The Harvard Crimson — Volume CXLV, No. 75

The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume cxlvi, No. 75 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | wednesday, september 05, 2018

editorial PAGE 6

news PAGE 4

Sports PAGE 8

Kim: The need to get a job shouldn’t dominate our college experience.

Start of shopping week brings packed classes and scheduling woes.

Field hockey team starts off season with back-to-back victories.

Freshman Interest in Final Clubs Hits Low

Voters Turn Out for Primary Progressive Candidates Win At the Polls

Freshmen Survey Highlights

Decline of Social Group Interest Since 2016 50

40

Katherine E. wang—Crimson DESIGNER

By iris m. lewis, meena venkataramanan and leon k. yang

37%

30

28% 24%

20

10

Crimson Staff Writers

30% Survey Respondents

Sanctions induced less favorable opinion of social groups

0

Class of 2020

Class of 2021

Class of 2022

Less than a quarter of incoming freshmen said they are interested in joining a social group.

By AMY L. JIA and Luke w. VROTSOS Crimson Staff WriterS

A year after Harvard’s historic sanctions on members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations took effect with the Class of 2021, the percentage of freshmen interested in joining a social group has reached its lowest point since The Crimson began surveying incoming classes four years ago.

Just 7 percent of freshman respondents said they are “very interested” in joining a social group, while 17 percent said they are “somewhat interested” — in total, meaning roughly one in four members of the Class of 2022 have some interest in joining a fraternity or final club.

This marks a slight decrease from last year — when 28 percent of the Class of 2021 indicated interest — and a steeper decline from the year before, when 37 percent of the Class of 2020 did so. Nearly half of the Class of 2022 — 46 percent — stated they are “not at all interested,” marking the highest level of apathy in the history of The Crimson’s survey. Nearly a third of respondents said Harvard’s penalties caused them to view campus social groups in a less favorable light.

The College’s sanctions, debuted in May 2016, bar members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations from campus leadership positions, varsity team captaincies, and from receiving Harvard endorsement for certain prestigious fellowships like the Rhodes.

Though controversial, the penalties appear to be effective — numerous all-male and all-female groups have gone co-ed in the past two years. The Crimson reported last month that the final three all-female holdouts had agreed to accept members of all genders, leaving Harvard’s campus without women’s-only social groups.

Each year, as incoming students start packing for their first year at the College, The Crimson emails each class member asking them to fill out a survey. The anonymous questionnaire asks several questions on topics ranging from their religious views to their sex lives to their opinions of current campus and political affairs.

Of the 1,661-member class, 1,064 freshmen responded, representing roughly 64 percent of the class. The Crimson did not adjust the survey results for any possible selection bias.

This second installation of The Crimson’s three-part series on the Class of 2022

examines students’ academic and extracurricular interests, and their experiences both in and outside of their pre-college classrooms.

ACADEMICS Consistent with last year’s survey, Economics, Government, and Computer Science remained the three concentrations most popular with surveyed students. Nearly one-third of respondents reported an interest in one of these fields.

The academic inclinations of this year’s survey respondents match well with reported trends among the College population. Harvard’s most popular fall courses typically include Economics 10a: “Principles of Economics” and Computer Science 50: “Introduction to Computer Science I,” the flagship introductory courses for Economics and Computer Science, respectively.

Generally, more male respondents indicated an interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics than did female respondents.

• Economics was the most popular concentration among both recruited athletes and

See SURVEY Page 4

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday night as Massachusetts voters cast their ballots in this year’s primary elections, culminating in notable victories for progressive candidates and Harvard affiliates.

In a historic primary upset in Massachusetts’s 7th Congressional District, rising Democratic party star Ayanna S. Pressley defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Michael E. Capuano in a show of progressive strength. Pressley will become the first African American woman to represent the state in Congress. Capuano, who has represented the district since 1999, conceded the race before it was called. Pressley’s victory echoes that of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old progressive activist who made history by unseating Democratic leader Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in June. Now, Pressley is poised to win the general election, in which she will run unopposed.

The 7th Congressional District leans blue by 34 points, making it the most Democratic district in the state according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index.

In the race for the Democratic governor nomination, Jay Gonzalez beat out Robert K. Massie, a Harvard Business School graduate who was the 1994 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. Gonzalez previously served as former Governor Deval Patrick’s secretary of administration and

Quentin Palfrey defeated Jimmy Tingle to become the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. Caleb D. Schwartz —Crimson photographer

Pressley Defeats Incumbent Capuano in Contested Race By jonah s. berger Crimson Staff Writer

Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna S. Pressley defeated incumbent congressman Michael E. Capuano in Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District Democratic primary — a significant upset in a race closely watched nationwide as a bellwether of the direction of the Democratic Party.

Running unopposed in November, Pressley, 44, will become the first African-American to represent the state in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The district she will soon represent comprises a wide swath of Boston and its suburbs, including Harvard’s Allston and Longwood campuses.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday evening, Capuano conceded the race to Pressley at his campaign headquarters in Somerville.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but this is life, and this is O.K.,” he said. “America’s going to be

Crimson Staff Writers

The University’s Title IX office will form a student liaison committee to work with a newly hired education program manager in an effort to better educate students about its policies and resources.

In their back-to-school email, Undergraduate Council leaders Catherine L. Zhang ‘19 and Nicholas D. Boucher ‘19 invited students to join the committee, which will likely consist of one to two students from each of Harvard’s schools, according to Title IX Officer Nicole M. Merhill.

Harvard’s Title IX Office provides resources and education about the federal anti-discrimination law that deals with sexual misconduct on college campuses. Merhill, who overInside this issue

Harvard Today 2

sees the University’s Title IX Office — which does not conduct formal investigations — said central administrators created the new committee to better adapt programs to students across Harvard’s schools.

“The role is to have a collaborative process to work with students across the University — so we have representation from each of our schools — to help us better understand how we can meet the needs of the community,” Merhill said.

Several student activism groups have called for improvements to Title IX training in recent years. In addition to the new committee, the College rolled out a new, mandatory online training module this fall tied to course registration.

The committee’s charge will be multipronged. According to

See Committee Page 5

News 3

Editorial 6

See primary Page 4

Admins Shift Sanctions Goals By caroline s. engelmayer and michael e. xie Crimson Staff Writers

At first, they were a way to stop sexual assault on campus. Then, they were meant to end gender exclusivity.

Now — marking the second pivot in rationale in the same number of years — administrators seem to view the College’s controversial social group penalties as a path to eventually cancel discrimination of every stripe around Harvard’s campus.

An application that social

groups must complete if they want to gain College recognition and avoid the sanctions reveals the expansion of administrators’ hopes for what the penalties will accomplish.

The application lays out three levels of Harvard recognition that social groups can obtain. To earn the lowest tier, organizations must demonstrate their intent to adopt gender-neutral membership policies. But to attain the upper two — the highest of which comes with unspecified amounts of College cash — groups need to show they do not discriminate

T9 Office Forms Student Group By jonah s. berger and jamie d. halper

O.K. Ayanna Pressley is going to be a good congresswoman, and I will tell you that Massachusetts will be well served.”

Around 10 pm, the Associated Press called the race for Pressley. At 11:30 pm, with nearly 100 percent of precincts reporting, Pressley had garnered 58.9 percent of the vote to Capuano’s 41.1 percent. She dominated in Boston, nearly doubling Capuano’s vote total. Capuano garnered slightly more votes in Somerville, where he was mayor in the 1990s, but could not overcome Pressley’s advantage margin in Boston.

Pressley’s victory represents another major defeat for the Democratic establishment this primary cycle, coming less than three months after New York representative Joseph Crowley, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House, fell to 28-year-old activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

against their peers in any way.

Groups in the top two levels cannot discriminate based on “race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, military status, or any other protected status,” according to the application, available to Harvard students online.

The College’s sanctions — which took effect with the Class of 2021 — bar members of final clubs and Greek organizations

See sanctions Page 5

Smith Campus Center Opens

By Yasmin Luthra and Idil Tuysuzoglu Crimson Staff Writers

Welcomed by hundreds of sunflowers put on display and free for the taking, Harvard affiliates and visitors crowded the Smith Campus Center for its public opening Tuesday.

While only the common spaces and a few restaurants — including Blackbird Doughnuts, Pavement Coffeehouse, Bon Me, and Swissbäkers — opened Tuesday, individuals still enjoyed the renovated common areas and lined up at the eateries. The three remaining restaurants will open over the ­

Students study in the newly reopened Smith Campus Center. amy y. li—Crimson photographer

Sports 8

Today’s Forecast

partly cloudy High: 88 Low: 72

See smith Page 4

Visit thecrimson.com.

