OH, SNAP. Harvard football lost to Brown for the first time in more than a decade after a botched snap allowed the Bears to score a goahead touchdown in the game’s dying seconds.
ARTIST PROFILE. Atefat-Peckham shared his profound insights on life, love, and the ultimate power of artistic endeavor. He may have a lot to say, but he also fervently believes in the importance of listening, a theme that resonates deeply in his work.
14 Darius AtefatPeckham ’23 on Poetry and Identity
Protesters Banned From Widener for 2 Weeks
STUDY OUT. After staging a silent “study-in” protest late last month, more than 12 student activists were banned from entering Widener Library for two weeks. The suspension will last until Oct. 16, according to an email obtained by The Crimson.
SEE PAGE 7
Cycling Deaths Are a Crisis in Cambridge
UNSAFE STREETS. There’s an epidemic of cycling fatalities in Cambridge taking away our neighbors, our friends, and members of our Harvard community. These deaths are tragedies. What makes these losses even more tragic is that they were preventable. SEE PAGE 9
‘A
IOP Chair Walks Out Over ‘Palestinian Exception’
IOP INFIGHTING. Nuriel R. Vera-DeGraff ’26, chair of the Harvard IOP’s Campaigns and Advocacy Program, resigned on Monday after leadership rejected his last-minute proposal to heavily refocus the program on
Lonely Battle’: How Cambridge Parents Navigate the Special Education System
Maggie F. Schulz was growing worried for her son.
Since kindergarten, he had struggled with reading and writing skills, and by third grade, he was receiving extra support five days a week — without any perceivable results.
Seeking answers, Schulz turned to outside help. She found a neuropsychologist, who diagnosed Schulz’s son with dyslexia and dysgraphia and offered an even more disconcerting finding: he had made no academic progress since kindergarten.
Cambridge Public Schools disagreed.
Officials assured her that her son was “doing great” and even proposed reducing his services for the fourth grade, Schulz said.
The cognitive dissonance, she said, was “really upsetting.”
Walking out of that meeting, she knew the battle for her son’s education had just begun.
Under federal law, all students with
disabilities are guaranteed accommodations through individualized education programs or 504 plans, which are meant to meet each student’s specific needs.
These plans, which are organized by the district, can include tutoring, specialized classrooms in Cambridge schools, or transportation to alternative schools outof-district.
But parents, educational experts, and disability advocates said these accommodations alone often fail to position their children for success. In interviews, parents of children with special educational needs described having to fight tooth and nail to ensure their children receive the services they need.
Interim Superintendent David G. Murphy acknowledged that some families may face struggles in securing special education services for their children.
“There’s no school district that gets to the point where they do special education perfectly and there’s nothing else they have to do,” Murphy said in an interview last week. “It is constantly a work in progress.”
As CPS’ resources for students with
disabilities are stretched thin, parents are increasingly fighting alone or with outside professional support — an expensive, time-consuming, and isolating endeavor.
For Schulz, it became a tricky balancing act between her job — working with high schoolers with psychiatric needs as a social worker — and her efforts to advocate for her son.
“It felt like we were just keeping our heads above water to manage the situation,” she said.
The Long Road
For many parents, the journey begins with recognizing deficiencies in their child’s learning — a realization that can take years.
Marcy W. West — whose first-grade child had struggled with reading — said it took the intervention of her sister-in-law, herself a teacher, before she could be convinced to set up a meeting with her child’s instructors.
“They were like, ‘Yeah, we’re concerned,’” West recalled.
Katherine B. Gamble, a local neuropsy-
chologist whose child had an IEP, said that “it takes something going very wrong” for parents to come to such a realization.
“I have so many parents beating up on themselves: ‘I can’t believe I didn’t know. I should have been fighting for this a long time ago. I should have moved him.’” she said.
From there, navigating the IEP process and getting their students into the right learning environments can be an uphill battle.
Though West is a social worker who has sat in on many IEP meetings, she said that without her sister-in-law’s help, West would have been “lost.” West spent hours on the phone with her sister-in-law, who coached her: “Did they say that? Let me read this testing. What are you doing? Definitely say this, definitely ask for that.” West said it took her four months to finalize her child’s IEP. In the meantime, at the recommendation of the IEP team, West paid thousands of dollars for outside tutoring out of her own pocket.
Cambridge parent John H. Summers
An undergraduate course assistant for Math 1b — Harvard’s introductory calculus course — alleged she was targeted for her Palestinian identity after a pro-Palestine sticker was removed from her water bottle and replaced with the word “Israel.”
Jonier Amaral Antunes, the course’s head instructor, wrote in an email sent to students on Sept. 26 that he had “recently heard that a Math 1b staff member’s property was vandalized in a way that targeted their Palestinian identity.”
“The event’s timing suggests that a Math 1b community member may have been involved in the vandalism,” Antunes wrote.
The Crimson reviewed photographs of the water bottle and emails the course assistant exchanged with course staff and administrators. The course assistant spoke with The Crimson on the condition of anonymity, citing fears of online harassment.
Harvard College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo confirmed the student’s
account of her communications with Harvard personnel.
The course assistant said that she was very open about her Palestinian identity from the start of the semester, telling all Math 1b students that she hailed from Palestine when staff introduced themselves during the first lecture.
She had also affixed three stickers to her water bottle that depicted two cats wearing keffiyehs — traditional Palestinian scarves — and the phrase “Cats 4 Palestine.”
On Sept. 11, when the course assistant was teaching a Math 1b section in the Science Center, she left her water bottle on a table in the back of the classroom as she worked one-on-one with students. She noticed before the end of class that the water bottle had disappeared and, after searching the room, did not find it.
After the class, the course assistant contacted a Math 1b graduate teaching fellow, who sent an email to the class later that day asking if anyone had taken the water bottle by accident. “If it has somehow ended up in someone’s
Harvard will review its discrimination, bullying, and harassment policies to better protect academic freedom, following a series of recommendations from the University’s Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue working group.
Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 and Provost John F. Manning ’82 wrote in a joint statement on Tuesday that they “accept the recommendations of the Working Group and look forward to working with the deans, faculty, staff, and students to put them into practice.”
The working group, which was cochaired by Government professor Eric Beerbohm and Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin, was formed by University President Alan M. Garber ’76 in April as part of his effort to encourage dialogue and civil disagreement after the Israel-Hamas war bitterly divided Harvard’s campus last year.
In an interview, Brown-Nagin stressed that the report’s recommendations are
not compulsory and intend to serve as proposals that individual schools can choose to adopt.
“It needs to be understood that this report is not binding in the sense of mandate,” Brown-Nagin said.
The report specifically asked schools across the University to consider adopting a non-attribution policy such as the Chatham House Rule, which would allow people to repeat information from a discussion without identifying the speaker.
Similar policies are already in place at the Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Law School.
The working group’s report also called for a review of the University’s discrimination, bullying, and harassment policies, citing the “potential chilling impact of investigations.”
“Students worried that classroom debates could trigger complaints and investigations; consequently, they choose to self-censor rather than debate charged issues,” the report stated. “Instructors reported special concern about the delegation of
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY TO KEEP WITHERSPOON STATUE
KHYMANI JAMES FILES DISCRIMINATION SUIT VS. COLUMBIA
had already been decided,” the Columbia Daily Spectator reported.
THE COLUMBIA DAILY SPECTATOR
BROWN UNIVERSITY HEALTH PAYS CITY 1.5 MILLION
The Lifespan – soon to be known as Brown University Health – has agreed to pay Providence $1.5 million in taxes over the course of three years as part of a new agreement in their payment-in-lieu-of-taxes otherwise known as PILOT program, according to the Brown Daily Herald. In exchange for the payment increase, Providence will allow Lifespan to extend their hospital sub-district and approved the construction of a road nearby their Rhode Island Hospital.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
CORNELL ADMIN DISCUSS DISCIPLINING PROTESTERS
In a private zoom meeting with 220 Jewish parents, two Cornell University administrators outlined how the university monitors and disciplines pro-Palestinan activists. The university has boosted security and scrutiny of faculty members’ in class behavior according to the Cornell Daily Sun. During the Zoom meeting, Rabbi Ari Weiss asked why Cornell’s on campus activists groups have avoided harsh punishment. The administrators explained that because the activists operate under unregistered coalitions the university has been disciplining individual students. THE CORNELL DAILY SUN
OCTOBER 4, 2024 THE HARVARD CRIMSON
IN THE REAL WORLD
ISRAEL PRESSES FORWARD ON TWO FRONTS AND REPORTS 8 COMBAT DEATHS
Israel advanced its ground offensive into Lebanon on Wednesday, engaging Hezbollah militants in clashes that left eight Israeli soldiers dead. Simultaneously, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed dozens, including children, as the country vowed retaliation for Iran’s missile attack the previous day. Iran, a key backer of Hezbollah and Hamas, launched the attack Tuesday night, intensifying the conflict. Seven Israeli soldiers were killed in two Hezbollah strikes in southern Lebanon, adding to rising casualties. In Gaza, operations in Khan Younis killed at least 51 Palestinians, according to local medical officials.
JUDGE UNSEALS NEW EVIDENCE IN ELECTION CASE AGAINST TRUMP
In a court filing made public Wednesday, Special Counsel Jack Smith presented new evidence countering former President Donald Trump’s claim of immunity in the 2020 election interference case. Among the revelations, Trump reportedly dismissed concerns about Vice President Mike Pence’s safety during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, saying, “So what?” The brief, unsealed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, described Trump’s private efforts to overturn the election as personal actions.
DOCKWORKERS SUSPEND STRIKE AFTER PAY RAISE
The International Longshoremen’s Association suspended their strike after employers offered a 62 percent wage increase over six years. As part of the deal, the current contract for the union’s 45,000 members will extend until mid-January. The daylong strike closed down major ports along the East Coast.
JD VANCE AGAIN REFUSES TO SAY TRUMP LOST THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance once again refused to say whether Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, one day after dodging the question during a debate with Democratic opponent Tim Walz. Vance criticized the media’s focus on the past election, saying his priority is the upcoming 2024 race.
AFTER FLOODING, FEMA AID IS ARRIVING. BUT SOME ARE STILL ON THEIR OWN.
Six days after Hurricane Helene, parts of North Carolina remain cut off, particularly in the mountainous regions near Asheville. Local communities like Cruso and Canton are relying on themselves, clearing roads and distributing food, as they await federal help. FEMA and National Guard personnel are on the ground, but some residents express frustration over the slow disaster response. U.S. President Joe Biden visited damaged areas and deployed more troops to assist with recovery. Officials warn of funding shortfalls for future storms.
WE HEART BRASIL
The Lilypad, 7:30-10 p.m.
This acoustic quartet will present modern versions of traditional Brazilian genres, including Choro, Samba, Maxixe, and Ijexá, The program has been arranged by the San Francisco-based saxophonist/clarinetist Harvey Wainapel.
Saturday 10/5
WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 5K
MAC Lobby, 10 a.m.
Join Harvard On The Move and Harvard Active Minds for a 5k run/walk in celebration of World Mental Health Day! This race is open to all students, whether they are experienced runners or just about to begin exercising. Merch and resources to promote mental health will also be there!
Sunday 10/6
45TH ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST AND HONK! PARADE
Harvard Square, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Join businesses of Harvard Square as they celebrate Oktoberfest with a variety of pop-up beer gardens and live music and art. A parade along Harvard Square will take place at approximately 1:00 p.m. The Filipino American Festival will also take place at the event.
What’s Next
EXHIBITION: THE PLACE WHERE THE CREEK GOES UNDERGROUND
Byerly Hall, 12-4:30 p.m.
The art exhibition will present a series of works on place-knowing, belonging, and kin-making. Through multimedia and writing, the project focuses particularly on brown and Indigenous artists, activists, and theorists.
Tuesday 10/8
EDUCATION AND AI ETHICS
Mahindra Humanities Center Thompson Room, 6-8:00 p.m. Interim chair for the Greek National Commission for Bioethics Dr. Charalambos Tsekeris and Dr. Ofrit Liviatan, a lecturer on law and politics in the Government department, will discuss responsible uses of AI in education.
100 YEARS OF THE INDIAN CITIZENSHIP ACT 14 Story Street, 6 p.m.
Led by the Harvard Undergraduate Native American Program and the Harvard Votes Challenge, this event will reflect on the 100th anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which granted Indigenous Americans citizenship regardless of tribe.
FRAMING THE FUTURE
Friday 10/11
BARBARA A. SHEEHAN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
HLS Admin, Activists Clash Over Protest Rules
testers and HLS administrators has narrowed in on “Belinda Hall,” an area in the Caspersen Student Center that is officially known as Haas Lounge.
More than 200 students met in Wasserstein Hall at Harvard Law School on Monday to discuss the history of the Law School and its student activist movements — but it also served as an act of protest against the HLS administration. The annual event, called “DisOrientation,” was co-sponsored by unrecognized student groups Dissent Collective and Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, which staged the 20-day Harvard Yard encampment last spring. This year, the event centered around pro-Palestine organizing on HLS’ campus and across the University in the past year — including the University’s response to the encampment.
Though “DisOrientation” has been an annual tradition at HLS since 2015, this year’s rendition was a statement from student protesters.
On Aug. 30, days before the first day of classes, Law School Dean of Students Stephen L. Ball and Assistant Dean for Community Engagement, Equity, and Belonging Monica E. Monroe sent an HLS-wide email blast reminding students of academic policies — but more than one-third focused on “community norms for engagement in shared campus spaces.” In the month since, the struggle between student pro -
“Belinda Hall” has historically been a place of protest: in 2016, students occupied the area in an effort to create a safe space for minorities — which they claimed had been denied on HLS’ campus — and renamed the space after Belinda Sutton, a woman enslaved by the prominent Royall family of Massachusetts.
In their August email, Ball and Monroe also announced that interim HLS Dean John C.P. Goldberg had formed a “Haas Lounge Advisory Group” — consisting of professors Maureen E. “Molly” Brady ’08, Guy-Uriel E. Charles, Andrew M. Crespo, Jeannie Suk Gersen, Eloise P. Lawrence, and two additional administrators — to decide whether the rule on the usage of the space should be modified in the future. However, students were not deterred by the group’s formation.
On Sept. 17, the Dissent Collective posted an announcement for this year’s event, writing that it was “coming soon to Belinda Hall.”
The same day, the Harvard Law School Student Government passed a resolution urging the Law School to safeguard the right to use the Haas Lounge for gatherings of any kind by students, faculty, and staff without approval or reservations. The resolution passed on a six to two vote.
The resolution — the first of this Student Government’s term — stated that any future registration process to use the Caspersen Student Center space “should not create any
barriers to free speech, dissent, protest, organizing; or other normal and long-standing uses of the space.”
The resolution directly names “DisOrientation” and last year’s protests calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as examples of activities that should be allowed in the space.
But on Friday, three days before the planned event, Ball and Monroe again emailed HLS students to clarify the use of Haas Lounge — specifically, the prohibition of “planned, organized, or coordinated gatherings that preclude or interfere
with the normal use of the Lounge as a place for personal or small-group study and conversation.”
Violations of the policy, they wrote, “may result in disciplinary proceedings that could have professional consequences.”
This time, the warning worked.
In a Sunday Instagram post, Dissent Collective wrote that they moved the location of “DisOrientation” after “HLS administrators threatened student organizers with discipline.”
“This is a dark chapter in DisOrientation’s story,” the
group wrote.
At the Monday event, a speaker slammed the Law School, saying that “the Palestine exception hurts us all this year.”
During small group discussions, student organizers also encouraged attendees to make use of the Caspersen Student Center space for “personal and small groups of conversation that respect the rights of others to use the space.”
HLS Emeritus Professor Duncan Kennedy also spoke at the beginning of the program in support of the protesters.
“You’re here because you
reached a point of successful organization to actually threaten the authorities that you occupy and operate,” Kennedy said. The program was followed by a candle-lit vigil for victims of the war in Gaza and a chalking of the sidewalk outside of Wasserstein Hall, a violation of the University’s recently-updated ban on chalking following increased campus protests. By Tuesday morning, the messages had been washed away.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra indicated at a Tuesday FAS meeting that — despite leading Harvard’s largest school — she did not play a role in determining the University’s new rules governing the use of campus spaces.
“I don’t have a lot of insight into how they came to be,” Hoekstra said in response to one fac -
ulty member’s question about how the campus use rules were devised.
The rules, which ban signage and events on Harvard property without prior approval, have come under fire from faculty, who have described them as vague and draconian. A small group of professors even staged a public protest against the new policy in Harvard Yard last month.
Hoekstra’s answer is likely to reinforce bubbling frustration that the campus use rules were apparently rolled out by
Harvard’s legal office without serious consultation of faculty members or FAS administrators.
