The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 135

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The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873  | Volume CXLVI No. 135  |  Cambridge, Massachusetts  |  Tuesday, December 3, 2019

editorial PAGE 6

news PAGE 3

sports PAGE 7

Both sides must make difficult choices if the strike is to end any time soon.

Students win award for ‘civic tech’ pitch at the Institute of Politics.

Men’s basketball ends Orlando Invitational with a loss to USC.

GradUATE Students Union Goes on Strike Graduate Students Union Began Strike at Midnight By James S. Bikales and Ruoqi Zhang Crimson Staff Writers

Harvard’s graduate student union began its strike Tuesday at midnight after more than a year of contract negotiations with the University. The widely anticipated strike, announced by the union’s bargaining committee last month, followed months of negotiations during which the two parties failed to come to agreements on key provisions, including health care, compensation, and sexual harassment and discrimination grievance procedures. The strike will last indefinitely, according to a union Facebook post Monday evening. “Harvard administration has failed to produce meaningful responses to our proposals for harassment and discrimination protections, comprehensive and affordable health care, and fair pay. Our indefinite strike begins at midnight tonight,” the union wrote in its post. Union members – teaching fellows, course assistants, and graduate research assistants – can choose whether to participate in the strike. Striking HGSU members

will halt their paid instructional work, including holding sections and office hours and grading assignments and exams, according to strike guidelines distributed by the union last week. Graduate research assistants on strike will withhold 20 hours of their paid research work not related to their academic program. During a bargaining session Monday, the union made substantial changes to its compensation and health care proposals but the two sides have not agreed to anything at this point. No additional bargaining sessions have been scheduled, according to University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain. Swain wrote in an emailed statement Monday morning that the University still believes that a strike is “unwarranted.” “Student workers have [a] vital role in fulfilling Harvard’s teaching and research mission, and with that in mind, the University is committed to addressing concerns that have been raised throughout this process,” Swain wrote. “A strike will neither clarify our respective positions nor will it resolve areas of disagreement.” Swain and union

See Strike Page 3

Graduate Council Issues Statement of Support By Luke A. Williams Crimson Staff Writer

See Unions Page 4

See HGC Page 4

The Graduate Student Union will have its “strike headquarters” in the Phillips Brooks House as it kicks off its strike tomorrow. Steve S. Li—contributing photographer

How HGSU’s Proposals Stack Up Against Other Harvard Unions’ Contracts By james S. Bikales and Ruoqi Zhang Crimson Staff Writers

Harvard’s graduate student union is officially on strike after more than a year of negotiations with University administrators. While the two parties have reached 12 tentative agree-

ments after 28 bargaining sessions, they remain at odds over key issues such as compensation, health care benefits, and grievance procedure. Several other unions on campus have recently offered their support for the striking graduate students, noting that many of the same provisions HGSU

Students Protest Prof.’s Tenure Denial By molly C. MCCafferty Crimson Staff Writer

History and Literature associate professor Lorgia García Peña was not granted tenure. Jenny M. Lu—Contributing photographer

is negotiating over are included in every union contract on campus. Below, The Crimson has analyzed how HGSU and the University’s compensation and benefits proposals compare to existing provisions in other unions’ contracts.

­ ours before the graduate stuH dent union strike, the Harvard Graduate Council voted to issue a last-minute statement regarding the ongoing contract negotiations at its last open meeting of the semester. After 13 months of negotiations, the Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Automobile Workers is organizing a University-wide strike starting Tuesday in an effort to secure their contract demands more rapidly. The union has stated the strike will continue indefinitely. After two failed motions, and rejecting one proposed statement during almost 45 minutes of debate, the council decided Monday night to draft and release what multiple representatives called a “more neutral” public statement. “Upon clarification of Harvard University administration’s role in contracts and negotiations, we the Harvard Graduate Council call upon the Harvard

Roughly 50 students staged a sit-in at University Hall Monday evening to protest the tenure denial of Romance Languages and Literatures associate professor Lorgia Garcia Peña and to call on Harvard to create a formalized ethnic studies program. Garcia Peña was denied tenure Wednesday, according to an open letter students wrote to University Provost Lawrence S. Bacow, Provost Alan M. Garber ’76, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay. The letter — which 200 students and 30 student groups had signed onto as of Monday night — asks administrators to reverse that decision; publicly release correspondence about the final decision between Bacow, Gay, and department chair Mariano Siskind; and open an investigation into Garcia Peña’s case for “procedural errors, prejudice, and

discrimination.” A separate letter penned by Harvard affiliates and other academics had 972 signatures. The open letter also connects Garcia Peña’s tenure case to two incidents this semester which the authors claim the University has insufficiently addressed. In the first, someone left a note at Garcia Peña’s office insulting her ethnicity and challenging her right to be at Harvard. Harvard University Police opened an investigation into the incident, Bacow and Gay announced in September. In the second, Garcia Peña’s students were installing an art exhibit in Harvard Yard when Harvard University Police questioned the students and asked to see their IDs, engaging in a back-and-forth. At last month’s faculty meeting, Gay called the incident “painful,” adding that FAS

See Tenure Page 5

FAS to Search for Continuing Ed. Dean By Lucy Liu Crimson Staff Writer

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay announced the launch of a search for the next dean of the Division of Continuing Education in an email to FAS faculty members Monday. Current DCE Dean Huntington D. Lambert, who has held the position since 2013, announced his plans to retire at the end of the calendar year earlier this semester. While the search for a new dean is conducted, DCE associate dean and chief innovation officer Henry H. Leitner will serve as interim dean, Gay wrote. The DCE encompasses Harvard Extension School and its Summer School, as well as a variety of other academic enrichment programs. In her email, Gay discussed the role of the

DCE dean in advancing the mission of FAS. “The dean of the DCE oversees a powerful global education platform and the primary outreach arm for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), serving more than 30,000 part-time learners across the globe each year,” Gay wrote. “With a deep commitment to academic excellence and expanding opportunities for learning and educational innovation, the dean of DCE leads the division in its mission to extend Harvard to part-time and summer learners with the academic ability, curiosity, and drive to succeed in rigorous courses and programs” In the email, Gay announced the committee that would lead the search for Lambert’s successor and thanked him for