Follow @TheCrimson on Twitter.

World peace

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

september 05, 2018

Page 2

Harvard Today

For Lunch Red Spiced Chicken Spicy Jalapeno and Cheese Macaroni Roasted Spicy Potatoes

For Dinner Memphis Style Pork Ribs Reds Best Local Fish w/ Lemon Butter Capers & Parsley Seitan Pepper Steak

Today’s Events

in The Real World

The Politics of History and the Future of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.

Brett Kavanaugh Nomination Hearings The nomination hearings for President Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee began today.

Kavanaugh is a controversial figure — having been a staff secretary in the Bush White House and a member of Kenneth Starr’s investigation of Bill Clinton.

Head to the lower common room of Adolphus Busch Hall (27 Kirkland St.) and hear from Dariusz Stola, the director of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. He’ll talk about lots of interesting things, including the controversial “Holocaust Bill” passed by the Polish Senate.

Urban Intermedia: City, Archive, Narrative 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Go to this panel discussion in the Graduate School of Design’s Gund Hall Piper Auditorium to listen to the curators, Eve Blau and Robert Pietrusko, and invited media theorists.

They’ll be discussing the latest research methods in urban research.

Bliss. This Autumn. Lecturance .

7 - 8:30 p.m.

Organized by the Harvard University Committee on the Arts, this performance will leave you stunned.

It’s a collaboration combining poetry, sounds and three songs from 20th century music traditions.

The Farrow-NBC Conflict

Patrons purchase produce at the Harvard University Farmers’ Market in the Science Center Plaza. Caleb D. Schwartz—Crimson photographer

Daily Briefing Tuesday’s primaries saw progressive candidate Ayanna S. Pressley defeat incumbent congressman Michael E. Capuano for the Democratic nomination in the Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District race, and College graduate and son of Adams House Faculty Deans Quentin A. Palfrey snag the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

In other news, the Smith Campus Center opened to acclaim from students. It features four new restaruants, study spaces, and greenery.

Ronan Farrow — the journalist who wrote about allegations of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein in the New Yorker — has recently come into conflict with NBC. NBC originally did not publish Farrow’s work, and released a memo explaining their reasons for not doing so. Farrow responded that NBC’s memo had many false or misleading statements. Is this meta-journalism? I think so.

Tropical Storm Heads for the Gulf Coast A Hurricane warning was issued for parts of Louisiana and Mississippi today, as Tropical Storm (Flash) Gordon rushes towards the coast. Luckily, the storm is expected to immediately weaken as soon as it makes landfall.

Around the Ivies Yale Ten of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s female law school classmates signed a letter in support of his candidacy, according to the Yale Daily News. The signatories, who attended Yale Law School alongside Kavanaugh, wrote that Kavanaugh had a strong record of supporting female athletes. They also praised his character.

The move comes amid expected protests against Kavanaugh’s nomination by women’s rights attorneys and other activists.

Penn In a refreshing move, Penn Medicine announced it will stop serving sugary drinks in its cafes, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported Monday. The initiative will replace all sodas and sugary drinks in the Penn Medicine buildings and replace them with diet or sugar free options. It is designed to encourage healthy eating and reduce the risk of heart related diseases.

Cornell At the 35th Annual Labor Day Picnic in Ithaca, Cornell received an award designated for employers that allegedly disregard workers’ rights, the Cornell Daily Sun reported Monday.

The Tompkins County Workers’ Center, an organization that supports Ithaca unions, wrote in a press release that the award is given to an “especially egregious offender of workers’ rights and/or the value of labor to our common good.”

The award follows Cornell’s cancellation of a construction project that would have resulted in full employment for 240 members of the United Association Plumbers and Steamfitters. Cornell University declined to comment.

The University Daily, Est. 1873

The Harvard Crimson Derek G. Xiao President Hannah Natanson Managing Editor Nathan Y. Lee Business Manager

Associate Managing Editors Mia C. Karr ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Associate Business Managers Dahlia S. Huh ’19 Max W. Sosland ’19 Digital Strategists Jamie D. Halper ’20 Dianne Lee ’20 Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20

Staff for This Issue Arts Chairs Mila Gauvini II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19

Design Chairs Morgan J. Spaulding ’19 Simon S. Sun ’19

FM Chairs Marella A. Gayla ’19 Leah S. Yared ’19

Multimedia Chairs Amy Y. Li ’20 Ellis J. Yeo ’20

Blog Chairs Lydia L. Cawley ’20 Stuti Telidevara ’20

Technology Chairs Nenya A. Edjah ’20 Theodore T. Liu ’20

Sports Chairs Cade S. Palmer ’20 Jack R. Stockless ’19

Night Editor Brittany N. Ellis ’19

Design Editors Morgan J. Spaulding ’19

Assistant Night Editors Luke W. Xu ’20 Shera S. Avi-Yonah ’21

Photo Editors Jacqueline S. Chea ’19 Krystal K. Phu ’19

Story Editors Joshua J. Florence ‘19 Hannah Natanson ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Sarah Wu ‘19 Kenton K. Shimozaki ‘19

Editorial Editor Cristian D. Pleters ’19 Sports Editor Joseph W. Minatel ’21

Editorial Chairs Cristian D. Pleters ’19 Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19 Copyright 2018, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.

Corrections The Sept. 4 article “Bacow ‘Swooped’ Into Opening Days Carrying Boxes” misstated the name of Kirkland House Administrator Kate D. Cavell.

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON | september 05, 2018

City Report Focuses on Housing, Safety

By Patricia J. Liu Crimson Staff Writer

The City of Cambridge highlighted affordable housing measures, infrastructure developments, and transportation safety policies in its fiscal year 2018 report this August.

Cambridge rerpoted that it has devoted more than $147 million towards the Affordable Housing Trust since 2001. This past fiscal year, the city has also seen the advancement of more than 350 affordable housing projects and the addition of 127 inclusionary housing units, which are set aside for low-income tenants.

“No City in the Commonwealth is as committed to affordable housing as Cambridge is,” Cambridge City Manager Louis A. DePasquale wrote in the report. “In November, the City of Cambridge was proud to celebrate the approval of our 1000th inclusionary housing unit.”

In addition to constructing more affordable housing, the city constructed the Cambridge Warming Center, which was open this year from January to April. The center — created to help homeless people in Cambridge through chilling winters — allows clients to shower, eat a hot meal, and seek refuge from cold weather. According to the report, the center assisted over 475 people during its first year.

Additional infrastructure developments this past fiscal year include the Green Line Extension Project, which adds additional stops to the MBTA transit service; the YWCA Cambridge Family Shelter, which offers shelter for up to 10 families; and the Municipal Facilities Improvement Project, which identifies potential up­

Students leave Sever Hall during the first day of classes under the new College schedule, which eliminates ‘Harvard Time’ and standardizes class times across departments. Kathryn S. Kuhar—Crimson photographer

Shopping Week, New Schedule Begin By shera s. avi-yonah and Sanjana l. narayanan Crimson Staff Writers

When the Memorial Church bells tolled at 8:40 on Tuesday morning, some students noticed that the Yard was busier than usual.

Unlike in previous semesters, when students had a seven-minute grace period —colloquially known as ‘Harvard Time’ — before classes began, this semester 9 a.m. classes began right on time.

The first day of classes also marked the debut of a new course schedule — adopted by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences last spring — which aims to prepare students and faculty

for the 2020 opening of Harvard’s Allston campus, which will house much of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Flora DiCara ’20, Julia E. Canick ’19, and Melissa Drake ’21 said they thought the number of full lecture halls was due to the new schedule.

“It used to be that you would go to the 9 a.m. and if you didn’t like it, you’d go to the 9:30,” Canick said.

“Now people aren’t doing that.”

Of roughly a dozen students interviewed by The Crimson, many said they saw classmates sitting on stairways and spilling out into the halls Tuesday.

During the first week of

classes — known on campus as “shopping week” — students have not finalized their schedule and are free to wander in and out of classes at will.

In addition to perennial favorites like Life Sciences 1A: “An Integrated Introduction to the Life Sciences,” packed courses included Statistics 210: “Probability I,” Government 1368: “The Politics of American Education,” Societies and the World 40: “The Incas: The Last Great Empire of Pre-Columbian South America,” Organismic and Evolutionary Biology 50: “Genetics and Genomics,” and Science of the Physical Universe 27: “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter

Science.”

Government 1029: “Feminist Political Thought” Professor Katrina Forrester emailed students Tuesday morning moving the class’s location due to higher than expected interest.

Still, DiCara, who shopped

“I would say the weirdest thing for me was that I was trying to be early and came at 9:02 for my 9 a.m. class, and missed a very solid two minutes.”