Though Hoekstra did not address calls from some professors to exempt the FAS as a whole from the policy, she said she would establish a faculty advisory committee to consider granting exceptions on a caseby-case basis.
Hoekstra also said the University had initially planned to consider altering the campus use rules after keeping them
in place for a year and gathering feedback. After complaints from faculty though, she said the University will move up its timeline for the revision process.
According to Hoekstra, during a Sept. 12 town hall with the FAS, University President Alan M. Garber ’76 told faculty the University had taken a shoot-first, ask-questions-later approach to implementing the new rules.
“The thinking was that we can spend a lot of time getting them perfect, or we can do our very best and then provide an opportunity to input,” Hoekstra said.
The forthcoming advisory committee is just one of several ad hoc faculty groups Hoekstra either has or plans to form to involve faculty members in making decisions for the FAS.
Recently, she created an advisory group on civil discourse — a committee that will likely help her direct the administration’s efforts to address barriers to free expression on campus.
The group will be chaired by Government professor Eric Beerbohm and Comparative Literature professor Karen L. Thornber.
Beerbohm also co-chaired the University-wide Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue working group — which released its recommendations earlier Tuesday — and serves as an adviser to Hoekstra on civil discourse. Thornber was appointed in June as faculty director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning.
bag by mistake, could you bring it to our section on Friday so she can get it back?” the teaching fellow wrote.
The next week, on Sept. 19, the course assistant returned to the same room in the Science Center to attend office hours for another class. The water bottle appeared on the same table where she had originally left it, but the “Cats 4 Palestine” sticker had been removed and someone had etched “Israel” in its place.
The course assistant said in an interview that she believes she was specifically targeted for being a Palestinian student on campus.
“I don’t think I was targeted because I’m Arab or Muslim,” she said. “I think I was targeted because I am Palestinian and I am not afraid to be proud of and express my identity.”
The student described her account of finding the water bottle in a Sept. 20 email to Math 1b staff and in a Sept. 23 email to her House’s resident dean.
In both emails, the course assistant wrote that she thought she was targeted based on her Arab and Palestinian identity.
The student’s resident dean and the Math 1b course heads both directed her to Meghan G. Lockwood, who serves as a local designated resource for College students navigating Harvard’s non-discrimination and anti-bullying procedures.
The course assistant said she is currently in the process of filing a complaint under Harvard’s NDAB policy.
NDAB complaints first undergo an initial review conduct-
ed by a school official serving as the local designated resource for the case. If a complaint passes review, the University may initiate an investigation into the allegations.
The incident comes amid a rise in Islamophobia and antisemitism on Harvard’s campus. Earlier this year, a freshman student alleged her mezuzah — a piece of parchment many Jewish people place outside their homes — was intentionally removed from her doorway. Last fall, many Palestinian students and pro-Palestine student activists faced doxxing attacks and in-person harassment. Many Jewish and Israeli students have also expressed heightened concern about being targeted for their beliefs and identities. The University’s task forces on combatting antisemitism and anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian bias — first announced in January — both released preliminary reports in June describing a pattern of discrimination and exclusion against both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel students. The task forces are expected to publish their final recommendations later this semester. In a statement, Palumbo reiterated the College’s commitment to fostering an inclusive environment on campus. “We want Harvard to be a place where every student feels welcome and have layers of resources available for students seeking support,” he wrote.
Protesters hold candles at a rally in front of Wasserstein Hall at the Harvard Law School on Monday evening. S. MAC HEALEY — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Reported Hate Crimes Doubled in 2023
CRIME DATA. The number of hate crimes reported to HUPD doubled from 2022 to 2023, according to an annual report.
BY SALLY E. EDWARDS
CRIMSON
The number of hate crimes reported to the Harvard University Police Department doubled from 2022 to 2023, and included hate crimes on the basis of religion for the first time in at least two years, according to a report released Tuesday.
The numbers come as part of HUPD’s annual Clery Act security report, whose release is mandated by federal law. In the report, HUPD detailed 10 hate crimes which were reported in 2023 — an increase from the five reported in 2022 and three reported in 2021. The new numbers come amid rising concerns around antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In a May interview, HUPD Chief Victor A. Clay said that the department considerably increased their presence on campus, including at Jewish events, in response to an increase in threats aimed at students.
The hate crimes reported in 2023 included three aggravated assaults motivated by race on public property, one case of larceny mo-
The effects of that hatred are not evenly distributed, but are borne most heavily by vulnerable minorites
Rabbi Jason B. Rubenstein ‘04
Executive Director of Harvard Hillel
tivated by religion, and one case of simple assault motivated by reli-
gion. Other reported hate crimes include intimidation and assault on the basis of race, gender, and sexual orientation. Rabbi Jason B. Rubenstein ’04, the executive director of Harvard Hillel, wrote in a statement that he hopes Harvard affiliates will “recognize the vulnerability of Jewish individuals,” and “protect us not only with their deeds, but with their words.”
He added that Jews “are the targets of more hate crimes than any other identity,” according to a separate FBI database of hate crimes.
“The effects of that hatred are not evenly distributed, but are borne most heavily by vulnerable
minorities,” he wrote. Imam Khalil Abdur-Rashid, the University’s Muslim chaplain, declined to comment for this article.
HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano also did not respond to a request for comment on the increase in hate crimes on campus.
The overall crime committed on campus also dramatically increased in 2023. According to the report, total crime rose 55 percent — from 208 incidents in 2022 to 323 in 2023. In 2023, there were three arrests by HUPD officers for incidents of drug law and weapons law violations. The Clery Act, which requires schools that receive federal funding
to disclose certain crime-related data, only mandates that HUPD release arrest numbers for drug law, weapons law, and liquor law violations. The number of aggravated assaults jumped from 20 in 2022 to 59 in 2023. Reports of robberies increased nearly sixfold, from 5 in 2022 to 28 in 2023. Incidents of motor vehicle theft — including scooter theft — and domestic violence roughly doubled from 2022 to 2023. Reports of non consensual fondling, stalking and burglary all decreased in 2023.
The HUA Problem Solving Team Is Creating More Problems
BY ADITHYA
The Harvard Undergraduate Association has a problem: its problem solving team is better at creating problems than solving them. In accordance with its constitution, the HUA formed a problem solving team in April to resolve a constitutional crisis that caused all student referenda to be indefinitely postponed pending the problem solving team’s recommendations. But the problem solving team never did any work.
Though members were appointed to serve on the body in April, the team never appointed a chair or a secretary. The team also blew past its July deadline for issuing recommendations to the HUA.
Assistant Dean of Student Engagement and Leadership Andy Donahue, who serves as the College’s official adviser to the HUA, wrote in a Wednesday morning email to the problem solving team that the group’s months-long inaction had effectively created a second constitutional crisis for the student government.
“The lack of progress by the Problem-Solving Team and the lack of clarity in the HUA Constitution has left the student government in a bind,” Donahue wrote.
In an email exchange obtained by The Crimson, Sanaa M. Kahloon ’25, a member of the problem solving team, wrote back to Donahue that the “team has reached a consensus on moving forward with your proposal and voting on an HUA proposal.”
HUA Co-Presidents Ashley C. Adirika ’26 and Jonathan Haileselassie ’26 wrote to The Crimson on Wednesday night that the problem solving team’s response constituted “a key step towards making progress and improving the HUA’s governing document.”
Donahue’s email marked the latest failure for the HUA’s problem solving team. In late April, the team held their first — and so far only — meeting, where they agreed to reach out to scholars at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School for advice on how to improve the HUA’s constitution.
On Sept. 5, hours after The Crimson reported on the problem solving team blowing past its July deadline, Haileselassie wrote in a text message to the problem solving team that the group needed to discuss its progress.
“I’m sure you’re aware of the recent article in the Crimson with regard to the progress made by the Problem Solving Team,” Haileselassie wrote. “The progress, or lack thereof, is a conversation that needs to be
“I propose that the HUA submit a proposal for a new referendum process to this collective for review. If this group approves of the proposal, the HUA will implement its new language and plan,” Donahue added. “Otherwise, the HUA is seeking to dissolve this problem-solving team and form a new problem-solving team to address the issue.”
had amongst you all — the members who volunteered to lead and make up this specific body.”
In the text, Haileselassie also asked the members of the problem solving team for an update on their progress and if they had any plans to issue recommendations to the HUA.
“If there are no finalized recommendations/proposals, is there a plan or system in place to ensure a finalized recommendation is ready soon?” Haileselassie asked.
Besides one member of the team reacting with an exclamation to Haileselassie’s message, his text was ignored.
Lorenzo Z. Ruiz ’27, a member of the problem solving team, said the team has had “no incentive” to issue recommendations to the HUA because the team’s work would not be binding.
“The fact that we can’t give anything that’s binding or sufficient to solve all their problems means the problem solving team’s a joke — of course, there’s no incentive for us to fix the problem, because no matter what we give them, it’s their call at the end of the day,” said Ruiz, a Crimson Editorial editor.
Donahue wrote in a statement Wednesday night that he emailed the problem solving team after consulting with HUA leadership.
“After the initial meeting in the Spring, the Problem-Solving Team did not share recommendations by the proposed deadline and has not had any further communication with the HUA,” he wrote. “As the advisor to the HUA, I reached out to propose a solution to solving the Consti -
tutional issue and allow all the community to move forward.”
Adirika and Haileselassie wrote in a separate statement to The Crimson Wednesday night that “it’s important that this constitutional question be resolved, so that the HUA can move forward and meet the needs of the student body.”
“To ensure progress is being made to that end, the HUA will be drafting a proposal for
review by the problem solving team members,” the co-presidents added.
However, Ruiz said that the HUA’s latest plan — having the problem solving team vote on the HUA’s own recommendations — gives the student government’s leadership too much power.
“We’re a group of random people, and it feels at this point that they’re just using us as a rubber stamp for whatever it is they’d like to do,” Ruiz said. “I think what it does ultimately is gesture at the fact that the HUA is fundamentally a body that is not representative of the will of the student body and is largely disconnected from the public interest,” he added.
Nuriel R. Vera-DeGraff ’26 — the chair of the Harvard Institute of Politics Campaigns and Advocacy Program — resigned on Monday after the IOP rejected his last-minute proposal to heavily refocus the program on Israel and Palestine, according to an email obtained by The Crimson.
In his resignation letter, which was addressed to IOP staff and the student executive team, Vera-DeGraff said the decision to reject his proposal — a 10-week program that focused largely on pro-Palestine advocacy — constituted a “Palestine exception to free speech.”
“After a month of opaque communication, censorship, and deep disrespect for my role as CAP chair and time spent at the IOP — ended by meeting with my leadership team behind my back, changing the weekly meeting time without me, and a second email ignored by staff and exec — it doesn’t make sense to go on as chair,” Vera-DeGraff wrote in his resignation letter.
As CAP chair, Vera-DeGraff led a team of three other students who typically help invite guest speakers and develop programming centered around electoral campaigns and advocacy.
But five IOP students who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues said that Vera-DeGraff independently led the campaign to shift CAP’s focus to pro-Palestine advocacy.
IOP President Pratyush Mallick ’25 wrote in a statement that the executive team was “absolutely okay with an elections-based curriculum that included extensive conversation on Israel and Palestine” and that the group “opened up multiple lines of communication, opportunities for collaboration, and conversations on these topics.”
“No matter what angle of goodfaith compromise we developed, the former Chair of CAP refused to work in collaboration with us or his program leadership,” he wrote.
Vera-DeGraff’s resignation comes almost one year after three members of the IOP Student Advisory Committee resigned in October 2023 after the group opted against releasing a statement condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
IOP spokesperson Brigid O’Rourke and IOP Director Setti D. Warren did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
The Fallout
Vera-DeGraff, a Crimson Editorial editor, said in an interview that he felt his proposal was being “sidelined” and alleged that there were “multi-day lapses in response time from different staff members” that limited his ability to proceed with his new vision of CAP.
“I was hearing no clarifying answers from student or staff leadership — that was really, for me, what was blocking CAP from moving forward,” Vera-DeGraff said.
In addition to serving in student leadership at the IOP, Vera-DeGraff is a prominent pro-Palestine student activist on campus. Last semester, he was placed on academic probation for his participation in the encampment of Harvard Yard.
The fallout between Vera-DeGraff and the IOP began on Aug. 26 when he shared his plan with Mallick and IOP Vice President Ethan C. Kelly ’25 to heavily refocus CAP on Israel and Palestine, according to Vera-DeGraff.
His interest in changing CAP’s programming came nearly two months after he submitted an original proposal — which Mallick and Kelly approved in June — that focused exclusively on the 2024 election and had no mention of Israel or Palestine, according to a document obtained by The Crimson.
By Aug. 30, Vera-DeGraff had submitted a revised programming outline for CAP, which he had prepared independently and not presented to other student leaders in CAP before sharing it with the executive team, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Vera-DeGraff’s revised proposal for the fall semester, which was obtained by The Crimson, included inviting a speaker from the pro-Palestine Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to speak at CAP.
While his proposed programming touched on polling and the U.S. presidential campaign, his suggestions heavily focused on the state of pro-Palestine advocacy in U.S. politics. Topics included Vice President Kamala Harris’ public support for Israel and a pro-Israel lobbying group’s efforts to heavily fund primary challengers looking to unseat progressive members of Congress who were staunch critics of Israel.
Vera-DeGraff’s initial proposal did not include any explicit plans to invite Israeli speakers to CAP-hosted events this semester. Vera-DeGraff confirmed in a statement that his Aug. 30 proposal for CAP omitted Israeli speakers.
Vera-DeGraff said that IOP leadership considered his August proposal to be “too biased,” but added that he submitted a revised proposal on Sept. 27 that included one week of pro-Israel advocacy
discussion.
‘10000% Opposed’
In his resignation email, Vera-DeGraff took particular aim at Kelly, alleging that he had privately expressed disinterest in having the IOP host conversations on Israel and Palestine.
Kelly wrote in a text message sent in a group chat with the IOP executive team on Aug. 25 that he was “10000% opposed to any and all I/P talk as part of our programming,” according to screenshots obtained by The Crimson.
“That could do incomprehensible damage to the IOP if done wrong,” he added. “And it will be done wrong.”
In a separate text to Mallick on Aug. 28, Kelly clarified that “CAP should be about campaigns” and that the IOP could “seek avenues elsewhere” for discussions about Israel and Palestine.
Kelly called the text message a “cherry-picked quote from a much longer, broader series of conversations between members of the IOP Executive Team,” in a statement on Tuesday.
“The ‘our’ in the text message shared with the Crimson references our CAP programming specifically — not the IOP at large,” Kelly added.
Kelly wrote that the “IOP’s top priority is and always will be student safety and belonging” and that the group is launching a new series “to provide a safe and productive venue for discussing Israel-Palestine.”
Vera-DeGraff alleged in his email that the proposal was rejected by the IOP over its “thematic narrowness” and focus on Palestine.
However, Vera-DeGraff noted that his proposed programming last spring — which focused on campaigns and advocacy in the Boston and Cambridge area — had a “quite narrow” scope but was still approved by the IOP executive team and staff.
Mallick wrote that the IOP only greenlit Vera-DeGraff’s programming proposal for the spring term because it focused on “conversations around campaign building skills, from the focus of local leaders in campaigns.”
‘I’m the Chair’
Two people close to the situation acknowledged that the IOP disagreed with the focus of Vera-DeGraff’s proposal for this semester, but said the IOP had offered to host a “two track” version of CAP that would feature programming on both the Israel-Palestine conflict and the 2024 U.S. elections.
But Vera-DeGraff rejected the IOP’s proposal and was adamant about having CAP maintain his proposed syllabus, according to the two people. Vera-DeGraff said in the interview that he felt the IOP did not respect the authority that came with his leadership role and was hesitant to let CAP situate its programming “in the real world context” of Israel and Palestine.
“I’m the chair,” he said. “I’m proposing this to be my theme for the semester and a way for my students to learn about candidates and advocacy.”
Mallick wrote that since “we are nearly halfway into the semester of IOP programming, and 4 weeks away from the election, we had to
meet with someone on the rest of CAP leadership to at least send out acceptances.”
“This was a conversation that was prompted by prospective CAP members, CAP leadership, and staff requesting that CAP have some kind of clarity on who was accepted or not,” he added.
Acceptances for CAP were delayed by Vera-Degraff’s August proposal and were not sent until last weekend — nearly two weeks after the IOP’s deadline for onboarding new members, according to one person familiar with the matter.
Throughout September, Vera-DeGraff had six meetings with the IOP executive team to discuss his proposal and two meetings with Warren and IOP staff, according to the two people.