See Search Page 5

Mathew and White-Thorpe Inaugurated as UC President, VP By Kevin R. Chen Crimson Staff Writer

James A. Mathew ’21 and Ifeoma “Ify” E. White-Thorpe ’21 were inaugurated as the new president and vice president of Harvard’s Undergraduate Council Monday night. Mathew and White-Thorpe won the UC presidential election in November — beating four other candidate teams — after running on a campaign to promote inclusion, wellness, and safety on campus. Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair and Associate Dean of Student Engagement Alexander R. Miller swore in Mathew and White-Thorpe using “The Harvard Book” Monday night at the Council’s last meeting of the semester. Mathew and White-Thorpe swore to “diligently execute” their positions and serve as posInside this issue

Harvard Today 2

itive role models and voices for undergraduate students. The pair then took their seats at the front of the room and led the rest of the meeting. “I’m very, very excited to work with all of you, and we think it’s going to be a good year,” Mathew said to UC members at the meeting. Outgoing UC President Sruthi Palaniappan ’20 and Vice President Julia M. Huesa ’20 gave speeches at the inauguration, reflecting on their tenures on the council and thanking numerous people. Both Palaniappan and Huesa said during their speeches that the Council needs to improve its image among students. Huesa said that some students still see the UC as a joke and urged UC members to take their work more seriously so the Council can be taken more seriously.

News 3

Editorial 6

This year, Aditya A. Dhar ’21 and Andrew W. Liang ’21 — a Crimson business associate — ran for the UC presidency and vice presidency on a platform to abolish the UC and garnered the most first-place votes among students, but lost under the Council’s Borda voting system. Palaniappan and Huesa both teared up during their respective speeches while thanking each other for their support and friendship. “There’s no one else I would’ve done this crazy journey with other than you,” Palaniappan said to Huesa. The room gave Palaniappan and Huesa standing ovations after their speeches, and the duo signed their names in a copy of the “The Harvard Book,” a collection of writings about the

See UC Page 3

Sports 7

The incoming Undergraduate Council president, James A. Mathew ’21, was formally inducted at the Inauguration Ceremony by Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair. camille G. Caldera—Crimson photographer

Today’s Forecast

Snowy High: 35 Low: 25

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON  |

DECEMBER 3, 2019

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HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Hoisin BBQ Chicken Philly Cheese Steak Sub Basil Pesto Roasted Tofu

For Dinner Chipotle Mocha Pork Loin Salmon with Green Curry Thai Red Vegetable Curry

TODAY’S EVENTS SAAC Soiree Hard Rock Cafe, 8 p.m.

IN THE REAL WORLD

All Harvard undergraduates are invited to the third annual SAAC Soiree — hosted by the Harvard Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Harvard Athletics, and the Harvard Varsity Club. This event is located at the The Hard Rock Cafe at 22 Clinton St. in Boston. There’s no better way to wrap up any leftover Harvard-Yale spirit you have left! Make sure to get tickets!

Trump Administration Discusses Possible 100 Percent Tariff on French Wines

Que pasó: A review of the crises in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru CGIS South, 12 p.m. A panel hosted by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies will be discussing the political crises in Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. Come hear scholars and professors explain the situation and its implications for the future. The talk will be held in room S250 at CGIS South.

A new French tax was recently implemented that negatively impacts American technology companies such as Facebook and Google. In retaliation, the Trump administration is proposing a possible 100 percent tariff on French wines.

FBI Mueller Investigation Reveals New Information

The campus received a substantial amount of snow as December begins and classes come to a close. DANIEL J. KWON—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

DAILY BRIEFING

The Justice Department publicly released over 295 pages of witness memoranda and notes from the FBI interviews conducted as part of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. The files were released in response to a lawsuit filed by CNN and Buzzfeed.

Large Family Killed in Idaho Plane Crash

Harvard’s graduate student union began its strike Tuesday at midnight after more than a year of contract negotiations with the University. The widely anticipated strike, announced by the union’s bargaining committee last month, followed months of negotiations during which the two parties failed to come to agreements on key provisions, including health care, compensation, and sexual harassment and discrimination grievance procedures. In other news, roughly 50 students staged a sit-in at University Hall Monday evening to protest the tenure denial of Romance Languages and Literatures associate professor Lorgia García Peña and to call on Harvard to create a formalized ethnic studies program.

Nine members of an Idaho family were killed in a South Dakota plane crash yesterday. Among the victims were Jim and Kirk Hansen, who founded a health and wellness company. There were three survivors of the accident.

AROUND THE IVIES BROWN

Brown University’s Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Practices voted to advise the university to divest from companies “identified as facilitating human rights abuses in Palestine” Monday afternoon, the Brown Daily Herald reported. The committee’s vote came after it heard from professors who argued for and against divestment. The committee previously held meetings to solicit input from student groups. Six of the committee’s nine members voted to support the motion, while two voted against it and one abstained.

UPENN

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school donated $6 million to endow the school’s PennHealthX program in his name, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. Roderick Wong, who graduated from the medical school in 2003, currently serves on the advisory board of PennHealthX, a student-led organization for students interested in medicine and entrepreneurship. The organization coordinates networking and educational events and lends financial support to students interested in medicine and business.

DARTMOUTH

Dartmouth College’s admissions director, Paul Sunde, denied a recent Wall Street Journal article’s allegations that elite universities like Dartmouth intentionally court weaker applicants in order to deflate their acceptance rates, according to The Dartmouth. The article claimed that top universities purchase the information of students taking the SAT, then market themselves to students with low scores in order to increase their rejection rates and appear more selective. Sunde responded that Dartmouth, along with other institutions, has used the Search Service for decades to recruit promising students and aid high schoolers in their college search, but called the accusation of unethical marketing “baffling.”

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Copyright 2019, 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.

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CORRECTIONS The Harvard Crimson is committed to accuracy in its reporting. Factual errors are corrected promptly on this page. Readers with information about errors are asked to e-mail the managing editor at managingeditor@thecrimson.com.


