to understand their scheme.” “I knew he was going to make it,” Larkee added. “It was one of those where it was like, he’s just gotta get in, and then once they realize what kind of person he is, he’s definitely going to make it.” It has been an up-and-down season for Kansas City overall. Although it finished with an 11-6 record and won its eighth consecutive AFC West title, its offense was stagnant for much of the season, with its wide receivers, especially, struggling with drops. Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes II posted a 92.6 passer rating — his worst full-season mark as a starter — and he spearheaded a unit that was just the 15th-most productive offense in the NFL. Instead, the team rode defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s No. 2-ranked unit to arrive at the precipice of another title. Although Jones has not seen game action for the Chiefs, the strides he has made on the practice field have paid off, as he has seen significant improvements throughout the season. As a practice squad member, he has also played a vital role in preparing the starters for opposing defenses. In the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, he’ll study 49ers star pass rusher Nick Bosa’s moves and emulate them in order to help the Chiefs’ offensive linemen contain him. “The practice squad is really essential to preparing the team throughout the week to get them ready for the opponent they’re

GAMES TO WATCH THIS WEEK FRIDAY 2/9

SAT 2/10

SUN 2/11

Men’s Tennis vs. No. 11 Kentucky 5:00 pm

Women’s Tennis ECAC Championship vs. Yale 11:00 am, Murr Center

Women’s Ice Hockey vs. Yale 4:00 pm, Bright-Landry

Men’s Volleyball v. Lincoln Memorial U 5:00 pm, Malkin Athletic Center

Women’s Fencing Ivy League Fencing Round-Robins From 10:00 am

Men’s Basketball vs. Dartmouth 2:00 pm, Laviettes Pavillion

jack.silvers@thecrimson.com griffin.wong@thecrimson.com

THC

FRIDAY 2/9

Men’s Ice Hockey vs. Dartmouth 7:00pm, Bright-Landry Hockey Center

going to face,” Jones explained. “I’m not just watching [the 49ers’] defense, but also watching their offense and being able to emulate both of those and understand both sides of the ball.” One game remains in Jones’s quest to become the second former Crimson player — after Soriano — to win a Super Bowl in his rookie season. With speedy playmakers like McCaffrey and wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, as well as big, physical targets in tight end George Kittle and Juszczyk, the 49ers won’t make it easy. San Francisco opened as two-point favorites to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy. “He’s kind of a mismatch problem,” he said of Juszczyk. “It’s a real challenge for us to understand, between him and Kittle, that they have these bigger receiver-body tight ends who can make plays and make catches down the field as well as, they’re willing to get into the box and block defensive ends, block linebackers, and really pose a dual threat.” With Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid, Kansas City appears to offer Jones a chance to compete for Super Bowls for many years to come. Shanahan’s 49ers are in a similarly strong position. But Jones is only focused on next Sunday’s contest. “Never would’ve imagined that it’s here, but just so thankful, so blessed for this opportunity,” said Jones of the potential of winning a championship in his rookie season. “I just want to do everything in my power to help us win and help us succeed.” Still, regardless of who the confetti falls on in Las Vegas, there will be one winner: Harvard’s football program. “Harvard doesn’t show up in those conversations a lot of the time, when talking about best football programs in the country,” Jones said. “Through this and through the talent that we’ve had throughout the years that has ended up in the NFL and has gone on to do so much more beyond football, Harvard should be in that conversation.”