Vera-DeGraff said he told Warren that his revised proposal was “not fully about Israel and Palestine,” but never won his support.
Vera-DeGraff said in an interview that he received an email on Sept. 17 from Mallick saying that the IOP did not intend to remove him from CAP programming, but that CAP would move forward with the traditional syllabus “with the help of CAP leadership, alongside support from IOP staff.”
“This email seems very contradictory and hypocritical to me,” Vera-DeGraff said. “Especially the point about wanting my involvement as CAP chair running the program, because the whole prior month had essentially been full of no willingness for me to actually have any impact on running the program.”
Vera-DeGraff’s resignation was not a surprise for several people close to CAP and the IOP. In a Sept. 9 meeting between Vera-DeGraff and members of IOP leadership, he was vocal that he felt unhappy with continuing with CAP in its traditional format, according to one person familiar with the matter.
Two people added that the IOP staff began sourcing speakers and allocating funds for Vera-DeGraff’s June blueprint shortly after it was approved. A description of the June proposal’s focus on the 2024 elections was also advertised on the IOP’s website and made available to prospective CAP applicants on July 1.
More than 100 students applied to CAP under the original June proposal and were not familiar with Vera-DeGraff’s proposed change to the syllabus at the time of their application, they said.
“By the time the former Chair reached out to us with new plans for the semester, we had already received applications for the program, as well as extensively advertised CAP,” the IOP executive team wrote in a statement. In his email, Vera-DeGraff maintained that the IOP’s response to his proposed shift marked an atypical level of interference into the day-today operations of an IOP program.
“I faced no censorship, criticism, or pushback from exec or staff — you only took these measures when I tried to center programming around Israel and Palestine,” he wrote in the email. “It’s clear that my proposed blueprint was rejected primarily because it covered Israel and Palestine.”
“If this isn’t a Palestine exception,” Vera-DeGraff added, “What is?”
Pro-Palestine Protesters Banned From Widener
RULE VIOLATIONS.
Twelve student protesters were banned from Widener Library for two weeks after a ‘study-in’ protest.
More than 12 pro-Palestine student protesters were banned from entering Widener Library for two weeks after they staged a silent “study-in” protest at the library late last month, according to an email obtained by The Crimson.
The email, which was sent to students on Wednesday, informed them that their “access to Widener Library will be suspended from today until October 16” for violating the rules and regulations around library use outlined in the University-wide Statement on Rights and Responsibilities.
Students barred from the library will still be able to access online materials and borrowing privileges, and can request to pick up materials from Widener at other libraries on campus, according to the email.
In a Wednesday evening social media post, organizers for the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee decried the library ban and criticized Harvard administrators for targeting “even the most non-disruptive displays of solidarity.”
“Betraying the historic value of libraries to social change, library admin worked with Harvard admin to do what they’ve done all year: CRIMINALIZE ALL ADVOCACY FOR PALESTINIAN LIBERATION,” PSC organizers wrote. A spokesperson for Harvard
Libraries declined to comment for this article, citing a policy of refraining from commenting on individual matters related to Library policy.
The ban comes after roughly 30 pro-Palestine student activists staged an “emergency study-in” at Widener on Sept. 21, to protest the Israeli military’s airstrikes in Lebanon. During the demonstration, which lasted an hour, students donned keffiyehs — traditional Palestinian scarves — and studied with posters taped to their computers.
The demonstration was silent, and other students in the Widener reading room continued to study alongside the pro-Palestine protesters.
During the study-in, library staff jotted down the names and Harvard University ID numbers of several student protesters and passed out sheets of paper stating that libraries are not permissible spaces for student protests.
That warning was repeated in the Wednesday emails notifying students of their two-week suspension.
Though College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo initially stated on Sept. 22 that no students had been referred for disciplinary action, the decision to temporarily ban students from Widener indicates that Harvard’s administration is adopting a more stringent approach to protests that do not abide by the University’s policies.
“This Widener Library suspension is not intended to supplant any potential discipline by your School for violations of the University Statement on Rights and Responsibilities or other Harvard policies,” Widener administrators wrote in their emails on Wednesday. The administrators wrote that
they will keep records of the violations, which will be reviewed in the event of future infractions — indicating the possibility of further action from the disciplinary boards of students’ individual schools.
The letter also stated that if the student believes the ban is in error, they can file a reconsideration request by emailing Vice President for the Harvard Library Martha Whitehead by Oct. 5 and providing evidence for the appeal.
Students can also contact Whitehead if the suspension prevents them from completing academic work for a class, according to the letter. In an email sent to Harvard
Libraries staff this afternoon, Whitehead described the studyin demonstration and explained the reason for temporarily barring students from the library.
“Having reviewed all the facts and heard the perspectives of many people, including the chair of Harvard Library’s Faculty Advisory Council, we have determined that these individuals were in violation of library rules,” Whitehead wrote to staff.
“Even when it is quiet, such an assembly changes a reading room from a place for individual reflection to a forum for public statements and a challenge to some users,” Whitehead added. “It undermines our commitment
Former Harvard President Claudine Gay Celebrated at Black Alumni Society Event
BY FRANK S. ZHOU CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
The Harvard Black Alumni Society awarded former Harvard President Claudine Gay its award for “Leadership and Courage” on Saturday at the first University-wide Black alumni conference in more than a decade. After receiving the award, Gay delivered remarks to the hundreds of alumni who gathered in Sanders Theater for the event — a rare keynote speech delivered by Gay since her resignation in January.
Gay has only made a few public appearances since she left office under a cloud of plagiarism allegations and criticism of her response to campus antisemitism. The Black alumni celebration over the weekend was closed to members of the press and also featured remarks from University President Alan M. Garber ’76. The 47-page program noted that the dates for the two-day celebration, which began Friday, were “chosen purposefully to mark the
one-year anniversary” of Gay’s presidential inauguration.
The event drew a number of prominent Black alumni back to campus, including former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch ’81, former Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick ’78, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. ’95.
Harvard Black Alumni Society President Monica M. Clark ’06 said in an interview that honoring Gay’s leadership and courage at the conference was “extremely appropriate.”
“This reunion — all these people who were expressing all this support for her — they were all there,” Clark added. “Celebrating her, and clapping for her, and cheering her on.”
Thomas G. Stewart, who overlapped with Gay at Harvard while they were both Ph.D. students in Government, said that “she was a person from day one that loved this institution.”
“She’s humble, she’s smart, she’s — fortunately — someone that still is affiliated with the University, and
has pledged her support to it to her dying day,” Stewart added.
Black alumni leaders also met with Garber in a closed-door meeting on Thursday where they called on Garber to consider Black candidates for senior positions at the University, including during searches for Harvard’s top deans, according to Byron J. McLain ’00, who represented the Harvard Law School Association Black Alumni Network at the meeting.
McLain called the conversation with Garber a “very good first step.”
“Words are one thing, and actions are another,” he added.
Clark said that she emphasized the group’s priorities during a meeting with Garber, which include resisting “anti-DEI pressure” and “creating a pipeline to his successor that includes Black candidates — and this time, making sure that there’s a culture where those candidates can stay and thrive.”
Attendees and event organizers also called on Harvard to resist attacks against diversity, equity, and inclusion as questions continue to swirl about the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action and its impact on Harvard College admissions. The College announced a 4 percentage point drop in its enrollment of Black students in the Class of 2028 last month.
University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement that “President Garber was pleased to join Harvard Black Alumni Society to welcome the HBAS Global Changemakers Conference and meet with alumni leaders on campus.”
Several people who attended the weekend festivities said that Harvard needs to do more to support its Black alumni. Stewart warned the University
against returning to a past period when it did not embrace “all types of people.”
“There are forces that believe, people that believe that we should go back to that era, and we’re committed to representing the fact that we’re not three-fifths of a human being,” Stewart said. “We’re human.”
M. Bruce Robinson, a former president of the Harvard Business School Club of Shanghai, praised the alumni celebration as “positive” and called on the University to support alumni activities beyond the donor class.
“We need people to donate, but we also need people who can’t donate in size to also be recognized as supporters — and as important,” Robinson said. “I think the University needs to reflect on what is its mission.”
“If you’re going to be beholden to a certain segment of your alumni group, you just ought to admit that,” he added.
Harvard Alumni Association
Executive Director Sarah Karmon wrote in a statement that “this year’s HBAS Global Changemakers Conference was an exceptional gathering of nearly 1,000 alumni on campus.”
“The engagement of our alumni community is a vital element of the university’s success,” Karmon added.
On Saturday, Gay continued to mingle with attendees long after the award ceremony had ended, attending an evening gala at the Charles Hotel.
Shortly after spotting Gay on the dance floor upstairs, Stewart said she was enjoying the celebration. “She’s in good spirits, and folks should know that,” he said.
to provide an inclusive space to all users.”
Last semester, a broad array of Harvard affiliates criticized the University’s disciplinary response to students who organized a 20-day pro-Palestine encampment in Harvard Yard as overly harsh and a “Palestine exception to free speech.”
In May, Harvard suspended five students and placed more than 20 others on probation for participating in the encampment. The University also withheld the diplomas of 13 graduating seniors who were disciplined just days before Commencement, which precipitated a large-scale walkout at the annual ceremony.
The University later reversed its decision to suspend the students. In July, Harvard released diplomas to 11 of the 13 seniors. “Harvard will go on and on about ‘intellectual freedom’ and the ‘dignity and rights of every person’ in word while institutionally profiting from bombs dropped on Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen right now,” the PSC wrote in a social media post. “The fight against genocide won’t ever be deterred, whether by campus bans or suspensions,” the PSC added. “It’s time to understand that.”
Anna G. Cowenhoven returned to her position as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ top communications official on Sept. 16 after a year-long stint leading public affairs at the University of Pennsylvania.
Cowenhoven announced her departure from Penn seven months after former Penn President Elizabeth Magill and Scott Bok, the chair of Penn’s board of trustees, resigned in the wake of the same congressional hearing that sent Claudine Gay’s Harvard presidency into a fatal spiral. She had served in the role since August 2023. In an email to FAS staff about Cowenhoven’s appointment, FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra praised Cowenhoven for “managing complex and sensitive University issues through a period of profound institutional challenge” at Penn.
Cowenhoven previously served in communications roles at Harvard for 10 years. At the time of her departure, she led the FAS’ communications team under Gay, then serving as FAS dean.
Holly J. Jensen, a former spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, filled the top FAS communications post for a brief, four-month tenure before leaving Harvard in May. Jonathan Palumbo, the lead spokesperson for Harvard College, and FAS editorial director Jill Radsken led the FAS’ communications office as administrators sought a replacement for Jensen. The turnover among Harvard’s spokespeople comes at a trying time for the University. Though Harvard has a new slate of permanent leaders at the helm, it’s currently embroiled in an ongoing
congressional investigation into campus antisemitism and a steady drumbeat of media attention. Cowenhoven previously oversaw the FAS’ communications strategy around the Supreme Court case challenging Harvard’s use of race-conscious admissions — a topic that is back in the news after Harvard College released race data for its first admitted class since affirmative action fell.
Meanwhile, faculty members in the FAS are looking to take on a stronger role in governance — and are increasingly willing to publicly voice their opposition to administrative decisions, both in official forums and in the papers. At Tuesday’s FAS meeting, Hoekstra told attendees that “communications are more important than ever,” both internally and externally. Hoekstra acknowledged the political headwinds at Tuesday’s FAS meeting, saying she planned to emphasize “making the case externally for the impact of our teaching and research nationally and globally.”
“With your help, we can take back our narrative,” she said.
8 MAC Employees Fired by Gym Managing Company
HealthFitness has overseen athletic facilities on campus, including the Malkin Athletic Center, Hemenway Gymnasium, and the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center since 2017, according to Imry Halevi, the Harvard senior associate director of athletics.
HealthFitness, a company that operates several of Harvard’s gyms, fired at least eight employees last week without warning, including three Harvard students, according to six current and former recreational staff members.
The employees, four of whom requested anonymity due to concerns of retaliation, said HealthFitness moved ahead with the firings after a payroll audit showed that some employees had clocked into work on their phones, instead of clocking in on computers at the gyms.
While employees were aware of the policy barring clocking in on phones, three former employees said it had not been previously enforced regularly. Managers told the employees, without further explanation, to keep the reason for their terminations confidential.
Amid the firings, two full-time employees resigned, citing issues with management and the workplace environment.
HealthFitness spokesperson Ann Watson declined to confirm the layoffs, but wrote in a statement to The Crimson that HealthFitness is an “equal opportunity employer that communicates and enforces policies in a consistent manner.”
“We are committed to providing an inclusive workplace,” she wrote.
In interviews, the current and former employees said that the firing came as a surprise to the team, and claimed it demonstrated a larger pattern of disorganization and inconsistent communication from management.
Amy R. Huang ’24 said that it was “kind of a shock” to hear that she was fired after being called into an 8 p.m meeting in the middle of her shift.
“I had been working there for a while and working so many hours for them,” Huang said. “I previously had no issues with management — I’d never met with them about anything — so I was just a little confused.”
operation and also hopes to start a coffee cart system — which he called his “biggest thing” — that would bring Luxor Cafe all around New England.
Harvard Will Review Discrimination Policies to Better Protect Campus Academic Freedom
Visitors to Harvard Square are in luck with the opening of Luxor Cafe, an Egyptian coffee shop and deli that launched in May.
The cafe — which is at the Mt. Auburn Street location that once housed Darwin’s Ltd. and Roust Coffee — expands the Mediterranean and Halal options in the Square with its Egyptian-inspired cuisine.The new establishment is owned by 22-year-old Abdelrahman Hassan, the son of Egyptian immigrants, who said he aimed to emulate the “community space” of cafes in his parents’ home country.
“I miss home, and I miss being there, and I love being there,” Hassan said of Egypt. “I feel like it’s so special, and a lot of people don’t get to see how special it is.”
In addition to carrying over menu options from Darwin’s, Luxor Cafe offers a variety of specialty sandwiches, breakfast foods, and beverages — including a baklava latte and Egyptian breakfast. The cafe also features Egyptian-influenced decor, with a hieroglyph mural and a scarab beetle — a symbol of ancient Egypt.
The cafe was remodeled within two weeks of the closure of Roust Coffee, which was open for just over a year before shutting its doors in early May.
“I texted on a group chat, like, ‘I need help. I need to put things together,’” Hassan said. “All of a sudden, there are like 20 people a day that are all coming, and they’re all just helping. Everyone has ideas.”
In addition to serving Halal food, the cafe aims to further serve its Muslim patrons by building a prayer space in the basement, which Hassan said would be complete by January or February of 2025.
Although the cafe opened just a few months ago, Hassan is already managing a robust catering
“I feel like that’s really fun. Now, the world’s endless. You can go wherever,” Hassan said about the coffee cart. “You really get to go outside. You really get to push the brand name.”
Several customers praised the new cafe, citing its menu offerings and the establishment’s ambience.
Balsam Mahfoum, a student at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, said she comes to Luxor Cafe often because of their halal food and its role as a “community space.”
“It’s super accessible to a community that’s not really reached by a lot of cafes,” Mahfoum said, adding that even though the restaurant is “a little bit on the pricey side,” she wants to support Muslim and Arab-owned businesses.
“I love also that they play Arabic music. It makes me feel at home,” she said. Reham Harrati ’27 said she makes a special effort to go to Luxor in part because the “coffee is fantastic.”
“It’s not necessarily in the direction of anything, so I literally schedule it into my day to walk out of the way and get coffee,” she said.
Though it was her first visit, Cambridge resident Divya Gumudavelly was impressed by Luxor Cafe and said her latte “ended up being really good.”
“I’m going to tell everyone about it to come back here, because it feels super homey and I feel like you can spend a lot of time here and get a lot of work done,” she said.
Garrett Harris, a Belmont resident, said he prefers Luxor to the previous restaurants in the location.
“I like the Egyptian vibe,” he said. “The personality of the people who work here is way better. It’s unique.”
fact-finding or decision-making to persons who are unfamiliar with the principles of academic freedom that should guide faculty-student interactions.”
The report also urged schools to consider developing a training program on classroom discussions for freshmen, as well as to consider adopting policies that encourage responsible social media use and reward instructors for encouraging debate on controversial topics based on the group’s report, written after listening sessions with more than 600 affiliates.
Garber and Manning wrote in their University-wide message on Tuesday that the full implementation of the report’s recommendations “will undoubtedly take time.”
“This report points the way,” they added.
Many of the recommendations put forward by the working group involving curriculum adjustments and classroom norms will most likely need to be greenlit by the faculty and individual school deans before being implemented.