Daniel Chang ’20

the course, said the new room was “overflowing.”

For some students, the loss of school-sanctioned tardiness overshadowed the actual classes themselves.

Daniel Chang ’20 said that although he was aware of the new schedule, he found the disappearance of “Harvard Time” to be off-putting.

“I would say the weirdest thing for me was that I was trying to be early and came at 9:02 for my 9 a.m. class, and missed a very solid two minutes,” Chang said.

All of the interviewed students said their latest first day was most remarkable in its uneventfulness.

“What happens? Nothing happens on the first day of classes. You go to the class and it’s really hot,” Isabel Haro ’21 said.

Students walk through sunny Tercentenary Theater on Tuesday, the first day of shopping week.

Kathryn S.

Kuhar—Crimson photographer

shera.aviyon@thecrimson.com. sanjana.narayanan@thecrimson.com.

Athletics Appoints Three New Coaches By madeleine r. nakada Crimson Staff Writer

The Harvard Athletics Department recently announced new head coaches for the varsity men’s tennis, women’s lacrosse, and men’s and women’s diving teams.

Men’s tennis assistant coach Andrew Y. Rueb ’95 was promoted to the role of head coach, left vacant by the retirement of David “Dave” R. Fish ’72 after 42 seasons, the Department announced on Aug. 1.

The Department also announced that University of Southern California associate head coach Devon Wills would take over as the women’s lacrosse head coach.

Former USA Diving Junior National Squad coach and program director at Moss Farms Diving, Chris Heaton, was announced as the new head coach of diving on August 21.

Rueb’s promotion was celebrated by many of his players, who said they were happy to see a familiar face step into the role of head coach.

Captain Andy T. Zhou ’19

said he was confident in Rueb’s leadership of the team.

“A lot of people were really happy that he was able to move into the head coaching position, and I’m definitely glad that there’s going to be some continuity,” Zhou said.

“He’s really well equipped and has all the experience he needs, and he’s definitely pre-

“It’s going to be a big transition for me stepping into the collegiate role, so really this first year is going to be just getting to know the divers and build some solid relationships and maybe tweaking the culture to more of what I’m used to.”

Chris Heaton Diving Coach

pared to do a great job.”

Although Rueb is the only one of the three coaches with experience coaching — and also studying — at Harvard, he is not the only coach returning to familiar faces.

Heaton has worked with four of the eleven divers in previous roles, coaching two athletes on their club team and another two at an Ivy League diving camp.

Nonetheless, Heaton said the first season will be full of adjustments for both him and the team.

“This is going to be a huge transition for this team, with my coaching style,” Heaton said.

“It’s going to be a big transition for me stepping into the collegiate role, so really this first year is going to be just getting to know the divers and build some solid relationships and maybe tweaking the culture to more of what I’m used to or would like to see in a training environment.”

In an email, diver Austin B. Fields ’20 wrote that although he hasn’t worked with Heaton

personally, Heaton’s reputation in the sport gives him confidence that he’ll help the team succeed.

“After briefly speaking with him, it was clear to me that his talent and expertise as a coach would play an instrumental role in enabling our program to reach new heights — winning diving in the Ivy League and placing at the NCAA level,” Fields wrote.

Wills, the only coach with no former experience coaching any of her athletes, said she’s enjoyed getting to know the captains and the team.

“I’ve gotten to meet a bunch, the captains have been amazing, kind of coming in and getting me up to speed with the things they’ve wanted to change, the things that they like,” Wills said. “So far everybody is really excited, and I think that’s the best thing to see as a new coach is that everybody is on the same page everybody just wants to get the same thing and achieve the same goals.” madeleine.nakada@thecrimson.com.

grades to city buildings.

The city continued its commitments to the Vision Zero strategy, which strives to have zero casualties and injuries in traffic-related incidents. The Vision Zero Action Plan highlights seven main steps to safe streets. Specific policies involved reducing speed limits in squares to 20 miles per hour and separating some bicycle lanes from lanes for other vehicles.

The report also outlines the Cambridge City Council’s Guiding Principles and Goals, which were adopted provisionally in 2017. According to the principles, the Council aims to be “deliberate,” “equitable,” and “resilient,” among other attributes.

The Council stated 12 goals for its members, including to “deepen our commitment to sustainable use of energy and strengthen our capacity for resilience,” to “eliminate bias within the City workplace and wider community,” and to “improve Council’s capacity to collaborate more effectively, make better decisions, and increase its accountability to the public.”

DePasquale encouraged people to read about the City’s work this past fiscal year in the report, which can be found on the City of Cambridge’s website.

“A strength of this City is the way in which departments, leadership, and staff work collaboratively with our elected officials,” DePasquale wrote.

“Our team works diligently to accomplish the policies established by the City Council and provide the day-to-day services that are important to our comunity.” patricia.liu@thecrimson.com

English Offers New Writing Courses By annie c. doris Crimson Staff Writer

The Creative Writing Program is expanding its course offerings this academic year, particularly to include a wider variety of nonfiction workshops.

Housed in the English Department, the Creative Writing Program offers numerous, 12-person workshops that are open to students via an application process.

In the past, workshops have focused on topics including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and dramatic writing.

Last semester, demand for the Creative Writing Program’s workshops reached an all-time high.

Darcy Frey, the program’s director, said it’s been “a goal not only to grow the Creative Writing Program but to offer more specific areas of study for students.”

“Offering an opportunity for literary science writing is something that we’ve been eager to do for a long time, and when Michael Pollan joined our faculty last year, he was the ideal person to teach that,” Frey said.

“He’s one of the very best literary science writers in the country.”

Author of numerous books, including “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” and “Food Rules,” Pollan will teach a workshop this semester entitled, English CNSR: “Narrative Science Journalism: Workshop.”

Pollan said that he believes this course is particularly relevant because “there’s a political need for good science journalism” at the moment.

“Scientists are not always comfortable entering into the public debate, and it’s very important that the public have good scientific information to make decisions on things like climate change,” Pollan said.

Pollan said he will ask students in the course to adopt and write about a lab, scientist, or scientific project either at Harvard or MIT. He said he hopes students will be able to convey both scientific information and the narrative associated with that information.

“I really believe the most powerful nonfiction layers many different perspectives because no one perspective has the answer, the definitive view,”

Pollan said.

He said he hopes his students will come from both STEM and humanities backgrounds, and he has plans to pair STEM students and humanities students together as peer editing partners.

“I want humanities students to have more sophistication about science, and I want STEM students to have more sophistication about storytelling,” Pollan explained.

Jill Abramson ’76, former executive editor of the New York Times, will teach another new workshop this semester called, English CAJR: “Journalism in the Age of Trump: Workshop.”

Like Pollan, Abramson said that her course is particularly “urgent” and timely.

Abramson said President Donald Trump’s “frontal attacks on news media” and a current “assault” on “facts and truth” prompted her to teach this workshop.

“It is very important at this moment in teaching journalism to help students discern between journalism that is based on reported collective facts and journalism that is more opinion and used as a vehicle for attack,” Abramson said.

Abramson, however, emphasized that her course “is not a partisan attack on President Trump in any way,” and she said she hopes the students in her class will come from diverse backgrounds, including in terms of political affiliation.

In addition to examining the relationship between truth and journalism, students in her course will carry out original reporting and learn about social media’s increasing role as a news outlet.

Musa Syeed, winner of Sundance Film Festival awards and a new English faculty member, will teach the third new workshop this semester, called English CDWR: “Writing the Documentary: Workshop.”

He said that students in his course will conduct “field research” for their written scripts and study the “ethics and cultural appropriation” associated with documentaries.

Next semester, new workshops will include topics such as style in fiction and science writing. annie.doris@thecrimson.com.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

september 05, 2018

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SURVEY From Page 1

2022 Survey Shows Lower Interest in Social Groups •

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non-recruits, with 35 percent of recruited athletes and 11 percent of non-athletes indicating interest in the concentration.

Among surveyed students interested in Economics, 62 percent identified as male, while 38 percent identified as female. Similarly, among surveyed students interested in Computer Science, 63 percent identified as male, while 37 percent identified as female.

Among surveyed students reporting an annual combined parental income of over $500,000, 23 percent said they plan to concentrate in Economics.

Almost 80 percent of respondents said they plan on pursuing a secondary, citation, or both.

86 percent of respondents rated academics as their highest priority at Harvard. 44 percent of surveyed students reported they anticipate studying for over 30 hours a week at Harvard.

CHEATING

The percentage of students who have cheated in an academic context is almost identical to that of previous years. Nineteen percent of each of the Classes of 2022, 2021, and 2020 reported cheating in an academic context.

