THE HARVARD CRIMSON THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
| VOLUME CL, NO. 27
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EDITORIAL
SPORTS
Launch Grants Need More Fuel
Men’s Water Polo Extends to 14-Game Win Streak
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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
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| FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023
Cambridge Elections 2023 CAMBRIDGE HEADS TO THE POLLS. This Tuesday, Cantabrigians will elect nine city councilors and six at-large School Committee members to lead the city and its school system for the next two years. Before you cast your vote, read The Crimson’s guide to the candidates and some of the defining issues of the race, including public safety, transportation infrastructure, and climate policy. SEE PAGE 7 JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER, SAMI E. TURNER — CRIMSON DESIGNER
Council Hopefuls Push for Public School Committee Candidates Safety, Police Reform Split on Algebra, Special Ed BY RYAN H. DOAN-NGUYEN AND YUSUF S. MIAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
As Cambridge voters head to the polls Tuesday, policing and public safety remain top of mind for voters and candidates alike. Cambridge politics have been dominated by the issue of public safety ever since Cambridge police shot and killed 20-year-old Sayed Faisal in January. Faisal’s death coincided with multiple high-profile police killings across the country, sparking outcry from activists, police abolitionists, cultural and religious organizations, and residents. The city saw months of protests, disruptions, and heated exchanges between councilors and residents during Cambridge City Council meetings, a week-long picket at City Hall, and even its occupation. Council candidates remain split on the issues of policing and safety — and what forms they should take. A Reckoning on Cambridge Police On Jan. 4, a 911 caller reported Faisal, a Bangladeshi American
college student and Cambridge resident, harming himself with a knife and broken glass. When police arrived, Faisal fled, prompting a foot chase through Cambridgeport after which he was cornered by multiple officers in a residential backyard. Faisal then moved toward CPD officer Liam McMahon — an eight-year veteran of the department — while aiming his knife, and when McMahon’s sponge round failed to stop him, McMahon shot and killed him. Last month, District Attorney Marian T. Ryan released the full findings of the investigation in an inquest report. The Massachusetts District Court Judge overseeing the case, John F. Coffey, concluded McMahon’s actions were “objectively reasonable” and that he will not face prosecution. The city has since enacted policing and public safety reforms, such as creating a procedural justice dashboard, increasing staffing for the city-sponsored Community Safety Department, and exploring the use of body cameras — a practice absent among Cambridge officers, in contrast to the neighboring cities of Boston and Somerville. In an October statement is-
sued after the inquest report’s release, City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 wrote that Cambridge will continue to work with the Police Executive Research Forum, a policing think tank led by police chiefs nationwide that assessed CPD’s practices and publicly disclosed its findings. The city has also expanded funding for the Cambridge Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team — a non-police alternative to emergency response in Cambridge also known as HEART. Where Council Candidates Stand on Policing In March, all incumbent City Councilors voted to fund HEART except for E. Denise Simmons, who voted present, and Paul F. Toner, who opposed the measure. The measure allocated funds from the American Plan Act to HEART with the eventual goal of transferring certain 911 calls to the organization. Simmons and Toner, who are both running for re-election, do not mention HEART or police alternatives in their public platforms.
SEE PAGE 7
BY SALLY E. EDWARDS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Two defining issues in the Cambridge School Committee race — equitable math curriculum and inclusive special education — have juxtaposed some of the contest’s incumbents against their challengers. The candidates for the School Committee have spent months campaigning and answering questions at forums. On Tuesday, city voters will go to the polls to decide who will craft the district’s education policy for the next two years. Much of the debate in the race has centered around how and when to implement a plan to offer Algebra 1 to all eighth graders and the city’s special education services. Algebra 1 for All Every School Committee candidate in the race says it’s time for Cambridge to begin offering Algebra 1 to middle schoolers — a goal that has vexed the panel since the early 1990s. But they’re split over how to do it. The four incumbents in the contest — David J. Weinstein,
Rachel B. Weinstein, Caroline M. Hunter, and José Luis Rojas Villarreal —served on the committee that voted in support of a September motion to expand Algebra 1 to all Cambridge middle schools by 2025. The motion was referred to Cambridge’s superintendent, Victoria L. Greer, who is tasked with finalizing the plan. “My commitment is to make sure that we see it through and we see it through effectively,” said David Weinstein — a CPS father and former public school teacher serving his second term on the school committee — who jointly introduced the September motion. But many of the challengers in this year’s race say the proposal moves too slowly. Eugenia B. Schraa Huh ’04, a former public school teacher and CPS mother who has made the issue central to her candidacy, said the plan is “at best a partial solution.” “Clearly, that’s not really a solution because that’s three years from now,” she said. The issue took center stage in the race after a July Boston Globe report outlined CPS parents’ concerns about the absence of middle school Algebra 1.
The concerns center around inequities between CPS middle schoolers and students who leave the district and take Algebra at non-CPS middle schools before returning to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in ninth grade. Parents say the district leaves their middle schoolers disadvantaged by not preparing them for upper-level math entering high school. Some challengers say the district needs a more robust plan to implement its 2025 proposal. “I have zero faith that it will be done successfully on the timeline that has been proposed by the district,” said Elizabeth C. P. Hudson, a challenger who has pushed for strong STEM education in CPS. “I’ve seen no discussion of the preparation.” Challenger Alborz Bejnood said the current plan is a “step in the right direction,” but he said it doesn’t move quickly enough. “I feel that it’s something that could be done within the upper schools by no later than next year,” he said. “In the meantime, I think that it’s not unreasonable to appropriate some of the funds for busing or commutes for kids who are ready or able to just take
SEE PAGE 9
CLIMATE
PROFILES
TRANSIT
Council Hopefuls Address Climate Change
Meet the 24 City Council Candidates
Separated Bike Lanes Divide Council Race
PAGE 7. Four months after Cambridge became the first
PAGE 8. There are two dozen candidates vying for Cam-
PAGE 9. Cambridge’s bike lanes have emerged as a divisive topic ahead of the Council election. While some have championed the continued development of separated bike lanes, others have sought to halt them.
known city in the United States to require large buildings to reach net-zero emissions by 2035, environmental policy has become a key issue in the Council race.
bridge City Council — from the incumbents to grassroots challengers, from social workers and teachers to bartenders and filmmakers, meet the hopefuls.
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON
LAST WEEK
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
DAY OF THE DEAD
IOP
HBS
Peabody Observes Día de los Muertos
Chuck Todd from NBC Speaks at IOP
HBS Hosts Naturalization Ceremony
ART AND MUSIC. The Harvard Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology held an event featuring arts and crafts and Mariachi musical performances to celebrate the Día de los Muertos holiday Thursday. The event treated attendees to traditional Latin American food to honor the lives of loved ones, including hot chocolate and pan de muerto — a traditional bread signifying the cycle of life. Perforated paper banners known as papel picado were draped across the museum, and attendees had the opportunity to decorate sugar skulls.
2024 ELECTION. Former moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press Chuck Todd tackled the 2024 presidential election and the role of journalism in today’s political climate at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum Wednesday evening. IOP resident fellow Betsy Fischer Martin and Kirthi Chigurupati ’26 moderated the event, which was hosted by the IOP’s JFK Jr. Forum. During the event, Todd responded to a question about what he expects to see in the upcoming presidential election. BY KIRSTEN O. AGBENYEGA, CHRISTIE E. BECKLEY, AND CONNOR J. YU — CONTRIBUTING
NEW U.S. CITIZENS. Harvard Business School hosted a naturalization ceremony on Tuesday for 147 immigrants who were sworn in as United States citizens. Individuals hailing from 48 countries of origin took their oaths of citizenship during the ceremony, which featured remarks from HBS Dean Srikant M. Datar and Massachusetts District Judge Denise J. Casper. After their swearing-in, the new citizens watched a message from President Joe Biden, recited the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time, and celebrated with friends and family.
BY ELIZABETH R. HUANG AND ADINA R. LIPPMAN — CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
WRITERS
BY ADELAIDE E. PARKER — CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
AROUND THE IVIES PRINCETON ALUMNUS SENTENCED TO TWO MONTHS FOR CAPITOL RIOT INVOLVEMENT
In Photos: Autumn at the Arboretum BY JINA H. CHOE — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Princeton alumnus Larry F. Giberson was sentenced to two months of incarceration, six months of home detention and $2,000 in fines for involvement in the Capitol riots on Jan 6. 2021, the Daily Princetonian reported on Wednesday. He was charged for assisting a “heave-ho” pushing effort at the Capitol, urging fellow rioters into the entryway and participating in the assault of Capitol police officers. Giberson graduated from the university in 2023 with a degree in politics.
ONE TREE, TWO TREE, RED TREE, ORANGE TREE. Across the river in Jamaica Plains, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a public park and botanical research institution open to all. Established in 1872, the park boasts more than 2,000 different species and 16,000 individual plants in addition to the vibrant fall foliage of Boston’s autumn.
THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
RESPONDING TO STRESS, CORNELL CANCELS CLASSES FRIDAY Cornell announced they will cancel classes on Friday, Nov. 3 as a “Community Day” for students, the Cornell Daily Sun reported Wednesday, after an unsubstantiated sighting of a weapon on campus, antisemitic threats and “increasing tensions” following Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Administrators acknowledged the “extraordinary stress” on campus in their email announcing the cancellation. THE CORNELL DAILY SUN
COLUMBIA ESTABLISHES DOXXING RESOURCE GROUP Columbia University announced the formation of a doxxing resource group to streamline communication regarding doxxing and harassment, the Columbia Spectator reported Wednesday. The group will assist in pointing students to available resources and refer reported incidents to external authorities when necessary. will be in operation until Nov. 30, at which point the efficacy will be reassessed and adjusted if needed. The announcement came just hours after the university announced the formation of a task force on antisemitism.
BRIGHT RED TREES greet visitors as soon as they enter the gate by the visitor center.
LINDEN PATH is one of the unpaved routes that visitors can take through the trees. At the end of the path, visitors can continue onto the Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection.
THE BRADLEY ROSACEOUS Collection is located by the Forest Hill Gates off of the Arborway.
THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR
UPENN PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES ACTION-PLAN TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill announced a university-wide action plan to combat antisemitism on campus in light of significant donor backlash and safety concerns, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported Wednesday. The plan, anchored by the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, outlines several plans of action to increase safety and security, engagement, and education. The plan includes the formation of a University Task Force, a Student Advisory Group and a review of existing security at Penn affiliated religious centers.
PEAK BLOOM is from late April to mid May, visitors can still see some roses in the fall.
VISITORS will also see other bright colors in addition to the red, orange, and yellow of autumn.
LEAVES display the transition from yellow to red that paint the beautiful autumnal palette.
THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN
YALE TO REVISIT INVESTMENTS IN WEAPONS MANUFACTURING FOLLOWING STUDENT CONCERN, PROTEST Yale University President Peter Salovey told the Yale Daily News that the university is considering revisiting its policy regarding investments in weapons manfucaturing and retail. This announcement comes amid rising concerns from students demands about the university’s investments in weaspons manufacturing. YALE DAILY NEWS
BIRDS are still enjoying the pleasant weather before winter strikes.
THE ARBORETUM was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles Sprague Sargent, Class of 1862, as part of the Emerald Necklace — a chain of parks throughout Boston.
NEXT WEEK
THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 3, 2023
What’s Next
IN THE REAL WORLD RAFAH BORDER CROSSING OPENS TO SOME AS DEATHS IN GAZA RISE Negotiations between Egypt, Israel, and Hamas allowed 81 “seriously injured” people and a list of 500 foreign passport holders to leave Gaza and enter Egypt through the Rafah border crossing. After weeks of airstrikes, Israeli ground forces have advanced into Gaza. Two communications blackouts also left residents, including medics, aid workers, and journalists, unable to communicate with each other and the outside world for a period of time.
UNITED AUTO WORKERS REACH TENTATIVE DEALS WITH “BIG THREE” DETROIT AUTOMAKERS The United Auto Workers union reached tentative agreements with Stellantis and General Motors this week, after a deal with Ford last week. The contracts would raise wages, restrict the use of lower-paid temporary workers, and protect workers’ right to strike against plant closures. As the Big Three expand electric vehicle production, the tentative agreements would make it easier for workers to unionize at new battery and electric vehicle plants.
Start every week with a preview of what’s on the agenda around Harvard University
Friday 11/3
Monday 11/6
Wednesday 11/8
ROBERT C. COBB SR. MEMORIAL LECTURE
GUTMAN LIBRARY BOOK TALK
FALL FIRST-YEAR FACULTY DINNER
Paine Hall, 10:30 a.m. -12 p.m. Danielle Allen — the first Black woman to run for statewide office in Massachusetts and a professor at the Kennedy School — will be delivering a lecture titled “Bringing Democracy Back from the Brink.”
Gutman Conference Center, 12-1 p.m. Educational leadership scholars Jennifer Weiner and Monica Higgins analyze system gender biases that impede the advancement of women in educational spaces. The talk includes an exploration of methods to recognize and combat gender disparities in school leadership positions.
Saturday 11/4
Tuesday 11/7
Thursday 11/9
RADCLIFFE CHORAL SOCIETY AND HARVARD-RADCLIFFE COLLEGIUM MUSICUM
CAREERS IN CLIMATE ACTION SPEAKER SERIES
STRATEGIES FOR CAMPUS DIVERSITY
Sanders Theatre, 8 p.m Harvard affiliates can enjoy the world premieres of Pulitzer Prize-awarded composer Caroline Shaw’s “The Side Road” and Joshua Shank’s “Untouchable.”
Harvard University Center for the Environment, 6-8 p.m. Sanjay Seth — the chief of staff and senior adviser for climate and equity at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Region 1 — reflects on his work and career path as part of the Careers in Climate Action Speaker Series hosted by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability.
Sunday 11/5
Annenberg Hall, 4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Freshmen students are invited to invite a faculty member to dine with them at Annenberg Hall for this annual tradition. Take the meal to learn more about a faculty guest’s academic or research work, career path, experience at Harvard, and general interests.
Virtual, 4-5 p.m. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision against affirmative action in college admissions, UCLA Professor Gary Orfield, University of Maryland Associate Professor Julie J. Park, College Admissions Futures Co-Laborative Codirector OiYan A. Poon, and University of Texas Dean Richard J. Reddick discuss strategies to achieve campus diversity.
Friday 11/10
DR. LYNNE M. REID MEMORIAL CONCERT
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 9-5 p.m. In this remarkable exhibition, discover why the most massive sharks prey on some of the ocean’s smallest critters. Learn to decipher dietary clues from jaws preserved in Harvard’s world-class collections. Don’t miss the chance meet the ocean’s most famous, misunderstood megafauna!
HBCO FALL CONCERT
Memorial Church, 8-10 p.m. All are invited to attend the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra’s fall concert, entitled “A Music Feast.” The event is free and open to the public.
HURRICANE OTIS CAUSES DESTRUCTION IN ACAPULCO Almost 50 people were killed and dozens remain missing after Hurricane Otis slammed into Mexico’s Pacific coast last week. The Category 5 storm also damaged or destroyed 274,000 homes. On Wednesday, the Mexican government promised $3.4 billion to assist the hard-hit city of Acapulco. The storm, whose destructive potential exceeded meteorologists’ predictions, may be a sign of things to come.
GOOGLE CEO TESTIFIES IN ANTITRUST LAWSUIT In September, the Justice Department sued Google for payments the firm made to other tech companies to ensure browsers on users’ devices would default to its search engine. In testimony, Google defended the deals but acknowledged the payments intended to ensure default placement. The judge will not issue a ruling until next year. but if the suit goes through, it could reshape competition among search providers.
LIBRARY LEAVES
FTX FOUNDER SAM BANKMAN-FRIED CONVICTED FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud in a scheme that cheated customers and investors of at least $10 billion by the New York jury on Thursday. After a month of trial, jurors rejected Bankman-Fried’s claim that he never committed fraud or meant to cheat customers before FTX, which was once the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, went into bankruptcy a year ago. JULIAN J. GIORDANO— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
THE HARVARD CRIMSON Cara J. Chang ’24 President
STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE Brandon L. Kingdollar ’24
Cynthia V. Lu ’24
Managing Editor
Business Manager
Magazine Chairs Io Y. Gilman ’25 Amber H. Levis ’25
Design Chairs Sophia Salamanca ’25 Sami E. Turner ’25
Eleanor V. Wikstrom ’24 Christina M. Xiao ’24
Blog Chairs Tina Chen ’24 Hana Rehman ’25
Multimedia Chairs Joey Huang ’24 Julian J. Giordano ’25
Arts Chairs Anya L. Henry ’24 Alisa S. Regassa ’24
Sports Chairs Mairead B. Baker ’24 Aaron B. Shuchman ’25
Technology Chairs Kevin Luo ’24 Justin Y. Ye ’24
Associate Managing Editors Leah J. Teichholtz ’24 Meimei Xu ’24 Editorial Chairs
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Associate Business Manager Derek S. Chang ’24 Copyright 2023, 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 Editors Declan J. Knieriem ’22 Eric Yan ’24 Assistant Night Editors Ryan H. Doan-Nguyen ’25
Julian J. Giordano ’25
Alex Chou ’26 Sally E. Edwards ’26 Sabrina R. Hu ’26 Asher J. Montgomery ’26 Tilly R. Robinson ’26 Story Editors Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Kelsey J. Griffin ’23
James R. Jolin ’24 Brandon L. Kingdollar ’24 Leah J. Teichholtz ’24 Meimei Xu ’24 Eric Yan ’24 Charlotte P. Ritz-Jack ’25 Design Editors Toby R. Ma ’24 Nayeli Cardozo ’25 Emily N. Dial ’25 Sami E. Turner ’25 Laurinne P. Eugenio ’26 Photo Editors Cory K. Gorczycki ’24
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.