The recommendations issued by the working group represent the latest effort by Garber in his mission to reform Harvard in the wake of its most destabilizing period in decades. His administration has already adopted a policy that instructs the University to not issue statements on current events and placed new restrictions on campus protest.
Beerbohm said in an interview that the working group’s recommendations “piggyback” off of the University’s modified institutional neutrality statement.
“This describes the way in which we as a community can have a range of voices that are amplified, as opposed to a single institutional voice,” Beerbohm said, referring to the open inquiry report.
The presidential task forces on combating antisemitism and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias, which Garber formed just days into his tenure as interim president, are also expected to release their final recommendations later this semester.
Beerbohm said that the policies are intended to “give students permission and give faculty permission — this is a joint effort — to speak their mind because they know that others will treat them as trying to get it right.”
The report also revealed the results of a University-wide classroom climate survey. Out of 5,395 student respondents, 45 percent were hesitant to share their views on controversial topics in class and 38 percent felt equally hesitant to express views outside of class.
Surveyed students said their concerns stemmed from fears about reputational risk, harassment on social media, and judgment from classmates. Some students said they were worried that expressing an opinion contrary to their professor could have an impact on their grade. The widespread use of anonymous platforms such as Sidechat and messaging groups like GroupMe also led students to self-censor, according to the report.
“For them, the potential reputational risk of speaking out appeared to outweigh any intellectual benefits that might be gained from debating difficult subjects or disagreeing with peers’ presumed viewpoints,” the report stated.
The group also found that while 59 percent of instructors reported being comfortable with pursuing controversial research, “only 49 percent reported that they are comfortable leading a classroom discussion about controversial issues,” frequently citing fear of professional retaliation, negative teaching eval-
uations, and of being recorded while teaching.
The group suggested rewarding instructors “skilled in navigating controversial topics” and wrote that faculty should “communicate their commitment to open inquiry” with students.
Beerbohm said that a new question on the Q-guide, the University’s course evaluation platform, that asks students to rate their comfort expressing views on controversial topics will allow administrators to evaluate instructors on their commitment to fostering debate on controversial topics.
“We hope that that can be used to actually reward those who stick their necks out in this way,” Beerbohm said.
While the report suggested several possible policies, including policies advising instructors not to share their perspectives on issues and advising students to avoid sharing personal experiences on issues, they did not make specific recommendations on those topics.
“It is important and it is expected, for the sake of learners, that faculty teach and consider a broad spectrum of views,” Brown-Nagin said.
Beerbohm said that “one way I judge my success is if students can’t tell what I think.”
The working group co-chairs also declined to say whether they supported intentionally hiring more ideologically diverse faculty.
“This problem is much, much bigger than politics,” BrownNagin said.
“There’s variance across our schools, disciplines, and individuals in terms of how capable they actually are in doing what we’re asking of them in this report,” she added.
The report includes a suggestion to assign participants to arguments during discussions and
conduct anonymous polling to “establish that individuals may enter classroom discussions with different perspectives on contentious issues.” In an interview with the Harvard Gazette, a University-run publication, Brown-Nagin said that during listening sessions, “some of the most gripping stories came from Israeli and Jewish students whose attempts to engage in dialogue were rejected by other students, who have disavowed talking to Zionists.”
“We also heard from Arab, Muslim and Palestinian students who had been called ‘terrorists’ on the assumption that anyone who cares about or stands up for the rights of the Palestinian people supports terrorism,” she added.
Still, Brown-Nagin warned that the report is just the first step in addressing issues surrounding free speech and academic freedom,
“One point I do want to make very emphatically is that law and policy will not save us,” BrownNagin said.
“We have to be committed as individual members of this community to a better community, to a livelier exchange of ideas,” she added.
HealthFitness operates several Harvard gyms, including the Malkin Athletic Center. CRIMSON MULTIMEDIA STAFF
Cycling Deaths Are a Crisis in Cambridge
UNSAFE STREETS. The right to move around safely is foundational. We call on our representatives at all levels of government to push for action on upgraded bike infrastructure and mobility justice.
There’s an epidemic of cycling fatalities in Cambridge taking away our neighbors, our friends, and members of our Harvard community.
Last Monday, John H. Corcoran ’84 was killed by an SUV while biking on Memorial Drive, following two fatal cycling collisions with cars over the summer in Cambridge. These deaths are tragedies. We mourn these victims and send our condolences to their families.
What makes these losses even more tragic is that they were preventable. Better bike infrastructure could have made all the difference — which is why it’s so shameful that local government has spent years dragging its feet on addressing this crisis.
Transit activists have long highlighted the need for upgrades at the Boston University Bridge intersection, a hotspot for fatal accidents 500 feet from where Corcoran was hit.
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation, which oversees the area, must heed those calls and expedite the construction of protected bike lanes. In the long run, implementing a “road diet” — a roadway with fewer car lanes separated from bikes by a barrier — would provide a durable solution to cycling fatalities.
Local government isn’t off the hook either. In 2020, the Cambridge City Council made plans to construct 25 miles of bike lanes by 2026 — an appropriately ambitious target. This past April, however, the Council pushed its construction deadline to No -
vember 2027, having constructed only 13 miles of bike lanes as of May. This setback is unacceptable. Every year of delayed construction is another year of unsafe streets. A 2019 study assessing 13 years of data from 12 major U.S. cities found that installing protected bike lanes citywide could reduce cyclist fatalities by 44 percent.
Other regulation options are available too. Neither of the two trucks that killed cyclists in June were equipped with side guards — protective barriers intended to prevent cyclists from getting caught under vehicles during a collision.
While Cambridge currently requires trucks owned by or contracted with the city to install side guards, our government should work to expand the use of this safety measure statewide. Strengthening speed limits and narrowing lanes could further reduce fatalities.
But those must be the first steps, not the last. Cambridge can do more to institutionalize a culture of road safety, starting with modified drivers’ education requirements and public awareness campaigns that emphasize safe driving on shared roadways. Reckless or distracted driving creates a lethal mix that no amount of infrastructure can fully counteract. We call on our representatives at all levels of government to push for action on upgraded bike infrastructure and mobility justice.
Students on this campus know firsthand the danger of dodging speeding cars as we bike, scooter, or even just walk around Cambridge. As an influential voice in local politics, Harvard has a responsibility — both for the sake of students and the larger community — to lobby for better bike infrastructure.
In the meantime, the University should also pro -
vide safety resources such as helmets and bike vests to students. The right to move around safely is foundational. It’s time for local policymakers to start acting like 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.
It’s Time for Harvard to Regain Shared Governance
BY JAMES T. ENGELL
In my 55 years at Harvard and 46 engaged in Faculty of Arts and Sciences affairs, I’ve never seen faculty decision-making power as weak as in the past two decades — an alarming phenomenon given that free inquiry and academic freedom depend on shared governance of the University.
Faculty rights have been directly infringed upon. For example, when the Corporation claimed it was not exerting discipline by sanctioning College students who joined unrecognized single-gender organizations, it abrogated the exclusive statutory power granted to the FAS to exert discipline. (The University eventually reversed course following a Supreme Court decision which effectively nullified the Corporation’s action.) Before concluding that shortcomings of shared governance rest with a detached and occasionally arrogant Corporation or with administrators who — almost without exception — are decent and selfless, we should look to the faculty itself. In part because FAS faculty meetings have become burdened by predetermined outcomes (someone once quipped to me that top administrators fear nothing more than these meetings’ open question period), FAS meetings have often been ignored by faculty, except by those personally involved in a controversy.
The quorum requirement — repeatedly reduced — is now one-eighth of the membership and sometimes that level of participation is not even reached. I’ve seen faculty members sched -
ule conflicts with FAS meetings, violating the rule that during faculty meetings there is to be “no class meeting, tutorial conference, examination, or other academic activity under the control of this Faculty.”
We can also look to disciplinary processes as proof of waning faculty influence. The Fifth and Eleventh University Statutes vest all disciplinary power in the faculties of Harvard’s various Schools. Over time, the FAS delegated that power, provided for in the Statues, to the respective Administrative Boards. In recent years, the undergraduate Ad Board has frequently had no tenured members save the College’s dean. Thankfully, after discussion among colleagues, two tenured faculty members volunteered to serve on the Board this year.
I’ve advocated that tenured faculty should regularly serve on the Ad Board, perhaps as part of Faculty Council membership, though another mechanism could work. My time on the Ad Board revealed to me several issues and behaviors — such as gender relations, alcohol use, and “impostor syndrome” — that often trouble student life. The time demand of the Ad Board is large, but the FAS or divisional deans could reduce the professor’s duties elsewhere in order to incentivize this important service. Moreover, the role is essential. Every faculty member should have the opportunity — and has the responsibility — to become familiar with the campus experience. If faculty shy away from their vital governance role — or if that role is denied — the University will drift from vital faculty concerns. If administrators continue to view faculty as consultants to be discounted, faculty members may withdraw further.
Things were not always this way. Until about 20 years ago, I remember campaign goals and budget decisions fostering robust discussion at well-attended, cross-divisional meetings, instead of using input from faculty chopped into departments and focus groups.
In the early 1990s, faculty (and students) across Harvard’s schools played an instrumental role in effectively placing ROTC at Harvard on a new footing. The report they created was taken seriously, with results that set the stage for further actions more than a decade later.
Today, there is an urgent need for professors from all corners of the University to speak to and hear each other once again. Otherwise, there is no plausible sense of the “Faculty” — only a conglomerate of individual faculty members. Faculty divisions might have been engineered in an effort to hear all voices, but this engineering has ensured that it is only administrators who hear all voices.
Faculty are right to push for a University-wide faculty senate. Such a body would embrace all tenured faculty and, as stated in Harvard’s governing rules, consider “questions which concern more than one Faculty, and questions of University Policy.” Impetus to create this senate came from the faculty; no dean or president has, to my knowledge, ever suggested establishing such a body. The time has come.
The Corporation has wrapped itself in shrouds and overridden faculty decisions, most recently denying certain student protestors their degrees after an FAS vote to confer them, only for this decision to be reversed with little explanation weeks later. If it continues to operate in opacity, the current Corporation members may
A Palestine Exception at the Institute of Politics
BY NURIEL R. VERA-DEGRAFF
Harvard has spent the past year suppressing speech about Palestine. Now, its Institute of Politics is doing the same.
I resigned Monday from my position leading the IOP’s Campaigns and Advocacy Program after IOP leadership spent weeks censoring my attempts to include Palestine in programming and effectively delaying the start of the program. As program chair, I felt there was no better way to teach advocacy than focusing on one of the most urgent issues on the ballot today. That IOP leadership prevented me from doing so at every turn is yet another example of the Palestine exception to free speech.
At the beginning of each semester, chairs of the IOP’s 16 subsidiary programs submit blueprints for the upcoming term for review by IOP leadership prior to the start of programming.
After a year in which the Israeli military had killed more than 40,000 Palestinians — a genocide funded by the U.S. and in part by Harvard — I knew that I could not in good conscience avoid addressing Israel and Palestine. Shifting public opinion, mass demonstrations, and the Uncommitted movement — the 700,000-plus voters who withheld their support from President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary in protest of his Israel policy — make obvious the relevance of this issue to cam-
paigns.
So, before the school year began, I wrote to IOP student leadership asking to amend my fall 2024 blueprint — previously slated to cover the upcoming presidential election — to focus on campaigns and advocacy around Israel and Palestine. Their response? A month of opaque communication, censorship, and blatant disrespect for my role as CAP chair and for my time invested in the IOP. Over the course of six meetings with IOP student and staff leadership, I received staunch pushback on the proposal. In their words, Israel and Palestine was too narrow of a theme; supposedly, my plan wouldn’t teach students how to run a campaign. But it was clear to me that my proposal was repeatedly denied because it dealt with Palestine.
The blueprint I created for the previous semester’s programming was centered around campaigns and advocacy local to Cambridge and Boston — arguably a focus far narrower in scope — and included only a single week on key campaign skills. My initial fall proposal, submitted after hearing IOP leadership’s concerns, was not solely focused on Palestine. It featured five full weeks of skills specific to electoral campaigns, including party conventions, fundraising, grassroots organizing, polling, and media.
In other words, if IOP leadership’s main problem with my fall 2024 blueprint was that it was too narrow, then my spring blueprint should have received the same pushback. It didn’t. My spring blueprint was accepted with minimal feedback. Only when I tried centering programming around Israel and Palestine did I hear concerns about curriculum from IOP leadership.
I viewed the plan I submitted this fall as a sincere compromise. When I first approached IOP leadership, my hope was to discuss Israel and Palestine throughout the ten-week program. After hearing their initial concerns, the plan I submitted reserved only one week for a direct discussion of advocacy around Israel and Palestine. Just five other weeks even mentioned the topic. And yet, the IOP rejected it.
So I tried again. Following further concerns from IOP leadership, I submitted another plan, now with an added week on pro-Israel advocacy to ensure the revised plan engaged both sides of the issue. This time, IOP leadership rejected it without explanation.
As the clearest evidence of the IOP’s Palestine exception, the IOP’s vice president wrote in texts to the executive team that he was “10000% opposed to any and all I/P talk as part of our programming.”
It is clear to me that conversation around Is-
face the fate suffered by the Titans of old: revolt and replacement. For two decades there have been murmurs, and last year’s leadership crisis understandably increased the murmuring. Amazingly, one FAS divisional dean recently — and publicly — advocated that faculty should not murmur or criticize. The Corporation may listen more readily — and perhaps more carefully — to mega-rich alumni and donors, but wealth rarely confers wisdom.
I hold little nostalgia for Harvard’s past: more class conscious, less financial aid, a slow and often grudging inclusion of women and other marginalized groups, silent discrimination, and unspoken privilege. There were fewer avenues of intellectual inquiry and less pluralism (though more political diversity). Modern technology has brought blessings (except when we let it reinforce echo chambers or prevent wrestling with long, thoughtful texts). Harvard today is less provincial and more ambitious than when I entered the Yard in 1969.
Yet, if we’re to succeed in shared governance of this large, complex institution in an environment arguably (remember Vietnam?) more challenging than ever, reform is required. We need leadership from every quarter, courageous actions, far greater tolerance for disagreements, deeper cooperation, trust, and goodwill. It will not be easy, but it is necessary.
–James T. Engell ’73 is the Gurney Research Professor of English and Professor of Comparative Literature and a member of the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard.
rael and Palestine is a non-starter at the IOP. Between leadership’s open aversion to mere discussion of the topic and the blatant inconsistency in its responses to my spring and fall blueprints, I can only conclude that my proposal was rejected because of its content — because it covered Israel and Palestine.
My experience with censorship at the IOP — one of the largest student organizations at Harvard — is a symptom of a larger problem. Already, administrators target any speech that is not wholly uncritical of Israel. The last thing we need is student organizations, especially political ones, further chilling speech around Palestine; the IOP’s censorship should concern anyone who cares about free speech on campus. The Institute of Politics should be a space where students can not only learn political skills but engage with the key political issues of the day. By holding almost no programming on Israel and Palestine since Oct. 7 — and stonewalling my attempts to address that — it has totally and shamefully failed to uphold that mission.
R. Vera-DeGraff ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a double concentrator in Social Studies and Mathematics in Mather House, a former chair of the Harvard Institute of Politics’
Harvard’s Astute Open Inquiry Report
DISCOURSE DISCOURSE. Harvard’s report injects a needed dose of common sense and serious academic insight into the often-interminable discourse about discourse on college campuses.
This week, after months of consideration, Harvard reached a conclusion: What is said in the classroom should stay there.
On Tuesday, the University’s Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue working group released its recommendations for bolstering critical engagement in the classroom. They include implementing the Chatham House Rule, which allows members of a classroom to share the contents of discussions but not the names of speakers, and reviewing its discrimination, bullying, and harassment policies to protect academic freedom.
The report injects a needed dose of common sense and serious academic insight into the often-interminable discourse about discourse on college campuses. Now, the onus is on the University — and all of us — to put its proposals into practice.
There’s no denying it: All is not right with campus speech culture. Per the working group, 45 percent of the 5,000-plus students surveyed across the University hesitate to share controversial views in class, while only 49 percent of faculty feel comfortable facilitating conversations about contentious issues.
The sources of this trepidation are murky, certainly not the kind that can be tidily summed up by a single buzzy phrase like “cancel culture.” We appreciate that the working group attended to the complexities of the problem, narrating challenges to campus speech in all their many shades of gray. One of those challenges, indisputably, is social stigma — much less from the infinitesimally low risk of an ill-phrased section contribution going viral on Sidechat than from the subtle chuckles, whispers, or sideways looks such comments can sometimes elicit. These common gestures, often nothing more than an innocent reflex, exert a far stronger chilling effect than vigilante posting. The report takes them seriously; we should too. It’s more than social pressure though. The working group describes other threats to speech
DISSENT
that don’t make magazine cover stories but do derail open inquiry. For example, untenured academic workers reported worrying about the consequences for misstepping during controversial class discussions, their hesitation surely intensified by the reality that their job is no guarantee.