• Consistent with last year’s survey results, of respondents who said they had

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cheated, over half — just over 56 percent — identified as male.

Just under half of surveyed students who reported having cheated (48 percent) said they did so on a problem set or regular homework assignment.

27 percent indicated they cheated on an exam, and 25 percent said they cheated on a paper or take-home assignment.

22 percent of recruited athletes in the Class of 2022 reported cheating, compared to 10 percent of recruited athletes in the Class of 2021. Nineteen percent of non-athletes in the Class of 2022 said they cheated, compared to 20 percent of non-recruits in the Class of 2021.

SOCIAL LIFE

About one in four members of the Class of 2022 reported being “very” or “somewhat” interested in joining a final club, sorority, or fraternity. The Class of 2022 is the second class to be subject to the College’s historic sanctions on members of single-sex social organizations.

• Interest in single-gender social groups, at 24 percent, is down from previous years — it marks a decrease of four percent from last year and a decrease of almost 15 percent from the year before.

• About two-thirds of respondents said the sanc-

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tions has not affected their opinion of Harvard’s single-gender final clubs, sororities, and fraternities.

Thirty percent said it gave them a less favorable opinion of the groups.

45 percent of respondents who said they are “very interested” in joining a final club, sorority, or fraternity indicated they come from families making more than $500,000 annually. Just 9 percent of students “very interested” in social groups said their families make below $80,000.

38 percent of athletes reported being “very” or “somewhat” interested in final club membership, compared to 21 percent of among non-athletes.

ATHLETICS

Twelve percent of freshman respondents said they are recruited athletes, while 8 percent said they plan to walk on to a varsity sports team. A majority of Harvard’s recruited athletes, 76 percent, cited academic reasons as the deciding factor in their decision to enroll.

• Three out of four athletes said it is “very likely” that they will play their sport all four years.

• 17 percent of recruited athletes have a combined annual parental income of $500,000 or more.

• 12 percent of recruit-

primary From Page 1

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ed athletes said they expect athletics will be their top priority at Harvard, while 77 percent ranked athletics second.

Roughly four out of five (82 percent) of recruited athletes said they first made contact with a Harvard coach during their junior year or earlier.

BEFORE HARVARD

Members of the Class of 2020 were highly involved in their high schools’ extracurricular scenes, and many held leadership positions. Eighteen percent said they were president of their high school class, and 8 percent said they were editor-in-chief of their school newspaper.

• The most popular high school extracurriculars were community service (73 percent), athletics (65 percent), student government (37 percent), music groups (37 percent), and science clubs or competitions (34 percent).

• Just over half of respondents (51 percent) said they ranked in the top 2 percent of their secondary or high school class. Thirty percent of schools did not rank.

• 43 percent of respondents who said they participated in quiz bowl or academic decathlon and 33 percent of those who participated in math competitions said

they own PCs. Meanwhile, 81 percent of those who worked on their school papers said they owned Macs.

PRE-ORIENTATION Ahead of Opening Days this fall, members of the Class of 2020 had the opportunity to participate in one of six Harvard pre-orientation programs.

One of these programs, the First-Year Retreat and Experience (FYRE), made its debut this year and is aimed at serving under-resourced freshman, especially first-generation and low-income students.

Overall, 63 percent of incoming freshman reported participating in a pre-orientation program.

• The First-Year Outdoor Program (FOP) was the most popular pre-orientation program, attracting 40 percent of respondents who participated in a program. FOP participants were more likely to identify as white (65 percent) and were more likely to come from families earning more than $125,000 (55 percent) than were participants in other pre-orientation programs.

• Of respondents who reported participating in FYRE, 30 percent identified as Hispanic or Latinx, and 31 percent as black.

About 60 percent of participants in the program said they hailed from families earning less than $80,000

per year.

GAP YEAR Around eight percent of Harvard’s incoming class reported arriving in Cambridge after taking a gap year.

Not all students took these breaks by choice, though: 56 percent of those who reported taking a gap year said they were admitted through the Z-list, a program that offers students admission to Harvard if they wait one year before enrolling.

Eighty-two percent of Z-listed students identified as white and 43 percent said they came from families who earn more than $250,000 annually. This matches with information released this summer as part of an ongoing lawsuit that alleges Harvard’s admissions process is discriminatory — the suit data showed that Z-list admits are overwhelming white and often legacy students.

• Students reported spending their gap years in varied ways: 69 percent said they did paid work, 74 percent travelled, 55 percent volunteered, and 35 percent pursued other activities.

• Students who said they do not receive financial aid from Harvard were about twice as likely to have taken a gap year (11 percent) as were students who said they do receive financial aid (6 percent).w amy.jia@thecrimson.com luke.vrotsos@thecrimson.com

primary From Page 1

Pressley Defeats Capuano in 7th District Primary Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez exchanged endorsements earlier this year.

Pressley addressed supporters after her victory at a union hall in Dorchester, telling the crowd that “change is on the way,” echoing an apparent hunger for new representation that motivated multiple Pressley voters interviewed outside a polling station in Allston Tuesday afternoon to cast their votes for the Councilwoman.

“People who feel seen and heard for the first time in their lives, a stakehold in democracy and a promise for our future,” Pressley said. “That is the real victory, that is bigger than any electoral victory.”

Government Professor Daniel Carpenter said in an interview Tuesday evening that Pressley had significant momentum heading into election night, benefiting from a “remarkably” well-organized campaign.

“It’s a historic night,” he said. “It’s historic not just because it will be the first woman of color from the Massachusetts delegation, but I also think she’s bringing a more assertive agenda of progressivism.”

Capuano, 66, has served in Congress since 1999, but until this year, he had not faced a serious challenge.

In polling over the summer, Capuano had held a lead in the

high single-digits to low double-digits.

Pressley herself is not new to the political scene; in 2009, she became the first woman of color elected to the Boston City Council in its 108-year existence.

She has become a familiar face around the region, gaining national recognition for her advocacy on behalf of marginalized residents.

Still, Pressley’s campaign was an uphill battle from the beginning, given Capuano’s significant financial advantage and name recognition in the district. In February, soon after Pressley announced her candidacy for Congress, nearly onethird of voters said they had not heard of her.

Her relative anonymity at the start of her campaign made her victory Tuesday night all the more striking.

John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Institute of Politics, wrote in an email Tuesday evening that the results signalled the motivating effects of the Trump presidency on the Democratic base — and the effects of the district’s changing demographics.

“Pressley’s victory is further evidence that President Trump has reawakened the Obama coalition that has been dormant for many years,” he wrote. “Like Alexandria Oc-

asio-Cortez, she empowered new voters and owes this victory to an electorate that is likely younger, more female and diverse than the one that elected Capuano 10 times.”

Many prominent Democratic figures in Massachusetts, including U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, did not endorse in the primary.

Since Capuano first assumed his seat, the district has become significantly more diverse. It is now the only district in the state that is majority-minority, though white residents still make up a majority of registered voters.

Pressley and Capuano both ran on progressive platforms, in contrast to the candidates in the New York primary, where Ocasio-Cortez staked out policy positions significantly to the left of her opponent. The Massachusetts race focused more on identity, as Pressley argued she would better represent the needs of the changing district as a young woman of color and survivor of sexual assault.

Harvard College Democrats president Devontae A. Freeland ’19 described the win by a person of color as long-awaited, given the evolution of the city and its suburbs since Capuano first took office. jonah.berger@thecrimson.com

SMITH From Page 1

With Sunflowers and Snacks, Smith Center Opens Doors coming weeks, Executive Vice President Katie N. Lapp wrote in a University-wide email.

With the opening of the Center aligning with the first day of shopping week, many students serendipitously crossed paths with old pals after a summer apart upon visiting the new space.

“We’re just jealous because we just graduated, and we’re just watching everyone reunite,” Rachel S. Carron, a recent graduate from Ohio State University, said. “I was like, damn, I want to run into people. Seems like a nice happy place to be.”

Several students said they appreciated that the Center features an enclosed garden of plants native to New England, living walls sprouting vines and leafy greens, and glass walls looking out onto Dunster St. and

“It’s a very central location so people can come leaving classes and going on the way.”

Frankie A. Tangredi ‘21

Holyoke St. “Seeing all the plants and greenery inside of here feels like home,” said Drew J. Ochengco, a California native and student at the Graduate School of Education.

In addition to the trendy workspaces and variety of eateries, one student also mentioned the optimal location as one of the main draws of the Center.

“It’s a very central location so people can come leaving

classes and going on the way to classes,” Frankie A. Tangredi ’21 said.

E. Berkley Braden, a student at the Ed School, echoed Tangredi’s sentiments.

“When you have, you know, a quick break, or when you have a lot of time, it’s a great stopover point, and I think because of where it’s located it would be easy to come at any point really,” she said.