Joey Huang ’24 Julian J. Giordano ’25 Christopher L. Li ’25 Addison Y. Liu ’25 Editorial Editors Cara J. Chang ’24 Saul I.M. Arnow ’26 Arts Editor Zachary J. Lech ’24 Sports Editors Nghia L. Nguyen ’26 Christopher D. Wright ’25
Cold
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON
NEWS
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
Harvard Welcomes Families
UNIVERSITY
Gay Forms Advisory Group to Combat Antisemitism COMBATTING ANTISEMITISM. University President Claudine Gay announced the formation of an advisory group to combat antisemitism on campus. BY MILES J. HERSZENHORN AND CLAIRE YUAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
A
fter Harvard faced fierce criticism over its response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, top administrators will work with a newly established advisory group to combat antisemitism on campus, University President Claudine Gay announced on Friday. Gay revealed the formation of the advisory group in a speech about antisemitism at a Harvard Hillel Shabbat dinner held over Family Weekend for the freshman and junior classes. The event was attended by more than 200 people, including many Jewish undergraduates and their family members. “Antisemitism has a very long and shameful history at Harvard,” Gay said, according to a transcript of her remarks published online. “For years, this University has done too little to confront its continuing presence. No longer.” The advisory group assembled by Gay contains eight initial members: Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine ’92, vice chair of the Harvard Board of Overseers; Thomas Dunne, the College’s dean of students; Kevin J. Madigan, a Har-
vard Divinity School professor and Eliot House faculty dean; Martha L. Minow, a University Professor and former Harvard Law School dean; Dara Horn ’99, a novelist and former visiting lecturer of Jewish Studies at Harvard; Eric M. Nelson ’99, a professor of Government; Nim Ravid ’25, an undergraduate student; and David Wolpe, a visiting scholar at HDS. Harvard was thrust into the national spotlight days after the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee published a statement that said they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” after Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The statement, which was originally co-signed by 33 other Harvard student groups, faced swift condemnation by fellow students, prominent Harvard professors, high-profile donors, and members of Congress. Many of the statement’s most vocal critics — including former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers — also slammed Gay’s administration for its slow response to the fighting in Israel even as the student groups’ statement made global headlines. In addition to Gay, several other senior University officials — including Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber ’76, Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana, and Acuña-Sunshine — attended the Shabbat dinner as Harvard works to rehabilitate its relationship with Jewish affiliates. In her remarks on Friday, Gay
BY JOHN N. PEÑA CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
University President Claudine Gay announced at a Harvard Hillel Shabbat dinner on Friday that top school officials will work with a new advisory group to oppose antisemitism on campus. TRUONG L. NGUYEN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
said she assembled the group of advisers to “begin the vital work of eradicating antisemitism from our community.” “In the weeks ahead, these advisers will work with me, Provost Garber, and the school deans to frame an agenda and strategy for combating antisemitism at Harvard,” Gay added. “They will help us to think expansively and concretely about all the ways that antisemitism shows up on our campus and in our campus culture.” Gay also declared that antisemitism conflicted with Harvard’s values. “Harvard’s mission and legacy is the pursuit and dissemination of truth,” she said. “And the core of antisemitism is a lie — specifically, the denial of Jewish identity and experience.” “This lie has taken many forms, from Holocaust denial to the blood libel to conspiracy the-
ories to the denial of the Jewish peoples’ historical ties to the land of Israel,” Gay added. Harvard Hillel President Jacob M. Miller ’25, a Crimson Editorial editor, applauded Gay’s remarks in a statement on Sunday. “President Gay understands that antisemitism remains a reality at Harvard,” Miller wrote. “Over the coming months, we appreciate the opportunity to work in partnership with President Gay, her advisors, and our peers on campus to condemn and confront antisemitism everywhere it exists.” But some Jewish Harvard affiliates criticized Gay’s speech for seeming to conflate antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Shir Lovett-Graff, a spokesperson for Harvard Jews for Liberation, wrote in a statement that “the disproportionate focus on antisemitism on college campuses continues to distract from the
devastating siege on Gaza.” “We know that a responsible, decolonial approach to fighting antisemitism includes the clarification that antisemitism is real, but antisemitism is not anti-Zionism,” Lovett-Graff added. Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment on Harvard Jews for Liberation’s criticisms of Gay’s remarks. Lovett-Graff also wrote in the statement that Gay “has not reached out to nor engaged with any members of Jews for Liberation.” “We hope President Gay and the taskforce will recognize the internal diversity of the Jewish community, and seek voices from beyond Harvard Hillel, including those of anti-Zionist Jewish students,” they added. miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com claire.yuan@thecrimson.com
Harvard Undergrad Association University Sues Fall Referendum Underway Insurance Broker BY NATALIE K BANDURA CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
The Harvard Undergraduate Association’s annual fall referendum, which opened for voting on Monday, proposes two constitutional amendments around funding requests and extending officers’ terms. Undergraduates can vote until midnight on Friday, with an amendment requiring approval from at least two-thirds of the voters to pass. One proposed amendment would push back the transition between incoming and outgoing HUA officers and presidents — drawing criticism from some HUA Academic Team members, who described the amendment as “illegitimate.” Currently, HUA elections occur in mid-February, and positions switch at the beginning of March. If the election timing amendment passes, the transition between officers would shift to mid-April — “exactly two weeks after Spring Break ends,” according to the referendum question. HUA Co-President John S. Cooke ’25 said the current schedule makes it difficult for officers to plan their terms around the calendar year when elections occur in February. According to Cooke, the proposed schedule change would provide outgoing Officers with more time to train their successors to “make sure that everything stays consistent throughout the year, so that the new team can get started in the next year.” HUA Co-President Shikoh Misu Hirabayashi ’24 said having newly-elected officers assume their positions in the middle of the spring semester can cause funding delays and inconsistencies, particularly for Finance Team procedures. But Academic Team Officer
Peter E. Chon ’26 and Academic Project Leader Eunice S. Chon ’26 criticized the amendment as an “abuse of power” in a co-authored statement posted on Instagram Wednesday. “The second question never passed a unanimous vote among the officers. Thus, the second referendum is illegitimate according to the HUA’s own governing documents,” the post reads. According to Cooke, the process of approving the amendment’s inclusion in the referendum fully adhered to Dean of Students Office and HUA standards. “In the constitution, a referendum process must receive a unanimous vote from the executive team to begin,” Cooke said in an interview. “The referendum process in question here is the process of changing the term timeline, and when it came down to that bare bones vote, we had the complete 11-0 support. The exact wording is developed with our input, but final word on that goes to the DSO.” In an interview with The Crimson Thursday, Peter Chon alleged that the HUA’s Executive Committee had voted unanimously for a different version of the referendum question, which included a follow-up on whether the shift would go into effect this spring or during the following year. Chon said he believes the HUA should have leveraged its constitution’s “nebulous” wording about the date of the referendum to spend more time discussing final DSO-approved wording with officers and ensure unanimous consent before releasing the referendum. According to the body’s constitution, a referendum can occur either during annual elections in the spring or in the middle of the fall semester. The Instagram statement
claimed that because the amendment was proposed to take effect during the current term, “the obvious driver of this amendment is officers wanting to stay in their positions longer.” “The goal is absolutely not to extend our terms artificially,” Cooke said. “The goal is to complete a change that the HUA has been trying to do since its founding, and complete a change that the previous administration attempted.” A similar proposal to push back the election timeline was included in the HUA’s general election last February. It received 62 percent approval — just under the two-thirds threshold. The other amendment proposes shifting the due date for student organizations to submit semesterly funding requests to 10-14 days after the start of classes. Under the HUA’s current constitution, requests are due one month before the semester begins. “August as a due date is obviously super undoable for students, because most students aren’t even on campus in August, let alone know the organized plans for their student organization,” Cooke said. In practice, during the funding application cycles this semester and last year, the HUA had extended deadlines to after what was dictated by the HUA’s constitution. According to Cooke, the amendment would be a way to “make sure we’re doing our due diligence with our constitution” and prevent the HUA from having to “artificially move the deadline.” The referendum voting form also collected data on student MBTA usage, names for Harvard’s unofficial turkey mascot, and interest in student representation on the Board of Overseers. natalie.bandura@thecrimson.com
BY MICHELLE N. AMPONSAH AND EMMA H. HAIDAR CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
In the latest development in the University’s effort to recoup up to $15 million in legal fees incurred over a nearly decade-long legal battle over its affirmative action policies, Harvard has sued its insurance broker, Marsh USA. Harvard filed the suit on Wednesday in Suffolk County Superior Court, alleging that Marsh cost the University up to $15 million in legal fees by failing to notify Zurich American Insurance Company, one of Harvard’s insurers, of the affirmative action lawsuit within the appropriate time frame. Harvard’s filing accuses Marsh of “breach of contract” and “tortious violations of the professional standard of care.” According to the suit, these caused Harvard to lose access to excess insurance coverage for defense costs and other affirmative action lawsuit-related expenses beyond the $27.5 million covered by its primary insurance provider, American Insurance Group. The new lawsuit comes after Harvard unsuccessfully sued excess-cost insurer Zurich in September 2021 for $15 million. Harvard appealed the decision to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which again sided with Zurich in August 2023. According to the filing, the University claimed that it notified Marsh of the anti-affirmative action lawsuit brought by Students for Fair Admissions in a November 2014 email — one day after the group first sued Harvard in Massachusetts district court. “In that November 18, 2014 email, which attached a copy of the complaint in the SFFA Ac-
tion, Harvard requested that Marsh report the matter to AIG and for Marsh to provide an analysis as to coverage for the claim,” Wednesday’s filing states. Harvard alleged it was unaware that Marsh had not notified Zurich of the SFFA suit until May 2017. According to the filing, “upon learning this, Harvard immediately demanded that Marsh formally report the matter to Zurich and all of Harvard’s other excess insurers, which Marsh did by letter dated May 23, 2017.” But since notice of the affirmative action lawsuit was not provided to Zurich until May 2017, well past the contractual three-month window, Harvard lost its ability to recoup excess costs, according to the suit. Marsh had a “contractual and professional obligation to exercise and act upon its independent judgment as to which insurers should be placed on immediate notice and to then place those insurers on notice,” the filing continues. Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment on the lawsuit. A spokesperson for Marsh USA did not respond to a request for comment. In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against Harvard in the high-profile lawsuit brought by SFFA over the College’s affirmative action practices. The Court also ruled against the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action policies on the same day. The dual decisions effectively struck down race-conscious admissions practices in colleges and universities across the country. michelle.amponsah@thecrimson.com emma.haidar@thecrimson.com
Families of Harvard College juniors and freshmen spent the weekend in Cambridge to celebrate a Family Weekend marked by uncharacteristically warm weather and Halloweekend festivities. Nearly 5,000 family members participated in the four-day slate of activities hosted by the Dean of Students Office, according to Harvard spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo. The events included open houses, “haunted historical” tours of campus led by the Crimson Key Society, and lectures delivered by faculty members. Typically, Harvard hosts separate visiting weekends for the families of juniors and freshmen, but the DSO moved to hold joint festivities for the first time this year. Though Ana Costa missed the haunted historical tour, she said her main focus was learning about the day-to-day life on campus of her daughter, Isabella Gidi ’27. Throughout the weekend, Costa shadowed Gidi, visiting her freshman dorm, choir rehearsal, and a showing of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club’s “White House Princess.” “I’m much more interested in knowing her daily routine and following her around and checking on what she does on her time than following the Harvard activities, because I’m here for her,” Costa said. Costa, visiting from Texas, added that the weather in Cambridge for Family Weekend was a nice touch during her stay. “We have no seasons in Houston. So for me yesterday when we [were] walking around, it was just seeing yellow trees, red trees — beautiful,” she said. Some visitors took advantage of the warm weekend by spending time outside in Cambridge, with a group of parents organizing a cruise along the Charles River, according to Biao Hao, who was visiting his daughter Caroline A. Hao ’25. “Always good to come here,” he said. Eva Gao said she FaceTimes her sister Ellie Gao ’25 “a lot,” but she added that it was “good to see her and able to take her out, give her a treat, take a break from campus life.” “We enjoyed being able to see where she’s living,” she added. “Sometimes we’ll see glimpses of it but actually being here immersed in the environment, walking the halls and down all the streets that she does — it’s very nice.” A die-in jointly staged by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and Harvard Graduate Students 4 Palestine outside of Memorial Hall on Friday temporarily disrupted the weekend activities. The students criticized Harvard’s response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and the ongoing doxxing of students allegedly affiliated with a statement penned by the PSC. Protesters also interrupted remarks delivered by University President Claudine Gay in Sanders Theatre as part of their demonstration. Palumbo, the Harvard spokesperson, declined to comment on the protest. “We are grateful for the Orientation and Family Engagement Team, along with the Family Weekend Planning Committee, who put so much effort into planning and running a successful weekend of 57 unique events that incorporated many aspects of student life and brought together 51 different co-sponsoring departments and student organizations,” Palumbo wrote in an emailed statement. Monica Yasuda — who was visiting her son, Maverick H. Yasuda ’27 — said the most interesting part of the weekend was witnessing interruptions by demonstrators during Gay’s welcome remarks. “There were multiple outbursts during that welcome address that the president was making. But she was very well composed, and it was handled very well,” she said. For Marty Geller, the weekend was an opportunity to spend “quality time” with his daughter, Marin Geller ’27. “I just feel so blessed, so privileged to have a child going to this incredible institution,” he said. “I’m really enjoying the weekend over here.” john.pena@thecrimson.com
NEWS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 3, 2023
5
PROTEST
Students Stage Die-In Outside Mem Hall ‘DIE-IN’. Harvard students staged a die-in Friday in front of Memorial Hall, amid Family Weekend programming. BY SALLY E. EDWARDS AND JO B. LEMANN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
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ore than 100 students staged a “die-in” demonstration in front of Memorial Hall during welcome remarks for Family Weekend to protest what they described as Harvard’s lack of support for Palestinian students during the ongoing war in Israel and Gaza. After marching from the Law School’s library, Langdell Hall, students addressed the crowd in front of Memorial Hall to catch parents as they left Friday’s welcome event during a weekend of activities for family members of College freshmen and juniors. “When the parents are coming out, we are going to do a diein and we are going to show them that the students of Harvard care about Palestine and they are not afraid,” a speaker at the protest said. Friday’s protest, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Graduate Students 4 Palestine, came after Harvard students and administrators alike have faced national backlash for their responses to the ongoing war. More than 30 Harvard student groups first drew condemnation after co-signing a statement by the PSC holding the “Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” following the Oct. 7 invasion by Hamas, a
Students hold a “die-in” protest in front of Memorial Hall during family weekend. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
U.S.-designated terrorist organization. The statement resulted in intense backlash, including doxxing against individual students, which led the University to form a task force to support students experiencing harassment. The protest also came as Israel announced an expansion of its ground operations in Gaza. Heavy bombing in the area led to an internet and communications blackout Friday. The Crimson granted speakers at the rally anonymity for safety concerns. Before the die-in demonstra-
tion, protesters condemned the University’s response to pro-Palestinian activism on campus. “It blows my fucking mind to see that this administration still thinks we’re the public enemy,” said another student speaker. Across several statements following the outbreak of the war, Harvard President Claudine Gay distanced the University from the groups that signed onto the PSC statement, while also stating that the University “rejects the harassment or intimidation of individuals based on their beliefs” and “embraces a commitment to free
expression.” Out of security concerns, Harvard also previously closed the Yard to visitors at night and began offering another shuttle on the Quad-Yard Express from 8 p.m. to midnight from Wednesday to Sunday. Leaving the welcome address in Sanders Theatre, students and their family members watched the die-in demonstration. David A. Goldberg, a parent of a junior at the College, said he was interested in learning more about the University’s response to student concerns presented at
the protest. “I would love to see a broadcast or streamed discussion between the student activists and the administration, where, if students have genuine concerns to raise, they should be able to hear from the University why the University can or cannot do something,” he said. In an interview after the demonstration, a spokesperson for the PSC said the demonstrators wanted to be visible at Family Weekend in order to alert parents to potential safety risks faced by students on campus. “It’s clearly a safety issue —
and parents should care about the safety of their children — so we want to get in front of their parents and distract them momentarily from speeches by University administrators and have them focus on something that’s affecting a lot of kids at Harvard,” the spokesperson said. Alex L.S. Bernat ’25, a Jewish student who watched the protest and heard students chanting, “from the river to the sea,” said he was “really appalled” by the “lack of truth.” “My parents were here — I personally think they were appalled,” he said. “They should be — a protest that was supposedly, supposed to be a vigil of sorts, in reality was just calling for the destruction of Israel.” The PSC spokesperson wrote in a statement that organizations like the Center for Constitutional Rights, a progressive legal advocacy group, have characterized Israel’s invasion of Gaza as “genocide.” “Thousands of Palestinian children have died at the hands of Israel since the beginning of the month,” the spokesperson wrote. “Those are the facts.” The spokesperson added that the group’s usage of “from the river to sea” refers to “the current plight of Palestinians not just in Mediterranean Gaza, but also in the West Bank, an area disconnected from the October 7th attacks that has, nonetheless,” seen more than 100 Palestinians dead. The PSC and GS4P are hosting phone banking sessions each day this week at Harvard Law School to demand a ceasefire. sally.edwards@thecrimson.com jo.lemann@thecrimson.com
Faculty and Staff Divided on Previous-Term Course Registration BY EMILY R. WILLRICH AND CAMILLA WU CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
As Harvard transitions to a new previous-term course registration model, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences remains split on the system, with some members saying it allows for better course preparation and others arguing it limits students’ ability to explore classes. In May 2022, the FAS voted to have students register for courses during the middle of the prior term, rather than at the beginning of the semester, starting with spring 2024 courses. Course registration will open for students on Nov. 1 with a registration deadline of Nov. 15 — more than two months earlier than last year’s deadline for spring course registration. The school required instructors to finalize class meeting times, course descriptions, and class notes by Nov. 1. Despite protests from students and some high-profile professors, the decision to implement previous-term registration also ended shopping week, a system in which students could attend different classes before settling on their semester schedule.