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THE HARVARD CRIMSON  |  DECEMBER 3, 2019

Students Win Award for ‘Civic Tech’ Pitch at IOP By MARGARET M. HYLTON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

­ arvard students and technolH ogy leaders discussed ways to integrate technology into politics at the inaugural Civic Tech Challenge at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics Monday evening. Lynne A. Sipprelle ’23, chair of the IOP’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics program, moderated a panel of six professionals who are involved in developing technology for civic engagement. The panelists included the founder of Outvote Naseem Y. Makiya ’08, Vice President at Higher Ground Labs Teddy Gold, and co-founder of the Politicking App and Harvard Public Service Scholar Jordan Wilson. Russell L. Mindich ’20, the challenge’s organizer, said he created the event to teach undergraduates about civic and political technology. “I felt that a lot of Harvard’s undergraduate courses and programs at the IOP and other political groups did not really cover the technological aspects of politics and wanted to, one, introduce the themes within it and, two, call upon students to create their own projects,” Mindich said. In the panel, the technology professionals each described

their own innovations for increasing voter participation and educating voters. Gold said the 2016 election showed that the technological systems that ran political campaigns were outdated. His lab develops new ways for Democratic candidates to reach out to voters and run campaigns. Makiya said he works on “relational organizing,” or creating digital spaces for activists to organize in any given area or topic. “Relational organizing is just organizing as it has been done for decades,” Makiya said. “But the buzzword has come to mean engaging volunteers, engaging their friends, and for us it is… creating a platform where volunteers can come in and organize in their communities.” After the panelists spoke, they judged proposals for new forms of civic technology from Harvard undergraduates. The first presenters — Sarah S. Yoon ’21, Yanchen “Jeff” Jiang ’21, and Ava Ganik ’19 — created a campaign finance explorer that displays the sources and amounts of funding for any political candidate. The second presenter, Lisa Vo ’19, talked about her company, Grassroutes, an app that promotes local campaigns across the country. “Candidates at the local level need to make voter contact,

and that means face to face, door to door conversations,” Vo said. “And what is missing is that the technology available in political tech today is meant for your federal and Senate candidates.” Presenter Lawrence H. Dang ’22 said the Legacy Museum in Alabama, which displays the history of American slavery, inspired his idea to build a website called “Truth Maps.” “A physical museum can only do so much,” Dang said. “But there are places everywhere to educate the public about untold histories.” The judges named the students who developed Juntos, a website that provides destinations, services, and resources for asylum seekers, the winners of the competition. They awarded the team — comprised of Britney S. Vongdara ’21; Soyoun Choi ’23; Vivekae M. Kim ’21, a Crimson Magazine editor; and Meena Venkataramanan ’21, a Crimson News editor — with $1,000 and the opportunity to be mentored by the judges. “We are really honored to have been given the opportunity to participate in the IOP Civic Tech Challenge,” Venkataramanan said, “We spent the summer working on immigration and border issues in Arizona and this is an issue area that really matters to us, so we are really grateful for the opportunity.”

STRIKE FROM PAGE 1

Graduate Student Union Proceeds With Strike representatives could not immediately be reached for comment early Tuesday morning. HGSU members were also asked to turn in all work materials, including grade books, papers, and all other materials for courses they teach, according to the union’s guidelines. Several departments may delay grading or change fi-

nal exam formats as a result of the strike, according to faculty members across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. HGSU members will continue their personal academic work for the duration of the strike, according to the guidelines. Picket lines outside of buildings are “porous” and strikers

will not block people from entering buildings. HGSU and the University have met for 28 bargaining sessions since October 2018. They have thus far reached tentative agreements on 12 contract provisions. james.bikales@thecrimson.com ruoqi.zhang@thecrimson.com

UC FROM PAGE 1

New UC Pres. and VP Sworn In University. O’Dair said at the inauguration that she hopes to solidify a tradition of outgoing UC presidents and vice presidents signing their names in the book. The UC also elected new members to fill its executive positions at the meeting Monday. The Council elected Elm Yard Representative Nicholas J. Brennan ’23 as secretary and Dunster House Representative Noah Harris ’22 as treasurer.

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I’m very, very excited to work with all of you, and we think it’s going to be a good year. James A. Mathew ‘21 Incoming Undergraduate Council President

Brennan ran on a platform to improve the Council’s efficiency, as well as its communications with the student body. Harris, who ran unopposed, promised to make the Council’s finances more transparent and to change its grant system software. Brennan’s election marks the first time in several years that a freshman will serve as secretary of the UC. Last year, the Council elected a freshman — Jack M. Swanson ’22 — as treasurer. Also during the meeting, Lowell House Representative Rachel L. Reynolds ’22, a Crimson blog editor, presented superlatives to UC members, ranging from “Most Likely to Become a Supreme Court Justice” to “Most Likely to be Quoted in The Crimson.” kevin.chen@thecrimson.com

The Crimson

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON  |

DECEMBER 3, 2019

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Admins. Discuss How Do HGSU’s Proposals Stack Up? Allston Impacts UNION FROM PAGE 1

COMPENSATION

By PETER E. O’KEEFE CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

A group of Harvard administrators discussed the impacts of recent and upcoming University developments in Allston at a public event at the Harvard Ed Portal Monday evening. University Executive Vice President Katie N. Lapp, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Francis J. Doyle III, and Harvard Allston Land Company CEO Thomas P. Glynn III spoke alongside moderator and Boston City Councilor Mark S. Ciommo. They discussed affordable housing and the resources Harvard offers to Allston and Brighton residents, such as the Ed Portal. The event came ahead of the opening of Harvard’s new SEAS building in Allston in the fall of 2020 and ongoing development of the proposed Enterprise Research Campus – a University initiative intended to foster collaboration between Harvard-affiliated research projects and “research-focused” companies. Around 80 people attended the event, which began with remarks from Harvard’s Vice President for Public Affairs and Communication Paul Andrew and Ed Portal mentor Grace C. Eysenbach ’20. Each member of the panel also shared their perspective on Harvard’s development in Allston, followed by a question and answer session with Ciommo. Lapp spoke about Harvard’s history of and commitment to providing programs and resources to Allston-Brighton residents, mentioning University projects including the Ed Portal and the ArtLab, which opened earlier this fall. She described the projects as “a variety of ways which take previously inaccessible areas of Allston and making them inviting places where people can live.” Doyle showed a short video of the new SEAS building and discussed the potential benefits ­

of having SEAS faculty and students “under one roof” in Allston. He also highlighted a section of SEAS’s mission statement which mentions its “societal impact” globally and locally. “We went further to delineate this and say this was a societal impact to the world, to the nation and to our local community,” Doyle said. “We’ve really found a community partner,” he added. Glynn said he hopes the ERC will become a “destination” in Allston. He also discussed similarities and differences between MIT’s developments in Kendall Square and Harvard’s aims for the ERC.