How should Harvard approach these threats to its mission? Creating norms that build classroom trust is a good place to start.
We enthusiastically support the University’s schools adopting the proposed Chatham House Rule. After a year full of vitriol on campus, assuring students that they will not face reprisal for their classroom comments — however unlikely that reprisal may be — would give students space to honestly present, explore, and develop their views.
As the University moves to actually implement the Chatham House Rule, we have some advice: Don’t take the word ‘rule’ too literally. Open con -
versations don’t happen under threat of sanction — they rely on strong norms of constructive, respectful engagement that students really believe in. Violations of the rule should not generally be grounds for disciplinary action.
The Chatham House proposal needs student support — not administrative enforcement. The working group’s report recommends a required teaching module for undergraduates about constructive disagreement. That would be one place to explain to students why the Chatham House Rule is worth abiding by. Professors, meanwhile, should include the rule in syllabi and would do well to mention it at the start of class discussions.
In this same spirit, while we don’t object to the working group’s recommendation that Harvard review its anti-discrimination policy for threats to speech — there’s no harm in taking a look — we’re skeptical that discrimination investigations are
Dissent: Classroom Comments Can’t Be Anonymous
BY ALLISON P. FARRELL
With its new classroom conduct recommendations, Harvard risks prioritizing quantity over quality.
President Alan M. Garber ’76 and Provost John F. Manning ’82 wrote in an email this Tuesday that they would accept the recommendations of the University’s Open Inquiry and Constructive Dialogue working group and work with administrators to put it into practice.
The Editorial Board acknowledges some of the helpful aspects of these recommendations in its editorial, including a review of disciplinary policies to protect individuals from needless investigations and programs to educate incoming students about constructive dialogue.
What is worrying, however, is the Board’s endorsement of the Chatham House Rule, a norm of discussion that instructs students and instructors to repeat ideas from discussions only if they are not attributed to their speakers.
Broadly speaking, the Chatham House Rule is intended to address the concern that controversial speech could make it out of the classroom and face harsh punishment in the court of public
opinion. It’s a noble idea. But those who support it — the Editorial Board, now included — ignore the reality that the discussion of ideas must happen with the real world in view.
We must, of course, create an environment in which students are free to explore challenging concepts.
But by emphasizing the importance of non-attribution over the response controversial comments receive, the Chatham House Rule fails to acknowledge that academic theorizing is not done wholly apart from the world in a safe realm of de-contextualized ideas. It is always caught up in the world.
There may be statements we can make in the classroom without worrying about the social world — few mathematical proofs would arouse controversy.
However, when we discuss topics that are embedded in complex social and political contexts, how our interpretations function in the world and affect others is part of what should lead us to accept or reject them. If non-attribution is the norm, then we are shielded from the kind of accountability that could cause us to reckon with the impact of their comments.
A second vital flaw in the Chatham House Rule
Hot Take? Cold Call.
BY ISAAC R. MANSELL
I’m seated in Sanders Theatre during an Economics 10B: “Introduction to Macroeconomics” lecture and my mind begins to wander. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I’d wager I was one of the final holdouts.
Professor David I. Laibson ’88 jolts me from my reverie, calling out: “MANSELL! How does a change in the federal funds rate influence the lending behavior of commercial banks and overall economic activity?”
In an instant, I’m spirited back to Sanders Theatre, caught like a deer in headlights. I had just experienced the dreaded cold call — a blunt tool forged in the furnace of the Socratic method and honed in the cutthroat laboratories of Harvard Business School.
I’ve always considered myself a reformer, never a revolutionary. But I must concede that desperate times call for desperate measures. That’s why I believe it’s time to implement cold calling in every Harvard classroom.
The Crimson Editorial Board recently ad -
dressed the attention crisis head-on, arguing that Harvard’s attention problem is a systemic issue undermining the quality of our education, not just individual lapses in focus.
Too often, we let lectures become passive experiences, with our screens acting as barriers to learning. Worse still, our digital distractions disrupt our peers’ focus and render genuine engagement nearly impossible, ultimately shortchanging both ourselves and the professors who dedicate their time and expertise to teaching us.
The current culture isn’t helping. We’ve cultivated an environment where easy classes — socalled “gems” — are treated as hidden treasures, completing readings is seen as a Herculean feat, and classroom “participation” often means little more than occasionally nodding in the lecturer’s general direction. To reclaim our academic environment, we need to snap out of this collective attention slump. The Editorial Board suggests taking a page from Cambridge Public Schools, which have banned students’ use of cellphones to improve classroom learning.
Sure, that intervention might work, but we
is that it minimizes the importance of standing by what one says.
While we should not expect people to face an angry mob because of controversial comments, we should expect them to be willing to defend what they say when faced with fair and respectful pushback from the wider community.
If I am going to say something in class I would be embarrassed to have repeated, then that may be a sign that I should reflect further before I speak to better understand what I truly believe.
Indeed, a good method to identify beliefs we believe to be worth standing for is asking a simple question: “What if my friend heard that I said this?”
The real pursuit of truth requires ownership of what one says — what matters is not that a point can be made but whether we genuinely believe it to be right.
When we speak our ideas under the auspices of a universal Chatham House Rule, we don’t have to take ownership of them later. This does not mean we should never utter anything that provokes a strong negative reaction in someone else — it just means that when we do so, we must be willing to stand behind any harm it may inadvertently cause.
Harvard students need a strategy that doesn’t just forestall zoning out — we need one that actively engages us. Enter cold calling.
Professors can’t possibly find it fun to stand at the front of a classroom, lecturing to a sea of complacent students who are more invested in scrolling through screens than absorbing their hard-earned wisdom.
A strategically placed cold call could shat ter this dreary atmosphere. Singling out the student whose eyes are most glazed over and hurling an unusually tough question their way sends a clear message: Your texting can wait.
My peers might view cold calling the same way some residents of Allston view Harvard (that is, with skepticism and possibly disdain), but we should recognize that cold calls could actually be a powerful tool for enhancing our learning. By keeping us on our toes, it encourages genu ine engagement and critical thinking, transform ing lectures into more lively affairs. Knowing we might be called upon fosters a sense of accountability, ensuring we better connect with the
terial and our professors in a meaningful way.
–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.
To be clear, I am not saying that cancel culture is non-existent. I am saying that the Chatham House Rule is the wrong solution. We, as a community, should instead prioritize practicing healthy forms of criticism that are respectful and fair to the criticized. Good speech practices cannot involve anonymity. To take ideas seriously is to be willing to stand by them, and to be an earnest truth-seeker requires that we apprehend ideas not just as they are in the classroom, but in their totality as they also function in the world. Yes, we must stand by what we say — and replace ostracization and judgment with empathy and dialogue. We just can’t do it by getting rid of the ability to criticize individuals altogether.
the main threat to open dialogue. Likewise, while the report is right to note that discussing identity and personal experience can be hard, we reject the notion that rules discouraging such comments would do anything but limit the vitality of classroom discussions. The working group delivered a valuable, smart blueprint for improving classroom dialogue at Harvard. Now we must ensure the proposal to keep comments in the classroom makes it off the page. –Allison P. Farrell ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Philosophy concentrator in Leverett House
Dissenting Opinions: Occasionally, The Crimson Editorial Board is divided about the opinion we express in a staff editorial. In these cases, dissenting board members have the opportunity to express their opposition to staff opinion.
ma -
Charles O. Puth, Jr. once serenaded the nation, singing that he’s “only one call away” and that, when beckoned, he will “be there to save the day.” Well, in excellence (cold) and it’s
–Isaac R. Mansell ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Statistics concentrator in Kirkland House
XINYI CHRISTINE ZHANG — CRIMSON DESIGNER
SHARLEEN Y. LOH— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
BY THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD
Mediterranean Bakery To Open
COMING SOON. Medi-
terranean Sofra Bakery will open a new location in Allston this month.
BY MANDY ZHANG CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Sofra Bakery, a Cambridge staple known for its Middle Eastern and Turkish-inspired cuisine, is set to open a new location in Allston this October, just steps away from Harvard Business School and the Science and Engineering Complex.
This marks Sofra’s first expansion beyond its original location, where it has operated for over a decade. Ana Sortun, the executive chef and owner of Sofra Bakery, said the Allston location will carry Sofra’s same items on their menu and serve as a larger version of the Cambridge location.
“We’ve outgrown the space
for quite a while,” Sortun said, explaining how the new Allston bakery will house Sofra’s baking team, allowing for increased production while continuing to serve food in both locations.
According to Sortun, who also owns the Cambridge restaurant Oleana, Allston’s up-andcoming nature was a key factor in choosing the new location.
“We like going into neighborhoods that are growing and becoming sort of part of the community there,” Sortun said.
Expansion beyond Allston isn’t currently in the plans, Sortun said, as they are focused on ensuring this new location becomes a neighborhood fixture.
Lauren N. Smith, who was visiting from Birmingham, Ala., said she and her mother are excited about the upcoming opening of Sofra Bakery.
“The menu looks amazing, and we’re definitely gonna have to try it out,” said Smith. “I haven’t had the chance to
try it yet, but now that I’m hearing there’s a new location opening, I think I definitely have to try Sofra bakery now,” said Jihan B. Abdi ’27.
Virgil J. Guo ’28, who had not visited Sofra before but had looked at the menu, said he was a little taken aback by the price — but acknowledged that it was probably standard for the area.
“I’m from Kansas, so everything’s cheaper,” Guo said. “But, I think for Boston people, I think it’s normal price.”
As Sofra prepares to welcome its new customers, Sortun is eager for residents to visit.
“I hope they’ll come visit and say hi and fall in love with everything that we’re making from scratch,” Sortun said.
As for an official grand opening date, Sortun said it was out of her hands.
“We’re at the mercy of the Boston Fire Department,” she said.
mandy.zhang@thecrimson.com CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS FROM PAGE 1
said the district’s original IEP for his son Misha, who has autism, relied on an educational therapy — Applied Behavioral Analysis — that failed to show any perceivable results for his son.
It took a meeting with then-Superintendent Kenneth N. Salim to get Misha placed in an out-ofdistrict school that better met his needs.
“I didn’t tell Salim before the appointment that I would bring Misha along,” Summers wrote in an email. “I wanted Salim to understand that Misha doesn’t exist on the papers we had before us, and that his ‘behavior’ was the product of a district curriculum that did not work.”
“Immediately after the meeting, I was given the green-light to transfer him out of district,” he wrote. (Salim wrote in an emailed statement that he did not recall meeting Summers’ son.)
CPS spokesperson Sujata Wycoff wrote in a statement that Applied Behavior Analysis is one of many approaches the district uses for students with individualized needs, calling it a “scientific and evidence-based approach.”
Many parents said their experience through the process was difficult and lonely, pointing to a lack of organized spaces to connect with other parents in similar situations.
“It felt like a very isolating experience,” Schulz said. “It’s not easy, necessarily, to connect with other parents because there’s no real way of doing it that’s organized.”
Cambridge has a Special Education Parent Advisory Council, mandated by state law, which offers an email listserv and a weekly support group for caregivers of children with special needs. But while parents expressed appreciation for the listserv, they said it wasn’t a substitute for the sense of community and robust support they were looking for.
“It’s been such a lonely battle,”
wrote Kathleen M. Byrne, whose son is enrolled in Special Start, the district’s special education preschool program.
A ‘Chess Game’
Gamble, who works closely with students with special needs, said she has encountered two types of parents: those who “get what they need” and those who “get what they get.”
“The people who know what they’re doing end up in my office,” she added.
As parents navigate the complex landscape of special education, many are forced to turn to outside help: neuropsychologists, dedicated advocates, or attorneys who can help facilitate IEP meetings.
Ellen M. Chambers, a former Massachusetts special education advocate and the founder of the Special Education Watchdog Group, said the process of ensuring adequate IEPs, with its tangled web of arcane laws, was something like a “chess game.”
“Parents are rarely successful in getting what their child needs without the help of someone who really knows how the system works,” Chambers said.
“It’s not enough to just know the law,” Chambers added. “You have to know how to apply it.”
The neuropsychologist who evaluated Schulz’s son recommended that she hire an attorney to guide her through the IEP process.
With the help of the lawyer, Schulz was able to advocate for her son to be moved from Peabody School to Graham & Parks Elementary School’s language-based learning disability program. Schulz’s son entered the program in fourth grade and promptly made two years of academic progress in five months, she said. District officials did not initially
bring up the Graham & Parks program in their initial IEP meetings, according to Schulz, who said she only managed to secure the opportunity for her son through her own research and the help of a lawyer.
“It was unbelievable,” she said. “It was exactly what he needed.”
But these pathways are time-consuming and costly, according to parents.
“I still think all the time about how we were basically given this placement for our child because we were able to advocate for it,” Schulz said. “I can’t talk about this without talking about it as an equity issue.”
District staff encouraged West in her initial IEP meeting to seek private tutoring for her child with dyslexia — a cost that was hard on her household. She paid out-ofpocket for the four months until her child’s IEP was finalized, and was still told to “keep it as long as you can.”
“That is not a resource that comes easy to our family, and many other families do not have that resource at all,” West said. “It doesn’t seem OK,” she said.
Cynthia L. Moore, a special education advocate who has clients in Cambridge, said she would have told West to push for reimbursement for this expense.
“A competent advocate would review the child’s documentation before making specific recommendations,” Moore wrote in an email. “For example, the documentation could reveal that the child should have been found eligible years before and thus any compensatory claim could likely extend beyond reimbursement for 4 months of tutoring.”
Families can also file complaints with state or federal government agencies — another time-consuming and arduous process that requires substantial knowledge of special education
policy. After his son was placed in an out-of-district school, Summers filed two complaints — one with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and one with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights — over the district’s busing services for out-of-district students.
But he acknowledged that most parents, already “overwhelmed and overburdened,” might not have “the time or the expertise” to assemble such complaints.
“I’m six-foot-three, I’m white, I’m a man, I have a Ph.D., I don’t mind speaking up,” Summers said. “But what about those other families? What about the immigrant families? What about the nonwhite families who don’t know the rules?”
‘Policy Issues’
Some parents — like Summers and Byrne — have taken it upon themselves to improve the system for everyone, not just their own children.
For months, Byrne has lobbied the district to institute extended day and extended year options to Special Start. Most families whose children don’t have special educational needs have extended day and year options.
Though she knows that nothing will change while her child remains in preschool, she said she is fighting for future parents who may find themselves in a similar position.
“I can’t stomach the idea that another round is going to go through, and similar families are going to be in the same position, and that the city is just allowed to to exclude children with disabilities like this,” she said.
Cambridge spokesperson Jeremy Warnick confirmed in a statement that no programs current-
ly offer full-day, full-year care with the “level of support that Special Start provides.”
“This is actively being explored in order to create more options for families in the future,” he wrote.
In his complaint to the federal government, Summers said the lack of tracking for out-of-district buses constituted disability-based discrimination. With the state, he called the entire out-of-district busing system insufficient and asked for a “systemic” review.
“They tend to look only at the individual situation, and then they resolve it,” Summers said. “But this time, I want, particularly, them to look at policy issues, systemic problems with transportation.”
On Sept. 5, the DESE found that Cambridge complied with state law on a number of measures, but that the district was systemically noncompliant on three items: insufficient training for bus monitors, monitoring of out-of-district placements, and inspections of equipment. The report enumerated a series of actions that the district must take to reach compliance.
Last month, NRT, the vendor responsible for out-of-district transportation, participated in a DESE training on increasing access to information available to bus drivers about student needs, according to Wycoff, who called the training “successful and generally well-received.”
At a Tuesday School Committee meeting, members adopted a resolution that called on the district to present a plan for out-of-district tracker implementation, as well as ensure timely and communicative transportation for in-district students.
School Committee member Elizabeth C.P. Hudson encouraged parents to reach out to school officials and committee members about issues facing their children.
“Tell the school. If the school
isn’t listening, tell your representatives — the School Committee,” she said. “If the School Committee is not listening, tell everybody, tell people to pay attention.” But Gamble, the neuropsychologist, said it shouldn’t be incumbent upon parents to “reinvent the wheel” for every student. Education experts said there are steps that school officials and policymakers should take to better support parents and students with special educational needs. Paul Reville, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said that most school districts operate “in good faith” but have limited resources to devote to special education.