In an Oct. 12 interview, FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra said that she hasn’t “heard a lot from the faculty” about their opinions on the new course registration model. “I’m here to learn more about how things are going, but I haven’t heard much so far,” she said. For German professor Peter J. Burgard, the new system is a welcome change that allows students and faculty to be more prepared and organized. “I am glad that we are moving to early registration because I believe it helps students plan their curriculum more coherently and thoughtfully,” Burgard wrote in an email. “I by no means find this too much to ask of faculty,” he added. Comparative Literature and Classics professor Gregory Nagy also said previous-term course registration requires “more internal thinking about what people learn and how they learn it.” Zhihan Nan, a Chemistry teaching fellow, said for courses that run several labs and sections, earlier course registration allows the teaching team to better adapt to students’ schedules and needs. “Previously, the teaching team was usually assembled only one week before the start of term and we were basically immediately
thrown into the course,” he wrote in an email. David A. Beavers, a Government teaching fellow, said the new system is an improvement for graduate student course staff. “I think it’d be a lot better for grad students to be able to prep in advance for the class,” he said. Anthropology professor Christina G. Warinner agreed that the new system allowed professors to better coordinate their classes with teaching fellows in advance of the semester. “Having some pre-enrollment gives us a better idea of how many people might be in the class. Even if that changes, it allows us to really prepare for the class,” she said. “It would allow me, for example, to meet with the teaching fellows early to make plans to get their ideas.” Other professors shared contrary views, saying the timeline rushes academic staff and students. African and African American Studies lecturer Timothy Ogene, who is teaching a course with many guest speakers next semester, said the new timeline was “quite a challenge” and that there were logistical issues around scheduling speakers so early. Harvard spokesperson Jon-
athan Palumbo wrote in a statement that the University recognizes that many adjustments have to be made during this “transitional year.” “We are grateful to the faculty and staff who have been working on the Spring 2024 Registration process and continue to gather feedback to improve the experience of both faculty and students,” he wrote. “This has included regular communications with faculty and students including an outline of timelines and the continued sharing of resources and support services,” he added. Computer Science lecturer Adam C. Hesterberg said that because the new registration deadline is so close to concentration declaration day, it presents a challenge for advisers who need to hold course registration meetings with sophomores who just declared their concentrations. Under the previous-term registration system, the deadline to declare one’s concentration is now weeks earlier than in previous years, so sophomores declare their concentration before the course registration period. “We aren’t expecting advisers to meet with all or even most of their advisees in time for course
selection advising,” he said. According to Palumbo, advisers are acclimating to the new timeline. “The Advising team continues to look at/address processes and procedures to best accommodate these registration changes and best support undergraduate students,” he wrote in an email. “The Pre-Concentration Advising pilot effort, for example, is designed to make the transition to concentration advising more seamless and effective,” he added. In addition to logistical challenges, faculty said previous-term course registration inhibits student exploration. Environmental Science and Engineering assistant professor Marianna K. Linz ’11 wrote in an email that students have largely preferred shopping week. “The idea that students can make good informed choices about the next term before they have seen the last third of their current courses would already seem somewhat farfetched, but add midterms to the mix and it is hard to imagine they will be able to put in the amount of time reading the Q and talking to friends that they could at a less busy time,” Linz added. Visual Arts professor Alfred
Guzzetti ’64 said he supported shopping week and not previous-term course registration, which has “no advantages and lots of disadvantages.” “I think it’s a disaster — it’s a terrible idea,” Guzzetti said. In response to concerns about the removal of shopping week, Palumbo wrote that the decision to eliminate shopping week involved careful consideration. Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda J. Claybaugh first put forth a proposal to end the practice in 2018. “There was a very comprehensive review process with a committee whereby our community voiced opinions, asked questions, and worked on solutions — all over a multi-year period,” he wrote. Despite the changes the College has made to course registration, professor Thomas A. Dichter ’08, a lecturer in History and Literature, said students can create an informal shopping week by trying out different courses during the add-drop period. “There still is an opportunity to explore and experiment a little bit, and I think that’s really valuable,” he said. emily.willrich@thecrimson.com camilla.wu@thecrimson.com
New SEAS Dean Parkes Says AI and Climate Change are Priorities BY MERT GEYIKTEPE CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean David C. Parkes shared plans to prioritize artificial intelligence and climate change during his first Crimson interview as the school’s new dean on Thursday. Parkes said the school will pursue intellectual discussion and initiatives around these topics in collaboration with all parts of SEAS and the Faculty of Arts Sciences — which encompasses SEAS, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Harvard College — as well as Harvard’s other graduate and professional schools. “Harvard’s Engineering and Applied Sciences school is quite special because we are adjacent to the
FAS,” he said. “We are therefore able to benefit from the social sciences, the humanities that are part of the FAS.” Parkes underscored the importance of reflecting societal interests when tackling scientific questions. “It’s not enough just to get the science right or get the engineering right but we have to also connect with society in the right way,” Parkes said. With the number of Computer Science concentrators growing over the past years, Parkes said teaching and using new AI technology “while being appropriately careful” is essential. He highlighted “a big opportunity” at the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence for AI research and education. The institute has continued to extend its operations, re-
cently purchasing nearly 400 advanced graphics processing units to bolster its academic computational cluster. Parkes also said there will be “opportunities” to hire new faculty with expertise in machine learning and bolster efforts to mentor undergraduates. Outside of his teaching position, Parkes has also worked as SEAS area dean for Computer Science from 2013 to 2017 and co-directed Harvard’s Data Science Initiative from 2017 until he assumed the SEAS dean role. According to Parkes, those positions helped him see what departments need to be “successful” and collaborate with departments and schools “all across Harvard.” In addition to AI and climate change, Parkes said SEAS is in a process of “ideation” to develop a
third priority. Parkes also discussed the following issues: Enterprise Research Campus Parkes will preside over further expansion of the school as the construction of the Enterprise Research Campus in Allston continues. The complex will hold life science buildings, a hotel, a conference center, and housing. The Boston Planning and Development Agency approved the first phase of the ERC’s construction in July 2022. Harvard leaders and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the ERC Wednesday. The first phase is expected to be concluded early 2026, according to Parkes. The University has faced back-
lash for years from Allston residents concerned about unaffordable housing, climate impacts, traffic, and fewer opportunities for small businesses. Parkes said the University takes the “vitality” of the Allston neighborhood seriously and that ERC would provide affordable housing and create jobs. “I hope this can be a place that feels lively and feels welcoming,” he said. Diversity, Belonging, and Inclusion As SEAS nears the end of its fiveyear diversity, inclusion, and belonging strategic plan, Parkes said that a new five-year plan is in preparation. Parkes said it was “really important” to him that SEAS attracts people who “can make the most of our environment here.”
“The way that we achieve that is by making our environment inclusive,” he said. “Everybody in the community, whether they be students or staff or faculty are taking ownership as to how important this is,” he added. According to Parkes, the new plan will be chaired by Paula Nicole Booke, assistant dean of diversity, inclusion, and belonging at SEAS. It will also be led by a staff member and a faculty member. The new initiative, Parkes said, will assess the goals and data produced by the previous plan, then create “actionable” objectives and continue to collect data. “It’s going to be asking the question, ‘What are the important things that we should be focusing on for the next five years?’” he said. mert.geyiktepe@thecrimson.com
6
THE HARVARD CRIMSON
NEWS
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
LABOR
Is Harvard Liable for Contracted Workers? AWAITING TRIAL. Experts say the National Labor Relations Board could hold Harvard liable as an employer for complaints of misconduct with a new case awaiting trail.
‘Direct Control’
BY CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
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arvard has maintained for years that it is not the employer of contracted security guards who work on the University’s campus. But with a new case awaiting trial with the National Labor Relations Board, experts say the Board could hold Harvard liable as an employer for complaints of misconduct. That determination, if upheld by a judge, would make Harvard responsible for unfair labor practices and likely mandate that the University and the guard’s employer, Securitas, bargain jointly with the union, Service Employees International Union 32BJ. Walter J. Terzano, a security guard at Harvard, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB on April 15, 2022, claiming the University and Securitas retaliated against him for organizing a protest. In a complaint and notice of hearing issued Sept. 14, 2023, the NLRB alleged in its own right that Harvard and Securitas retaliated against Terzano, violating national labor law in the process. Terzano and more than 300 other guards are officially contracted workers through Securitas, an international security services company unaffiliated with the University. Terzano, 78, has worked for Securitas since 2009. Labor law experts said the NLRB’s complaint labels Harvard as a joint employer and could significantly change how the University contracts guards. “I think it is important for entities like Harvard to know that they can’t get away with taking actions that violate employees’ rights, even if they deny they are the employer because they very well could be held to be the employer,” said Shannon E. Liss-Riordan ’90, a labor lawyer who has successfully brought class action lawsuits against Whole Foods, Uber, and Starbucks. In its Sept. 28 answer to the complaint, Harvard admitted that then-Director of Facilities and Maintenance Kate Loosian had complained to Securitas about Terzano, but said the complaint was made “for legitimate business reasons” and not to dissuade other guards from protesting. “Harvard is not the statutory employer” and thus “cannot be held liable for a violation” of the National Labor Relations Act, Harvard wrote in its answer. The NLRA allows private employees to form unions, strike, and engage in collective bargaining. Securitas also denied any viola-
The National Labor Relations Board’s Boston regional office is housed in the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Federal Building. MEGAN M. ROSS — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
tion of labor law in its Sept. 27 answer, adding Loosian’s complaint regarded “inappropriate and discriminatory remarks” that Terzano allegedly made toward another employee. The company said its decision to remove Terzano from campus was in response to a request that he not be returned. Securitas Area Vice President Christopher Connolly and Area Manager Alonzo B. Herring did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment for this article. Terzano also declined to comment, citing the advice of his legal counsel. The Outsourcing Model After replacing its last 17 in-house guards with contracted workers in 2003, Harvard has relied entirely on contracted workers for campus security. The switch absolved the University of much of its legal responsibility for the campus’ guards, whom it no longer officially employed. The outsourcing issue reached a boiling point in 2001, when dozens of students staged a three-week sit-in at Massachusetts Hall to demand Harvard pay all workers a living wage, contracted and directly employed alike. John T. Trumpbour, research director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School, said he believes the University was pressured to respond by politicians including then-Sen. Ted Kennedy ’54-’56, who spoke outside Massachusetts Hall.
In response, Harvard established a committee led by Economics professor Lawrence F. Katz ’91 to address wages and establish guidelines for outsourcing. The committee later concluded that outsourcing had driven wages down by 7.5 percent between 1994 and 2001. In its final report, the committee recommended that Harvard commit to “parity” in wages and benefits between official Harvard employees and subcontracted workers in comparable positions as an assurance to union leaders that outsourcing would no longer drive wages down. Harvard adopted the policy in 2002. But when the University replaced the last official security guard positions a year later, citing financial concerns, there were no longer directly equivalent inhouse positions with which to compare its subcontractor wages. “It’s been actually kind of a mystery as to what category of person at Harvard is considered to be our equivalent for parity purposes,” said Aryt Alasti, a Securitas guard who has worked at Harvard since the ’90s. Trumpbour said the outsourcing model was partially “designed to sometimes allow the University to escape accountability.” The question of who takes accountability — Harvard or Securitas — came into full view last May, when another security guard, Mike Grant, faced disciplinary action from Securitas after a Harvard manager complained. Grant, a Leverett House guard, appeared before a disciplinary hearing after he refused to confiscate two students’ personal prop-
erty as instructed by the House’s Harvard-employed building manager, Mohamed Zaker. The two students defended Grant, and 1,400 people signed a petition urging Securitas not to fire him. “Our Human Resources Department, they don’t back us,” Grant said in an interview in May. “Their main priority is, ‘Harvard is our client and we’re going to do everything in our power to make Harvard happy.’” Grant kept his job, but Trumpbour said his case is a prime example of the sometimes blurry lines between employee and subcontractor. “It’s very easy a lot of times for Harvard to say, ‘Oh, well that’s a Securitas decision’ even though sometimes it’s a Harvard supervisor official who approaches Securitas and complains about somebody,” Trumpbour said. The Case in Question At the heart of Terzano’s case is a protest he staged at former President Lawrence S. Bacow’s house in early 2022. The protest occurred amid contract negotiations between the guard’s union, SEIU 32BJ, and Securitas. Less than a month after the protest, Loosian — a Harvard employee — complained to Securitas representatives about Terzano, causing his suspension and then removal from campus. After NLRB agents investigated, they concluded Terzano’s suspension and reassignment were jointly determined by Harvard and Securitas and constituted violations of the NLRA taken to discour-
age similar protest. Liss-Riordan, who specializes in contractor misclassification suits, said that in Terzano’s case, Harvard “took an action that actually directly impacted somebody’s work.” “To me, it does feel like the worker is being punished for this protest activity,” Trumpbour said. “It’s not a particularly good look,” he added. While both respondents maintain the complaint was made on legitimate grounds, neither disputes that the complaint caused Terzano’s involuntary transfer, even though Harvard insists Loosian did not direct Terzano’s transfer. Angela B. Cornell, director of the labor law clinic at Cornell Law School, said that the Board’s decision to issue a complaint in the first place is significant even before a judge hears the case. “They do a very good job at investigating the allegations before they decide whether to issue a complaint or not,” Cornell said. “Most cases are dismissed or withdrawn because they are going to be dismissed.” NLRB Regional Director Laura A. Sacks set Terzano’s hearing for Jan. 9, 2024. The Board will serve as his representative before an NLRB administrative law judge. “As a lawyer who practices before the Board, it’s a big goal of ours to get the Board to issue a complaint,” Liss-Riordan said. She said that even after the ALJ makes a ruling in Terzano’s case, either side can appeal to court. “Sometimes these cases can go on for years and years,” Liss-Riordan said.
The NLRB’s decision to issue a complaint in Terzano’s case comes amid substantial national changes to the standard by which the Board determines whether an entity is a joint employer. “There is a huge issue going on in labor law today where employers are trying to offload responsibility for their employees by outsourcing and denying any possible liability because they are not the actual employer,” Liss-Riordan said. The NLRB announced its final rule on the Joint Employer Standard Oct. 26, dramatically decreasing the threshold for classifying a contracting entity as an employer. But the rule will only apply to charges filed after Dec. 26, 2023, meaning Terzano’s case will likely be considered under the previous 2020 rule instituted under the Trump administration. Under that rule, a company could only be held to be a joint employer when it exercises “substantial direct and immediate control” over the essential terms and conditions of a worker’s employment, a standard which Cornell said “favors employers.” “The current Board, appointed by President Biden, and with a General Counsel appointed by Biden, is much more employee friendly. The Trump appointed Board tilted to employers’ interests,” Cornell wrote in a follow-up emailed statement to The Crimson. But Cornell said the distinction between rules is not as relevant in Terzano’s case because the NLRB has alleged causal intervention by Harvard. “This wasn’t reserved control that Harvard had. It sounds as if it was direct control,” Cornell said. “That is why the Board issued the complaint even though the new rules are not enforced yet.” “Even with the more narrow, restrictive standard that required substantial direct and immediate control over terms and conditions of employment, it appears to me that the Board has seen enough to reach the conclusion that they are joint employers,” she added. Cornell said the new Biden administration rule will likely be referenced in and will aid Terzano’s case even if the new standard is not directly applied. “Even if the Board applies the old rule on joint employer, we will likely get some indication of how the new rule might be applied in the future. This may be the first case that gives us a glimpse of the changing joint employer doctrine—even if it is not applied,” Cornell wrote. Liss-Riordan also said the complaint alone means the NLRB believes Harvard jointly employs the guards. “This case could have big ramifications nationally,” Liss-Riordan said. cam.kettles@thecrimson.com
Harvard History Professor Jane Kamensky Appointed New President of Monticello BY LUKA PAVIKJEVIKJ AND AKSHAYA RAVI CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Jane Kamensky, Harvard History professor and director of the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, will be the next president of Monticello, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation announced on Oct. 17. Monticello, the 2,500 acre plantation of President Thomas Jefferson turned museum, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and is maintained by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Kamensky will begin as president on Jan. 15, 2024. In an interview with The Crimson, Kamensky described the historical significance of her new position as the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2026. “The combination of celebration, commemoration, and reckoning that takes place at Monticello in 2026 will not only do all those things, but will show America how
to do it,” she said. Kamensky said she looks forward to engaging the American public, especially young people, in a “shifted tone of conversation about American ideals and imperfections and possibilities,” she said. “There was probably no better place of leverage in that conversation than the presidency of Monticello,” she added. Kamensky, who taught at Brandeis University and Brown University before joining Harvard’s History Department, described her time at Harvard as making her particularly well-positioned for a public-facing institution. “I think the thing that I learned from students is that the present and the past are deeply connected in the minds of young Americans and that we need to think about how to make those connections authentic and fruitful,” Kamensky said. She described Monticello as a nexus for “people who are attached to many different kinds of narratives about American beginnings — including the narrative that we
were a nation founded in slavery, and the narrative that we were a nation founded in liberty.” “It’s a place that has to confront that with every tour group, every guided group that goes through the house,” she added. In particular, Kamensky said she sees Monticello as “a place that demonstrates that we can disagree fruitfully and that we can overcome our partisan divides.” In order to do so, Kamensky believes that “we need multiple arguments from multiple sides on any issue to move forward to a more complete truth and a more perfect union.” “I think universities need to be as careful about intellectual diversity as we are about economic, racial, ethnic, regional diversity. And I think on the whole we have not been,” she added. As director of Schlesinger Library, Kamensky described the power of highly trusted institutions such as libraries and museums in shaping historical narratives. “I think that a civil society orga-
nization like Monticello is going to be a more congenial place to do that kind of work than most corners of American higher ed at the moment,” she said. Kamensky said she sees an opportunity for Monticello to use this trust for “frontline epistemology work with an incredibly diverse American public” and to present “even hard evidence fairly and in a way that is generous to the people who created it, but also rigorous and honest.” According to Kamensky, Monticello — which encompasses the complex legacy of Thomas Jefferson — is an institution capable of exploring nuance. “The core of what Monticello presents is the capacity to understand and empathize with somebody who was both great and profoundly flawed,” she said. “Reflective patriotism is the most historically authentic form of American patriotism,” Kamensky said. “America is born smashing idols, not creating them.”
Harvard History professor Jane Kamensky will serve as the next president of Monticello. SOUMYAA MAZUMDER — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
COVER STORY
THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 3, 2023
7
Cambridge Heads to the Polls SAMI E. TURNER — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
CLIMATE CHANGE
Candidates Weigh in on Climate Change A KEY ISSUE. The majority of candidates in the Council race have pledged to expand legislation that addresses climate change. BY JULIAN J. GIORDANO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
F
our months after Cambridge became the first known city in the United States to require large buildings to reach net-zero emissions by 2035, environmental policy has become a key issue in the City Council race, with the majority of candidates pledging to expand legislation addressing climate change. At a candidate forum last Tuesday hosted by five local environmental groups, 16 Council hopefuls proposed policies to strengthen emission-reduction legislation, install more bike lanes, and resume full weekend closures of Memorial Drive. A to-
tal of 24 candidates are running for nine at-large seats, with elections slated for Nov. 7. Challengers including Ayah A. Al-Zubi ’23, Jivan G. Sobrinho-Wheeler, and Vernon K. Walker called for strengthening and expanding the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance. Passed in 2014 and amended this summer, BEUDO requires certain property owners to report their utilities usage and reduce emissions to net-zero by 2035 and 2050 deadlines. Walker said he would seek to expand BEUDO’s coverage to residential buildings, and Sobrinho-Wheeler called on Cambridge to follow New York City’s lead and include mid-sized buildings in net-zero goals. Al-Zubi, a recent Harvard College graduate, emphasized the need for the city to hold Harvard and MIT accountable for their fossil fuel emissions. “These institutions do have the highest emissions in Cam-
bridge,” she said, adding that Harvard’s “reluctance to act on this is unacceptable.” Data from the most recent BEUDO report shows that energy use in buildings accounts for 80 percent of Cambridge’s total carbon emissions, of which Harvard-owned property comprised approximately 12.4 percent. MITowned property accounted for 26.4 percent of total emissions. Candidates at the forum were also asked if they would support Cambridge’s application to participate in a program implementing fossil-fuel-free requirements for the construction of new and existing buildings undergoing major renovations. Cambridge would be one of 10 cities in Massachusetts to adopt the policy if selected for the pilot. Incumbent Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 — who voted in favor of the program in August — was joined by the majority of panel attendees in expressing support for the pilot.