The Center is the crown jewel of former University President Drew G. Faust’s Common Spaces Initiative. A celebration of the opening of the Center, including live performances by student groups, will take place on Sept. 20. yasmin.luthra@thecrimson.com idil.tusuzoglu@thecrimson.com

A voter enters Graham and Parks School to cast their ballot for the Massachusetts primary election.

Jacqueline S. Chea—Crimson photographer

Political Newcomers Upset Massachusetts Elections finance. His policies focus on criminal justice reform, high-quality early education, and addressing the opioid epidemic, according to his campaign website.

In November, Gonzalez will face incumbent Republican governor Charlie D. Baker ’79, who handily won his primary. Baker, currently ranked the most popular governor in America according to a July Morning Consult poll, is known for his moderate political positions and his willingness to oppose the Trump administration.

His Republican challenger was Scott Lively, an adamant Trump supporter whose positions fall consistently further right than Baker’s.

While Lively took around 35 percent of the vote, Massachusetts Republicans once again showed support for their moderate incumbent.

In the race for lieutenant governor, Quentin A. Palfrey ’96 won the primary over Jimmy Tingle. Palfrey holds degrees from the College and the Law School, and he is the son of Adams House Faculty Deans Sean and Judith Palfrey.

“His dedication was to make this a grassroots campaign and

it has succeeded. As Quentin’s parents, we’re extraordinarily proud of what he’s achieved so far,” Sean Palfrey said of his son’s primary victory.

In November, Quentin Palfrey will face incumbent lieutenant governor Karyn Polito, who ran uncontested in the Republican primary and has held the office since 2015.

“We’re confident that he will make a very strong campaign with Jay Gonzalez, and we look forward to helping him to the extent that we can,” Sean Palfrey said of his son.

In the race for a U.S. Senate seat, Republican state representative Geoff Diehl was victorious over his two challengers, John Kingston III — the top Republican fundraiser at $5.9 million — and salon and spa owner Beth J. Lindstrom.

Diehl co-chaired the 2016 Massachusetts effort to elect President Donald Trump.

Diehl will face incumbent U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who ran uncontested in the Democratic primary and has held the office since 2013.

Warren is widely favored to win the general election.

Republican candidate Anthony Amore won his uncon-

tested primary for secretary of state.

He will face incumbent William F. Galvin, who’s held the office since 1995 and comfortably won his Democratic primary Tuesday night.

Incumbent Attorney General Maura T. Healey ’92 was uncontested in her Democratic primary.

Healey has served as the state’s top legal official since 2015, and she will face Republican challenger James McMahon in the November general election.

In Massachusetts’s 5th Congressional District, which houses Harvard’s Cambridge campus, incumbent Rep. Katherine Clark won her uncontested Democratic primary.

She will face Republican nominee John Hugo, who narrowly bested Louis Kuchnir, in the general election.

The district leans heavily Democratic (D +18) according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index — a positive sign for Clark this November. iris.lewis@thecrimson.com meena.venkataramanan@thecrimson.com. leon.yang@thecrimson.com.

Page 5

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | September 05, 2018

HLS Students Stand with National Prison Strike By aidan f. ryan Crimson Staff Writer

With chants and testimonies, around 30 students gathered outside of the Law School’s Caspersen Student Center Tuesday evening to “stand in solidarity” with the Nationwide Prison Strike, a national protest calling for prison reform.

The event was organized by the Powerfully Utilizing Law School Educations for Political and Social Justice Committee, a subcommittee of the Harvard Black Law Students Association. It aimed to support the Nationwide Prison Strike, which started on Aug. 21 and is slated to end on Sept.

9. The strike comes in response to a riot at Lee Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison in South Carolina, in April. The riot resulted in the deaths of seven inmates.

The attendees formed a semicircle around a memorial that honors slaves owned by

the family of Isaac Royall Jr., the original benefactor of Harvard’s law program.

Students at the event Tuesday circulated a document demanding a number of reforms to federal, immigration, and state prisons.

These include monetary compensation for labor performed by prisoners, a possibility of parole for all prisoners, and “an immediate end to the racial overcharging, over-sentencing, and parole denials of Black and brown humans.”

The types of prisoner strikes taking place across the country include work strikes, peaceful sit-ins, spending boycotts, and hunger strikes, according to a press release from the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee.

At the Harvard event, attendees first introduced themselves and stated why they decided to “stand in solidarity” with the national strike.

The group was made up of a mix of first-year, second-year,

and third-year students at the Law School as well as at least one Harvard Kennedy School student.

Organizers then opened up the space to those who wished to speak further about the issue, and wrapped up the event with a collective chant from Assata Shakur, a former member of the Black Liberation Army who wrote an autobiography after receiving political asylum in Cuba following her imprisonment for a murder conviction.

The chant reads: “It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” The group read the chant three times with increasing volume.

Lauren Williams, president of BLSA, attended the event and shared a story of how her grandmother was a sharecropper and how it connects to the ongoing prison strike.

“She was a sharecropper

committee From Page 1

Title IX Student Comm. to Form

govern the day-to-day operations of the groups.

Fourteen groups applied for College recognition this semester. The application round appears to have left Harvard’s campus without all-female social groups.

At least four of the 13 allmale social groups in Cambridge have also taken steps to comply with the sanctions. Others, though, are refusing to back down and are taking the fight to Capitol Hill, where they are lobbying members of Congress in favor of pending legislation that would force Harvard to choose between the sanctions and millions of dollars in federal research funding.

It remains unclear which of the groups that applied this fall will earn College recognition.

a n outline of the committies duties, members will be tasked with identifying areas where students need clarification of policies and resources, supporting “program evaluation” efforts, working on sexual harassment prevention initiatives, and serving as “informal ambassadors” for their respective schools.

The committee will be overseen by Rachel A. DiBella, the office’s newly appointed education programs director, who started her work this summer.

DiBella said the participants will have significant latitude over the committee’s direction.

The office also plans to create separate liaison committees for faculty and staff, according to Merhill.

Zhang said she has met with Merhill and DiBella about the program and that it is “super important” to solicit student input on Title IX education.

“A lot of where this came from was that there was no central group to bridge undergraduate, and graduate, and professional students...to convey students’ thoughts to the Title IX central office, and we really wanted to bridge that gap,” she said.

Merhill said the student committee can probably begin meeting in October. Applications for College students interested in serving as liaisons are due Sept. 21.

For those not selected to serve on the committee, however, Merhill said there are other opportunities for involvement with the Title IX Office, like bystander intervention training.

“We have so many projects coming up this year,” she said.

“If we have students who are interested in being involved, there are so many options.”

caroline.engelmaye@thecrimson.com michael.xie@thecrimson.com

jonah.berger@thecrimson.com jamie.halper@thecrimson.com

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Harvard Black Law Students Association’s president Lauren Williams HLS ‘19 speaks on Tuesday evening. Amy Y. Li—Crimson photographer

and picked cotton and to see images and see that imagery and to understand the parallels that are existing today when we were told that we got rid of that, we were done, and to still see that connection—to me, there are really strong parallels,” Williams said. “It almost feels like a new iteration of slavery in some ways.”

Emanuel Powell, one of the chairs of the PULSE committee, said he helped organize the event to help bring attention to

the issue to those at Harvard.

“As the chair of our PULSE committee, that was kind of my role to support us and taking that idea and turning that it into an actual event and starting hopefully a longer process of helping the university become better in terms of how it’s thinking about those who are incarcerated and how we are getting educated on the issues they face,” Powell said. aidan.ryan@thecrimson.com

sanctions From Page 1

Sanctions Document Shows New Admin. Rationale from holding student group leadership roles, varsity athletic team captaincies, and from receiving College endorsement for certain prestigious fellowships.

When then-University President Drew G. Faust first unveiled the policy in the spring of 2016, she said the penalties were meant to combat sexual assault in single-gender clubs.

Almost a year later, administrators back-tracked, writing in a set of recommendations for implementing the sanctions that concern over sexual assault did not drive the policy’s formation.

Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana has since said the sanctions are supposed to fight gender exclusivity on campus.

Harvard first hinted its justification for the penalties had changed yet again — this time to total non-discrimination — when the Office of Student Life

announced the College’s threetiered system of recognition in May 2018. The social group application confirms and cements that shift.

The document also points to an added rationale — the notion that the sanctions may discourage discrimination based on socioeconomic status. In order to achieve the highest level of recognition, per the application, groups must develop “a program that reduces financial barriers to participation.”

Richard T. Porteus Jr. ’78, the graduate president of the all-male Fly Club, said in an interview that he thinks “the administration is slow walking the details of the implementation.”