Reville said that the state should require districts to inform parents of their rights and how to access advocacy resources at the initial IEP meeting — likening the solution to a “legal aid” system. Even without updated statewide policy, HGSE associate professor Nadine Gaab said districts should improve reading curricula in early grades to better manage disabilities like dyslexia.
“We need to move to a proactive, preventative model where we actually find the kids who most likely will struggle with learning to read before they struggle with learning to read, help them, then put them on the right developmental trajectory,” she said. Murphy, the interim superintendent, acknowledged that the district’s provision of special education has flaws. But he pledged to continue trying to improve it under his tenure.
“That work is not static. It has to be ongoing,” he said. “We have to be continually revisiting the way in which we support families of students with disabilities.”
CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL
Growing City Budget Spooks Local Leaders
RED FLAGS. Cambridge officials say the city’s nearly $1 billion budget is cause for concern.
Cambridge’s budget hit nearly
$1 billion this year — and it’s got everybody on edge.
For the past several years, Cambridge has pursued ambitious spending programs using an ample flow of federal relief funds from the Covid-19 pandemic and property taxes. But as revenue streams dry up, City Manager YiAn Huang ’05 said the city is going to have to take a hard look at its pri-
orities.
“I think the next one to two budgets are going to feel very different than what we’ve been through over the last couple of years,” Huang said in an interview with The Crimson last week. “We’re going to have to really be funding everything out of property taxes.”
Huang, who oversees the budget process beginning this fall, said he is hopeful that painful cuts can be avoided.
“Obviously we are looking for efficiencies in the budget that don’t impact people and programs,” Huang said. “I don’t think we’re at the point where we’re saying we need to cut people or we need to see programs cut.”
Still, the possibility of belt-tightening has loomed large over both
Huang’s office and the City Council.
“Money’s getting a little tighter in Cambridge,” Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern said last week.
In June, the City Council unanimously passed the city’s proposed budget — a $70 million increase from the past year — but cautioned against further growth, with then-Finance Committee cochairs Patty M. Nolan ’80 and Joan F. Pickett warning that continued spending at that level would be unsustainable.
Nolan said in a statement to The Crimson that Cambridge’s $81 million allocation from the federal American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 “augmented our ability to serve the community” — including funding and expanding a guaranteed income program for low-income
residents.
But those funds are expected to be depleted by February. And though the Council is looking into continuing the program, it needs to identify a new permanent funding mechanism. “Frankly, we’re coming out of the pandemic, and we had a lot of ARPA money that we could pour into a lot of the things that we really cared about,” Huang said.
Huang also said that the region’s slowing biotech investment and rising office vacancies could have “very concerning” ramifications for the budget. However, Harvard Economics professor Edward L. Glaeser said he expected the issue would have fairly minor impacts on the city’s finances.
Glaeser said although recent growth in tax revenue has come disproportionately from industrial property taxes — including biotechnology investment — it still represents a small proportion of the city’s overall revenue.
“What’s relevant is not where the growth is coming from,” Glaeser said. “The relevant thing is just the overall amount of money that we’re getting from that source.”
Still, Huang said the shifting financial landscape for Cambridge could mean a higher property tax burden for residents. The Council is set to consider property tax rates for fiscal year 2025 on Monday.
“We’re going to see real challenges where, if commercial values fall, that’s going to put a lot more
burden on the residential taxpayers,” Huang said.
Going forward,
At Memorial for John Corcoran, Cyclists Grieve and Demand Action
BY SALLY E. EDWARDS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Nearly 100 cyclists and pedestrians gathered at the site of last Monday’s fatal bicycle crash to mourn the loss of John H. Corcoran ’84 — and express their frustration at the lack of road safety measures in the area. Corcoran was killed by an oncoming SUV which struck him while biking on Memorial Drive, near Boston University’s DeWolfe boathouse. The area has been seen as dangerous for years preceding the crash by local activists and political officials alike.
Harvard students, local activists, and members of Corcoran’s family — including his wife, Barbara Bower, and his children, Christine D. Corcoran ’26 and Jack B. Corcoran ’25 — stood by, sometimes weeping, as MassBikes Executive Director Galen Mook dedicated a white “ghost bike” at the site of the crash to honor Corcoran’s memory.
The whir of traffic, which consistently drowned out the speakers, was a reminder of the fear which has struck bikers since Corcoran’s death, which followed the June deaths of two other bikers in Cambridge. Speaker after speaker stressed that with proper safety measures, his death could have been avoided.
“The lack of urgency in taking care of public safety is underscored with this site in particular, because there is a process and plans underway to make improvements to this corridor,” Mook said. “Those improvements have been talked about for years — for the better part of more than a decade — and we have
seen very little action on the state agency to focus on road safety.”
In an interview after the service, he added that local cyclists have been united by a shared sense of fear.
“There is a sense of mortal danger out riding around Greater Boston, and that bonds us,” Mook said. James Weldon – a reverend at the Parish of Good Shepherd — remembered Corcoran as a “Harvard guy” and said the University’s motto of “Veritas” compelled him to “speak a word of truth today: that his death was a tragedy.”
“That’s why we’re here, because his death was a tragedy,” he added.
“Senseless, ridiculous, to be grieved for, never to be done again. This didn’t have to happen.”
Maya A. Bodnick ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor and friend of Christine Corcoran, agreed that the death was all the more tragic because it seemed to be preventable.
“Addie and I are both bikers, and we bike around Cambridge,” said Bodnick, referring to Adelaide E. Parker ’26, a Crimson Magazine editor who was also in attendance.
“The loss of so many bikers, including John, is just absolutely devastating — it is so horrible for his family.”
“I think that the fact that this death was very preventable is really striking,” she added. “Especially the fact that there were plans in place to change this intersection that had already been approved, which could have prevented the death — but just weren’t being implemented fast enough.”
Following the Monday crash, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees Memorial Drive,
said it had planned improvements for the area, including building a raised path for bikers and pedestrians and restriping crosswalks to accommodate bike crossings.
The agency also said it had longer term plans to redesign the intersection with the Boston University Bridge.
Cyclist Abbi Holt of Arlington said she believed the site of the crash “needs to be redesigned to allow for two way traffic.”
“Otherwise, people are just riding on sidewalks and on and off sidewalks,” she said, adding that cyclists need more substantial “protection” throughout the city.
“Paint doesn’t stop cars, right?” she said. “We need a barrier.”
Mook agreed that he would like to see action from local and state government officials to protect cyclists and pedestrians.
“The next steps are to get our partners to commit collectively — this is not just one responsibility of a single agency making sure this happens,” he said. “We are able to work as a society to do as fast and as thorough solutions as possible.”
During the memorial ceremony, Weldon recited a “litany of grief and gratitude” to call members to action.
“We look expectantly to our representative leadership as we wait for justice to come rolling down, we long for a day when death will be enough, mourning and crying and pain will be no more — but do not want to do this again,” he said. “So we say, again, transform this place,”
“From a place of death to a place of life,” responded the attendees.
sally.edwards@thecrimson.com
saad Sayah, the CHA’s CEO.
The Cambridge City Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday evening urging Cambridge Health Alliance leadership to negotiate a new union contract with Cambridge Hospital residents and interns. Before the Council voted, about 25 Cambridge Hospital residents and interns rallied outside of City Hall in support of the resolution. The group previously held a rally in August after their former contract expired on June 30. The residents’ union — the Committee of Interns and Residents, a national affiliate of the Service Employees International Union — has already been engaged in contract negotiations for five months.
Union leaders hope that the resolution will put pressure on CHA Cambridge Hospital to guarantee mental health benefits, higher pay, and other protections to prevent burnout — and to reach a contract faster.
Jesse M. Bossingham, a second year resident at CHA, spoke on the strenuous working conditions of the hospital during the rally during the meeting’s public comment period.
“Management gets to use us as cheap labor to keep the hospital running,” Bossingham said. He emphasized that constant exhaustion, limited time with loved ones, and high burnout rates were “not fair.”
Katharine Kosinski, the former chief of pathology at CHA, voiced her support for the policy order — with an amendment recognizing the “management’s obligation to safeguard the fiscal sustainability of the organization.” The Council later agreed to adopt a pair of amendments regarding the fiscal health of CHA.
“I have seen firsthand the respect Dr. Sayah and his team have for unions and their understanding for the essential role that staff, whether it be physicians or otherwise, play in carrying out the mission of the Cambridge Health Alliance,” Kosinski said, referring to As -
“I think knowing that the City Council has heard our concerns and is interested in getting them to come to the table for fair and transparent bargaining will hopefully get us closer to getting to an agreement faster,” Justin W. Halloran, the regional vice president of CIRSEIU, said in an interview with The Crimson after the rally.
But at the rally, Bessingham pointed to the fact that Sayah and CFO Jill Batty have still not agreed to a fair contract with the union.
The group has a meeting scheduled with the CHA to discuss the contract in the near future, according to Halloran.
In response to possible financial burdens the union’s demands may pose to CHA, Halloran said he felt their “current proposal is consistent with responsible financial stewardship of the hospital, and so I think we’re very friendly to the idea of an amendment communicating that obligation.”
“We feel like what we’re looking for is already consistent with that,” Halloran said.
During the rally, residents said they will continue to fight for a contract.
“We still have a lot of energy,” said Jamie C. Ye, a second year resident at CHA and one of the speakers at the rally.
“Continuing this rally says to just the entire residency and to the hospital administration that we stand together,” Ye said. “We will not stop until we have a fair contract.”
U.S. Acting Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Adrianne Todman broke ground alongside state and local officials on a Jefferson Park housing revitalization project in a Wednesday ceremony.
The groundbreaking initiated a federally funded project by HUD and the Cambridge Housing Authority to develop 278 affordable housing units in Jefferson Park — replacing 175 existing units and adding 103 new units across two phases.
The affordable housing will be allocated to previous Jefferson Park tenants and new households earning less than 60 percent of the area median income, with HUD funds subsidizing costs to lower the average rent to $650 per month. Beyond housing, the revitalization will include community amenities such as a daycare center, two Head Start schools, and a food pantry operated by Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee.
Wednesday’s ceremony ended a decade of planning, with construction now projected to last two to three years, CHA leasing officer Carianna Williams said. The new units — ranging from
625 to 2,079 square feet — will be a significant upgrade from the original red brick buildings that were demolished for the project.
The original buildings were “constructed in the 1950s on some of the least desirable land in the city,” said Michael Johnston, the executive director of the CHA. “The apartments were in very poor condition and suffered from multiple problems, of which water infiltration from groundwater is the most detrimental.”
“This led to extensive mold and mildew, particularly in 57 of the apartments — and in 2018, those units were deemed by staff to be unlivable,” Johnston added.
Though a CHA staff member initially said that not all previous Jefferson Park residents would be able to return to the new development, Johnston clarified in a Thursday email that “every resident in good standing that was relocated out of the old Jefferson Park has an absolute right of return.”
In an interview with The Crimson, Todman praised Cambridge as a “role model” for its approach to preserving and building affordable housing.
Todman said that the CHA’s initiative in self-developing and managing affordable housing stands out compared to other cities’ housing authorities. She praised the “level of coordi-
nation and collaboration” between local and state governments that made the Jefferson Park project possible.
“Mayor Simmons was there, who spoke highly about this project. The city manager was there. The City Council was there. Leadership from the state was there,” she added.
During the Wednesday ceremony, Todman emphasized the important role of federal funding in creating affordable housing nationwide.
“Hopes and dreams don’t build housing, money does,” she said.
Following the Cambridge ceremony,
ARTS
Latine Authors to Celebrate This National Hispanic Heritage Month BOOKS
BY RIA S. CUELLAR-KOH CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
National Hispanic Heritage Month is here!
To celebrate, below are some Latine authors that are sure to inspire. While only some deal with race explicitly in their writing, they all represent the diversity present amongst Latine writers. Representing the rich tapestry of Hispanic literature in a brief list is impossible, so take the following names as just a taste of a tradition rich with so many more wonderful authors and artists.
Isabel Allende
Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende is one of the most successful and prolific latine authors of all time. With over 77 million books sold in a variety of languages, her books have reached readers all over the globe. Her first book, “The House of the Spirits,” has remained one of her most famous pieces and features many hallmarks of her writing, such as the usage of magical realism, to tell generational stories. For the purpose of celebrating Hispanic Heritage month, it would be remiss not to mention that Allende won the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Award for Litera-
South Korean DJ, singer, songwriter, and producer Peggy Gou is unstoppable. She just played a sold-out show in Brooklyn. She visited Cambridge to speak at the Harvard Business School. In between events, she sat down for an interview with The Crimson, where she shared thoughts on her music and the values that drive her. Gou’s career has exploded astronomically. Although previously well-known in dance and electronic music scenes, her recent hit “(It Goes Like) Nanana” marked her breakthrough into mainstream recognition. The groovy dance track was her first Top 10 hit in the UK, was in the Top 40 of the Billboard Global 200, and to this date has garnered over 500 million streams on Spotify. Gou shows no signs of slowing down. For her, success is defined by her own ambitions.
“From outside, the world, they can think that I’m already successful. But my idea of suc -
ture in 1996. Just last year, Allende published a new book, “The Wind Knows My Name,” which could be a great jumping off point for newcomers to her works.
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine short story writer, essayist, and poet. His short stories sparkle with both his wonderful sense of humor and his experimental ideas. Stories like “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”
“
considered a key pillar of Spanishlanguage literature.
Gabriel García Marquez
Also specializing in magical realism, Colombian author Gabriel García Marquez is most known for his seminal work, “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” The novel, a key piece of the Spanish-language literacy canon, follows generations of a Colombian family experiencing supernatural events
While only some of these authors deal with race explicitly in their writing, they all represent the diversity present amongst Latine writers.
showcase both of these strengths through the discovery of a fictional country that serves as a thought experiment about the nature of language. Furthermore, Borges’s poems are incredible meditations on the themes of recollection, mortality, and cultural diffusion. His rich imagery and distinctive voice make it no surprise that his works are
cess is that I’m not done yet,” Gou said. This drive comes from a steadfast commitment to the quality of her music. She wants to create “timeless music,” the kind that “people love after 20 years.” More than that, she does not want to be constrained by conventional ideas of what a hit or a summer song should be. Her music is more organic, more personal.
“I think it is more important for me to keep doing what I believe, instead of just focusing on making a hit,” Gou said. “Because if I focus on that, I think I will lose what I have, a lot of things that I value.” Her dedication to her growth as a musician is visible in the release of her first full-length album,
“I Hear You,” this June. For Gou, moving from releasing EPs as a DJ to releasing an album was “like a step to a musician.”
Although she had wanted to release the album four years ago, she was held back by her own perfectionist tendencies.
“Once the album is out, it’s going to be there forever, even when I die as well,” Gou said. “So
in their hometown, the fictional Macondo, which was founded by their patriarch. His other novels and short stories, like the collection “Strange Pilgrims” or his book “Love in the Time of Cholera,” follow Latin American characters through enthralling and, at times, fantastical narratives. “Strange Pilgrims” in particular stands out as
I wanted to make it right, and when I finished it this year, it felt like the right time to do it.”
While she admits that at times she can be harsh on herself, Gou sees this constant self-reflection as a strength.
“Everything that I have done was a very good lesson for me, but it was only a good lesson for me because I owned it,” Gou said, sharing advice for young musicians everywhere.
Part of the album was born during the pandemic, a period during which Gou realized the importance of having sufficient time and headspace for creative reflection and inspiration.
“I know it was a very difficult time for a lot of people, but for me it made me realize so many things that I’ve been missing, I’ve been taking for granted,” Gou said, reflecting on her time back in South Korea during the pandemic. “I was listening to music again, differently, appreciating music a bit more.”
She has taken these lessons with her even as she tours internationally and performs sets at Boiler Room events. She never loses sight of her aim: creating
good music.
depicting various Latin American characters in Europe, reflecting Marquez’s focus on the interplay of history and identity in Latin America.
Carmen Maria Machado
Carmen Maria Machado writes more about her identity as it relates to queerness rather than race, but her work is undeniably interesting and relevant to the cross-section of LGBTQ+ and latine identities. In her collection of horror short stories, “Her Body and Other Parties,” for which she won the John Leonard Prize National Book Critics Circle Award, she created both gripping and off-putting narratives. Her incredible memoir, “In the Dream House,” documents Machado’s experience in an abusive relationship while simultaneously exploring different tropes of literature and film. Her works have a personal touch that imbue each piece with tenderness, even in the face of struggle.