Challenger Joan F. Pickett said she is hesitant about expanding requirements for buildings undergoing major renovations. Candidates also offered a variety of proposals to grow Cambridge’s tree canopy. Challenger Doug P. Brown suggested that the city plant one tree for each of its residents, and fellow challenger Federico Muchnik proposed a “Trees for Tots” campaign that would assign a tree to every incoming kindergartener to “track the progress of that tree over the course of its life so that the city will not chop that tree down.” Candidates also discussed ways to reduce pollution from motor vehicles by encouraging biking and debated the continuation of the current Cycling Safety Ordinance policy, which requires the rapid creation of separated bike lanes. While Sobrinho-Wheeler — who sponsored amendments expanding the scope of the Cycling
Safety Ordinance — supported their continued creation, Pickett raised concerns about congestion, calling for a pause in the implementation of the ordinance as the policy is reevaluated. Pasquarello said she does not support the Cycling Safety Ordinance but called for a transport utilization study and innovative ways to implement bike lanes, such as by creating “elevated bike lanes with possibly solar panels on top.” Candidates also discussed potential changes to Memorial Drive weekend restrictions at the forum. Incumbent Burhan Azeem expressed support for full weekend closures of the road and joined Sobrinho-Wheeler in calling for a reduction in the number of lanes of traffic in order to increase green space in the area. On Thursday, the Memorial Drive Alliance published the results of a candidate questionnaire completed by 11 of the 24 candidates, all of whom supported maintaining full weekend clo-
sures of Memorial Drive to cars as well as potentially repurposing 1-2 lanes of the road for pedestrian or cyclist use. Three incumbents running for reelection declined to fill out the questionnaire: E. Denise Simmons, Paul F. Toner, and Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui. The Alliance noted that both Simmons and Toner previously voted against continuing Memorial Drive weekend closures. The Memorial Drive Alliance has not endorsed any candidates, and neither have the environmental groups who hosted last week’s candidate forum, none of whom are legally allowed to make endorsements. Climate advocacy organization Run on Climate has endorsed Walker and Totten. Totten also received the endorsement of the Cambridge chapter of Sunrise Movement, which has not endorsed any other candidates. juilan.giordano@thecrimson.com
POLICING FROM PAGE 1
Candidates Push For Public Safety Alternatives, Policing Reforms The other four incumbents who are running — Burhan Azeem, Marc C. McGovern, Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80, and Sumbul Siddiqui — all voted for the measure to fund HEART in March. Azeem, McGovern, and Nolan all supported HEART in their online platforms. In 2022, the Cambridge City Council unanimously voted to fund the Cambridge Community Safety Department, which is a non-police public safety alternative that works within the existing emergency response system. Candidates Ayah Al-Zubi ’23 and Dan Totten both spoke at a rally following the release of the inquest report into Faisal’s killing. At the rally, Totten, a former aide to Councilor Quinton Y. Zondervan, took aim at the size of Cambridge’s police budget. “Instead of learning from
what happened in January, City Manager Huang chose to double down on the failed institution of policing,” Totten said. Al-Zubi, Totten, mayoral aide Adrienne Klein, and Federico Muchnik have all expressed support for expanding funding to HEART. In an interview, Al-Zubi said that it is important to “build empathy for our communities.” “This is an issue that is so intersectional with not only policing, but also mental health, healthcare access, stigmatization of mental health,” she said. Policing has remained a contentious issue on the campaign trail. At a September candidate forum hosted by Harvard’s graduate student union, candidate Cathie Zusy expressed support for CPD in light of Faisal’s killing. “I do think if he had stayed in
his house, it would have been a private issue,” she said. “I think it was appropriate for the police to respond.” Zusy also lauded the reputation of CPD, which she said does “pretty good work.” This characterization drew pushback from McGovern. “It doesn’t matter to his family that the Cambridge Police Department is nationally known,” he said. “They lost their son, and no parent should ever have to bury a son.” Candidate Carrie E. Pasquarello has called for increasing public safety by focusing on reducing violent crime and fentanyl overdoses. She has called for expanding CPD’s special investigation unit and cybercrime training and said that the current Council is not “really focusing on how we can reduce the
violent crime in our community.” Moving Toward Public Safety Alternatives Cambridge HEART Co-Director Corinne Espinoza said in an interview that while most of the current city councilors have expressed support for HEART, the upcoming elections may shape the organization’s future. “A new City Council — whether it’s mostly the same folks or additional new folks — could help HEART by holding the city manager to the earlier policy orders,” Espinoza said, referring to the March policy order. Liz M. Speakman, the interim director of the Community Safety Department, said in an interview that public safety alternatives are a necessity in Cam-
bridge. “The city has heard the feedback that having some kind of alternative response, particularly to mental health calls, to folks that are unhoused, that having unarmed civilians going on these 911 calls is a real need in the community,” Speakman said. She added every elected government official should champion a sense of transparency, flexibility, and “a willingness to reflect on, ‘Is this really working?’” While not endorsing any specific candidate, Espinoza said candidates should clearly understand the differences between what they call “the two Cambridges” — between the affluent and abundantly resourced part of the city, such as the biotech industry, and the population struggling to meet basic needs. “A city councilor has to re-
member that they’re the councilor to everyone in Cambridge, not just the people who are doing okay,” Espinoza said. A City Councilor “needs to be principled” and “go to places where people are not feeling well served by the city and find out why and what they need,” they added. As for Speakman, she is optimistic that a new Council will be more sympathetic to the call for public safety alternatives. “Come January, when there’s a new Council seated, we’ll have to see what that means for us,” Speakman said. “I feel very confident and excited that whatever new Councilors get voted on — we’ll be able to bring them on the team.” ryan.doannguyen@thecrimson.com yusuf.mian@thecrimson.com
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON
COVER STORY
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
CANDIDATES
Meet the 2023 City Council Candidates CITY COUNCIL. Twenty-four candidates are vying for one of nine at-large seats on the Cambridge City Council. The contenders range from social workers and teachers to bartenders and filmmakers, representing a wide swath of Cambridge’s many sectors and neighborhoods. The candidates also vary widely in terms of the issues they prioritize, including affordable housing, climate change, public safety, and transportation infrastructure. The Crimson profiled all 24 candidates ahead of Election Day this Tuesday. BY MUSKAAN ARSHAD , JINA H. CHOE, JULIAN J. GIORDANO, AND SAMUEL P. GOLDSTON CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Ayah A. Al-Zubi ’23 A recent graduate of Harvard College and the youngest candidate in the race, Ayah Al-Zubi ’23 is running on a platform of affordable housing, public transportation, and education equity. Her housing proposals include establishing rent stabilization and creatCOURTESY OF AYAH A. AL-ZUBI ing an emergency rental assistance program. Al-Zubi supports resuming Saturday closures of Memorial Drive to vehicles. She hopes to bridge the Council and Cambridge School Committee through “integrated meetings” and a new Cambridge Youth Commission focused on school equity.
Two years after he was elected as the youngest councilor in Cambridge history, Burhan Azeem is still a youthful voice pushing for action on housing, childcare, and transportation. In particular, the MIT graduate and EMT believes Cam- JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON bridge can resolve its af- PHOTOGRAPHER fordable housing and traffic woes by building taller buildings near T stations. Azeem also helped enact this year’s afterschool and pre-K programs. Effective governing, he says, is taking care of policy between elections so voters don’t have to worry about the details
Gregg J. Moree Local carpenter Gregg J. Moree is running in his eighth Council election. His top priorities are education, equal pay, and integrity. Moree also prioritizes affordable housing and advocates for co-housing. His housing platform inCOURTESY OF GREGG MOREE cludes construction internships and apprenticeship programs to support affordable housing development. According to his campaign website, Moree also “encourages” alternative energy and calls for net zero emissions.
Adrienne Klein is running on a platform that prioritizes building more affordable housing, extending universal pre-K to younger children, and expanding early college programs. Klein, a former aide to Cambridge Mayor SumJULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON bul Siddiqui, draws on PHOTOGRAPHER her experience within Cambridge city government to advocate for a platform that will facilitate easier access to essential services for the community. Klein’s time at City Hall focused on constituent services, which has informed her commitment to increased transparency and access to city services.
Federico Muchnik Filmmaker Federico Muchnik is running for Council to preserve the “character of the city.” While he supports increasing affordable housing stock, Muchnik opposes the “normalization of tall buildings,” which he cited as JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON his reasoning for not PHOTOGRAPHER supporting the amendments to the AHO. Muchnik also wants to redesign transportation in Cambridge by doubling its bus fleet and replacing it with electric, half-sized shuttle buses. Muchnik wants to enrich the city’s arts and culture scene, envisioning public spaces for multicultural music performances.
John Hanratty
In his first run for Council, local activist Doug P. Brown hopes to help families through expanded after-school options, improved bike safety, and controlled housing costs. Brown’s housing platform includes the creation of a housing bond, greater funding for first- COURTESY OF DOUGLAS P. BROWN time homeowners, and moderate zoning reforms. Brown has committed to a “coalition position” of upholding the Cycling Safety Ordinance but believes the ordinance must be updated. He co-chaired the city’s Climate Zoning Task Force and founded Friends of the Greenway, a group advocating for green space in Cambridge and Watertown.
Former entrepreneur John Hanratty is running to restore trust in the Council. Hanratty believes councilors should seek greater input from residents and business owners, in particular citing the amendments JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON to the 100%-Affordable PHOTOGRAPHER Housing Zoning Overlay and Cycling Safety Ordinance. Hanratty, a board member of Cambridge Streets for All, wants to balance bicycle safety with congestion and parking concerns. He does not support the newly passed AHO amendments but does advocate for more affordable housing, specifically middle-income housing — calling for the Council to tailor height increases to individual neighborhoods.
Joe McGuirk
Marc C. McGovern
Adrienne Klein
Peter Hsu Physician and Harvard Medical School instructor Peter Hsu believes in “building more” when it comes to affordable housing. His housing platform includes an increased housing budget, expanded tenant protections, and an end JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON to exclusionary zoning. PHOTOGRAPHER Hsu also advocates for improved mental health resources, education equity, and protected bike lanes. He is one of several candidates who signed the Cambridge Bicycle Safety pledge — committing to support the expansion of protected bike lanes in the city.
Douglas P. Brown
Burhan Azeem
Councilor Marc C. McGovern, in his bid on a sixth term on the Council, is prioritizing affordable housing in his bid, stressing the city’s responsibility to ensure “stable housing” for years to come. McGovern led the passage of FRANK S. ZHOU — CRIMSON the 2019 Cycling Safety PHOTOGRAPHER Ordinance, which made Cambridge the first city in the U.S. to mandate protected bike lanes. Before his time on the Council, McGovern served four terms on the School Committee and worked 25 years as a social worker. In addition to housing and bike lanes, McGovern’s platform includes education, the environment, and social justice.
Bartender Joe McGuirk’s housing platform comprises several different ideas — increased funding, a local voucher program, multifamily housing, and comprehensive zoning reform. Aside from affordable housing, McGuirk also advocates for better supCOURTESY OF JOE MCGUIRK port for local artists and small business owners as well as action on climate change. McGuirk first ran for Council in 2021 and said it is important that the Council considers the perspectives of lower and middle-income residents as well as renters.
Patricia M. Nolan ’80
Carrie E. Pasquarello
Councilor Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 is taking a pragmatic approach in her run for a third term. She said she hopes to recognize the complexities of Cambridge’s issues amid heightened polarization. Efforts to build more affordable hous- JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON ing, she has said, must be PHOTOGRAPHER accompanied by initiatives devoted to middle-class home ownership. One issue on which she sees less room for compromise is climate. According to Nolan, Cambridge’s small size is irrelevant compared with its unique ability to reduce emissions, and she wants to see greater cooperation from Harvard and MIT in this area.
Carrie E. Pasquarello, founder of Global Secure Resources Inc., a risk mitigation firm, is running on a platform of government accountability and public safety. She believes Cambridge needs to work more collaboratively with the po- JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON lice and social services PHOTOGRAPHER to deal with the overdose epidemic, homelessness, and mental health issues in the community. She also believes the city’s website needs to become more user-friendly to promote greater government accountability. If elected, Pasquarello has said she would focus on protecting victims and preventing crime
Separated Bike Lanes Divide Cambridge Council Candidates BY MUSKAAN ARSHAD CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Cambridge’s bike lanes have emerged as a divisive topic ahead of the City Council election. While numerous candidates have championed the continued development of separated bike lanes, others have actively participated in lawsuits to halt their construction. In 2019, the Council passed the Cycling Safety Ordinance, requiring the establishment of a network of bike lanes that are separate from vehicular traffic. A year later, the Council passed an amendment setting a timeline to implement around 25 miles of such lanes in five to seven years. Cambridge Bicycle Safety, a volunteer group that advocates for these lanes, urged voters to elect candidates who signed the 2023 Cambridge Bicycle Safety Pledge asking candidates to commit to implementing the 2020 Cycling Safety Ordinance without delays or alterations. Incumbents Burhan Azeem,
Marc C. McGovern, Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, former Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, and Dan Totten were endorsed for their “strong legislative record” and pledge commitment. Sobrinho-Wheeler was the lead sponsor for the amendments to the Cycling Safety Ordinance. “The goal is to actually hold your leaders accountable to say we want to make sure that you’re really committed to doing this important stuff that we care about,” said Chris Cassa, a volunteer with Cambridge Bicycle Safety. Other endorsed candidates include Ayah Al-Zubi ’23, Peter Hsu, Adrienne Klein, Frantz Pierre, Vernon K. Walker, and Doug Brown. Incumbent Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 was endorsed despite not signing the pledge. While all 24 candidates express support for biking, some aim to halt the network’s expansion. Both John Hanratty and Joan F. Pickett have been involved with the transit advocacy group Cambridge Streets For All, which filed a lawsuit in June 2022 against the city challenging the removal of
parking areas for bike lanes, citing impacts on customers and loading capacity. The suit was dismissed in March. Hanratty currently serves on the group’s board, and Pickett was previously chair of the board. In an interview, Pickett said she hopes the city can have a comprehensive conversation with those who oppose separated bike lanes about their impacts. Hanratty called the establishment of separate bike lanes a “one-size-fits-all solution” that “really doesn’t fit all of the neighborhoods” in an interview. Cassa acknowledged that people “are genuinely worried” about the potential drawbacks of implementing separated bike lanes, but added that “most of these projects tend to do a really nice job of accommodating the challenges.” “There are trade-offs for every single decision you make, whether it’s curbside uses like parking, or whether you alter the configuration of the lanes,” he said. John Pitkin, the current chair of Cambridge Streets for All, said he believes there is insufficient public
Cambridge City Council hopefuls have sparred over the city’s bike lanes during the lead-up to the election on Tuesday. ELIAS J. SCHISGALL — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
understanding of the Cycling Safety Ordinance’s overall impact, citing difficulties for vehicles to unload and load deliveries, which primarily affects businesses. “The fundamental problem was that the public had no way of understanding what the impacts of the ordinance was going to be. It did not say to remove hundreds of parking spaces across the city to create and take away curb access,” Pitkin said. He also questioned whether separated bike lanes enhance
safety, attributing reduced cyclist fatalities to lowered speed limits. Brooke McKenna, the Cambridge transportation commissioner, explained that the rate of crashes has decreased after the implementation of separated bike lanes. “Back in 2003, we had 28 crashes per million bike miles traveled, and that’s gone down to 9.3 crashes per million bike miles traveled in that for 2022 — and that’s a decrease of 67 percent,” McKenna said.
McKenna added that every step of the implementation process of the separated bike lanes includes input from the residents of the neighborhood. “What those separated bike lanes look like, how we regulate the remaining parking, other pedestrian improvements that might be necessary — those are all things that kind of come out of that community process,” she said. muskaan.arshad@thecrimson.com
COVER STORY
THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 3, 2023
Joan F. Pickett is the former chair of transit advocacy group Cambridge Streets for All, a group suing the city over changes to the Cycling Safety Ordinance that will create more than 20 miles of separated bike lanes by 2026. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON She is now running on PHOTOGRAPHER a platform that seeks to change street design in Cambridge, prioritizing input from residents and business owners, who she feels have lost customers due to a lack of parking. Though supportive of increased affordable housing, Pickett cites concerns about height increases in some of the neighborhoods specified by the AHO amendments.
Jivan G. SobrinhoWheeler Elected to the council in 2019, Jivan G. Sobrinho-Wheeler served a single term before losing his reelection bid in 2021. Now, he’s seeking to reclaim his seat with a platform prioritizing affordable housCOURTESY OF JIVAN G. SOBRINing, climate policy, and HO-WHEELER economic justice. After working to pass the AHO and amendments to the Cycling Safety Ordinance while in office, Sobrinho-Wheeler hopes to increase tenant protections, pilot fare-free bus routes, and resume Saturday closures of Memorial Drive to vehicles. He also prioritizes further investment in the Cambridge Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team, a police alternative.
Frantz Pierre is the first candidate in living memory to run for both Council and School Committee. The social worker and lifelong Cantabrigian is campaigning to expand youth opportunities, increase afford- JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON able housing options, PHOTOGRAPHER develop entrepreneurship programs, and protect elders. Pierre hopes to implement financial literacy and trade programs in schools and wants to grow pathways to Harvard and MIT. He also supports the AHO and its recent amendments and has stressed the importance of making the city more affordable for incoming and existing low-income residents.
Hao Wang, billing himself as a “do-both” candidate, wants to increase affordable housing while retaining Cambridge’s historic character. The former deputy commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, Wang JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON feels particularly pre- PHOTOGRAPHER pared to tackle the opioid crisis and homelessness in Cambridge. Wang also wants to use his engineering background to innovatively tackle environmental issues. He has said city government needs to be more transparent, calling for publicly available performance metrics so residents can assess the financial discipline of the city.
Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui’s top priorities for a fourth term on the Council include affordable housing, education, and “community resiliency” in addition to working on any major issue concerning Cambridge, “whether it’s cli- CLAIRE YUAN — CRIMSON mate change” or univer- PHOTOGRAPHER sal pre-K. Siddiqui, who also heads the School Committee in her role as mayor, has played a central role in the city’s education policies, crafting legislation to expand afterschool care and pilot free community college for Cambridge residents.