“With the administration, there’s always another shoe to drop on this millipede,” he said.

“They never disclose up front what students should know and

be able to react to.”

Associate Dean of Student Engagement Alexander R. Miller declined to comment on the reasoning behind the sanctions via a spokesperson.

Changing rationales are not the only major development detailed in the application. The document also suggests College administrators could imperil recognized social groups’ ability to receive funding from alumni members.

The application states the College will weigh groups’ “local autonomy” when deciding whether to grant the organizations recognition. Administrators will particularly consider five categories when determining whether the groups are sufficiently independent, per the document — “governance, membership, programming, advising, and finances.” It is so far unclear exactly what auton-

omy entails when it comes to “finances.”

Miller wrote in a statement that recognized social organizations “will continue to have the opportunity to raise finances through member dues, alumni gifts and other sources of revenue.” But he added it is a “priority” for the College “to ensure that all student organizations retain autonomous control over their own finances.”

Since the sanctions’ debut, four sororities and two fraternities have cut links to their national chapters as part of an effort to go co-ed and comply with the policy. None of the final clubs appear to have severed relations with their governing alumni bodies to date.

All-male final clubs have historically maintained close ties to their powerful graduate boards, which provide financial assistance, guidance, and sometimes

Government Dept Adds STEM Tracks By cecelia R. D’arms Crimson Staff Writer

This upcoming year, students concentrating in Government will be able to specialize in “Data Science” or “Tech Science” for the first time.

The “Data Science” track will focus on quantitative social science methods, while the “Technology Science” track examines challenges that arise at the intersection of society and technology.

Director of Undergraduate Studies Cheryl B. Welch said that the programs are “experimental” efforts to expand the Government Department’s focus and provide undergraduates with more guidance and structure as they navigate a “very big and very flexible” concentration.

Faculty said the new programs may draw in undergraduates who otherwise might concentrate in computer science

and statistics by offering a marketable skill. The move comes at the end of a decade in which the number of Government concentrators has decreased by more than 100.

Although the program will not appear on students’ transcripts, they will receive signed certificates from the department chair and the department “encourages” them to include the skills on their resume.

Each program requires concentrators to take a specific set of classes within and outside the department.

Should students elect to enter the “Data Science” program, directed by Professor Matthew L. Blackwell, they will be required to take one “Foundations of Data Science” course and three graduate-level “Advanced Methods” courses which will serve as their electives within the concentration.

Students on the “Tech Science” track, led by Professor

“We are interested in developing more areas to let our students do this kind of clustering.”

Dustin Tingley Government Professor

Latanya Sweeney, will need to take three “Foundations of Technology” courses, one of which — Gov 93B: “Integrated Practicum for Technology Science: Capstone Project” — is a new course this year in which students research and attempt to solve a specific “technology-society conflict,” among other requirements.

These are the f irst dist inct prog ra ms of st udy within the department, but facult y said that more divisions may follow if these prove successful.

“We are interested in developing more areas to let our students do this kind of clustering,” Government Professor Dustin Tingley said. “Public policy is definitely one that we hear a lot about from students.”

Members of the class of 2021 may join these programs of study when they declare their majors, and current juniors and seniors will have an option to join the new fields as well.

Welch and Blackwell said the new programs are also designed to provide structure and community for concentrators.

“There’s a general sense in the undergraduate program that they would appreciate more guided advice on how to navigate the Gov program,” Welch said.

“The hope is to make not just an honors track but a more vibrant student community around shared interests.” cecelia.d’arms@thecrimson.com

Proud to cover Harvard for 143 years and counting.

Gen Ed Role Goes to Dean Claybaugh By lucy wang and luke w. xu Crimson Staff Writers

Faculty Director of the Program in General Education Jason P. Mitchell has stepped down after serving a year in the position, Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana announced in an email sent to faculty members Tuesday.

Mitchell, a psychology professor, has served on the Standing Committee on General Education since 2013. During his five years on the committee, the Gen Ed program inspired significant Faculty debate, ultimately leading to the development of an entirely new program.

Current Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh will take over Mitchell’s duties, overseeing a “critical period,” Khurana told faculty members in his email.

Mitchell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The new Gen Ed program, approved in March 2016, was created in response to a 2015 FAS report that concluded the Gen Ed system was “failing on a variety of fronts.”

It mandates that students take courses in four newly defined categories such as “Aes-

“[Mitchell] has worked tirelessly over the past year to oversee the implementation of the new Program’s curriculum”

The Crimson thecrimson.com

Rakesh Khurana Dean of the College

thetics and Culture,” as well as three distribution requirements across the FAS and a “quantitative facility” course.

It will fully roll out in the fall of 2019.

In his email, Khurana praised Mitchell’s contributions to the Gen Ed program.

He wrote that Mitchell created new resources to help faculty develop courses and launched a student advisory board to gain insight into student experiences with the Gen Ed program.

“Jason has worked tirelessly over the past year to oversee the implementation of the new Pro-

“The class of 2019 is already reaping the benefits of the renewed program by fulfilling their General Education requirements with greater flexibility.”

Rakesh Khurana Dean of the College

gram’s curriculum. Under Jason’s leadership, the revitalized Program in General Education has developed a strong foundation with more than 30 courses,” Khurana wrote.

Khurana also wrote that students have already begun experiencing the positive effects of the new Gen Ed program.

“Even before the program officially launches next fall, the class of 2019 is already reaping the benefits of the renewed program by fulfilling their General Education requirements with greater flexibility,” he wrote.

Claybaugh said in an interview Tuesday evening that the program’s progress is currently on track to launch next fall with brand new courses.

“Faculty are designing incredibly innovative cutting edge courses that are taking up questions that students are thinking about today, and it is really exciting to work with those faculty,” Claybaugh said. lucy.wang@thecrimson.com luke.xu@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | September 5, 2018

Page 6

Editorial Making the Most of Harvard By daniel kim opinion Writer

I

f you have the time, or when a high school senior you know asks for help with college applications, try revisiting the essays you submitted to Harvard. As cringeworthy as they may be, they are also likely to reflect the side of you that was full of hope and ambition to make the world a better place.

Reading the brilliant essays and the lists of innovative or heartwarming activities you participated in, the Harvard College Office of Admissions and Financial Aid would surely have concluded that you are ready for a “deeply transformative experience… that will prepare [you] for a life of service and leadership.” Now think about where you are right now. How much of your admitted student self have you retained? What do you wish to get out of Harvard now?

After spending my first year at Harvard, I realized that I lost the ambition and sense of excitement I had about the education I would receive here.

Thinking about my schedule, I am torn between challenging but rewarding classes and classes that are considered easier (often referred to as ‘gems’). Initially, I lean towards the more challenging class, thinking to myself that I need to have an intellectually stim-

ulating and meaningful academic experience while at Harvard. Then, I take a quick glance at my GPA from last year, which needs some serious resuscitation. Knowing what I have to do, I cross off the difficult class and choose the gem class. Taking risks and jumping into academic challenges is a thing of the past. Now it is all about playing it safe and trying to make my GPA as pretty as possible.

The pressure does not dissipate

It saddens me to see the stark disparity between my daily concerns about how to get a better GPA and find a stable, wellpaying job and what a Harvard education is supposed to bring. when I speak to my dad. He tells me that time is too limited for trial and error: I need to lay out some extensive plan of my life so as not to fall behind other competitors. Once, I asked Dad if

Talking About Religion By ari E. benkler

A

opinion Writer

s a community, we need to find a way to talk about religion.

Growing up, my sheltered existence as a secular Jew in New York and Boston stymied any contact with religious people, much less dialogue about their faith.

I could not count a single religious person among my close friends. That all changed when I came to Harvard.

At the College, it seems that people of faith are both present and open about their religious beliefs, and for me and many other students, it is the first time we have been exposed to a proud religious community that touches our own lives.

I openly admit that I have absolutely no understanding of religion.

Having been raised in a life completely devoid of it, seeing it now for the first time marks it as some kind of alien force. However, it is precisely this sense of distance and failure to comprehend religion that makes dialogue between secular and religious communities beneficial along two primary dimensions.

Firstly, dialogue between religious groups and secular people will help make groups of faith feel respected and understood.

I have heard multiple religious people talk about the difficulty of existing as a proud person of faith within a mainly secular campus.

This feeling may feed into a larger pattern of political polarization of the religious community across the nation, as white Evangelicals and Catholics have become steadily more devoted to the Republican party and the religiously unaffiliated have gone from just over 50% Democratic to nearly 70 percent Democratic since 1994.