Elizabeth Acevedo
Primarily a poet, Elizabeth Acevedo grew up in New York City as the child of Dominican immigrant parents. She has made a name for herself both with her poetry anthologies and with her novels. Her young adult novel “The Poet
“I do say a lot: Creative people need to do, sometimes, nothing to be able to be creative,” Gou said. “Touring is great to connect with fans, and it’s fun, but I don’t want to forget my real job.” Nevertheless, being a DJ remains a euphoric, magical experience for her — a moment where she will “forget everything” no matter how sad or tired she is. It is something she struggles to describe.
“I get super excited. I still get nervous, believe it or not,” Gou said, sharing a rare moment of insight into what goes on behind the DJ booth. “But those two hours always make me feel like I’m so glad I this is why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
Another key aspect of her creativity is her identity. She is proudly Korean, and even as her platform becomes more international, she continues to feature Korean vocals in her music. Gou makes it clear that the decision to sing in Korean comes from a love of her heritage.
“Since I was 15, I moved to London, and my parents always told me not to lose the connec -
X,” which won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, explores the identity of an Afro-Latina growing up in New York City while dealing with the pressure of a religious mother and touches upon the upon the intersection of key themes such as sexuality, race, and religion. Additionally, Acevedo’s poems are evocative and minimal, using sparse lines filled with rich imagery. Each poem points to Acevedo’s precise control over language, which makes for an engaging and meaningful read.
Valeria Luiselli
Aside from being a visiting professor at Harvard University, Mexican-American author Valeria Luiselli is one of the most exciting authors writing today. Throughout her work, she constantly plays with form, positioning herself in a tradition of modernist writers. Luiselli notably incorporates the work she has done with Latin American migrants into her writing with books like “The Story of My Teeth” and “Lost Children Archive” that provide a platform for these underrepresented voices. Her balance of timely political issues as well as genre-pushing technique make her works worth the read.
ria.cuellarkoh@thecrimson.com
tions, and this was why I didn’t want to lose the language,” Gou said. At the time, she did not know of anyone else who had sung in Korean in electronic music, so she took the opportunity to try it out for herself. Her creative choices have paid off. In the international song category at the 2024 Brit Awards, she was the first Korean artist to be nominated.
Looking to the future, she wants to see more Asian artists as the electronic music scene continues to grow in Asia and beyond.
“House and techno music is growing faster than when I just started. It was always EDM, even in Asia,” Gou said. “We didn’t really have house and techno scene before, but when I go now, it’s the opposite. So I do feel like we are in a good path.
So I just hope that this keeps on going.” When asked about her own future, Gou maintains a level of mystery. It’s not just because she wants to be private. She wants to give herself the flexibility to change her mind and pur -
sue what interests her in the moment.
“I don’t talk about my next plan. It’s something that I always keep to myself,” Gou said. “We have a saying in Korea that people’s minds change 12 times per day. So I could tell you that I want to do this. I’m going to do this today. That might change after one month. That’s why I do have plans in my head, but it’s something that I would like you to find out.” Still, Gou does let on one update about her life — she’s moving to London. Always looking for new inspiration has led her to look for a change in environment.
“I just moved my house to London, and I’m working on the studio,” Gou said, sharing her next steps. “When that’s ready, I want to work on something else, and maybe something a little bit different to the album that I just released.” It is hard to predict what’s coming up next for Gou. One thing is for sure: She’ll make sure it’s unapologetically hers.
sean.wangzi-ming@thecrimson.com.
Myers + Chang Review: Atypical, Not Amazing
BY EMMA E. CHAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
With the cold months coming, the warmth of the Boston restaurant Myers + Chang feels like a refuge against the creeping fall chill. Thanks to the open kitchen and subdued golden light, flames from the woks occasionally flicker against the walls, highlighting the cartoonish painted tigers and dragons. Steam rises and billows with the sizzling stir-fries, and the savory aroma of scallions fills the air.
Besides the traditional dining room, Myers + Chang features communal seating and intimate counter seating with a frontrow view of the open kitchen. A cacophonous clang of spatulas fuses with a soft pop beat and punctuates the lively murmur of conversation.
Myers + Chang indeed seems to lean into a casual, intimate atmosphere while drawing upon the typical iconography of Chinese restaurants. With disposable chopsticks stuck in an empty tea container, pagoda-emblem Chinese takeout boxes, and bright red bowls, the space feels familiar and comforting. By contrast, the menu positions Myers + Chang as an inno -
vator beyond classic Asian fare; upscaled offerings like wild boar dan dan noodles and the ambiguously named “Un-Traditional Scallion Pancake” promise more than what you’ve seen from your local Chinese restaurant.
Myers + Chang is a self-described “neighborhood restaurant doing our own thing,” with cuisine that they identify as “Asian-ish.” Myers + Chang was founded by Joanne Chang, the James Beard Award-winning founder of Flour Bakery, and her husband Christopher Myers. On their website, the two founders discuss the first meal which inspired Myers + Chang — a simple yet delicious dish that Chang learned from her mother. This intimacy is both visible and palpable, reinforced by attentive and friendly servers.
Unfortunately, Myers + Chang falls short with the “fresh” aspect of their mission — though the ingredients are certainly “fresh,” potential innovation is regrettably bogged down by flawed execution. The appetizer, “Un-Traditional Scallion Pancakes,” for example, undermines the restaurant’s mission of embracing modernity and rejecting tradition. The triangular scallion pancakes are deep fried to a pleasant crisp and paired with a dark vinegar sauce, though pockets of hidden salt detracted slightly from the
experience. Furthermore, the chip-like pancake forgoes the joy of a chewy soft interior, and the textural monotony and muted flavor of the scallion pancakes is indeed untraditional, but not necessarily more exciting or daring. While the crispiness and charred scallion flavor suffused throughout the dough elevates the pancakes slightly, the lack of scallions in the pancakes themselves, combined with a chopped scallion garnish, creates a visual oxymoron and draws more attention to the ironic faintness of flavor.
One flavor rises to the forefront of the wild boar dan dan noodles: salt. The udon-style noodles are tossed with a sticky sauce of sour-savory minced meat and topped with pickled mustard greens. The minced boar meat is tender and flavorful, reminiscent of a ragù, but issues arise when the complexity of the sauce morphs into a relentless, singular saltiness that lingers with — and taints — the intense, spicy, and numbing chili kick. The acidic bits of pickled cabbage add a refreshing crunch, but not a reprieve from the sodium. Even more, the noodles are slightly overcooked and doughy, crumbling under a gentle chopsticks tug, and the mushrooms soak up too much of the salty sauce. What could have been a mildly innovative or “fresh” take
on dan dan noodles, typically made with minced pork, becomes an overwhelming dish at Myers + Chang, where the saltiness masks the “freshness” of the ingredients themselves.
The standout entree, however, is the comfortingly saucy char siu chow fun. Thick, slippery rice noodles, coated with oil in the best way, are tossed with sweet, tender morsels of char siu meat. Onions and bean sprouts add a delicious crunch to the soft rice noodles, though the ratio seems slightly skewed towards the onions and bean sprouts rather than the noodles themselves. Charred scallions contribute a beautiful roasted taste.
The char siu meat produces a sweeter dimension in the classic flavor of the savory noodles, creating cohesion which draws upon traditional flavors while momentarily moving beyond them. Like a warm hug, this dish highlights the technical expertise of Myers + Chang’s menu; a comparison between the two noodle dishes only reveals the shortcomings of the one and the potential of the other.
Finally, the star of the meal is the sweet treat of crème caramel. The perfectly creamy, sticky, and subtly sweet crème caramel is bathed in a loose auburn caramel sauce. Paired with a sesame crisp and a sliced banana coated in a golden brûléed sugar crust,
the dessert recalls childhood nostalgia in its simplicity while creating textural variety and opportunities for harmonious flavor combinations. The dappled, black-andwhite sesame cracker mirrors the crunch of the satisfying creme brulee shell, and the texture of the soft, sticky pudding combined with the natural sweetness of the banana allows the milky caramel flavor combination to shine. The success of this dish further underscores the pitfalls of the others: In attempting to add something new to storied classics, Myers + Chang’s dishes eclipse the robust flavors of the ingredients or traditional spices themselves. All-in-all, the atmosphere is comfortingly homey, the ingredients are fresh, and the vision is intriguing. If Myers + Chang can innovate further on fan-favorite dishes or embrace tradition, lean into the sweet simplicity that allows their ingredients to shine through — and tone down the sodium —it will be a delicious Asian bite on its way to becoming a Boston classic.
2.5 STARS
emma.chan@thecrimson.com
Darius Atefat-Peckham ’23 on Poetry, Sincerity, and Identity
BY CAROLINE J. RUBIN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
“Just to preface, I’m really long winded. So, good luck to you, Caroline,” said Darius Atefat-Peckham ’23, Iranian American poet and author of “How Many Love Poems” and his latest collection, “Book of Kin.”Atefat-Peckham is a fan of long conversations. He is a writer who has a lot to say and, luckily, an enthusiasm to say it. In an interview with The Crimson, Atefat-Peckham shared his profound insights on life, love, and the ultimate power of artistic endeavor.
Atefat-Peckham may have a lot to say, but he also fervently believes in the importance of listening, a theme that resonates deeply in his work.
“You know, we think about writing as this torrential kind of self-expressive mode. But then poetry has so much white space, so much silence in it,”
Atefat-Peckham said. His mentorship under Tracy K. Smith played a pivotal role in shaping this perspective. Professor Smith, who served as his creative thesis advisor at Harvard College, praised his generosity in his poems but also challenged him to cultivate a relationship with silence — a concept he initially struggled with.
Atefat-Peckham emphasized how Professor Smith pushed him to “work on his relationship with silence,” humorously recounting the conversation. “I talked at her for 40 minutes and I was like, ‘what do you mean?’”
Atefat-Peckham said.
Professor Smith also consistently pushed him to explore the broader possibilities of poetry, asking critical questions about what it means to speak for a community. For Atefat-Peckham, these lessons intertwined with his exploration of identity. Poetry became a way to navigate and explore the complexities of his
“bridged identity,” a term he uses to describe his hyphenated Iranian American self. Central to this exploration is his relationship with the Persian language. He reflects on the levels of language fluency and questions what it truly means to “speak well” in Persian. Is fluency merely the ability to express emotions like “I love you” and “I miss you” or does it encompass the capacity to articulate oneself in more nuanced ways?
For Atefat-Peckham, language is not just deeply tied to place, it is also eternally connected to love. In “Book of Kin,” Atefat-Peckham embraces the Persian that he knows and lives in. He accepts that his Persian can exist “broken” and this acceptance becomes a crucial element of his poetic expression.
Atefat-Peckham expressed how language, too, informs the physical form of his work. Because Farsi is read from right to left, Atefat-Peckham has become more conscious of both
the beginning and end of a poetic line. This awareness mirrors his broader exploration of identity, with each line serving as a bridge between different facets of his experience — American and Iranian, English and Persian, past and present. In this way, his poems embody the fluidity of his identity.
“For me, poetry is confronting mystery. When I go to poetry, I am seeking a deeper connection with a beloved place, a heritage I don’t know,” Atefat-Peckham said.
The lines are more than just segments of text, they are symbolic journeys across the terrain of his cultural and linguistic landscape.
“Poetry became an alternate form of travel to a place I couldn’t go physically,” Atefat-Peckham said.
This place for Atefat-Peckham is Iran, the place of heritage for his mother, who passed away in a car accident along with his older brother when
Afefat-Peckham was young. For him, poetry is a way to honor both his family and his heritage, and explore the complexities of doing both at once. The act of writing, to him, is also an act of memorialization. Atefat-Peckham envisions how “absence becomes a kind of presence” and sees loss and love as existing simultaneously in his work. He believes that “longing is an expression of love.” The act of “reaching out and addressing a beloved” is another power of poetry. While writing “Book of Kin”, Atefat-Peckham witnessed how similar love poems and elegies truly are. Atefat-Peckham shared how this perspective informed his appreciation and use of the ghazal, a traditional Persian poetic form where each couplet is autonomous and “has its own universe within it.” In this form, one can seamlessly move from addressing a romantic beloved in one couplet to mourning a lost loved one in
the next, without altering the nature of the address.
“Dying is just another kind of existence,” Atefat-Peckham said. Atefat-Peckham believes that “great poetry is great sincerity.” For him, poetry is a unique vehicle to access this sincerity because it allows for the exploration of the subconscious with a kind of creative abandon. This poetic freedom reflects the authenticity of lived experiences.
“One of my mentors used to say, live first, write second,” Atefat-Peckham said. He practices this advice in his words on and off the page. Atefat-Peckham speaks about his journey as a poet and a person with grace, gratitude, and love. He exemplifies the power of poetry itself — to find wonder, to inspire change, to provoke thought, and to nurture compassion in an increasingly complex world.
caroline.rubin@thecrimson.com
COURTESY OF EMMA E. CHAN
THE HARVARD CRIMSON
OCTOBER 4, 2024
Michael K. Pollan is the Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer and a Professor of the Practice of Non-Fiction. His recent research has explored the nature and use of psychadelic drugs.
FM: Which artistic medium is best at capturing mystical experiences?
MKP: I’m not sure. It may just be a personal prejudice, but I tend to think writing works better than visual media. Right now, we have a psychedelic film festival going on at the at the Harvard Film Archive, and having read a lot of accounts of mystical experiences, as well as seen efforts to capture them cinematically, I feel like cinematic representations are just too spe cific and so hard to enter into as a viewer. Whereas when something is written, you have to provide a lot more. You have to imagine your way into it. All you have are the words. So I tend to think that that is the most effective.
FM: Within literature, is there a specific genre — say, poetry, fiction or memoir — that’s best at capturing these types of expe riences?
MKP: The one that sticks for me — that I think has influenced not just me, but the whole culture — is Aldous Huxley’s account of his mescaline experience in “The Doors of Perception,” a very short, powerful essay that does a really good job of capturing it and not just capturing it, but shaping it for everyone who’s read that book and for lots of people who haven’t. I think the metaphors he uses and the way he framed the experience have — since it was one of the first accounts in the West — influenced everybody who’s come after.
FM: How similar are mystical ex periences when they’re induced by different means? For exam ple, in what ways is a psychedelic trip similar to a transcendent religious experience?
MKP: Well, I haven’t had a tran scendent religious experience. I may not be qualified to answer that, but there’s been a lot of inter esting writing comparing the two. In fact, there was a study done at Johns Hopkins at NYU a few years ago that has yet to be published, where they gave high doses of psilocybin to religious leaders. The people who received psilo cybin and had powerful mystical experiences — and that was everybody, except the Buddhist priest, who did not have an encounter with the divine, as she called it — felt that these were authentic mystical experiences, no different than ones they have had in their own lives that were spontaneous and, in many cases, inspired their desire to make reli gion their vocation.
FM: Treatment for trauma typ ically helps the patient ground themselves in the present and leave the traumatic event in the past. Psychedelics do the oppo site: Like trauma, transcendence tends to collapse a person’s experience of time. Do you think there is something about the similarities of these experiences that gives transcendence the ability to heal trauma?
MKP: Well, the way psychedelics are being used to heal trauma is not through this mystical experi ence. Typically, the medicine of choice is MDMA. The idea there is that the drug leads to a very quick bond with the therapist, and it also allows people to explore very painful material without feeling the pain. These are both very powerful things. Normally, it takes a long time to build up that bond with your therapist, and normally reliving these experiences retraumatizes you. But MDMA appears to work by allowing you to go into very difficult material without feeling the associated emotional charge.
Q&A: MICHAEL POLLAN ON PSYCHEDELICS, CONSCIOUSNESS, AND JOURNALISM FIFTEEN MINUTES 15
problem” for nothing.
Consciousness is an interesting subject in that, since scientists haven’t made that much progress, philosophers have a very large role to play in the conversation. It’s unusual to see scientists deferring to philosophers. Usually everybody in the humanities defers to the scientists. So I always enjoy that. One of the things you learn when you study consciousness is that science has been structured since the time of Galileo to ignore consciousness, and, in fact, doesn’t have the tools to understand consciousness. So there’s a real question of whether science will ever be able to solve this problem, at least the way it’s currently constituted. Realizing that, I looked at other ways of thinking about consciousness. I interview philosophers, I interview Buddhists, I interview poets, I interview novelists. I think this is one area where the humanities is perhaps ahead of the sciences, and the trajectory of the book moves from science to poetry.
like psychedelics. But there are a lot of non-pharmacological ways to achieve these states. Experiences of awe in nature, for example, can do it. Religious practice can do it. Sports can do it. Extreme physical activity and risk can do it. Breathing exercises can do it. It’s something we seem to be wired for.
FM: In a previous interview, you’ve argued that humans have “a basic interest in transcendence, no matter how it’s achieved.” Why do you think this is so?
MKP: We, for some reason, are not satisfied with everyday normal consciousness, and we do all sorts of things to alter it, from drinking coffee — which most of us do every day — to more radical, transcendent forms of change,
I think that boredom is part of what drives it. For most of history, most people’s lives have been pretty monotonous, and relief from that is a powerful thing. I think relief from pain is also something that changes in consciousness give us, and that’s very important for most of history. Medicine could do very little for people, but we had opiates and cannabis that could help people either not feel their pain or dissociate from their pain. So that’s a really powerful thing.
FM: In several of your books, you’ve engaged in experiential reporting for the sake of better understanding your subject. What is the most memorable thing you’ve done in the
name of journalism?
MKP: Well, two come to mind. One was buying a cow and following it through the meat system. I wrote a piece called “Power Steer” in 2002 — it became a chapter in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” — to understand the industrial meat system. I bought it from these ranchers in Vale, South Dakota, and then followed it to the feedlot and to the slaughterhouse to see how we produce a steak in this country. It was number 534 — that was his tag.
The other was having a handful of psychedelic experiences when I was researching “How To Change Your Mind.” That was much more frightening than buying the cow, because I had had very limited experience. I had a high dose psilocybin experience, ayahuasca, and a couple other less well known psychedelics.
FM: When is it more useful to immerse yourself in your story, and when is it more useful, if ever, to keep yourself out of the story?
MKP: You have to pick your spots. If there’s a way I can put myself in this situation that will help illuminate it, great. But if I have wonderful characters who are doing that well enough, there’s no need.
I felt like in the case of psychedelics, there was Huxley and a couple other accounts, but I honestly didn’t understand how a single experience of consuming a mushroom could change people’s outlook on death, for example. I had interviewed all these cancer patients from my first article on psychedelics, and many of them had completely lost their fear of death after a single experience, and that seemed so improbable to me. There was no way for me to test that without trying it myself.
FM: Tell me about your forthcoming book on the science and philosophy of consciousness.
MKP: It’s been the hardest project I’ve worked on. It’s not called “the hard
FM: Do you think it’s possible for artificial intelligence to gain consciousness?
That’s the subject of chapter two. I do not. I think the belief that it will happen, and that as machines get smart enough, consciousness will sort of come along for the ride, as it did for us, is false. I think intelligence and consciousness are orthogonal. They’re very different capabilities.
Computers are very good at simulating the so-called higher functions of the mind — abstract reasoning, symbolic representation — but they’re not really good at the more emotional, physical things. Current thinking about consciousness is rooted in the body. It’s rooted in our flesh, in our vulnerability, in our ability to feel pain. An immortal computer, it’s hard to think will ever feel, because our feelings are tied to our mortality. Without feeling, I don’t think you will have anything we would call consciousness or that would deserve moral consideration.
So my argument is, no, I don’t think computers will become conscious. However — and this is a big but — they will be able to fool us into thinking they are, and I think this is going to lead to enormous confusion.
So then the question will become: If you can simulate consciousness, isn’t that as good as the real thing? I argue that it’s not, but there are many people who think it is. It’s going to be a mess.
FM: Would you recommend that Harvard undergraduates take psychedelics?
MKP: I did not experiment with psychedelics until I was in my 50s. There are some really good reasons to wait. One of the things psychedelics often do is dissolve the ego. And there is an argument for waiting until an ego is fully formed before you
I think there are many people for whom they’re useful. There are many people who should not go anywhere near them. It’s a very consequential decision, and there are real risks, and people should be aware of them. An important part of my work now is addressing risk, because many people are taking psychedelics and they’re doing it recklessly. These are not party drugs. They should be approached with intention and care. So no, I wouldn’t recommend that everybody take them.
FM yasmeen.khan@thecrimson.com
Fifteen Minutes is the magazine of The Harvard Crimson. To read the full interview and other longform pieces, visit
FRANK S. ZHOU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Heartbreak in Providence
PROVIDENCE, R.I. —
The Brown Bears (20, 1-0 Ivy) stunned the Crimson (1-1, 0-1 Ivy) with less than 30 seconds on the clock in the fourth after a bad snap and a key touchdown throw from Brown quarterback Jake Wilcox led to heartbreak for Harvard.
The Bears clawed back from an 18-point deficit to defeat Harvard at home for the first time since 2010. The loss puts the Crimson’s hopes to defend its share of the Ivy League title in serious jeopardy just one game into the Ivy League season. Harvard looked poised to clinch a crucial road victory against a pesky Brown team as the Crimson’s defense recovered possession on the Bears’ 12-yard with a 28-23 lead and under two minutes to play. But Harvard’s offense, led by junior quarterback Jaden Craig, failed to score a touchdown that would have put the game on ice and were forced to settle for a field goal attempt.
The snap, however, sailed over freshman kicker Kieran Corr’s head and was kicked around by the Bears’ special teams unit until it was finally recovered by Brown defensive back Nick Hudson at Harvard’s 27-yard line. Wilcox needed just one attempt to find Brown wide receiver Mark Mahoney for a 27-yard touchdown pass and take the Bears’ first lead of the entire game with only 21 seconds left on the clock as the home crowd shook the stadium with delight. Wilcox immediately followed up with another successful pass to Mahoney for a two-point conversion that gave Brown a 31-28 advantage in the closing seconds of the game. The conversion capped an explosive second half for the Bears as they scored three unanswered touchdowns. The Brown defense also shined at the end of the game as they overcame the loss of star defensive back Isaiah Reed, who
ball at Harvard’s 27-yard
“That’s on me,” Aurich said. “I didn’t manage it well. There should never have been time at the end there for them to get the ball.”
“There’s plenty of stuff that everyone on the team is gonna have to clean up, but we should have never been in that position if I would’ve never made that ingame call,” he added. The mistake served as a reminder that Aurich, despite leading Harvard to a 35-0 victory over Stetson University last week, will face some growing pains as he eases into his new role as head coach. Aurich had never led a football program before his arrival at Harvard.
The Crimson started the game strong as Craig led Harvard to the endzone on the second drive of the game. A bullet to junior receiver Cooper Barkate set up senior running back Shane McLaughin to find the endzone for the first score of the game.
Barkate followed up the performance on the next play, scoring the Crimson’s second touch-
tinued its strong performance in the first half by limiting the Bears’ offense to a field goal despite Wilcox finding wide receiver Solomon Miller for a 56-yard pass that brought the Bears into the red zone for the first time.
Wilcox, however, could not finish the job as the Crimson forced him to throw a few incomplete passes, before settling for the three points.
Harvard immediately responded with a touchdown as three penalties against the Bears defense essentially allowed Craig to walk down the gridiron and into Brown’s territory. After two incomplete passes, Craig found Barkate once again on thirdand-10 for a 16-yard pass to put Harvard up 21-3.
As the first half came to a close, Brown junior defensive back Elias Archie intercepted a pass that slipped through Barkate’s hands — allowing the Bears to set up on the one yard line and secure their first touchdown of the game.
The interception was a key moment in the game — giving Bears much-needed hope and energy, and foreshadowing the Crimson’s second half offensive collapse.
Aurich denied that the interception shifted momentum to
DePrima transformed into a wide receiver in Providence, hauling in a 52-yard pass from Craig that brought the Crimson to the Bears’ 17-yard line.
After short gains from sophomore running back Xaviah Bascon and junior running back Isaiah Abbey, Craig marched into the end zone on a two-yard option play showcasing his ability to get it done on the ground.
The touchdown put the Crimson up 28-10 with just 6:16 left in the third quarter, but it also marked the last time Harvard’s offense would make any noise.
In a postgame interview, McLaughlin blamed the loss on the offensive’s inability to continue its first half success.
“We definitely didn’t execute on our side of the ball in the second half,” McLaughlin said. “If we played like we played the beginning of the first half, we never would have been in this position.”
In Brown’s next possession, Willcox threw a 75-yard pass to freshman running back Matt
struggled to contain Willcox, who was able to find room to scramble after progressing through his initial reads. On fourth-and-goal from the two-yard line with 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Brown kept its offense on the field.
On a critical play, the Bears went for an unconventional reverse, with backup quarterback Ty Holtz coming off the edge and lofting a pass to junior wide receiver Solomon Miller — only for Henderson to swoop in and deny the score — keeping Harvard up 28-17. With the Harvard offense going nowhere, Brown regained possession and stormed down the gridiron. After a few key plays from Childs, Willcox threw to Mahoney for a touchdown.
The Bears attempted a twopoint conversion, but a controversial call by the referees led to Wilcox’s pass being deemed incomplete, allowing the Crimson to hold onto a five-point lead with five minutes to play.
Harvard’s offense, however, was unable to give the defense any support and returned possession to Brown at their own 10-yard line with 2:25 to play.
Wilcox, however, struggled for the first time since the start of the
“One
the Crimson’s 11-point lead.
With the offense entering a lull, the Crimson turned to its famed speedster: senior Charles DePrima, who lost the starting quarterback job to Craig.
The Brown Bears scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to stun Harvard and steal the first game of the Ivy League season. KACY BAO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Field Hockey’s Golden Weekend
BY ISABEL C. SMAIL
The No. 10 Harvard Women’s Field Hockey team (7-1, 2-0 Ivy League) headed down to Providence on Saturday for an afternoon game against the Brown Bears (2-5, 1-1 Ivy League). After a dominant 4-0 win against the Bears, the Crimson returned victoriously to Cambridge to take on the UMass Minutewomen (7-3, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) on Sunday. The contest between Harvard and the Minutewomen was a nailbiter, extending into an overtime shootout in which the Crimson secured the 2-1 win in the sixth round of shots.
Harvard 4, Brown 0 The field hockey team traveled to Rhode Island alongside hundreds of Harvard students who made the trip to Brown to support the Crimson’s athletic programs. The Harvard team arrived at the Goldberger Family Field Hockey Field for its match against the Bears as the clear favorite, ranked 10th in the nation and boasting a dominant winning record. After proving its worth against Dartmouth last weekend, the Crimson looked to continue its competitive style of play against its Ivy League opponent. The scoring started early for Harvard thanks to junior midfielder Fiene Oerlemans. The Los Angeles, CA native hammered home a shot off of a stellar assist from fellow junior Bronte-May Brough. The goal marked the second of the season for Oerlemans and the first of the weekend for the Harvard Crimson. In the second quarter of play, junior Kate Oliver sent another ball flying past the Bears’ goalkeeper Kylee Del Monte. Oliver’s goal, assisted by firstyear Emily Bronckers, was her fourth of the season. The Crimson’s offensive success allowed Oerlemans and Oliver to give the Harvard team a comfortable twogoal cushion entering the halftime break.
That being said, the third quarter of play seemed to be the most defensively challenging for the Crimson. Brown’s offensive unit was able to get three shots on goal, which luckily for Harvard, were all stopped by junior goalkeeper Tessa Shahbo. Meanwhile, the Crimson was only able to fire two shots of its own during the quarter, marking the only section of the contest in which Harvard was statistically outperformed by Brown. Due to the combination of Shahbo and her defensive team’s success, the Crimson kept the quarter scoreless, maintaining the 2-0 lead going into the final 15 minutes. Lara Beekhuis, the sophomore from Laren, Netherlands, lit up the scoreboard for Harvard a mere four minutes into the fourth quarter, setting the winning tone for the Crimson. Beekhuis, the 2024 Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player, has scored five goals this season, making her a valuable offensive weapon for Harvard. Beekhuis’s goal was assisted by freshman Martha le Huray who has already tallied an impressive three assists so far this fall. Less than two minutes after the Crimson’s third goal, Sage Piekarski notched a goal of her own, sealing the victory for
Harvard. In the final 15 minutes of play, the Crimson out performed the Bears offensively, recording nine shots and preventing Brown from maintaining possession long enough to get a scoring opportunity.
“We had a great win against Brown, but despite the scoreline, we remain hungry” Shahbo said. “Going into our game against UMass, we felt like we had another level of Harvard Field Hockey to reach.”
After its win against Brown, the Crimson had only a 24-hour turnaround before facing UMass. The Minutewomen have had some impressive victories this season, particularly against ranked opponents such as No. 6 St. Josephs and No. 20 UMass Lowell. Shahbo explained that the team readied itself to compete against UMass just as it would for every game, “we mentally leave everything across the river as soon as we cross the bridge for practice.”
Harvard 4, University of Massachusetts 3
Entering the contest on the high of a seven-game winning streak, the Massachusetts Minutewomen posed a threat to Harvard. UMass, a team notorious for its underdog mentality, seemed like it had a chance to upset the Crimson in the first half of play. The two teams held each other to a standstill for the first 30 minutes, remaining scoreless and without practically any scoring opportunities from either side. In fact, after the halftime whistle, Harvard
had only notched two shots, while the Minutewomen only had one.
“UMass has a very atypical structure that presented as a challenge for us,” Shahbo described. “We were required to problem solve on the field and make split-second decisions.”
The first goal of the game was scored with 50 seconds of play remaining on the clock in the third quarter off of a penalty corner. The Crimson’s Marie Schaefers fired the ball into the net after a great pass from the corner that was set up expertly by Kitty Chapple and Oliver. Unfortunately for Harvard, less than two minutes into the fourth quarter of play, UMass’s Claire Danahy sniped the equalizing goal from the top right of the arc after another penalty corner.
The game stayed tied throughout regulation play, as both teams fought a tough defensive battle. Entering overtime, the Crimson was forced to play a man down for the first five minutes because of a yellow card called against Schaefers. Harvard’s defensive unit, led by goalkeeper Shahbo, played fiercely, preventing UMass from scoring on any of its five shots on net during the extra time. Shahbo and her team’s efforts forced the game to extend to a penalty shootout.
Harvard, being the home team, had the first opportunity to shoot on UMass’s goalie, Myrte Van Herwijnen. Chapple, the junior from England, scored a beautiful goal to set a positive tone for the Crimson. UMass’s Paula Lorenzini responded with a goal of her own, sneaking the ball through Shahbo’s pads and into the back of the
net. Harvard’s le Huray then failed to capitalize on a shot in the face of Van Herwijen’s aggressive defense. Shahbo followed Van Herwijen’s footsteps, playing boldly against Danahy, in a successful attempt to prevent UMass from taking the lead. The shootout advanced into the sixth round, as both teams remained deadlocked in a tie. Finally, Beekhuis fired home the game-winner off a rebound opportunity for the Crimson. The point was the second of the shootout for Beekhuis, and after an official review, was confirmed to be the golden goal.
“It was a defensive battle that required unwavering focus from the entire team, which ultimately led to double OT and a sudden death shootout victory,” said Shahbo as she reflected on the win.
“Our whole team contributed to the win, especially the energy that our bench was projecting onto the field. Nothing beats the feeling of persevering through such a tough game and getting a win on Berylson Field.”
Shahbo specifically had a standout performance in the net, notching an impressive 12 saves during the two-hour-long contest. Her stellar play across both the Brown and UMass games this weekend earned her the title of Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. Her aggressive style of play but poised mindset were particularly remarkable during the long shootout.
“For a goalie, the defense is an extension of me,” Shahbo said. “So when we go to shootouts, I lose that support. I can no longer work with my teammates, so I have to perform for them. Be-
ing a goalie can either make you feel the weight of the loss on your shoulders or the hero of the game, and shootouts certainly intensify these feelings!” Shahbo certainly was the Crimson’s hero this past weekend, helping the team extend its winning streak to five. Harvard will look to use its victorious momentum in its homestretch, which continues next weekend. The team will first take on Yale (6-2, 1-1 Ivy League) in its Faculty Appreciation Game on Friday, Oct 4. Then, on Sunday, Oct 6., Harvard will face off against Boston University (4-4, 1-1 Patriot League).
“We have one central goal, rise from #10 to #1 in the country,” Shahbo says. For now, “we’re really focusing on having smaller, short-term goals to outline the process to get there: win regular Ivy League season, host the Ivy League tournament, qualify for NCAA tournament, and ultimately win the championship.” Yale, Harvard’s notorious rival and an intra-league foe, will look to upset the Crimson at home. Similarly, BU, a cross-town rival, hopes to make a worthwhile trip across the Charles River. Notably, Harvard senior Maddie Mullaney will face off against her younger sister Grace Mullaney, a sophomore midfielder for the Terriers. Both games will be competitive contests for the Crimson.
Tune in to ESPN+ at 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, Oct 4 to watch the Harvard Crimson take on the Yale Bulldogs on Berylson Field in Cambridge.
The Harvard women’s field hockey team continued to prove its strength this weekend, sweeping Brown and UMass. COURTESY HARVARD ATHLETICS
Brown Stuns Harvard in Ivy League Opener
BY KACY BAO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Harvard’s new head coach, Andrew Aurich, spent several years