First-term Councilor Paul F. Toner wants to heal the city’s divisions through longer and more thoughtful consideration of policies and greater involvement from the public. A self-described “practical progressive,” the forJULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON mer union leader says PHOTOGRAPHER affordable housing initiatives should also serve middle-class residents. On climate, he seeks to ensure the burden of emissions reductions is not too much for residents to bear. Toner reports a good relationship between Cambridge and its premier universities, Harvard and MIT, and said he hopes to work with the universities on a public shuttle service to help alleviate transit issues.
An aide to Councilor Quinton Y. Zondervan for the past six years, Dan J. Totten is running to continue his former boss’s “legacy of progress” with a focus on affordable housing, climate justice, police divestment, and bike JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON lanes. Totten’s platform PHOTOGRAPHER calls for the city to expand the capacity of homeless shelters, establish affordable LGBTQ+ senior housing, and support the city’s push to reduce large building emissions to net-zero by 2035. He also supports further city investment in the Cambridge Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team, a police alternative that is part of his vision for eventual police abolition.
Roberts Winters
During her two terms on the School Committee, Ayesha M. Wilson has supported adding school social workers, starting an office devoted to equity in education, and offering universal pre-K to Cambridge families. If elect- JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON ed, she says she will con- PHOTOGRAPHER tinue the city’s current efforts to build denser affordable housing and allow more people the chance to call Cambridge home. Most of all, she plans to emphasize communication and empathy in her dealings with constituents.
The current longest-serving councilor — first elected in 2001 — E. Denise Simmons strongly advocates for affordable housing as well as support for small businesses, multimodal transportation, and public safety in her cur- JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON rent platform. She made PHOTOGRAPHER history in 2008 when she was elected mayor of Cambridge, becoming the first Black lesbian mayor in the country and the first Black female mayor in Massachusetts. Throughout her two decades on the Council, Simmons has also prioritized education, the environment, and senior accessibility.
Vernon K. Walker
Dan J. Totten
Paul F. Toner
Ayesha M. Wilson
Hao Wang
E. Denise Simmons
Sumbul Siddiqui
Frantz Pierre
Joan F. Pickett
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Local blogger and activist Robert Winters said he decided to run for Council because of the city’s oongoing charter review process, and his platform includes reviving local journalism and encouraging environmentally friend- JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON ly choices through in- PHOTOGRAPHER centives and education. Winters views affordable housing as an issue that must be addressed regionally as it is “an everybody problem.” He has called criticism of Cambridge Police “unfair” and expressed opposition to city funding for HEART, the emergency response alternative.
Vernon K. Walker, in his first run for Council, has put forth a platform that comprises affordable housing, racial justice, and climate change. His ideas for housing include expanding rental vouchers and elimexclusionary COURTESY OF VERNON K. WALKER inating zoning, and his climate platform includes more education on safety during extreme weather events and providing more cooling centers. He cites his experience living in inclusionary zoning housing in Cambridge and public housing in Philadelphia as influences on his own views on the issue.
Cathie Zusy Running for Council on a platform of affordable housing, bike lanes, and bolstering recreational programs, “Magazine Beach Lady” Cathie Zusy said she hopes to utilize her “relationships,” “understanding of the city,” and “ex- JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON perience with project PHOTOGRAPHER direction” to address the issues facing Cambridge in creative ways. Her platform also includes the preservation of historic structures and parks as well as advocating for local businesses. Zusy is a former museum curator and has led efforts around Cambridge to renovate and restore shared city spaces.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE FROM PAGE 1
Eleven Candidates Vie for Spots on Cambridge School Committee it at CRLS.” Rachel Weinstein — who co-introduced the September motion — said the School Committee and superintendent have worked to create an effective plan, highlighting the benefit of offering the Illustrative Math curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade. “I would say, to the administration’s credit, that they did a thorough process,” she said. “They recommended adopting Illustrative Math, which all the math educators I talked to say is like a gold standard.”
supplementary tutoring. Incumbent committee members have signaled they are open to the administration’s current approach. Hunter, who is involved with the special education subcommittee, said she is “excited about the initiatives and plans” that are underway. She praised Alves’ review of CPS’ current special education structures, saying the district is currently “doing the best we can with our staffing.” “I’m very excited about Dr. Alves’ plan for the district,” she said. Rachel Weinstein said that
“
I want to see each and every child in the Cambridge Public Schools — with their vast resources — get everything they need to be a successful student. Richard Harding Jr. School Committee Candidate
Special Education Special education issues have been thrust to the forefront of this year’s race thanks to a federal inquiry into Massachusetts public schools’ support for students with learning disabilities. Francisco Alves — CPS executive director of special education — recently released a new plan to revamp special education in the district. The proposal would establish a centralized pathway for students to receive special education support through Individualized Education Programs and
the district’s new plan is “worth a try” to “see if it helps.” “One thing we’ve heard is that our special educators are feeling burdened by their workload,” she said. “I think that Dr. Alves’ plan is an effort to be responsive to that.” David Weinstein praised the process behind the district’s approach to special education, saying the School Committee’s special education subcommittee has “really sought to engage the participation of our educators.” He added that he wants parents and students to receive more
individualized support as they navigate the district’s programs. Some challengers are more skeptical of the administration’s proposal. Schraa Huh said that “chaos” of the district’s existing approach to special education makes her hesitant to endorse the new proposal. She said she wants to know “what is on the agenda in the next two months and the next two months after that.” “We need to check in on this plan,” she said. Richard Harding Jr. — a former school committee member who is seeking to retake his seat on the committee — said he wants to ensure the plan will sufficiently involve parents, but he added that he is open to the proposal overall. “I want to see each and every child in the Cambridge Public schools — with their vast resources — get everything they need to be a successful student,” he said. “We, like no other district in the state, have the ability because we have the resources to have a first-class special education program that meets students’ and family needs — with intentionality, not by accident.” sally.edwards@thecrimson.com
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Two prominent issues have emerged ahead of the Cambridge School Committee election next week: equitable math curriculum and inclusive special education. JOEY HUANG — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
10
THE HARVARD CRIMSON
EDITORIAL
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
STAFF EDITORIAL
Launch Grants Need More Fuel A GREAT FIRST STEP. $2,000 helps. But Harvard needs to take leaps to adequately recruit low-income students and make them feel welcome once they arrive on campus.
M
oney can’t buy everything, but a lot of things have prices. This seems thew motivating truism behind Harvard College’s recently announced “launch grants” for low-income students. Students whose annual family income is less than $85,000 will receive $2,000 in their junior fall to support their plans for “post-Harvard life.” We welcome any effort from Harvard to improve life for its low-income students. But the meager size of this grant makes us wonder: What is this grant for? According to administrators, Harvard designed launch grants to cover career search expenses, such as flights to in-person job interviews or test prep books. But considering the many rounds of re-interviewing and re-testing often needed to establish one’s first post-collegiate career today, $2,000 is sim-
ply not enough. There are no restrictions on the use of this grant, so students are not required to use the money on career support. But this stated purpose indicates a disappointingly misdirected view of the real difficulties faced by low-income students on our campus, located in a city with a steep cost of living that just keeps rising. For many low-income students, before they can start thinking about putting $2,000 toward travel, exams, or professional attire, they must pay for pressing basic necessities, such as food, errands, or bills. In this way, launch grants are a shallow gesture at greater equity. To truly make good on this commitment to equity, Harvard should first make the College liveable for its most socioeconomically disadvantaged students, before continuing to expand the range of student backgrounds for which it will offer aid. Harvard admits very few very low-income students to begin with; it is responsible for those it does. Comfort for low-income students should come before comfort for middle-class students. That starts with Harvard exempting low-income students from the recurring costs in its control —
for example, laundry and printing services. At $3 a full load and 4 to 15 cents a letter page, respective-
“
To truly make good on this commitment to equity, Harvard should first make the College liveable for its most socioeconomically disadvantaged students, before continuing to expand the range of student backgrounds for which it will offer aid.
ly, these expenses may seem trivial. But for low-income students who may be dealing with a plethora of other financial constraints, this small waiver can have a big impact. More broadly, this is a first step for Harvard to provide more generous fiscal support for some of
the more severe costs that low-income students struggle to shoulder, — from supporting family back home to financial emergencies. If Harvard’s primary goal remains providing specifically career search support to low-income students, it can better achieve this aim by reimbursing low-income students for such expenses on a caseby-case basis. A flexible reimbursement system, as opposed to the one-time junior fall $2,000 grant, would support students with the amount of funding they genuinely need, on their own career advancement timelines. Money is money, and launch grants are $2,000 in unrestricted cash. But where propelling low-income students at the College into the heights of postgraduate success is concerned, we’ve yet to see liftoff.
–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.
STAFF EDITORIAL
Rethink Recruiting ATHLETES ON CAMPUS are valued members of our classrooms and community. But, in a post affirmative action world our current recruiting practices are far from a homerun.
R
ecruited Athletes. Legacies. Dean’s List. Children of Faculty and Staff. Together, this cohort of college applicants form the acronym ALDC, a group whose admission process has come under increased scrutiny — and rightfully so — following the fall of affirmative action. Although these applicants comprise just five percent of the University’s applicant pool, they account for 30 percent of the admitted class. Legacy students and athletes in the Class of 2017, for example, were nine times more likely to gain acceptance to Harvard than the average applicant. Despite these concerns and the possibility of Harvard doing away with legacy preferences in admissions, Athletic Director Erin McDermott announced that the athlete recruiting practices will remain much the same. We agree with McDermott to the extent that we find some merit in the current admissions pro-
cess for recruited athletes. Contrary to our stance on legacy preferences in admissions, we find eliminating athlete preference in admissions imprudent. Recruited athletes – unlike the legacy, Dean’s List, and children of faculty and staff applicants they are often grouped with – have a unique talent as a reason for their admissions boost. Recruited athletes possess a skill in a sport that is cultivated over time through continuous effort. Their excellence in said sports is made all the more impressive by their ability to balance their academic responsibilities with their demanding training schedules. The talents of our peer athletes add vibrancy to campus life. Harvard, like many colleges, benefits from the school spirit fostered through sports matches. Students come together, taking time away from their classes to cheer on their teams. However, an acknowledgment of the value athletes add to campus life is hardly grounds for turning a blind eye to how the admissions process unfairly favors recruited athletes. Recruited athletes have an 86 percent chance of getting into Harvard — far greater than the 47 percent for students who are children of faculty and staff, 42 percent for ap-
plicants on the dean’s list, 33 percent for legacy applicants, and the dismal six percent for the average applicant. The composition of the admitted recruited athletes paints an even grimmer picture of the situation. According to The Crimson’s freshman survey, close to 83 percent of athletes in the Class of 2025 are white, yet only 53 percent of the class is white. With 42 D1 intercollegiate varsity teams to recruit for — the most in the country — Harvard finds itself recruiting and eventually admitting athletes who play very niche, resource-intensive sports that all but necessitate an elite wealthy academic environment. Indeed, as of 2019, only 3.2 percent of white admitted athletes can be considered economically disadvantaged. Athletic admissions, as it is, works against efforts made to increase diversity at Harvard in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action. In light of this, we find McDermott’s comments disappointing and think that Harvard should conduct a thorough review of its athletic admissions policy, including how, where, and why it recruits certain athletes. Harvard should find alternatives to the current process of recruiting and admitting athletes that do not rid us of the opportunity to
have athletes in our student body. Athlete recruitment should be consistent with the College’s values of diversity and opportunity. While athletes’ talents are valuable, so are other extracurriculars. As such, being an excellent athlete should be considered similar to being an exceptional chess player, debater, creative writer, or instrument player. The immense boost given to recruited athletes by virtue of a coach’s preference letter should be minimized and their accomplishments should be weighed just like those of their fellow students. This is what a truly holistic admissions process would look like. An admission process where an applicant’s background and experience, athletic prowess, academic achievements, and artistic skills boost their chances of admission — not guarantee it.
–This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.
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STAFF EDITORIAL
Putting in the Work, In and Out of Academia “WOO-HOO, HUWU!” Unionization ensures organized support for equitable bargaining. We commend HUWU’s organizers for the speed in which they turned this union from a dream into reality.
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arvard’s non-academic student workers recently voted to form the Harvard Undergraduate Workers Union-United Automobile Workers. Judging by the near-unanimous vote that approved its formation, the union enjoys plenty of support from the student body — including, now, this Editorial Board. To maintain a fair employer-employee relationship, it’s critical that the administration hears and responds to the concerns of its student employees — both the academic and non-academic types. Unionization ensures formal, organized support for equitable conversation and bargaining in the pursuit of improved labor conditions. We commend HUWU’s organizers for the speed in which they turned this union from a dream into reality. The process has taken under a year in total: starting with their public launch in January, to attempting but unfortunately failing to receive voluntary recognition from the University in April, and fi-
nally the successful vote to form the union last week. Harvard’s new union joins a historic year for union activity across the nation, resulting in some remarkable contract negotiations. In 2023 alone, at least 450,000 workers throughout the United States participated in 315 strikes. In the automobile industry, Ford and the United Auto Workers union reached a tentative historic agreement that will net a 30 percent total compensation increase. Out on the west coast, the Hollywood writers’ strike triumphantly won protections for writers amidst the modern digital era’s focus on streaming and advance of generative artificial intelligence. Even outside the picket lines, people have been picking up on the positive impact of unions. Recent opinion polling shows unions enjoying their highest favorability rankings since the 1960s. Yet, despite all the newsworthiness and public sympathy for unions, membership in unions has continued to decrease, as it has for decades. Non-academic student workers may seem an atypical audience for a union, especially when compared to this year’s front-page unions serving autoworkers and scriptwriters. Yet HUWU provides a clear case for how joining a union can offer valuable, tangible benefits to laborers of all kinds.
Student workers — undergraduates especially — are vulnerable workers. They are young, often parttime, and unquestionably busy. These conditions make it easy for employers to exploit these workers and deny them the respect they deserve. Non-academic labor at Harvard can also be more uncertain with regard to scheduling, particularly as worksites continue to reopen at varying rates. For low-income students that rely on their wages, the lack of clarity around working hours can have serious financial consequences. Furthermore, given soaring inflation rates, workers’ salaries will need to be adjusted to fair-market wages.A non-academic student workers union will be the natural advocate for students navigating the hurdles of working while living as students in one of the most expensive cities in the world. We look forward to witnessing HUWU press the University for the compensation and labor conditions student workers deserve. But in order for this to happen, HUWU needs our support. All eligible student workers should join the union — for the sake of solidarity with their peers, and also for the very real benefits that union representation offers. As for the administration, support for non-ac-
ademic student workers should be demonstrated through respect and good-faith conversation. A university professing to care about its students cannot then disregard their basic labor protections. We call for Harvard to listen to our fellow students and address their concerns. Harvard should also work with the National Labor Relations Board to ensure that students’ dead names — pre-transition names that once belonged to transgender students — do not appear on voter rolls as they did in this past election. Beyond complicating organizing, this was a deeply offensive and shameful error that must be rectified immediately. To loosely quote one of the union’s previous chants: “Woo-hoo, HUWU! You did it!” HUWU’s organizational labor has paved a path for better student labor at our University — joining this year in national union wins.
–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.
EDITORIAL 11
THE HARVARD CRIMSON
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
OP-ED
COLUMN
Hustle Harder, Harvard
THE THINGS WE CONSUME
BY ZOE YU
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i dterms might be winding down, but the hustle is year round. On social media, Elon Musk declares that “nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.” On YouTube, motivational speakers pace the stage and tell us that we shouldn’t stop when we’re tired, we should stop when we’re done. On Instagram, selfhelp accounts splice together pictures of hustlers on jet skis next to non-hustlers in office cubicles (you, too, can become a jet ski guy, if you grind the right way and wake up at 5 a.m. every day!) It’s not just an internet quirk: The hustle has made its way into the real world, where unpaid overtime seems to be a new company norm and phrases like “workplace burnout” have devolved into little more than tired truisms. To these hustlers, there’s nothing more romantic than sacrificing it all for success. They tell us: If you’re not relentless, fierce, and exhausted, you’re doing it all wrong. But there’s a slight problem. This way of fetishizing work, this idea that you can’t be successful without struggling like crazy, has become a masochistic obsession so deeply lodged into Harvard culture that we’re starting to believe that it might actually be true. At Harvard, we compete to see who can take on the most, hold up the longest, and hang by the thinnest thread. Because when the hustle is religion and we’ve become its devoted converts, the only proof of our faith is constant exhaustion. We’ve been programmed to take a twisted joy in saying that we got insert-psychotically-low-number hours of sleep. We skip meals to pset, and we smile at the dozen overlapping events on our calendars. We push ourselves to the breaking point. We actually relish it. Hard work is hard. That’s never been a question. But because of the hustle, we take it one step further and think that struggle is an absolute, non-negotiable, undisputed indicator for success — and that if we’re not struggling, there’s something deeply wrong with us. But when we think like this, we’re maintaining a thorny image of control when the working reality is much grimmer — because, before “rise and grind” was ever a mantra, it was a coping mechanism. At Harvard, it’s not an option to just chill — that was part of the fine print of what we signed up for. As former Yale English professor William
Deresiewicz put it in his 2014 essay, “The prospect of not being successful terrifies them, disorients them.” (Them being us, unfortunately.) According to him, we are simultaneously smart and anxious, talented and timid, driven and lost. We have a “violent aversion to risk.” We have “no margin for error.”
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The Information We Consume INSTAGRAM GRAPHICS. Is it possible to distill complex geopolitical conflicts down to bite-sized social media posts? Probably not. BY MATTHEW E. NEKRITZ
It’s not just an internet quirk: The hustle has made its way into the real world, where unpaid overtime seems to be a new company norm and phrases like “workplace burnout” have devolved into little more than tired truisms. After all, the very nature of admissions at institutions like Harvard, Deresiewicz writes damningly, is to select for a whole class of kids who don’t know anything but success and will stop at nothing to get it. The hustle knows this, and that’s why it keeps us running on treadmills in the highest gear, declaring that struggling will take us to the very top. And we sacrifice a lot to be there. A 2018 report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropic public health organization, cited one of six major environmental conditions harming adolescent wellness as an “excessive pressure to excel.” Other studies have found that students in high-achieving schools can experience anxiety and depression at rates double or triple the national average. It’s all around us — we take on so many clubs, classes, and commitments that we leave nothing for ourselves. Hustle culture demands struggle. It’s entitled to it. So when we’re conditioned to think that sleep deprivation and burnout just come with what it means to be successful, we romanticize our overwork. We indulge the very toxic idea that there’s no alternative to success, that success and struggle are impossible to disentangle, and that to cope with this inevitable struggle, we have to love it. Even if — especially if — it consumes us.