We went further to delineate this and say this was a societal impact to the world, to the nation and to our local community. Francis J. Doyle Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

He also responded to a question about Harvard’s efforts to promote affordable housing in Allston, saying he hopes the residential component of the development will exceed the city of Boston’s mandate that developers must set aside 13 percent of new units for affordable housing. “We’ve indicated to the developers in their applications that we thought that was the minimum. We encouraged them to be bolder than that, and I think they’ve all been responsive,” he said. To end the evening, Ciommo thanked the audience for attending despite the snowy weather, calling the discussion “one of probably many future ones.” peter.o’keefe@thecrimson.com

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HGSU’s most recent proposal on compensation, which negotiators brought to the table Dec. 2, asks for a 5 percent wage increase this year and a 3.5 percent increase each subsequent year of the contract. HGSU’s proposal for yearly wage increases most closely matches that of UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents Harvard’s dining hall workers and reached its current contract at the end of a 22-day strike in 2016. HUDS workers received between a 3.29 and 5.74 percent increase after their first year, and between a 1.04 and 3.70 percent increase in the second year, according to The Crimson’s analysis of their contract. Members of 32BJ SEIU, which represents Harvard’s custodians and contracted security guards, received a wage increase of between 2.97 to 3.29 percent in the first year of their contract, which was negotiated in 2016. They make between $23.39 and $25.70 per hour, depending on their position and seniority. HGSU negotiators have asked for a minimum wage of $25 per hour or 5 percent above the current rate for all workers, a decrease from their previous call for $28 to $34 per hour depending on their academic discipline. Other unions on campus, however, receive much lower yearly increases in wages. The Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers — Harvard’s largest union — divides its employees into 10 salary grades. In the contract it ratified last year, it negotiated increases of

2.3 percent in the first year and 2 percent in the two subsequent years for the maximum and minimum of each grade. The hourly pay rates for members of the Harvard University Security, Parking, and Museum Guards Union increase by 2.25 percent annually, though this increase is accompanied by a flat rate increase, depending on employees’ base wage. Under the University’s compensation proposal, salaried student research assistants in the Sciences would receive a three percent salary increase this year, and two 2.5 percent salary increases over the next two years, while salaried teaching fellows would receive a two percent salary increase this year, and two 2.5 percent salary increases in the next two years. HUSPMGU President Curt E. Rheault called Harvard’s proposal “low” given the rate of inflation, cost of living in Boston, and cost of education. “In my opinion, they need at least a three percent raise, no matter what, just to be above treading water,” Rheault said. University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment on Rheault’s characterization of Harvard’s proposal.

HEALTH BENEFITS AND INSURANCE

HGSU’s current benefits proposals would require the University to cover all eligible student workers’ health insurance premiums and fees, currently totaling $4,906 per year for students, and 90 percent of dental insurance premiums on their current or another substantially similar plan. Harvard’s current

student dental coverage plan is currently set to be priced at $279 per student each semester starting in February 2020. The proposal also asked the University to reimburse 65 and 100 percent of adult and child dependent health insurance premiums, respectively, which current cost $7,718 and $4,100 a year. Under HGSU’s proposals, out-of-pocket costs for each specialist visit would be capped at $35 for student workers, with Harvard covering the rest of the cost. Eligible student workers’ spending on mental health specialist visits would also be capped at $500 per year. In other campus unions such as HUCTW, HUSPMGU, and UNITE HERE Local 26, employees in a higher salary grade currently contribute more to their health insurance premiums. For employees in those unions earning less than $55,000 annually, a point-ofservice plan – which the Student Health Insurance Plan is – currently costs between $1,476 and $1,716 per year. A similar plan that covers an entire family would cost $3,984 to $4,632 per year. Dental insurance premiums for an employee or an entire family cost $240 and $672 per year respectively.

OTHER PROVISIONS

HGSU and Harvard have also remained deadlocked over grievance procedures and union membership proposals. HGSU has demanded that members of its bargaining unit be allowed to use a union grievance procedure – a dispute-resolution mechanism that can

lead to third-party arbitration – to handle sexual harassment and discrimination complaints. The University’s proposal, however, explicitly forbids the use of grievance procedures to adjudicate these complaints. Instead, Harvard has insisted that these claims be investigated under its internal Title IX procedures. Current contracts for some other campus unions, including HUCTW, UNITE HERE Local 26, HUSPMGU, SEIU 32BJ, allow discrimination complaints to be handled through a union grievance procedure. The University has also proposed that student workers be allowed to choose whether they join the union or not — a system known as an “open shop” arrangement that has been fiercely criticized by members of HGSU’s bargaining committee. HGSU, on the other hand, has proposed an “agency shop” arrangement by including a provision typically known as a “union security clause.” Such a clause would require student workers to pay dues to cover bargaining costs if they chose not to pay union membership dues. The University has argued that the union’s proposal could result in workers being terminated if they fail to pay fees, leaving them unable to finish their academic program. With no additional bargaining sessions scheduled, HGSU is set to begin picketing Tuesday morning. The strike is expected to be indefinite depending on the progress of negotiations. james.bikales@thecrimson.com ruoqi.zhang@thecrimson.com