While we alone cannot fix the nationwide problem, a genuine demonstration on the part of secular students to try to hear, even if it isn’t possible to understand, the experience of religious students can begin to heal that divide within our own community.

Secondly, Harvard strives to produce graduates who will go out into the

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I openly admit that I have absolutely no understanding of religion.

Having been raised in a life completely devoid of it, seeing it now for the first time marks it as some kind of alien force. world and exhibit leadership. America remains over 75 percent religious, so those who hope to hold leadership positions in the U.S. must expect to have religious employees or have dealings with religious groups.

If Harvard truly means to prepare students for life outside its walls as productive members of communities across the U.S. and the world, it must equip us with a basic understanding of a way of life central to the lives of a majority of Americans.

There is no one right way to implement such a commitment to dialogue.

Whether it be through facilitating optional discussions, bringing programming into orientation programs, administration-mediated outreach by religious organizations, or other methods, the College is equipped with passionate and curious people on both sides willing to participate in discussion.

All that remains is to create a space in which that conversation can blossom.

In doing so, it is important to ensure that commitment to educating secular students about religion and getting them to speak with their religious classmates does not stray into proselytizing.

While secular students make the step of recognizing the importance of

However, thanks to many long conversations, and the patience of my religious friends, I came to see some people of faith not just for their religion but as close companions for whom faith contributes to their identity, but does not define it. their classmates’ faith, religious students must commit to a spirit of dialogue that is not moralizing in tone, but welcoming and appreciative of the interest and respect shown by secular students.

However, my own experience trying to understand religion at Harvard has taught me that balance in this discussion is not easy.

Having arrived as a freshman completely devoid of any religious experience or contact with people of faith, I was inappropriately dismissive of it.

However, thanks to many long conversations, and the patience of my religious friends, I came to see some people of faith not just for their religion but as close companions for whom faith contributes to their identity, but does not define it.

That process made me curious to hear more about their spirituality, and while I do not feel religious experience of the kind they describe, I have grown to understand that it is a real feeling, a genuine experience felt by people of faith that makes them feel connected to a higher power.

That insight has been as much a part of my education at Harvard as Expos or Ec10.

After all, if we are teaching leadership, should we not teach empathy just as much as economics, or conversation and listening just as much as test-taking?

When we talk with people who are different than we are, we prepare ourselves for life in the real world.

Harvard should cherish that spirit of dialogue and exploration and take advantage of the fact that we have students from so many different backgrounds to build a community where, no matter what we concentrate in, we live in dialogue.

—Ari E. Benkler ’21, a Crimson Editorial Editor, lives in Leverett House.

life always has to be a tiring continuation of aiming for the top while securing my spot. He replied that once I graduate from Harvard, I would be subject to the expectation that I would have a high social status and a job with a high salary. He tells me that he doesn’t want me to feel disappointed and worthless when I see other Harvard alums live successful, wealthy lives. When I tell him that I am considering taking a challenging class that would be a great learning experience, he replies that I should stop being naive, that employers care about my GPA, not the classes I take. My clueless self wonders if this is the real world. If so, I want no part of it.

We all struggle with our academic and career choices at Harvard, but the need to get a good job after graduation should not dominate our time in college. Many of us have grown accustomed to constantly thinking about the future and stressing out about our lack of credentials.

It is truly a sad reality that the world tends to judge people based on results, not experience. But this does not mean that we should all be risk-averse when considering classes or careers.

Harvard did not accept us to make sure that we can live wealthy lives and occupy the most prestigious occupations in society. Some of the missions of Harvard are to expose students to

new ideas as they “embark on a journey of intellectual transformation” and to help them “gain a sense of what they want to do with their gifts and talents and learn how they can best serve the world.”

It saddens me to see the stark disparity between my daily concerns about how to get a better GPA and find a stable, well-paying job and what a Harvard education is supposed to bring.

Making connections and landing prestigious careers indeed are valuable, but it is just as, if not more, meaningful to appreciate the learning experience and truly think about what your talents are and how to best use them.

Not everyone gets to walk away from Harvard with an uber-selective job or dazzling credentials. But everyone does walk away from Harvard having been given a chance to explore the wealth of human knowledge and an array of pursuits.

Instead of blindly following what society or our parents tell us are the safest pathways, keep meeting new people and expose yourself to various opportunities that interest you. Having done that, you will look back and realize that you have made the most out of Harvard.

—Daniel Kim ’21, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Leverett House.

Escaping the Cultural Funnel By annabelle finlayson

C

opinion Writer

oming to Harvard was one of the most validating experiences of my life. Yes, it was nice to feel that my hard work had paid off, but more important was my peers’ expectations of me. At Harvard, my fellow students see me as a future scientist, doctor, politician, businesswoman, and expert in whatever field I choose.

At Harvard, I am a unique and powerful individual. Where I came from, this was not the case.

I spent most of my childhood in Hanover, New Hampshire, home of Dartmouth. It was an educated and liberal place. I didn’t notice sexism much in my life until my family moved to Utah and I started high school.

Utah has many redeeming qualities, including its breathtaking mountains and extraordinarily friendly people. However, I have experienced undeniable sexism. Growing up in such an environment affects you.

A recent study found that women brought up in more sexist states, such as Utah, experience a larger wage gap regardless of where they ended up living. While women are technically free to choose their lives, this study suggests sexism has long-term detrimental effects. One manifestation of sexism in Utah is that women are not expected to have careers.

I distinctly remember many conversations with female friends about careers. One friend, when asked about her future aspirations, said she didn’t know, paused, and then halfheartedly said “maybe nothing.” Another joked about how she wanted to be a trophy wife. A 4.0 student in my statistics class told me she didn’t want a career at all. And these are just three of many conversations that have stuck with me.

Many women in my high school graduating class had no intention of pursuing a career unless absolutely necessary.

Some women (and men) will find happiness and fulfillment as stay-athome parents, and I do believe staying at home to be a parent is a worthy cause that is implicitly undervalued in our society. But if you took half the

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Some women (and men) will find happiness and fulfillment as stay-athome parents, and I do believe staying at home to be a parent is a worthy cause that is implicitly undervalued in our society.

But if you took half the US population and forced them all to do the same job, surely many would be unhappy.

US population and forced them all to do the same job, surely many would be unhappy. People are diverse in interest. Some may love networking, while others love analyzing data, and others love teaching. When we recognize that women are individuals with agen-

cy and infinite potential, then the idea that all women should be stay-at-home mothers will rightfully be recognized as preposterous and oppressive.

At first, it broke my heart that so many of my peers, people I know to be intellectual, compassionate, thoughtful, hardworking, and unique, were constraining their ability to make a larger impact. I respected their decisions, but it became clear that this was not a genuine decision, but rather a cultural funnel into which they had been born, regardless of their capabilities, interests, or character. A male student with the same grade as me in physics class was a budding scientist. I was a dutiful student. An adult would ask the boys in the room their future career plans. He’d ask the girls what college they would be attending.

Someone would inquire after only my brother’s major with me standing next to him. When I would say that I wanted a career, people would often look surprised, doubt my faith (an important part of my identity), and believe me to be selfish. If from the moment you were born, people had zero expectations for your professional life, if for 18 years you were told that it was your nature and duty to be a stay-at-home mother, would you have career aspirations? This is no real decision.

I feel sickened by the lack of faith in a woman’s ability or right to contribute. My family, an anomaly, has always told me and my three sisters that we can do anything we put our minds to, that we are strong, and intelligent.

Without them, I do not know if I too

A recent study found that women brought up in more sexist states, such as Utah, experience a larger wage gap regardless of where they ended up living. would have had my potential hidden from me.

At Harvard, I am surrounded by women pursuing their passions, and peers who expect me to do the same.

I’m asked about my concentration, career plans, and aspirations. For the first time ever in my life, I was asked at what age I would want to retire. Such a simple question completely shook me.

I had never considered this before. No one had ever assumed in conversation with me that I would be so dedicated to a career that I would work until retiring age. It is so liberating to have my future and potential assumed and acknowledged.

Harvard may not be perfect, and sexism is ever-lurking, but the community here validates that I am an individual with the agency to choose my own path. Here, I am not a woman with characteristics and goals projected onto me regardless of who I am in reality. At Harvard, I am encouraged to pursue my dream of contributing to society, whether or not that includes children of my own.

—Annabelle Finlayson ’21, a Crimson Editorial Editor, lives in Adams House.

Page 7

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | September 05, 2018

There’s nothing like the winning basket.