–Zoe Yu ’27, a Crimson Editorial comper, lives in Wigglesworth Hall.
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n my first two pieces for this column, I engaged with consumption head-on, concerned with the physical through markets on campus and eating choices. This one, however, takes a less physical approach. Given the recent crises in the Middle East, and subsequently on our campus, I have become acutely aware of the information I consume and where it comes from, especially on social media. As a progressive Jew, I feel like I am privy to two deeply opposed echo chambers of perceived truths about Israel and Palestine, and everyone is trying to announce theirs louder than the next.
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As a progressive Jew, I feel like I am privy to two deeply opposed echo chambers of perceived truths about Israel and Palestine, and everyone is trying to announce theirs louder than the next.
Our lives, more so than ever before, are played out online — apps like Instagram, X, and Tik Tok have become hubs for our information consumption. In fact, our generation gets news from social media more than any before us. We rely on infographics, Tik Tok synopses, and (let’s be honest with ourselves) incendiary and oft-biased X threads to build and share foundational knowledge on issues ranging from elections to federal policies to, at the most extreme, war. In the last few weeks, I’ve found myself deeply disillusioned by the way our social media consumption crushes our opportunity for intellectual discussion, our dedication to pragmatic and thoughtful solutions, and above all else, our empathy for each other. In my efforts to navigate how to engage with social media during a time like this, I spoke with professor Christopher Robichaud, a Senior Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Director of Pedagogical Innovation at Harvard’s Safra Center for Ethics, who teaches a GENED at the College called Ignorance, Lies, Hogwash Humbug. I’m grateful for his advice. *** Our battle over conceived truths online is no new phenomenon. “We’ve always had a love affair with deception — self deception and other deception. We’ve always been prey to various forms of misinformation or disinformation or conspiracy theories or ideologies,” Robichaud told me. Today, we find ourselves in an “information age” which has given us a “tremendously wide range of resources that can both lead to some amazing global change, but also really undermine democracy, and everything in between,” he added. At its best, social media can act as a marketplace of ideas, allowing anyone an ‘equal’ plat-
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We must read past simple headlines, and we must slow down and take caution with our information consumption.
The Crimson @thecrimson
form to share their ideas and views. It can be a hub for activism, empowering organizers to reach wide audiences and manifest our urgency in times of crisis. “Sometimes it is really important to show people hard, difficult, traumatic things, because that is how you arrive at the kind of indignation that I think is important for moral action,” Robichaud said. But we must do better than blindly accept words online as facts just because they have millions of followers behind them, or because their shock agrees with our opinions, especially in times of war and moral uncertainty. Failing to do so risks endangering each other and peddling hatred in an already tension-ridden and devastating time. We can’t forget that there is no expectation of journalistic integrity in an influencer’s infographics or podcast clips. A headline or a paragraph on a square background will never be substantial enough to build our bases of knowledge, and we should refuse any attempt to normalize them as news. Posts on X, Instagram, or Tik Tok should never receive the benefit of the doubt over trusted news sources. We must read past simple headlines, and we must slow down and take caution with our information consumption. Unfortunately, social media’s design necessitates quick consumption, perhaps even
pressuring us into it. But sometimes, when we are too quick to view, post, and repost, we fail to engage in the most important aspect of productive dialogue: checking our biases and listening without ego. When the pursuit of truth is negated for a pursuit of followers, clicks, and algorithmic manipulation, and we blindly buy in, we risk throwing our opportunity for solutions to the side. On these platforms, Robichaud said, we are “talking at each other,” not “with each other.” “It’s a deeply impoverished conversation, if you even want to call it a conversation, and to me we are in desperate need of more constructive, engaged conversation,” he said. And to forgo real-life dialogue with “living, breathing people” for learning and arguing over social media would be, in Robichaud’s words, “a real travesty.” *** As I sat in my room a few weeks ago, frozen, grieving the Israeli and Palestinian lives lost, the hostages ripped from their homes, and the ongoing horrors being committed by the governing body of a land that I love, I felt helpless as I watched friends and peers dig trenches behind their touch screens. And I get it. When we feel powerless in making our world better in the face of terrorism and state-sponsored oppression, social media offers some consolation, providing an outlet to feel that maybe, just maybe, we can make an impact. But in a world that repeatedly tells us, “If your life and views aren’t online, you may as well not exist,” are Instagram stories really a piece to a solution, or just a vehicle to scream into the meta void: “I am aware, and here is what side I am on?” Instagram accounts with pretty infographics, striking words, and hard-set stances deriding anyone who feels uncertainty about the ‘facts’ they’re being inundated with only dig
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Instagram accounts with pretty infographics, striking words, and hardset stances deriding anyone who feels uncertainty about the ‘facts’ they’re being inundated with only dig us dangerously deeper into our trenches as we repost and repost. us dangerously deeper into our trenches as we repost and repost. Robichaud’s advice to me? “Be intentional. Be strategic. Ask yourself whether the kind of work that you’re doing is producing the effects that you want it to,” he said. Reposting incendiary, traumatic, and unverified information on Instagram, let alone on an anonymous app like Sidechat, is a million times easier than turning to a peer you disagree with and asking them their thoughts. Clicking ‘post story’ with a pre-written infographic will always be less emotionally taxing than sitting down and telling someone how you feel and why. Your impact will never be as strong or immediate. Most people will swipe past in a few seconds. *** Over lunch last week, a Palestinian friend told me, “If a solution is gonna come from anywhere, it should come from here.” I hope he’s right. But where is ‘here?’ I believe ‘here’ is our common rooms, our dining halls, our classrooms, study spaces, a bench at the Charles River, the steps of Widener, and any other space that forces us to look each other in the eye with care, humanity, empathy, and a shared goal of a more prosperous, safer future for all.
–Matthew E. Nekritz ’25, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Social Studies Concentrator in Cabot House. His column, “The Things We Consume,” runs tri-weekly on Wednesdays.
THC Read more at THECRIMSON.COM
12
THE HARVARD CRIMSON
METRO
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
BOSTON
University Fails to Meet PILOT Request PILOT. Harvard failed to meet Boston’s PILOT request for the 12th straight year, as activists seek a program revamp. BY JACK R. TRAPANICK CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
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or the 12th time since Boston began making formal requests under revised guidelines in fiscal year 2012, Harvard has again failed to meet the city’s specified contribution to its Payment in Lieu of Taxes program. The PILOT program asks large, tax-exempt nonprofits in the city to pay voluntarily a quarter of what they would otherwise pay in property taxes to help supplement the city’s budget, more than 70 percent of which is funded through property taxes. Participating institutions — like hospitals, universities, and museums — together hold billions of dollars in real estate they do not pay taxes on under state law. PILOT programs have been popular in cities around the U.S. from New York to New Haven to close part of that gap in light of the tax-funded services such nonprofits benefit from, including snow removal, police, and fire operations.
Boston’s program allows institutions to write off up to 50 percent of their payment requests in community benefits, which the institutions have wide latitude to determine. In keeping with recent years, Harvard — which is one of the largest nonprofit landowners in the city, at about $1.5 billion in land holdings — used the full community benefits deduction while paying about 60 percent of the remaining cash request. In a statement, Harvard spokesperson Amy Kamosa wrote “Harvard’s voluntary participation in the City’s PILOT program is one of the many important ways in which the University engages with the City of Boston.” “In addition to making a consistent PILOT contribution, Harvard delivers a deep portfolio of community-facing programs and initiatives,” Kamosa added. This year, the program has seen increased attention from activists and elected officials pushing for its renewal more than a decade after then-Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino put the current guidelines in place — the program is still using valuations from 2009 as the basis for its requests — and for the involvement of residents in determining what constitutes a community benefit. The Boston City Council discussed the current state of the program during an April hear-
ing, when several councilors and activist groups stressed the need for updated valuations of institutions’ land. The PILOT Action Group, a vocal critic of the current setup, is also demanding from the city a new commission to examine the program and to set clear standards for what qualifies as a community benefit. Publicly, elected officials have made statements in support of such a revamp. Councilor Elizabeth A. “Liz” Breadon, who represents Allston and Brighton, wrote in a statement that “the time is ripe for a strengthening of partnerships between the City and large nonprofit institutions.” “Across the board, there’s room to improve the current level of transparency and the relevance of in-kind contributions,” she added. During her campaign for mayor, Michelle Wu ’07 committed to both creating a task force and formalizing the process for determining community benefits, although she has yet to do either. Her office did not respond to a request for comment. In June, the Massachusetts legislature’s revenue committee held a hearing on a bill proposed by State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven of Somerville that would allow municipalities to require PILOT
compliance from nonprofit institutions. Uyterhoeven’s office did not respond to a request for comment. A previous version of the bill failed to make it to a vote, though this bill’s fate remains to be seen. Enid Eckstein, co-chair of the PILOT Action Group, said the group had met with staff from the mayor’s office “a couple of times” over the past year, but that “we’re not SOURCE: City of Boston. “Total Met” includes both credit for community benefits as well as any closer to- cash PILOT payment. wards the startReferencing the pioneer staNortheastern met and told the ing line, let alone the finish line.” Earlier this year, the PILOT group, “We need to have the city tus Boston gained after first launching the PILOT program, Action Group reached out to “the tell us what to do,” Eckstein said. She also said Harvard did not Eckstein said the city could mainbig four” universities — Boston College, Boston University, Har- agree to meet, referencing a prior tain its role in forcing the provard, and Northeastern Univer- meeting between the two parties gram to evolve. “Boston, you have the opporsity — requesting new meetings five years ago in the University’s tunity to lead,” she said. with leadership amid the group’s response to the group’s request. “It was like the cold shoulder,” effort to build momentum for a she said. renewal of the PILOT program. jack.trapanick@thecrimson.com
USPS Announces Plans to Reopen Post Office in Allston BY DHRUV T. PATEL AND ARAN SONNAD-JOSHI CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
The United States Postal Service plans to re-establish the Allston post office on Harvard Avenue after it closed four years ago. In 2019, USPS shut down the Allston post office, citing structural damages at the site. Now, Boston-based developer Eden Properties is working with the USPS to re-establish the Allston post office on the ground floor of their 25-39 Harvard Ave. development. According to Eden Properties Principal Noah Maslan, the development project will construct
a primarily residential building with space on the ground floor for the post office and other retail and commercial tenants. Currently, the land contains vacant one-story commercial buildings and surface parking lots. “With the support of Councilor Breadon, Allston Civic Association President Anthony D’Isidoro, and others in the community who reached out and wrote numerous letters to the USPS, we are delighted to have recently reached agreement with the USPS to move into the ground floor of the new building with a retail branch,” Maslan wrote in an email. For the past four years, residents of Allston have had to make
the trip to the Brighton post office, though the USPS stationed a temporary mobile office in Allston during the 2020-21 holiday season. The Brighton post office — located nearly a mile and a half from the old Allston branch — currently serves the 77,000 residents of both Allston and Brighton, which some claim has overcrowded the facility. Jo-Ann Barbour, the executive director of local nonprofit Charlesview, called the closure of the Allston post office “a huge loss” due to the high volume of patrons sharing the neighboring facilities. “What it did was create incredible long lines at the Brighton center post office so folks
were really having, I think, a difficult time getting the services that they needed,” she said. The Brighton office sits nearly a mile and a half from the old Allston branch, and according to local business owner Deanna Anderson, many people in Allston have to walk to get there. “It’s super inconvenient, and a lot of people around here don’t have cars,” Anderson said. Long-time Allston resident Bill Chan said the walk to the Brighton post office can take roughly an hour on foot, adding that “we just want the post office back, you know, instead of going to Brighton.” Besides resulting in a longer commute for residents, the closure of the Allston post office also
burdened many local small businesses, noted Alex Cornacchini, the executive director of Allston Village Main Streets, a nonprofit group that is focused on small business development in the area. “The post office was right in our business district, so it served about 300-plus businesses, storefronts,” Cornacchini said. After the closure, these businesses had to switch their shipping methods to either a farther USPS branch or a private company, such as FedEx or UPS. Having submitted its proposal and architectural designs and studies to the Boston Planning and Development Agency, Eden Properties awaits final approval for the project.
Still, Anthony D’Isidoro, president of the Allston Civic Association — a local advocacy and action group — voiced concerns in a Google Group for Allston residents about the company’s ability to follow through on its construction plans. “Will financing be available, will the return on investment diminish over time, will the project be sold, when can we expect the building to come online, is it better to negotiate with existing commercial/retail space that could potentially come online faster,” D’Isidoro wrote in an email. “The community has been waiting for almost four years, how much longer do they wait,” he added.
Indigenous Translations Will Be Added to Cambridge Street Signs BY ANYA SESAY AND FRANK S. ZHOU CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Cambridge will install new street signs with road names translated into the Massachusett language in a multi-year initiative to recognize the city’s historical ties to its Indigenous residents. The project, first approved as part of the city’s 2021 participatory budgeting cycle, will begin with roughly 80 translated street signs on First Street through Eighth Street. An accompanying website will allow residents and passersby to access audio of sign name pronunciations and context around the history of the Massachusett people in Cambridge. Sage B. Carbone — a member
of the Northern Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island who first proposed the initiative — said Indigenous translations on signs in reservations are commonplace, but the project represents a milestone for Indigenous recognition in Cambridge. “This is a unique project,” said Carbone, a Cambridge resident. “This is the first time that — in any of our research — I found that the signs are being put on municipal city land.” The initiative is part of the city’s African American and Indigenous Peoples Historical Reckoning Project, which received $180,000 in funding during the 2021 Participatory Budgeting cycle. In total, Cambridge allocated $1 million of the city’s 2021 budget to “one-time capital projects
to improve Cambridge,” according to the city’s website. Funds for the project became available on July 1, 2022. While Carbone praised the passage of the initiative, she said the timeline for its implementation has been drawn out since its approval. “I waited for quite a while — a few months, and then nearly a year — and I hadn’t heard anything about whether the project was moving forward and who was being engaged with it,” Carbone said. After the initiative’s approval, the city assigned the Cambridge Historical Commission to oversee the project. The commission assembled an advisory group, composed of Carbone and several other volunteers and experts, to select the language, context,
and location of the signage. Sarah L. Burks, the preservation planner at the Historical Commission who assembled the advisory group, acknowledged the delays. “We wanted, definitely, for members of the Indigenous community to be guiding the process,” Burks said. “So it did take a while to get that discussion flowing.” Burks added that she was “confused initially” by the purpose of the initiative, but she began to understand its importance after conversations with the advisory group. “Through the conversation and in our advisory group, it came to be understandable to me that this is more about normalizing seeing the language and its written form,” Burks said. “To be
a visual reminder of our Native culture in our day-to-day world.” Carbone said the signage initiative is just the beginning of a series of reforms she would like to enact “once we get more of the budget of the general funds towards activities, events and engagement.” She added that she hopes the project will help mitigate what she described as a lack of citywide programming recognizing Indigenous residents of Cambridge. “This year, as an example, there were — to my knowledge — zero events that the city hosted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” Carbone said. City spokesperson Jeremy C. Warnick wrote in a statement that Cambridge has previously organized Indigenous Peoples’
Day celebrations. “In the past, the Office of the Mayor has celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day with special story times, film screenings have been hosted, and the Cambridge Public Library has compiled a list of books for children, teens, and adults who want to learn more about Indigenous history and culture,” Warnick said. According to Carbone, the signage project will next move to the city’s Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department, which will “actually do the physical signage.” “Cambridge and Boston have always been places where many languages were spoken,” Carbone said. “This is the first time that Cantabrigians will be seeing Indigenous words on their everyday commutes.”
City Council Supports Building Workers, Talks Single-Use Plastics BY JINA H. CHOE AND SAMUEL P. GOLDSTON CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
In a whirlwind two-hour sprint of legislating, the Cambridge City Council discussed eight policy orders — passing seven unanimously — in its penultimate Monday meeting ahead of the city’s 2023 municipal elections. With the contentious amendments to the Affordable Housing Overlay behind them, the Council found considerable consensus as it addressed union support, single-use plastics,
broadband, and pollution responsibility. Councilor E. Denise Simmons expressed strong support for a policy order backing Cambridge’s 32BJ SEIU members, who are primarily building workers in businesses and universities — including Harvard’s custodial staff and Securitas guards. “We absolutely cannot allow all the talk of heroism to be mere lip service. These men and women deserve fair contracts, family sustaining wages,” Simmons said. “I can’t say that enough — family-sustaining wages, fair
benefits, and most of all, respect.” Councilor Marc C. McGovern said he hopes “businesses in Cambridge start to get the message that we expect them to do the right thing out of the gate” without pressure from the Council. “I’m proud to do it — happy to do it — and we’ll always do it, but we shouldn’t have to do it,” he said. Following discussion at the Health and Environment Committee meeting last Tuesday, Councilor Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 proposed a policy order
requesting the city manager explore a ban on single-use plastics. Though voting in favor of the exploratory process, Councilor Paul F. Toner said he wants to ensure the involvement of local businessowners and “folks who rely on the use of plastics.” He also said for the Council to make the “switch,” manufacturers must switch first. “I agree with the ambition. I just want to make sure that we engage everybody involved,” he said. Councilor Quinton Y. Zondervan disagreed and said the Council should act first.
“We can’t wait for the manufacturers and all these other things. We have to get this done in order to show other communities that this can happen just like we did with plastic bags,” he said. “Until they see that we are going to demand it, they have no incentive to actually do it.” The final policy order passed Monday night established the Council’s support for bill H. 872 — a proposal in the Massachusetts Legislature to form a climate change superfund and encourage polluter responsibility. “We all pay the costs, and we don’t get the profits that the com-
panies have,” Nolan said. “This is ‘Make polluters pay for what they’re actually doing,’ not ‘Make them pay extra for something they’re not doing.’” Councilors also passed a policy order directing the City Manager to produce a report on municipal broadband and digital access by December. The Council will meet next on Nov. 6 at its usual time, 5:30 p.m. On Nov. 7, voters will head to the polls to decide the city’s next slate of councilors. jina.choe@thecrimson.com samuel.goldston@thecrimson.com
ARTS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 3, 2023
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The Harvard Bach Society Orchestra performs in Paine Hall on Oct. 12 with Harvard Professor of Mathematics Noam D. Elkies and the Harvard University Choir. COURTESY OF CATIE THAI
MUSIC
Concert Review: ‘Choral Fantasy’ THE PREMIERE of Bach Society Orchestra’s 70th season left the audience mesmerized not just by Bach, but also Mozart and the choir. BY NICOLE M. HERNANDEZ ABUD CONTRIBUTING WRITER
O
n the evening of Oct. 20, Paine Hall was lit up for “Choral Fantasy,” the premiere of the Bach Society Orchestra’s 70th season. Directed by Lucas H. Amory ’24, with the assistance of Encoh Li ’26, featuring Harvard Professor of Mathematics, Noam D. Elkies, and the Harvard University
Choir, the night’s performance was definitely a magical array worthy of the occasion. The event started with a warm welcome by production manager Maycee D. Wieczorek ‘24 in celebration of Harvard Bach Society Orchestra’s anniversary, Wieczorek dedicated the concert to all who have contributed to the society for the past 70 years. Following a short speech by Amory, during which he gave thanks to those who made the concert possible, Li took center stage to conduct the first piece of the program, “Mozart’s Symphony No. 32, K. 318.” Consisting of three movements, “Allegro Spiritoso,” “Andante,” and “Tempo Primo,” the symphony gave a festive opening to the night. “I allowed Enoch to choose the
Mozarts; he has a lot of conducting experience already under his belt. And I think that he also has a very acute sense of what the orchestra can handle,” Amory said. Amory then directed “Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C, BWV 1066,” which as expected, suited the Bach Society Orchestra beautifully: There was depth in the music and visible emotion in the physicality of the players. Through 11 movements — “Ouverture,” “Courante,” “Gavottes I & II”, “Forlane,” “Menuets I & II,” “Bourreés I & II,” and “Passepieds I & II” — the musicians showcased their talent, sharing their passion with the audience. It was, however, the final piece of the night which stole the spotlight and took everyone’s breath
away. Professor Noam D. Elkies, the youngest person ever tenured at Harvard University, and the Harvard University Choir joined the stage for “Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Op. 80,” filling the room with excitement and expectation. “This is something I started organizing even as long ago as six months, when I first asked the University Choir Director, Edward Jones, if I could essentially have his choir to sing for tonight, because I was planning this many, many months in advance,” Amory said. “I think it’s a piece that I knew would suit the orchestra really well. I knew that Noam was a phenomenal pianist. I had the privilege to work with him during commencement last year, and I asked him then to work
with us.” The intricate combination between Elkies’ magical notes — played with amazing fluidity and skill — was perfectly accompanied with the powerful sound of the orchestra, creating loops of loud moments of tension followed by miniscule quiet instants before the piano made its entrance again. “Just hearing all these players crammed together on that stage, really filling up every inch of Paine Hall with extremely beautiful sound. I’ve never heard this many people in Paine Hall all at one before,” said Amory. “It was a magical gathering that way.” “I have a solo in the last piece, which was really stressing me out, but after that, I just tried to enjoy it and live in the moment. I
think it’s really rare that you get to play with all of these really amazing people and Noam, so I just tried to enjoy it as much as possible,” said Concertmaster Chelsea W. Xia ‘24. “I think the collaboration at the end was really cool having the choir, the orchestra, and also Noam, he’s a great pianist. I think there are not too many collabs like that across the university, so cool to see them all together,” said Serena Zhao ’24, an audience member of the performance. The balance between soloist and orchestra mesmerized the audience, and as the choir joined in singing, all the pieces on the stage came together in a truly harmonious fantasy, giving the night a triumphant ending.
A Black Woman’s Analysis of ‘Wicked’ The Musical BY MAKAYLA I. GATHERS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
On Oct. 30, Stephen Schwartz’s thrilling take on the world of Oz celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Broadway premiere. Inspired by Gregory Maguire’s novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” the musical “Wicked” is more than just another adaptation of the story of Dorothy — it takes root in the themes of friendship, romance, and power that surround Elphaba, The Wicked Witch of the West. While many people have personal connections to the production and its bright green protagonist, “Wicked” resonates particularly strongly with the experiences of Black women. Upon first glance, the connections between “Wicked,” Blackness, and womanhood seem obvious — as the premise of the show focuses on a woman who is judged because of the color of her skin, but Schwartz’s world communicates a much deeper and more nuanced truth. In addition to the unwarranted judgment and fear the other characters give Elphaba, the development and realization of her own power and strength in spite of villainization define why this story will relate to many women of color. This interpretation becomes clear through a close breakdown and analysis of the plot. The opening number kicks off the plot of the show and the central themes that can pertain to gender and race. “No One Mourns the Wicked,” the opening number and Schwartz’s take on “Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead” from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” not only creates immediate empathy for Elphaba’s character, but it also shows that the celebration of Elphaba’s supposed demise is
ironic and even sinister. For those who have seen “Wicked,” the opening number is chilling, as it begins the show at the end of the timeline, with a scene that would chronologically take place after the resolution of the plot. As The Good Witch Glinda’s soft soprano voice contrasts the sharp shouts of the ensemble, she declares moral claims like “the truth we all believe’ll by and by / outlive a lie,” and “nothing grows for The Wicked / they reap only what they’ve sown.” The audience doesn’t yet know the events that took place to evoke these reflections, but by the end, the contradictions are apparent — as the lyrics describing the “The Wicked” clearly apply to Elphaba the least. From the top of the show, when Elphaba enters the prestigious Shiz University, she is obviously outnumbered by non-green people. Although their reactions to her skin are dramatized and exaggerated, they parallel the experiences of Black women who have felt overly perceived, especially in predominantly non-Black spaces. In the song “The Wizard and I,” the Shiz University headmistress, Madame Morrible, tokenizes Elphaba’s magical abilities, as she tells her “if you work as you should / you’ll be making good.” This is painfully similar to an instruction many Black women receive: The only way to earn the love and respect from their peers, colleagues, and authority figures is through hard work because as a Black woman, existing is simply not enough. As Elphaba reflects on the idea that she has to be great, she believes that this power will not come from her own talents but as a result of what The Wonderful Wizard of Oz can make her into, even fantasizing that he could “de-greenify” her to match her
“good inside.” She feels an urge for belonging, unaware that Morrible and The Wizard don’t have her best interest at heart. The plot surrounding Morrible and The Wizard has strong parallels to real-life institutions and the way Black women are encouraged to assimilate by the way we talk and wear our hair, in exchange for accolades and respect that should already be rightfully ours. This line of thought also leads to a discussion surrounding the disappointment in once trusted powers and systems. Elphaba, who idolizes The Wizard, soon sees his powerlessness and hopelessness. Additionally, she realizes that to realize her former dream of working with him, she would have to sacrifice her morals. Previously warned by mentor and professor Doctor Dillamond, a talking goat, in “Something Bad,” Elphaba learns that The Wizard and other authority figures are plotting against the animals, attempting to take away their rights to speak, and teach, and preying on their vulnerability to advance their own greedy interests — a story many Black women know all too well. From here, Elphaba makes a choice, refusing to accept these systems, and she is punished for it. It is the reason Galinda (Glinda’s former name), her ditzy peer, is comically less qualified yet more celebrated — not for her talents, but for her willingness to exist in the mold created for her. These events lead to the famous climax of the show, “Defying Gravity,” where Elphaba quite literally rises above it all. After disagreeing with Galinda on whether to accept the situation or resist it, Elphaba fully realizes her self worth, singing that she is “through accepting limits / ‘cause someone says they’re so,” and she also testifies that the love
she will lose “comes at much too high a cost.” The most powerful moment in the show is electrifying and overwhelming, as it depicts many Black women’s desire in the face of adversity: unapologetically be ourselves while daring the world to stop us. “Wicked” comes with a bittersweet truth: Like Elphaba proclaims when she sings “and if I’m flying solo / at least I’m flying free,” the journey of self-realization is difficult, lonely, and tiring, but it is worth it. The second act explores this sentiment, as Elphaba — who is now widely hated — navigates being villainized, hunted, and left in an awkward place with someone who was once her closest friend. The finale resumes the action from the opening number,
but with a more somber tone. Elphaba undergoes a metaphorical death, as she kills off the villain the Ozians revered and can freely exist outside of their gaze. The first reading of the resolution can seem depressing, as she experienced so much difficulty, only to narrowly escape without revealing the truth and repairing her reputation. However, as Elphaba is able to walk away, the audience sees Glinda, who represents the world’s role as a bystander, left to reflect on the truth and mourn her friend. Elphaba was never wicked, and this perspective reveals that the true wicked, who “no one mourns” and who are “lonely,” are those who create and uphold the systemic and institutional harm that relies on the oppres-
sion of people of color. In “Wicked”’s 20 years, the world has “changed for the better” and for worse. We’ve seen the rise of Black women in political, academic, and creative spaces, but we’ve also seen a rise in terror against Black women, especially in the form of misrepresentation, inequitable healthcare, and attacks on our education. As a Black woman, “Wicked” is more than the beautiful score and mystical spectacle that are apparent on the surface level and excite audiences with every rewatch — the musical provides me with cathartic commentary that evokes self-reflection and motivation to continue defying gravity in my world. makayla.gathers@thecrimson.com
“Wicked” resonates particularly strongly with the experiences of Black women. MICHELLE LIU — CRIMSON DESIGNER
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON
ARTS
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
CULTURE
READ IT IN FIVE MINUTES
An Autumnal Reflection With Thoreau’s ‘Autumnal Tints’ AUTUMN is precisely the right time of the year for remembrance and reflection.
‘OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH’ FINALE REVIEW: THE HAPPY ENDING WE DESERVE “Our Flag Means Death,” created by David Jenkins and starring beloved Kiwis Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby, is a romantic comedy about pirates. It seamlessly integrates queer characters into its storylines, telling a primarily comedic story that focuses on themes of love, found family, and letting go of the past. The second season of the show has highlighted the highs and lows of relationship building, the problems associated with revenge, and the idea that happiness is worth fighting for. The finale of “Our Flag Means Death” wraps up these storylines nicely, but above all it makes a hopeful statement about the future of queer media.
BY THOMAS FERRO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Note: All quotes used in this essay were written by Henry David Thoreau in his 1862 essay, “Autumnal Tints.”
October is the month of painted leaves.”
T
horeau wrote this line in his famous essay, “Autumnal Tints,” for The Atlantic Monthly in October of 1862. An ode to the withering leaves of October, “Autumnal Tints” reflects on the grandeur and beauty of nature, and how each species of flora, at the very end of its life, reaches its richest and most beautiful state. Autumn is a time strongly felt in the old brick-clad towns and seaside cities of New England,
from its wooden farmhouses set on misty patches of grass to the scent of burning wood that flavors the air. And, as this crisp air reaches Harvard College, the year commences its closing act. From the cold winds that tear past Widener Library to the trampled brown leaves on the concrete paths in Harvard Yard, the College has seen many autumns. The noble turkeys wander through the Yard, stepping on the brittle fallen leaves. The old oak and maple trees creak and shudder with the shivering wind, yet the brick buildings remain unmoved. “Their rich glow now flashes round the world.” Naturally, autumn is a time of remembrance, of reflecting on the years past. During the fall months, I find myself recalling my ever-distant memories of the season. When I was young, my Vermont grandparents taught me how to tell when the leaves would start to change: cold nights and warm days –– then the first brushes of orange would
streak through the branches above. Even today, in Cambridge, their words remain true. However, autumn wasn’t always a time of reflection for me. When I was young, fall in New York centered around the Halloween decorations that would line the gridded neighborhoods of Manhattan in October, the sound of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” playing on the TV, and the brisk air that would tint our noses red as we walked to school. For Halloween night, my family and I would often drive up north to visit my grandparents in their small riverside town in Vermont — a trip I would relish in its autumnal feeling. My grandparents’ clapboard house would be full of jack-o’-lanterns, its yard studded with smiling ghosts dancing in the wind. Every year, my grandfather would enter the room in his weathered skeleton mask in a futile attempt to scare my sister and me; we were quite used to his tricks. In Vermont, the leaves in the town were brighter than I’d even
seen; rusty oranges and deep reds contrasted against the cool purple of the evening clouds. One year, my dad and I walked through the pouring, cold rain, huddled under a broken umbrella, to make the most out of trickor-treating under a dark Vermont sky.
rooms and sourdough bread. Pumpkins and skeletons begin to line the streets. Crows squawk and scream over the undulating hills of the almost two-centuries-old Mt. Auburn Cemetery. In these moments, the echoes of that old Halloween feeling are the loudest.
“As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year near its setting.”
“October is the sunset sky; November the later twilight.”
Since these early memories of autumn, I have grown in many ways, but I still visit my grandparents every year in that small Vermont town. I still breathe deeply when I notice the faint scent of burning wood in the air. I still enjoy seeing the blades of grass freeze over in the early morning frost. Cambridge, with its uneven brick sidewalks, iron-wrought gates, and ivy-covered walls, still reminds me of that old essence of autumn. Farmers’ markets materialize on the weekends, selling fresh gourds and cider, mush-
Yet, even more than the excitement of Halloween, autumn is a time of natural splendor; the leaves will soon assume their crimson hues of the fall. Summer has gone, winter is coming; another year has gone by, but another one is on its way. It’s not sad, necessarily, but it is beautiful. As I write this now, sitting next to the cold glass of my dorm room window, I see the wind push and shake the tall, old trees outside. It was warm today, but tonight it will be cold. The leaves will soon change, and I look forward to when they do. thomas.ferro@thecrimson.com
TV SHOULDN’T MERELY SATISFY: LESSONS FROM ‘SUCCESSION’ AND ‘BARRY’ FINALES “Succession” and “Barry” shocked their viewers when they first announced that their recent seasons would be their last. There’s something exciting about a show choosing to end on its own terms, especially now, in the era of streaming services canceling up to a third of new shows in 2021 and 2022, and other cable and broadcast networks canceling more than half. But what made these shows unique is the intentionally unsatisfying way they ultimately chose to cut ties between their audiences and their protagonists, and, more notably, how much their audiences loved them for it.
‘JEKYLL & HYDE’ PREVIEW: SEDUCTIVE, THRILLING, COMPLEX A mention of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde usually brings to mind Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella, but between Nov. 8 and Nov. 11, the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club will bring the classic story to the Loeb Proscenium. Directed by Nikhil O. Kamat ’25, the musical theater adaptation offers more than classicized pop-rock and humor. The production’s team aims to present a nuanced take on the show, venturing beyond the figures of Jekyll and Hyde, embracing character depth, and giving justice to the musical’s technical complexity.
György Kepes’s installation “Blue Sky on the Red Line.” COURTESY OF GYÖRGY KEPES AND THE MBTA
Harvard Station’s ‘Blue Sky on the Red Line,’ and a Case for the Art We Speed Past BY MARIN E. GRAY CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
I spent an hour and a half in the Harvard Square bus terminal. It wasn’t long enough. I had recently been reminded of Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts’ article “The Power of Patience,” in which she emphasizes the value of strategic deceleration in a world of immediacy. Roberts details an assignment for which she asks her students to spend “a painfully long time” looking at an art object, urging a crucial distinction between looking at something and actually seeing it. So I resolved to decelerate, hoping to see more of the art I encounter. What better place to start than the public art installations of the MBTA, I thought, which I’d so often looked at but never really seen? Armed with a bookmarked tab of Roberts’ article and a sense of responsibility as a freshly minted History of Art and Architecture concentrator, I eagerly descended to the Harvard Square station and settled in to meet György Kepes’s installation “Blue Sky on the Red Line.” The artificially illuminated stained glass work has been hugging Harvard Station’s curved main upper busway wall since 1985, installed as part of the first public transit art program in the United States developed by the Cambridge Arts Council. I immediately noticed that, as its name suggests, Kepes’s stained
glass invites a swath of sky to the subterranean space: Varying opacities and hues of glass fragments ranging in color from pale beiges to brilliant ceruleans and intense indigos animate the tunnel, occasionally dimming and blinking as if in greeting. A thick, rough soldering unites the composition of imperfect polygonal glass pieces. The fragments are allowed to retain their individually rebellious shapes, yet are ultimately held in conformity to a grid-like rhythm established by the straight, vertical lines of lead that punctuate the piece in two-foot intervals. A red band runs the 100-foot length of the blue glass near the top of its nine-foot height, echoing the red tiling motif coursing through the Harvard Square station like veins. But before I could see beyond my immediate observations, I found my view had become largely obscured by a crowd anticipating the arrival of the next bus. They waited, and I watched, hoping to see something of others’ perceptions of the glowing installation. Instead, they impatiently shuffled past or remained fixed to their phones — as attested to by Pitbull’s “Hotel Room Service” echoing through the waiting area from a phone lacking headphones on three separate occasions during my time at the terminal. The longer I lingered, the more acutely I felt the cold, rigid tile behind the bench jutting into my back. Buses came and went, sucking passengers from
the waiting area and speeding off with their confused faces staring back at me through the windows. Announcements and departures roared through the tunnel with the wind, each just a bit too loud for prolonged exposure. Several bus drivers looked to me with questioning eyes as they tentatively held the doors: Why did I remain, alone save for a security guard, in the tunnel? Surely, I have somewhere to be; surely, it isn’t here. It seemed that every element of the station urged me to move on, to deny the station art’s pleas to remain stationary. I recalled with renewed understanding Professor Roberts’ lamentation of the pressures pushing us ever towards “immediacy, rapidity, and spontaneity.” But I resolved still to look past the discomfort of existing in the space beyond the pressures of expected temporal bounds. I was rewarded with a far more fulfilling perception of the work that continued to rattle around my head long after I left. I began to see more in what had initially appeared as arbitrary groupings of shapes and hues. They coalesced into a hazy landscape of mountainous natural forms and human-like figures, constellations to be untangled after longer contemplation rather than ready-made images. I marveled at the tension between the delicate appearance of the stained glass medium and the art’s placement in one of the harshest, dirtiest areas of the station, particularly as most of the Arts on the Line works are
made of overtly sturdy materials. This piece, though, offers a 100-foot reprieve from the unforgiving heft of the tunnel wall in a celebration of its own lighter sort of corporality. With even more time spent looking, I discovered a pattern to the occasional flickering of the glass’s backlighting. Each bus’s approach triggers a vertical patch of darkness which glides from left to right along the vehicle’s anticipated path, concluding with an abrupt darkening of the entire strip’s illumination. The headlights of the departing bus seem to follow in pursuit as if to re-light the dimmed installation, and indeed, the piece is at its brightest immediately after its spell of darkness. Now seeing more than a segment of wall which just happened to be made of stained glass, I recognized the cleverly interactive integration of its real-time physical context. I’ll admit that at several points during my experiment in looking, I had to stop myself from impulsively wandering into the bus lane for a closer view of Kepes’s art. I suppose that in more ways than one, transit art is easy to look at and far more difficult to see. I had first entered the bus tunnel with expectations of engaging more deeply with the oft-overlooked installations of the Red Line. I hadn’t expected to be making my way back to class an hour and a half later puzzling over deeper questions about how we engage with art when our engagement isn’t presupposed by the context of a gallery.
With all I was able to see during my time, I found nothing indicating the piece as less deserving of our slowed attention than the pieces above in museums — in fact, the Harvard Art Museums collections feature several of György Kepes’s works. Yet I had observed passenger after passenger waiting in full view of the Harvard Square bus installation without affording it a second glance. Although I found my lengthy look at the Harvard bus tunnel more gratifying than any previous visit to the same space, I don’t plan to regularly repeat my experience. So how are we to do justice by the art installed in expressly liminal spaces like transit line waiting areas? My aim is not to advocate for MBTA passengers to deliberately extend their time in the station as I did, but to reiterate the value in slowing down to the pace of the art in our (subterranean) environment as we wait. With increasingly aggravating slow zones and wait times on the T, what more can we do than to reframe the opportunity of slowing down? How much more will we see? The act of waiting can be more than an absence of doing, but rather a slower kind of presence — one that provides the perfect opportunity to take a closer, slower look at the art waiting to be seen even on our Red Line commutes. In her column “Underground, Overlooked,” Marin E. Gray ’26 platforms the public art installations of the MBTA’s Red Line stations. She can be reached at marin.gray@thecrimson.com.
FIFTEEN QUESTIONS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 3, 2023
J
ules Gill-Peterson is a 2023–24 Radcliffe fellow and an associate professor of history at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of “Histories of the Transgender Child” and a general co-editor of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. She is working on her next book, “Gender Underground: A Trans History of DIY.” FM: Introduce this book that you’re writing — what’s it about? JGP: I’m working on a book about the history of do-it-yourself transition — or DIY, as it’s called in the trans community — which is a very broad umbrella term for all of the ways that people transition gender when they don’t have access to a formal doctor, or don’t have the sanction of the law, and don’t have access to gender-affirming care. Probably the most widely known version of that is the self-administration of hormones without a prescription. But part of what my book is interested in is the fact not only that DIY long predates this present attempt to criminalize transition, but actually the real kind of question I’m working with — and the thing I kind of want to confront not just scholars but the public with to think about — is actually the fact that most people have always transitioned DIY. That’s the predominant mode through which trans people transition because there’s never been any widespread accessibility to clinics or to doctors.
Q&A:
JULES GILL-PETERSON ON TRANS HISTORY, DEEP-FRIED MEMES, AND THE END OF THE WORLD THE HISTORIAN sat down with Fifteen Minutes to discuss modes of transition and the current political moment. “Despite every attempt, people have been remarkably bad at stopping people from transitioning,” she says. BY BEA WALL-FENG CRIMSON MAGAZINE ASSOCIATE EDITOR
FM: Is your tattoo a brontosaurus? JGP: Oh, yes it is! I feel like it’s the most trans girl dinosaur, if I may. Like, very soft and sweet. A herbivore, of course. But she has the height, you know; never has a creature been so tall.
JGP: There are a lot of trans girl memes, which are like, part of what makes them so great is that they are kind of cartoonish and simplistic, low-resolution, lowtech. They’re a little deep-fried sometimes. But the reason why is that the enormity of the impossibility of being a trans woman in the world is so crushing. You can’t fully unleash that beast, because it might be so terrifying and exhausting it’ll annihilate you. But what you can do is draw on this sort of distanced goofiness of a meme to get at a deeper truth in a way that’s manageable and tolerable. It’s so low-stakes, too, I feel like it’s really undramatic, and there’s something I really love about the sincerity and coolness of Gen Z sometimes, where it’s like, we need to keep things really chill because shit is too hard and the world is ending.
JGP: I mean, the only way you can have a concept of DIY is for there to be something that is the opposite of it, for there to be formal medical transition, gatekept transition at a doctor’s office. Before there was formal trans medicine in the U.S. — so before the 1950s — technically everyone transitioned DIY, but they would never have called it that. Using DIY as a bigger lens helps us draw attention to the material context in which transition really happens because transition isn’t just “Did you get the hormones you wanted?” It’s, do you have a place to live? Can you hold down a job while you’re transitioning? How will you deal with interruption of your hormones if you get arrested and put in county jail?
FM: In terms of gender, and putting political considerations aside, what does the future that you want look like?
FM: I’m curious how you would characterize the shift from what you’re describing as trans people’s initial skepticism of these treatments to where we are today. JGP: Part of what has happened since the 1950s and 60s is this medical model did achieve incredible institutional power. People at Stanford are integral in forming what is today the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. That stuff all happened in the 60s, in the 70s, and that gatekeeping version, that medicalized transition, is what wins out in the respectability game — but also, it authorizes itself to be the only legitimate, legally sanctioned way to transition. Part of what WPATH went on to do is say, “Hey, private insurance, Blue Cross or Aetna, if you’re going to cover trans procedures, and you don’t want to just give them away because they’re expensive and you would like to deny coverage as much as possible — boy, do we have a good deal for you. Our standards of care actually exclude most people from accessing surgery, because you have to meet all these requirements.”
JGP: We’re living in this era where a central political plank of a lot of the right is, we should stop and we can stop people from transitioning. That’s a very scary proposition. It’s a very dangerous political rhetoric. Maybe the one silver lining is, they’ll never succeed. If I can say anything from my
people in their heart and learn to become okay with medical trends, or whatever it is sometimes we’re told is our mission. No, it actually doesn’t matter! I don’t care if you know anything about trans people or if you even like trans people. Do you like democracy? Do you like having any minimum freedom over your body? Do you want the right to vote? Well, then you gotta get mobilized on behalf of trans people, because all of the rights being taken away from them will be the pretext for taking away other people’s rights.
FM: There was this interview that you gave with the New Inquiry where you were talking about the “feeling” that the trans movement is embodying, or should embody, and meme culture was the first example that you gave.
FM: Access to hormones specifically is maybe one thing, but then there are also all of these other ways that trans people learn from and teach each other how to present and how to act.
FM: That’s so fascinating, and also, I feel like, kind of bleak.
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MARINA QU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
MARINA QU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
vantage point as a historian, despite every attempt, people have been remarkably bad at stopping people from transitioning. They slow them down, they’ve made their lives miserable, they probably stopped some people, but actually, trans people find a way.
FM: The majority of Americans don’t support laws that restrict trans people or trans kids from transitioning — they never have, they don’t now. But that’s still a big part of the political platform of everyone on the right, and I’m curious, I guess, what does that accomplish for the state, other than cruelty? JGP: Five years ago, none of these politi-
cians had ever heard of a trans person. They had no idea! And also maybe if they had heard of trans people, they did not know what a puberty blocker was. They did not know what top surgery is. Now all of a sudden they talk about it like it’s the number one thing they care about most in the world. All of that is pushing trans people out of the public sphere, but legally, the strategy is all about creating a kind of gendered police state that can compel people to live their lives in conformity with a certain ideal of gender. But also — just the same legal principles here — it’s about creating the conditions for minority rule. The issue is not that everyone needs to be educated about trans people and learn to accept trans
JGP: Ironically, the more I know about trans history or trans lives, the less I feel like it is my task to prescribe what would be best for all of us, the more I realize my experience is just one. And that in the kaleidoscope of trans people’s lives, there is just this incredible untapped reservoir. There are galaxies of possibilities in there that I have had the privilege to brush up against in the course of my work, that glimpse for me better worlds — worlds where freedom is the condition of transition, not constraint, where being trans is not a tolerated and tragic state of affairs but a celebrated and desired one, where trans people aren’t front-page news anymore, where trans women as a group get the opportunities and possibilities that I have individually enjoyed in my life, and where, you know, we move on. And maybe we go through the portal that the memes are taking us through and arrive in a kind of strange world that you can only hear a little bit of when you’re listening to trans girls’ “we’re sad” music. I actually think the conditions for that already exist in the world. They’re just dispersed. They’re not connected. We can’t sense them all in their totality, because there’s so much struggle to be dealt with in the meantime. But I think because of that we’re already living in the midst of it. I think we brush up against it every single day. bea.wall-feng@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
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON
SPORTS
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
WATER POLO
Water Polo Extends Win Streak to Fifteen MEN’S WATER POLO defeated Long Island University, Iona , and Princeton to stretch its 15-game winning streak into the final stretch of the season. BY LUKE B. LAWSON CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
A
fter an undefeatA ed weekend on the West Coast, besting No. 20 Santa Clara University (12-6), No. 14 San Jose State University (12-10), No. 17 California Baptist University (11-10), and No. 16 University of the Pacific, the Harvard’s men’s water polo team looked forward to last weekend’s three games at home against conference opponents, including rival Princeton. When asked about what he learned from the come-frombehind victory the Crimson had against California Baptist, head coach Ted Minnis said, “I think it showed me a lot about this group and this team, and how much we’ve learned about and trust each other.” “I think I learned a lot of positive things about my team,” Minnis added. Similarly, senior captain Kaleb Archer stated “the main thing that I probably took away from what our team showed this
past weekend was resiliency.” With these lessons in mind, the Crimson looked forward to its three-game-set last weekend at Blodgett Pool against Long Island University (LIU), Iona University, and No. 6 Princeton University. With Harvard’s top conference competition, Princeton, on the near horizon, Harvard needed to still give its full effort to both LIU and Iona University. However, Archer noted that focusing on games that immediately precede a critical matchup is something that the team has “historically struggled with,” especially considering the Crimson’s near loss to Wagner College earlier this season. “We’re only as good as our
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The main thing that I probably took away from what our team showed this past weekend was resiliency Kaleb Archer ’24 Harvard Men’s Water Polo Captain
next game,” Archer added. Despite this problem for the squad, Archer projected confidence that the team would be able to handle its competition on Saturday, and “then fully shift our focus to Princeton on
Saturday night into Sunday.” That is exactly what Harvard did. With a dominating performance over LIU (23-7), the Crimson started the weekend off hot. 13 different athletes contributed to its impressive 23 goals, including a hat trick from senior Colin Le, first-year Vilas Sogaard-Srikrishnan, and sophomore James Rozolis-Hill. Harvard continued its impressive Saturday performance with a second win over Iona University (19-10). This time, Archer led the scoresheet with four goals followed closely by Sogaard-Srikrishnan’s hat trick. The game also marked an impressive performance for sophomore goalie Tanner Furtak, who had a career-high 15 saves. After extending its win streak to fourteen games, the Crimson was ready for Princeton. Harvard’s last time facing off against Princeton (10-17) resulted in its most recent loss of the season. Coach Minnis explained the team had learned from the Crimson’s previous game against Princeton that “you can’t give up 17 goals against the top team and think you’re gonna be successful.” “We’re going to have to work harder on the defensive side of the ball, we’re going to have to control the defensive side of the ball,” Minnis added. “We’re going to have to minimize our mis-
takes.” “We’re just excited to get another stab at them,” Archer stated. Harvard was able to follow Minnis’ plan and improve its defensive efficacy. Its offense was
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We got to win a quarterfinal game, and then we got to win a semifinal game. And then whatever happens Ted Minnis Harvard Water Polo Head Coach
powerful as well, with 6 players each scoring a goal, led by Rozolis-Hill with another hat trick. With only five minutes left in the game, the Crimson was leading 11-8, but Princeton tied the game in the final minute to force overtime. During each of the next three overtime periods, first-year goalie Oliver Price had a key save to keep the Crimson alive. Finally, in sudden-death, senior Gabe Putnam scored his third goal of the day and clinched the victory for Harvard, its first victory over the Tigers since 2021. Looking forward, the Crimson has its eyes set on the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) championships. “Our main goal is to get to a
championship game,” Minnis said, but “the focus is one game at a time. We got to win a quarterfinal game, and then we got to win a semifinal game. And then whatever happens happens.” The team is very excited that the rest of the season’s games are at home. Archer described the team’s mantra, “protect Blodgett, protect the home pool.” “We love playing at Blodgett,” Minnis said. The team has not lost at home since Sept. 3 against Pepperdine, and it only lost three times at home last season. Currently, the Crimson are on a 15-game win streak and hope to continue its victorious run this weekend when they play No. 18 Brown and MIT this Saturday and Sunday respectively. luke.lawson@thecrimson.com
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WEEKLY SCORES RECAP WOMEN’S SOCCER VS. YALE
W, 5-2
HOCKEY VS. BROWN
L, 2-1
CROSS COUNTRY IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
1ST
MEN’S
FOOTBALL VS. DARTMOUTH
W, 17-9
SOCCER VS. PRINCETON
W, 2-1
WATER POLO VS. LIU
W, 23-7
CROSS COUNTRY IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
2ND
READ IT IN FIVE MINUTES HARVARD BEATS DARTMOUTH he No. 23 Harvard T football team (6-1, 3-1) pulled out another Ivy win against Dartmouth (3-4, 2-2) this past Saturday at Harvard Stadium. With the win, the Crimson advanced to 6-1, its best seven-game record since 2016. Harvard also improved its Ivy League record for the year, going 3-2 for the second-straight season and only the second time since 2016.
FIELD HOCKEY TO HOST THE IVIES o. 9 Field Hockey rides N eight game wins streak into the inaugural Ivy League Tournament. With a dwindling two seconds remaining in the tied game on Saturday, Lara Beekhuis slammed a shot past the Cornell goaltender, securing a dramatic victory for the Harvard Crimson. Thanks to Beekhuis and her buzzer-beater goal against the Big Red, the Harvard field hockey team went undefeated in Ivy League play and had a successful conclusion to their regular season play.
HEAD OF THE CHARLES SUCCESS he men’s heavyweight T team registered two eightman boats to compete in the Sunday championship race, coming away with the best and twelfth-best collegiate times overall. The A team’s time of 14:26.4 was beaten only by USRowing. It was just over 1.5 seconds faster than Princeton and almost 10 seconds faster than Yale, the first time the Crimson have beaten the Bulldogs in this event since 2016. Harvard looks to generate offense in a match against Brown University, a game which the Crimson ultimately won 10-8. CLAIRE YUAN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
SPORTS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 3, 2023
17
MEN’S SOCCER
Ready for Ivy Tournament ALE GUTIERREZ scored a brace for the second time in his career to send the Harvard men’s soccer team (5-4-6, 3-1-2) past the visiting Princeton.
with a minute left to play, setting up a penalty kick. Gutierrez stepped up to take it and buried it in the bottom right corner, past Princeton junior goalkeeper William Watson, who dove the other direction. With a solidified spot in the inaugural Ivy League tournament, Harvard has been building on its success all season. Gutierrez’s two goals tie his single-game career high and bring him to 24 career points, with three goals and eight points on the season. Arlotti, who assisted Gutierrez’s goal, notched his sixth assist of the season with the goal and 20 overall in his career. He leads the team in both assists and points, with six assists and 12 points on the year. Sophomore Ethan Vegthe was also a threat for the Crimson against Princeton, with a game-high three shots, while Wood held down the backfield with four saves on the day, the eighth time this season he has done so. Senior Jan Rieke and junior Ludovico Rollo also played large roles in Harvard’s defense on Saturday, with both playing the full 90 minutes. Rieke has played almost every minute of the season so far (1,333 out of 1,350). This Senior Day, Harvard honored all six of its seniors (Gutierrez, Willem Ebbinge, James Fahmy, Kaoru Fujiwara, Harry Moore, and Nik White) for their dedication and years put into the program, even through the pandemic. This class of seniors has guided the program through a remarkable turnaround, from a 0-141 record in 2019 to a 9-4-4 record last season in 2022, and a b e r t h in the first-ever Ivy
BY MADDIE B. BARKATE CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
A
s unny Saturday in Cambridge set the scene for what would be a wire-to-wire game between two historic Ivy League rivals. The first half proved to be a strong defensive battle, with both teams generating few shots. Although Princeton sophomore Daniel Ittycheria and Tiger senior Walker Gillespie both generated looks at the net, the Harvard defense was able to hold them scoreless until halftime. The second half opened with the teams tied 0-0. After a tight back-and-forth to open the half, Crimson junior Alessandro Arlotti won the ball from two Princeton players near the left corner and wove through two more Tiger defenders toward the net. Arlotti quickly played the ball behind a few yards to Gutierrez, who buried it in the back of the net for the first goal of the game in the 49th minute. Princeton reattacked rapidly, forcing sophomore goalkeeper Lucian Wood to make several quick saves. The Tigers continued to wear down the Harvard defense, with a breakaway shot that missed just left of the goal, as well as earning several corners, when Princeton finally equalized in the 88th minute. Initially running with a Crimson defender down the left side of the field, Tiger sophomore Jack Jasinski crossed the ball to the right side of the net to Gillespie, who headed it towa r d s h i s t e a m m a t e , s o p h omore Will Francis. Francis quickly hit the ball off of his head past Wood to tie the game 1-1. With just a few minutes left to play, Harvard regroup ed fast and forced play inside the Princeton box. The Crimson had a look at goal t h a t missed just right, but in the scramble to control the ball, a Tiger defender tripped Harvard first-year Dylan Tellado inside the box
League men’s soccer tournament this year in 2023. In its last 16 Ivy League games, the Crimson have posted a strong 9-25 record. And although Harvard was missing two main contributors, Ebbinge and White, on Saturday, the team played well for their seniors and looked strong, confident, and connected. Harvard looks to stay at the top of the Ivy League standings, where it is currently tied with the Penn Quakers (6-3-5, 3-1-2) and the Yale Bulldogs (8-5-2, 3-1-2). Harvard men’s soccer’s team huddle before their game vs. Columbia, back in 2022. SAMUEL M. BENNETT — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
THC
GAMES TO WATCH THIS WEEK FRIDAY Field Hockey vs. UPenn 3:00 p.m., Berylson Field Women’s Soccer vs. Princeton 2:00 p.m., Providence, R.I.
SATURDAY Men’s Ice Hockey vs. Princeton 7:00 p.m., Bright-Landry
Football at Columbia 12:30 p.m. Men’s Soccer at Dartmouth 12:00 p.m.
maddie.barkate@thecrimson.com
MONDAY Women’s Volleyball vs. Yale 5:00 p.m., Malkin Athletic Center
Men’s Basketball vs. UMass Boston 7:00 p.m., Lavietes Pavillion
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“BRILLIANT AS EVER” – SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“THE CHEMISTRY AND THE MAGIC ARE BACK” – THE GUARDIAN
“CLASSIC AND CONTEMPORARY” – LOS ANGELES TIMES
“CHARMING AND DELIGHTFUL” – VARIETY
“COMEDIC PERFECTION” – PASTE
“GRAMMER IS EXCEPTIONAL AS ALWAYS” – GLAMOUR
“WE SUSPECT YOU’LL BE VERY GLAD THAT FRASIER’S BACK IN THE BUILDING” – THE A.V. CLUB