HGC FROM PAGE 1

Graduate Council Pens Strike Statement University administration to bargain a contract with the Harvard Graduate Student Union (HGSU-UAW) that reflects the University’s values of fairness, equality, and justice,” the statement reads. The council looked to statements issued by the Harvard Law School and Harvard Divinity School student governments to draft its statement, which passed unanimously but for one abstention. HGC will release the statement online and via social media Tuesday morning prior to the strike. University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote in an emailed statement that the University has prepared contingency plans for the strike. “Harvard University remains engaged in negotiations with HGSU-UAW and we continue to feel a strike is unwar-

ranted,” Swain wrote. “A strike will neither clarify our respective positions nor will it resolve areas of disagreement.” The union and the University remain at odds over proposals concerning health care, compensation, and third-party arbitration for harassment and discrimination matters. Contract negotiations began last October, and to date, the two parties have come to an agreement over 12 different proposals. What began with a standard motion Monday night quickly turned into a divisive full-council debate. HGC President Bryan O. Buckley presented the first proposal which would have authorized the executive board to issue a statement on the strike “if deemed necessary” in the upcoming weeks. Multiple representatives im-

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mediately rejected this motion and instead called for more urgent action. “I feel like this is one of the most pressing issues in a couple of years for graduate students,” Divinity School Representative Anna K. Del Castillo said. “Since this is happening tomorrow morning, we would be remiss if we didn’t support our classmates who will be striking.” After a formal vote dismissing Buckley’s motion, Del Castillo motioned to draft a statement during the meeting with the full board and release it Tuesday. Her proposed statement supported the right to strike, the strike itself, and the union’s demands. Multiple representatives characterized this proposal as “more aggressive.” “If you put that motion through, you’re supporting ev-

erything the union said,” HGC Executive Board member Tracie M. Gordon said. “If you do that, the can of worms is going to explode.” Del Castillo’s motion received five votes in the affirmative and three in the negative, failing to pass without a twothirds majority. The council eventually settled on drafting a more neutral statement, which was passed unanimously. Del Castillo, however, said she is still not satisfied with the statement’s final wording. “I’m gonna be real. Saying the two parties should come together and create something is like, ‘no shit.’ They’ve been doing this for 13 months,” she said. “There’s one party that has the power.” luke.williams@thecrimson.com


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THE HARVARD CRIMSON  |  DECEMBER 3, 2019

TENURE FROM PAGE 1

Students Protest Over Prof.’s Tenure Denial would take steps recommended in a report the school commissioned on the incident to remedy the situation. Garcia Peña did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening. The open letter also calls on administrators to “increase transparency in the tenure review process for all faculty, providing more lines of accountability and greater consideration of the ways in which faculty have contributed to supporting underrepresented students on campus.” The ultimate decision to tenure a faculty member rests with the University President, and tenure review committees do not generally release public information about tenure cases. Last spring, students launched a letter writing campaign in support of Garcia Peña’s tenure bid, citing her mentorship of Latinx students on campus. University spokesperson Anna G. Cowenhoven declined to comment on Garcia Peña’s tenure decision. HUPD officers were dispatched to University Hall Monday after receiving a report

that “close to 50 protestors” entered the building, according to Harvard University Police Department spokesperson Steven G. Catalano. “Officers merely observed the protest,” Catalano wrote in an emailed statement. “At the end of it the protestors vacated the building.” Protesters occupied the lobby of University Hall for 48 minutes to correspond with the 48 years that students have been pushing for the establishment of a formalized ethnic studies program. The open letter called on Harvard to establish an Ethnic Studies department offering Ph.D.s in Ethnic Studies and concentrations and secondary fields in Native American and Indigenous Studies, Latinx Studies, Asian American Studies, Muslim American Studies, and Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies. The students also demanded the University establish an Ethnic Studies research center. Gay said upon taking office in fall 2018 that she wanted to recruit faculty who specialize in ethnic studies before creating a formal program.

FAS is currently undertaking a faculty search for three or four tenured or tenure-track professors who specialize in Asian American studies, Latinx studies, and Muslim American studies. The students wrote that Garcia Peña was an “excellent candidate to lead Ethnic Studies initiatives.” They also alleged that some candidates for the ongoing faculty search have “demonstrated intent” to withdraw from consideration in solidarity with Garcia Peña. “While looking outwardly for faculty members that can conduct and teach Ethnic Studies research, it is absolutely unacceptable to deny Professor García Peña tenure, especially as a member of the search committee herself,” the open letter states. “It is hypocritical for University administrators to claim they are invested in furthering Ethnic Studies scholarship at Harvard while simultaneously denying tenure to a leading Latinx and Ethnic Studies scholar,” it reads.

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COMMITTEE FROM PAGE 1

FAS Announces Search for New Continuing Ed. Dean his work as dean. “His boundless energy and passion for students at every stage of learning has made Harvard stronger and better,” she wrote. Gay will lead the search committee. University professor Gary King, Philosophy professor Alison Simmons, and Statistics professor Joseph K. Blitzstein will also serve on the committee, along with Dean of Administration and Finance for the FAS Leslie A. Kirwan ’79, Vice Provost for Advances in Learning Bharat N. Anand ‘88, and Vice President and Chief Information Officer Anne H. Margulies. In a November interview, Lambert highlighted three ar-

eas on which he believes his successor should focus — ensuring the DCE represents Har-

His boundless energy and passion for students at every stage of learning has made Harvard stronger and better. Claudine Gay Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences

vard well, providing lifelong learning opportunities, and innovating its infrastructure to

maintain accessibility. “We serve a very different student at Harvard. We serve this adult part-time learner, and we serve the summer learners. Those are learners that no other school at Harvard serves, but we’re still Harvard,” Lambert said. “What does that mean in terms of the rigor of the courses, the academic discipline on anything we put credit on?” “This person needs to be Harvard, be the best we can be for our adult part-time and summer learners, and build the information systems that let us do it cost-effectively,” he added.

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON  |  DECEMBER 3, 2019

PAGE 6

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

OP-ED

On Today’s HGSU Strike

Beyond the ABC’s of Reading

T

he Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers’ strike deadline is upon us and, since a last minute miracle failed to manifest, a picket line across Harvard Yard this morning is inevitable. In the lead up to the strike, both the University and the union’s bargaining committee have publicly released their contract proposals — making informed public discourse on the particulars of contract negotiations possible for the first time since negotiations began. At bare minimum, the proposals confirm what was already evident from statements made by both parties: In terms of the biggest issues, the two parties are, without much exaggeration, miles away from agreement. And while we continue to express our support for HGSU-UAW’s decision, we recognize that this strike will have an immense effect both on campus and nationally, and even more so if it persists. If the strike is to end any time soon, difficult choices and compromises must be made on both sides. Anything less — small concessions, vague suggestions, floated ideas — will only serve to prolong the stalemate at the bargaining table. It is critical that both sides have released their respective proposals. Transparency is key to promoting healthy negotiations and productive public discourse. To that end, we would encourage the union to release its full slate of proposals if the online list is not already com-

prehensive. Only the negotiators have the necessary information and context to fully address the specifics of the proposals and the possibility for compromise. That said, the release of these proposals invites public scrutiny and discourse. And we’d like to share a few initial impressions. First, we are concerned that the size of the childcare fund the University proposes in the contract barely touches the cost of raising a child in Massachusetts. The $275,000 child care support fund is in no way an adequate sum to draw on, given that the average annual cost of infant care for one child in Massachusetts alone is $17,062. Based on some quick calculations, namely long division, that yields funding for roughly 16.12 children. The University’s additional proposed two percent increase in its Parental Accommodation and Financial Support program, which currently provides a one-time $6,624 stipend for newly born or adopted children of graduate students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, barely touches the problem. Second, on the part of the union, the proposed six to seven percent annual increase of salary and stipends is considerably above rates found at some peer institutions. For example, at MIT, graduate students saw a three percent increase between 2017 and 2018 — indexing the increase to the cost of living, an action we

have previously supported. While the University’s counter-proposal of seven to eight percent over three years might seem too low, the union might look at this compensation package as an area for potential compromise. More broadly, we encourage both sides to work to break the existing impasse of the negotiations. It may seem obvious, but it’s worth stating nonetheless. Certainly, we hope both sides enjoy a restful holiday with their families, but they must redouble negotiating efforts over winter break, so that the strike does not carry over into the coming semester. Now that both the University and the union’s bargaining committee have publicized their contract proposals, scrutiny by members of the Harvard community at large will play an important role in determining the direction negotiations take in the coming weeks. We encourage members of our community, particularly undergraduates doing paid work on campus, to view both proposals, form an opinion, and to make their voices heard as the strike and negotiations unfold. This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

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Reading My Admissions File, Writing My Harvard Story By ORLEE G. S. MARINI-RAPOPORT

I

remember wondering, in the few short moments before I shared my Harvard acceptance with anyone else, how I would ever be able to live up to the opportunity. I knew that I had just been handed an extraordinary gift, but I worried that I didn’t deserve it. It’s an unanswerable question, how we should best make use of the immense privileges we have been handed as Harvard students. I think everyone, at one point or another, has wondered what got us here. Like many other freshmen, I submitted a form online requesting to view my admissions file, a decision that has become controversial in recent years. I imagined that my admissions file, with its pages of cryptic notes, scores, and abbreviations, might hold answers that would help me in the future. I soon found myself in a conference room in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Registrar’s Office with a surprisingly thin folder in my hands. I had assumed that I would feel like a voyeur into my own life, that I would need to fight off the feeling that I was somehow betraying my recommenders and my alumni interviewer. (Admissions files include the report from the alumni interviewer but, if you’ve waived FERPA as I did, you won’t see your faculty recommendations.) I didn’t feel any of those things.

It’s an unanswerable question, how we should best make use of the immense privileges we have been handed as Harvard students. I expected to see discussion of my extracurricular activities and the number of AP exams I had taken, but found nothing more than a cursory acknowl-

edgement of those elements of my application. I didn’t think I had connected to my alumni interviewer (especially after telling her that I hated “Hamlet,” only to discover that she was a professor of English, specializing in Shakespeare) but she hadn’t held my blunder against me. One admissions reader seemed concerned with the rigor of my academic schedule and demanding extracurriculars, but noted that my apparent joyfulness was reassuring. There was one aspect of my file, one piece of my high school story, that the admissions officers emphasized in their comments, and it was not the classes I took or the extracurriculars I was involved in. It was, instead, a situation concerning academic integrity that I found myself in in high school in which I had to decide, quite simply, between trusting my gut and taking the easy way out. I was in a situation in which I had to react, and I had to do so without being able to predict the consequences of my reaction. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, privy to information about others that I didn’t want to know. And while I didn’t want to know it, there was no escaping the fact that I knew now and felt strongly that I had to act. Ironically, I remember wondering if being in that wrong place at that wrong time might undermine my ability to get into college when the time came. My mom recently reminded me that I often referred to that night as “the worst night of high school,” the night when I saw the neat order I perceived in the world begin to unravel farther than it had before, the night that forced me to define my own values for myself. While I spent four sleepless years focused on AP classes (when to take them, how many to take), the admissions officers seemed to be valuing not the decisions that I consciously made, but rather what I did not try to do, what type of person I was when things didn’t go according to plan, when I was caught in a situa-

tion with no roadmap and had to decide what type of person I was going to be. I’m not saying here that I got into Harvard because I made the “right” decision during a difficult time.

Leaning into the complexities of our experience as students has importance that transcends numbers and statistics. To this day, I don’t know what the “right” decision would have been. Rather, the admissions officers cared that I was willing to wrestle with the complexities of the situation. We have all been trained in one way or another to follow the “steps” to success. We take that class we don’t want to take (for me, that was multivariable calculus my senior year of high school). We get too little sleep and tell interviewers what we think sounds smart, only to discover that we’ve just insulted their life’s work. We talk about graduate school or professional school as if it’s the prize at the end of a sequence of decisions we make correctly. And there’s no doubt that those decisions might be part of the puzzle. There’s no doubt that success is built on a foundation of concrete accomplishments. But reading my admissions file offered proof that there’s so much more that matters, that leaning into the complexities of our experience as students has importance that transcends numbers and statistics. The unraveling I experienced on that night, that messiness and all that came with it, mattered to the admissions committee — it mattered so much that it just might be the reason I’m sitting in Annenberg right now. —Orlee G. S. Marini-Rapoport ’23, a Crimson Editorial comper, lives in Greenough Hall.

By R. NOAH KNOPF

W

illiam Faulkner famously advised aspiring writers to “Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it… Read! You’ll absorb it.” In fairness to Faulkner, reading more is usually a good thing in the end. But in addition to encouraging our students to read more, we should also be teaching them more thoroughly how to read in the first place. As kids, most of us learn how to look at words on a page and understand their meaning, but learning to read involves much more than that — it means learning how to deliberately use concrete strategies like annotation to get the most out of a text. Helping students discover how best to use these strategies can help them read at a higher level, take ownership of their reading ability, and, with any luck, enjoy reading much more.

The point of reading is not just to acquire information, but to make connections, to think hard about complex problems, and to reconsider some of the things we take for granted. When we think of reading as an ability that we develop once when we’re young and then use when we’re older, it can be easy to see it as a fixed skill. But in reality, we are always learning to read more efficiently and with greater comprehension. More importantly, though, we’re always learning to think more thoroughly about a text and to consider how it applies to us as people. The point of reading is not just to acquire information, but to make connections, to think hard about complex problems, and to reconsider some of the things we take for granted. Many of the best books of all time, of course, contain no information at all, and reading them is therefore certainly not just a question of efficiently acquiring facts. We’re really always learning to read “better” — in such a way that our reading experience will make minute-to-minute life more interesting and exciting. Annotation is one strategy that can help us do that, and students should be introduced to it at a young age and continuously guided as they get older. When students underline, they slow down to discern what is important. When they make symbols and arrows, they blend their own ways of thinking with those of the author. When they write notes in the margin, they engage in a dialogue with the text through thoughts, questions, and connections. While it remains unclear whether certain specific reading strategies can produce better results than others, research has shown that readers who actively engage with a text get much more out of it. Researchers Patricia A. deWinstanley and Elizabeth L. Bjork found that readers remembered more from a passage that featured partially incomplete words than from a normal text. Like students who engage via annotation, participants who were asked to take part in generating the passage’s content by filling in the blanks recalled more as a result. More importantly, however, the process of actively engaging with a text can also help people read better in the future. In the same study, deWinstanley and Bjork found that once people had witnessed the benefits of generating content for themselves, they read more actively afterward even without the partially incomplete words. When we begin to see reading as a flexible skill that can be improved, we can actively take steps to actually do so. In that vein, teaching students to annotate can help them take ownership of their reading ability. In his framework of self-regulated learning, researcher Barry J. Zimmerman highlights the important cycle of developing strategies, evaluating those strategies, and devising new strategies for self-regulated learners in any field. Teaching students to annotate is a way of showing them that concrete and deliberate strategies do exist when it comes to reading books. Reading is certainly a skill that students can improve, but when they are not taught active reading strategies it is hard for them to see it that way. Teaching them to annotate allows students to develop a growth mindset around reading — and to realize that through experimentation and practice, they can find their own unique and specific way of enjoying a great book.

When we begin to see reading as a flexible skill that can be improved, we can actively take steps to actually do so. Part of the reason reading often loses out to other forms of entertainment today is that reading can be challenging. But teaching students the concrete strategies to take on that challenge can help make reading feel less daunting and more rewarding. Our answer to iPhones and Xbox should not be to simply demand that kids read more. Instead, let’s teach them the strategies that will allow them to see why reading has meant so much to so many for so long. —R. Noah Knopf ’20 is a History and Literature concentrator in Leverett House.


PAGE 7

THE HARVARD CRIMSON  |  DECEMBER 3, 2019

SPORTS

THIS WEEKEND’S

SCORES

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. TEXAS A&M W, 62-51 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY VS. NO. 1 MINNESOTA L, 4-0 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VS. QUINNIPIAC W, 77-68 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY VS. NO. 12 BOSTON COLLEGE L, 4-2 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. NO. 5 MARYLAND L, 80-73 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S WATER POLO VS. NO. 12 BUCKNELL L, 13- 12 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S BASKETBALL

A Fruitful Orlando Invitational for Men’s Basketball By HENRY ZHU CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The three-game Thanksgiving tournament in Orlando ended with a thud on Sunday night, as the Crimson languished to a 7762 blowout loss to USC. Harvard scored just 19 points in a second half that was excruciatingly difficult to watch, outside of a few energetic concluding minutes from bench players hungry to send a message including Mason Forbes and Luka Sakota. The Crimson fought back from what Coach Amaker characterized postgame as a “horrendous start” to momentarily take a 39-38 lead, but it upped its opponents for only the following 31 seconds before the Trojans broke away. Led by standout rookie Onyeka Okongwu’s dominant 27 points on the interior and four triples from familiar nemesis Quinton Adlesh (who nearly spoiled Harvard’s Ivy championship last season in his last shot as a senior at Columbia), the Trojans were simply a team with more weapons and athleticism on both ends of the basketball court. In some ways, this game was a good metaphor of the Crimson’s performance in the tournament as a whole. In all three of its games (Texas A&M, No. 5 Maryland, USC), the Crimson put together stretches of brilliant team basketball against opponents with imposing physical size — the ball moved swiftly from side-to-side, kickouts were made to confident three-point shooters like Rio Haskett (who currently holds an impressive 48.3 percent clip from deep), Rob Baker, and Danilo Djuricic, and opportunities for individual prowess from X factors Noah Kirkwood, Chris Ledlum, and of course Bryce Aiken were plentiful due to strong floor spacing. If all else failed, there was ­

also the post-up play of Chris Lewis to rely on or Bryce hitting one of his signature deep, deep triples to put points on the board. It was in these ever-so fleeting spurts — some longer than others — where the strong veteran cohesiveness and individual talents on the Crimson roster fully shone through to a national audience. Just take those initial 15 minutes against the Terps of Maryland when Harvard led by as much as 11 as proof of the fact that the Crimson can play up against any team in this country, if not already evident. But then there are the reminders that this team is still very much a work in progress and one that is trying to put all the puzzle pieces together. In frustrating stretches like the second half of the Trojans contest in which Harvard shot 26% from the field, the need for someone to hold a leaking ship steady and stifle the opponent’s streaky scorer, whether that be USC’s Okongwu or Maryland’s Anthony Cowan Jr., became ever so evident. The tide felt like it turned in both of those games right around halftime, which either points to a better team playing up to par or a still-growing Harvard team trying to find a more consistent ‘counterpunch’. Especially with Seth Towns still sidelined, this team very much needs someone not named Bryce Aiken to shine through in times of adversity and be a more stable second and third option. Of course, both losses this weekend were against teams that will likely send their star big (Terps’ Jalen Smith and USC’s Okongwu) to the NBA, in addition to wielding complementary frontcourt pieces that gave Harvard headaches on both ends of the court. Amaker experimented with various combinations of Lewis/Baker/Djuricic/Forbes/ Welsh to match up against their

A FRUITFUL TRIP The Crimson finished 1-2 in the Orlando Invitational, with losses to No. 5 Maryland and USC. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

athletic foes, but acknowledged following both games that the players from the group of five conferences were simply “too much for us”. If Harvard is unlikely to see that type of interior talent in the Ivy League, this weekend at least was fruitful in providing a competitive environment to go head-to-head with some of the best bigs college basketball had to offer. For a program that typ-

ically schedules two or at-most three Power Five teams per season, this tournament offered a platform with not only the television eyeballs but the postseason-like feeling of a back-toback, high-gear atmosphere even sunny Orlando on break cannot diminish. Plus there are the little things, such as having an abbreviated 25-minute warmup and a raucously hostile environment (against Maryland)

that may come in handy come March. The Crimson do not come back to Boston with three wins, but in some ways have achieved a consolatory alternative: examples on the court to show it can compete toe-to-toe with brandname Power Five schools, and ample evidence that more work needs to be done to tie its talented pieces together into a dangerous force come Ivy League

play. Its next test, against a massively-improved UMass team on Saturday, will be an important opportunity to continue what it has built in Orlando. If the adrenaline rush of playing a nationally-ranked team this weekend wasn’t enough, the intensity of this in-state rivalry should surely suffice. henry.zhu@thecrimson.com

MEN’S TENNIS

Harvard Men’s Tennis’ Leschlys: It Runs in the Family By ISABEL LEVIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

What’s it like coming from a family of super athletes? Both junior Lane Leschly and sophomore Bo Leschly play varsity tennis at Harvard. Their grandfather, Jan Leschly, played professionally for Denmark. Their father,

Mark Leschly ’90, also played for the Crimson. Their uncles Jake, Stig, and Nick all played tennis at Princeton University. Their cousin, Kayla ’23, plays tennis at Harvard as well, while her twin sister Jayme plays for Princeton. With so much tennis experience in their family, it was only natural for Lane and Bo to play

the sport. The Leschlys grew up in Atherton, California. Lane, the older brother, began playing tennis at the age of five and immediately fell in love with the sport. He acknowledges that his family’s tennis background “could be perceived as a lot of pressure,” but overall feels that “it was an unreal and amazing

BO BALL Sophomore Bo Leschly prepares to return a serve. Leschly plays on the team with his brother, Lane. COURTESY OF LANE LESCHLY

environment to grow up in. [It was] a great opportunity to develop as a tennis player.” As a young player, Lane loved training with his family and receiving coaching advice from them. His father’s success inspired him to make ambitious goals for the future. “There’s always the dream to play at college, and I always wanted to play at Harvard when I was younger,” Lane recalled. When he was 10, Lane would show up at tennis practices at Stanford wearing Harvard gear. He laughingly mentions his youth coach making fun of him for wearing his father’s old Crimson vest. Today, he emphasizes the importance of taking a step back and appreciating one’s accomplishments. “We always get so psyched up about what the next goal is that we never really take time to step back and appreciate what we have accomplished,” Lane observed. “It’s unbelievable thinking, wow, that was my childhood dream.” Bo also started playing tennis at a young age, and his brother’s love for the sport inspired him. “We grew up playing together,” Bo recalled. “There’s that [age] gap, obviously growing up he was a little bit better. He pushed me.” The Leschly brothers attended Menlo High School. Despite their age difference, the two played on the same high school team and sometimes competed together in local tournaments. Both excelled at tennis. Lane was recognized as a high school All-American in 2015 and played in the Australian Open Juniors qualifications round in the doubles bracket in

2016. During his high school career, his team won three consecutive WBAL, CSS, and NorCal Championships. Bo also played on the 2015 team, and his team won the CSS and NorCal titles again in 2018. He was named to the National High School All-American Team Invitational All-Tournament team in 2018 after leading his high school varsity team to an undefeated season. After successful high school careers, collegiate tennis was a natural next step for both Lane and Bo. “[Playing in college] wasn’t the goal per se growing up,” Bo said. “[But] it was definitely more the goal coming in towards middle school and then high school.” When asked whether Lane playing for the Crimson affected Bo’s decision to commit, the younger Leschly responded in a simple tone, “yeah.” Having a sibling who plays the same Division I collegiate sport is incredibly rare, and being able to play on the same team with them is an even more unique experience. “Having him on the team, getting to play with him, and having that bond [of] being family [and also] being teammates is something very special,” Bo stated. Lane feels similarly. “Having [my] brother there makes it another level of fun,” he said. Tennis is often a pretty individual sport, and both Bo and Lane emphasize how the incredible team dynamics enhance the game. “In college when you actually play on a team, it’s very, very different [from high school] and very rewarding because nor-

mally when you’re playing tennis, you’re all alone,” Bo explained. “Having a team there to help you in college is inspiring and keeps you moving forward.” Being on the same team helps keep the Leschlys connected. “I see [Lane] every day,” Bo said, “which is something that’s great to have especially when I’m at college and, you know, you don’t see family that much.” Cambridge is a long way from California, and having family close by makes it easier to stay connected. Lane added, “Being on the Harvard team with him is a great opportunity to make sure that we stay in touch as siblings. I get to see him every day which I’m so grateful for.” Lane also acknowledges that, in addition to being at the same school, being on the same team makes it easier for the brothers to see each other. College students often have hectic schedules, and many of Lane’s friends have to set dates just to see each other every week. Luckily, Lane and Bo don’t have to worry about setting specific times to see each other. “Having [seeing Bo] as part of my daily schedule, it’s great,” Lane said. “I’m really appreciative of it.” “We’ve had a lot of good times together on the court,” Bo summarized. With two more seasons until Lane graduates, the Leschly brothers will have even more opportunities for success together on the tennis team. The Crimson will begin their spring season on January 19th with matches against Purdue and Army. Its home opener will be against BYU on January 24th.



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