The sights and sounds of Harvard, every day.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

Sports

Football

about the team

2017-18 Overall Record 5-5 ______________________________________

Points Per Game 22.0 ______________________________________ Yards Per Game 339.2 ______________________________________ Rush Yards Per Game 153.5 ______________________________________ Pass Yards Per Game 185.7 ______________________________________

games Conference Record 3-4 upcoming ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Points Allowed Per Game 20.9 Football vs. San Diego ______________________________________ 12:00pm, at Harvard Yards Allowed Per Game 334.9 ______________________________________ Rush Yards Allowed Per Game 121.7 Football vs. Brown ______________________________________ 7:00pm, at Brown Pass Yards Allowed Per Game 213.2 ______________________________________

Harvard Expected To Finish Third In Preseason Poll

By Jack stockless Crimson Staff Writer

A season after placing in a tie for fifth in the Ivy League, Harvard football is expected to jump up a few spots, according to the 2018 preseason media poll.

Garnering one first-place vote, the Crimson tallied 99 votes overall, just behind Princeton’s 104 and in a distant third below Yale’s 129. The Bulldogs also accumulated 11 of the 17 first-place votes. Last season, Yale triumphed over Harvard in the 134th playing of The Game, 24-3, to win the Ivy League outright.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, two of the top three spots in the poll went to teams that occupied the bottom half of the league in 2017. Princeton skidded to a 2-5 conference mark last fall and graduates gunslinger Chad Kanoff (3474 yards, 29 touchdowns in 2017), but media members pegged the Tigers for the Ancient Eight’s second-place finish this time around.

The Crimson joins Princeton as a team expected to make a bit of a leap this coming season. In 2017, Harvard finished below .500 in conference play for the first time since 1999. The team’s 3-4 showing in the Ivy League closely mirrored its 3-4 finish nearly two decades ago, the only differences coming in the Brown and Princeton con-

tests.

It was the Crimson’s offense that proved most out of character last fall. Two seasons removed from a unit that scored 36.4 points per game, the 2017 edition mustered just 22.0 per contest, good for sixth in the league. Meanwhile, the defense held its own but was not stifling, finishing just behind Dartmouth for fourth in points conceded.

This season, Harvard fans should anticipate offensive improvements across the board.

According to head coach Tim Murphy, senior leadership, a strong offensive line, and continued emergence by a handful of skill position players are some of the Crimson’s keys to success on the offensive end.

Senior center Ben Shoults will “quarterback” the offensive line once again, and he is joined by classmates Larry Allen and Tim O’Brien on a unit that is expected to staunchly protect Harvard’s pass and run attack.

On the passing end, the quarterback competition appears to have boiled down to sophomore Jake Smith and senior Tom Stewart. Stewart, who did not see game action last season due to injuries, will challenge incumbent starter Smith, who had an up-and-down rookie campaign. Smith completed 56.7 percent of his passes for 1154 yards, but he also conceded nine interceptions.

The Crimson has a wealth

Chief justice Senior Crimson wide receiver Justice Sheldon-Mosley, an FCS Preseason All-American for the second consecutive season, will look to lead Harvard’s receiving corps. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer

of wideouts and tight ends that its quarterbacks can target in the aerial attack. Senior Justice Shelton-Mosley—an FCS

Preseason All-American for the second consecutive season— will work alongside classmates Adam Scott, Henry Taylor, Bri-

an Dunlap, and a number of underclassman contributors at the wideout position. Murphy has identified about 10 poten-

tial players to fill the tight end/ halfback position, including familiar faces Ryan Antonellis, Dan Werner, Cecil Williams, and Jack Stansell.

In the backfield, Murphy likewise has a glut of talent he can employ. Seniors Charlie Booker and Semar Smith and sophomore duo Devin Darrington and Aaron Shampklin will provide necessary running depth for the squad.

There is a lot to watch out for when Harvard has the ball, but everything starts with the defense according to Murphy. Up front, veteran standouts Stone Hart, Richie Ryan, John Pirrmann, and Alex White will be crucial. Despite losing a heavy contingent of defenders to graduation, another generation of linebackers and defensive backs will step up to take their place.

Charlie Walker, Anthony Camargo, and Joey Goodman will likely anchor the linebacker corps, and the defensive backs are also represented by a contingent of veterans, notably Tyler Gray and Wes Ogsbury.

The Crimson opens the 2018 campaign at home against San Diego on Sept. 15. The Toreros are a physical team with skilled playmakers, most notably senior quarterback Anthony Lawrence. Per Murphy, San Diego could be one of the top two or three teams Harvard matches up against all season. jack.stockless@thecrimson.

Crimson Open Season Undefeated With Pair Of Victories By cade palmer Crimson Staff Writer

Zero. That’s the number of games the No. 15 Harvard field hockey team has lost this season, the number of points the team surrendered to Holy Cross and the exact number shots on goal the Crusaders tallied at the Sunday afternoon contest.

Over the course of the entire weekend, the Crimson team smoothly dispatched of the University of New Hampshire and Holy Cross in 4-1 and 4-0 matches, respectively.

The 2-0 start to the season follows the release of an August 21 pre-season poll by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association which ranked Harvard 15th in the nation among NCAA Division I teams. Within the Ivy League, the Crimson ranks second behind the perennial division rival Princeton, who was ranked 10th in the national poll.

The weekend represented one the best spurts of junior midfielder Bente van Vlijmen’s career on Harvard as the thirdyear netted five shots across two games. For her efforts, van Vlijmen was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week.

Across the rest of the Ancient Eight, the two time All-American is the only player to have more than one goal so far in the 2018 season.

“It’s incredibly humbling to be awarded the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week but I think it really shows the collective talent of our team this year,” van Vlijmen said. “We’ve been able to show amazing energy towards our opponent’s goal and this weekend we really dominated Holy Cross. On the other hand, however, we can improve our circle efficiency and secure … [goals] early on in the game and [remain] consistent until the very last second.”

HARVARD 4, HOLY CROSS 0 Sunday’s match against the Crusaders (0-3) put on full display the returning offensive prowess of the Crimson and proved the team hosts the defense to match. On the offensive half of play, Harvard (2-0) returns it’s top four scorers from last season: sophomore Mimi Tarrant, van Vlijmen, co-captain Kathleen Young and junior Maddie Earle. The quartet also all rank within the top six of re-

turning Ivy League shooters.

For Holy Cross, the story could not be more opposite.

Aside from its goalie, the team roster Sunday included 18 players. Across all five areas of individual statistical measurement in the box score — shooting percentage, shots on goal, goals, assists and defensive saves — these players registered a goose egg in every category, save one.

The only measurable statistic on the box score for Sunday’s matchup was a single defensive save by Kate O’Donnell.

Meanwhile Crusader goalie Marcia LaPlante earned her spot between the pipes, saving 28 of the Crimson’s 44-shot on-

slaught over the course of the 70 minutes of play. But missing four of the 33 shots on net was enough to hand Harvard the victory.

Three of the Crimson’s four netted points were the product of van Vlijmen, who recorded her second career hat trick in the contest and sixth career multi goal effort. Junior Casey Allen supplemented the shooting seminar with two assists.

On penalty comers, Harvard outpaced the visitors 11-0. The only other woman in Crimson to tally a goal was Earle, who found the net 30:59 into play — closing out the half on a two point margin.

Junior Callie Rennyson freshman Ellie Shahbo split the time in the net as goalkeeper, but Rennyson took to the field first, earning her first career win and shutout in the contest.

The 2-0 start to the season is the Crimson’s second in two years and the team extended their record against Holy Cross to 18-2.

“This game was different in the sense that we were very aggressive in our defensive pressing and could make quick turnovers once we stole the ball from Holy Cross,” van Vlijmen said.

We were able to get the ball into their circle quickly and fired a lot of shots. Even though there should have been more goals, I

think we did a great job utilizing our quickness and brains on the field.”

HARVARD 4, NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 Against the Crimson, the Wildcats (1-2) lead the series 2314-1. On Friday, however, history did not help the home team.

Starting the 2018 season on the road, it was two goals by van Vlijmen that carried Harvard over its stout competition. The junior’s two goals added to the already 2-0 Crimson lead, established early in the match by sophomore Tessel Huibregtsen and Young. Huibregtsen also earned an assist, tallying her

first career three-point game.

Overall, Harvard tallied eight more shots than the home team —14 shots to six, respectively — and maintained the 4-2 advantage in penalty corners.

New Hampshire’s lone goal was earned by Nicky Bajus with just 30 seconds remaining in the first half. Two players, Rachel Bossi and Katie Audino, shared the assist.

Senior goalkeeper Libby Manela saved goals four times throughout the match, equaling the defensive performance by the two Wildcat goalies, Madelyn McAteer and Kelsey Rudert. cade.palmer@thecrimson.

Pearce-ing the defense Returning sophomore back Hannah Pearce takes control of the possession in the Crimson’s victory over the Crusaders. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer