The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLV, No. 135

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 | VOLUME CXLV NO. 135 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2018

EDITORIAL PAGE 6

NEWS PAGE 5

SPORTS PAGE 7

Harvard should fairly compensate its overworked employees.

Four seniors named winners of the 2019 Marshall Scholarship.

Men’s and Women’s Swimming to Travel to Georgia, Texas for Meets.

Fraternities, Sororities Sue Harvard Over Sanctions Social Groups Say Sanctions Discriminate, Violate Rights

May 2016 Faust debuts social group sanctions

December 2017 Corporation votes to keep sanctions

December 2018 Social groups sue over sanctions

Several social groups filed a pair of lawsuits

In Statements, National Social Groups Support Suits Fraternities and sororities across the countryvoiced support for the lawsuits Monday

By CAROLINE S. ENGELMEYER and MICHAEL E. XIE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

A group of fraternities, sororities, and students is suing Harvard over its social group sanctions, alleging the penalties are discriminatory, coercive, and unconstitutional.

The groups filed two lawsuits Monday, one in federal and one in Massachusetts court.

The federal complaint — filed by sororities, fraternities, and three unnamed College students — alleges that the sanctions constitute sex-based discrimination and violate federal anti-sex discrimination law Title IX and the United States Constitution.

The Massachusetts complaint, brought by two Greek organizations, asserts the sanctions violate the state’s Civil Rights Act and the Massachusetts Constitution because they deny students equal treatment based on their sex.

The state case requests an injunction barring Harvard from continuing its sanctions and demands the University pay the plaintiffs an unspecified amount of money to make up for what they allege the penalties cost them. Both cases ask for a court judgment that condemns Harvard’s social group policy and a court order requiring the College to cancel its sanctions.

Harvard’s sanctions — which took effect with the Class of 2021 — bar members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations from holding campus leadership positions, varsity team athletic captaincies, and from receiving College endorsement for prestigious fellowships like the Rhodes.

The plaintiffs in the Massachusetts suit are the international parent group of sorority Alpha Phi, Harvard’s newly

By SHERA S. AVI-YONAH and CAROLINE S. ENGELMEYE

­

SEE LAWSUIT PAGE 3

CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

David A. Russcol, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the state suit, hand-delivered the complaint to the Suffolk County Superior Court Monday. KAI R. MCNAMEE—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Alpha Phi Comes Back to Campus, Joins Sanctions Suit

By CAROLINE S. ENGELMEYER and MICHAEL E. XIE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Harvard’s chapter of sorority Alpha Phi — which shuttered in response to the College’s social group sanctions in August — is back in business.

The group’s Iota Tau Cambridge chapter returned to campus in November. On Monday, it joined Alpha Phi’s national parent group and the Delta Gamma Fraternity Management Corporation as plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging Harvard’s social life policy violates Massachusetts state law.

Alpha Phi is now the only all-female social organization at Harvard, ending a monthslong period during which Cambridge boasted zero

women’s-only social groups.

Over the past year, every single one of Harvard’s all-female groups chose to go co-ed, thus earning College recognition and exemption from the sanctions.

The penalties — which took effect with the Class of 2021 — bar members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations from holding campus leadership positions, varsity team athletic captaincies, and from receiving Harvard endorsement for prestigious fellowships like the Rhodes.

The Cambridge Alpha Phi chapter was the last Harvard-based sorority to shift policies in response to the sanctions. The group was forced to disaffiliate from its national

SEE RETURN PAGE 3

Rebecca Ramos ‘17 speaks at a press conference concerning the lawsuit facing Harvard regarding the sanctions on social clubs. SHERA S. AVI-YONAH—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Embracing the motto “Stand Up to Harvard,” scores of fraternities and sororities nationwide declared their support for a pair of lawsuits filed Monday that seek to cancel the University’s controversial social group sanctions.

Representatives from at least 10 Greek organizations penned messages — both on Twitter and in emails to The Crimson — arguing Harvard’s social life policy is coercive and illegal.

Fraternity and sorority members urged the courts to strike it down.

Numerous alumni of fraternities and sororities also posted on Twitter in support of the suits, linking to a website the plaintiffs created to bolster their case.

“On December 3, brave students, sororities and fraternities filed lawsuits in federal and Massachusetts courts to stand up for the rights of students,” read a tweet many alumni re-posted verbatim across the social media site. “It is time to stand up to Harvard.”

Harvard’s sanctions — which took effect with the Class of 2021 — bar members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations from holding campus leadership positions, varsity team athletic captaincies, and from receiving College endorsement for prestigious fellowships like the Rhodes.

Harvard’s penalties have drawn vehement opposition from some students, faculty, and alumni alike since their debut in May 2016. Now, two lawsuits filed by students, sororities, and fraternities allege

SEE SUPPORT PAGE 3

Chabad Harvard Affiliates Menorah Win Int’l Rhodes Toppled in Park

By MOLLY C. MCCAFFERTY CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

A menorah, which a man toppled Sunday, sits in Cambridge Common. CALEB D. SCHWARTZ—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Harvard Today 2

News 3

Editorial 6

Sports 7

Cambridge police are investigating a “possible hate crime” after witnesses say a man intentionally toppled over a large menorah placed on Cambridge Common by student group Harvard Chabad.

Two witnesses reported Sunday that around 3:30 p.m., a white male dressed in all black approached the menorah riding a black bicycle, Cambridge police spokesperson Jeremy Warwick said Monday night. The man then dismounted his bicycle, walked over to the menorah, and pushed it to the ground.

Several bystanders stood the menorah back up shortly thereafter and then an older man led the group in a Hanukkah prayer, Universal Hub first reported.

Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, the

SEE MENORAH PAGE 5

TODAY’S FORECAST

SUNNY High: 35 Low: 21

By ALEXANDRA A. CHAIDEZ and SANJANA L. NARAYANAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­ ichael Liu ’19, Olga RomanoM va ’19, and T. Mattea Mrkusic ’17 have been named Harvard’s three newest international Rhodes scholars, bringing the total number of University-affiliated winners this year to five.

This year, the Rhodes Trust launched two new Global Rhodes Scholarships for candidates from anywhere in the world. Romanova is among the inaugural winners of the Global Rhodes. Liu, who is a Canadian native, and Mrkusic, who is from New Zealand, won scholarships from their home regions.

Two other Harvard seniors, Brittany N. Ellis ’19, a Crimson news executive, and Jin K. Park

’18–’19, also won Rhodes scholarships this year in the American districts. Park is the first DACA recipient to win a Rhodes scholarship in United States history. The Rhodes Scholarship pays for graduate study at Oxford University, and more than 350 Harvard alums have received the honor since the scholarship began in 1902.

Romanova, who identifies as Russian but was born and raised in Japan, only became eligible to apply for the prestigious scholarship this year.

Romanava, a Bioengineering concentrator who is also pursuing a secondary field in Global Health and Health Policy, said that she is excited to studying the intersection of both fields at Oxford.

SEE RHODES PAGE 5

VISIT THECRIMSON.COM. FOLLOW @THECRIMSON ON TWITTER.

cherry picker

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

DECEMBER 4, 2018

PAGE 2

HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Chicken Breast with Tomato Basil Salsa Philly Cheese Steak Sub Basil Pesto Roasted Tofu

For Dinner Chicken Breast with Poblano Sauce Salmon with Green Curry Thai Vegetable Curry with Tofu

TODAY’S EVENTS

IN THE REAL WORLD

Harvard X Moleskine: Poem in your Pocket Science Center, 1:00 p.m.

Bush’s Coffin Arrives at Capitol, Where the Former President Will Lie in State

Head to the Science Center to receive a personalized poem written on the spot.

Not only that — it’s also written on a typewriter. Various poets on campus will be on standby to write your poem.

After the death of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, his body is currently lying in state in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump will attend the funeral of the former president, but he will not be giving a eulogy.

The Meaning of the Midterms: Who Counted? Who Voted?

CGIS Knafel, 4:15 p.m.

If you’re interested in current events or politics at all, this event is a must-attend. A panel consisting of prominent reporters, professors, activists, and — yes — consultants will discuss the results of the midterm.

Bard in the Yard Houghton Library, 5:30 p.m.

Head to Houghton Library to listen to some free Shakespeare! This event is one night only, so make sure to see it now! Watch performances from some of Shakespeare’s most famous works, such as Twelfth Night, Othello, Henry IV Part 1, and Sir Thomas More.

Uncertainty surrounds White House agreements on trade with China, North America Three more Harvard students were recently announced as Rhodes Scholars. Michael Liu ‘19 was one of them. CALEB D. SCHWARTZ—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

DAILY BRIEFING Single-gender social groups are taking the fight against Harvard’s social group sanctions to court. A group of fraternities, sororities, and students filed two lawsuits Monday — one in federal court and one in Massachusetts court — alleging the penalties are discriminatory, coercive, and unconstitutional.

Harvard’s chapter of Alpha Phi also officially returned to campus and joined the state suit, and sororities and fraternities across the country voiced support for the litigation. In other news, Cambridge police are investigating a possible hate crime after a man toppled over a menorah in Cambridge Common, and the new FAS dean of science outlined his priorities for the start of his tenure.

It’s a lively time for trade policy in the United States. President Trump’s new trade deal with Canada and Mexico is receiving scrutiny from both sides of the aisle in Congress. At the same time, the White House changes its description of its agreement with China, sowing some confusion.

CIA director to brief handful of senators on journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death CIA Director Gina Haspel is going to go to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to brief a limited number of senior senators on the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It is unclear why only eight senators are in this briefing, as opposed to the whole Senate. they made their debut together on Monday night.

AROUND THE IVIES DARTMOUTH A number of Dartmouth alumni are questioning whether they should continue to make financial contributions to the university in the wake of a class action sexual harassment lawsuit. One Dartmouth graduate, Diana Whitney, told the Dartmouth she planned to circulate a petition to organize a collective response from alumni.

On Nov. 15, seven women filed a $70 million class action alleging Dartmouth ignored years of harassment from three professors.

PRINCETON A bat forced the evacuation of the third floor of Princeton’s campus center Sunday evening. A university spokesperson confirmed the bat sighting to the Daily Princetonian, and said animal control had been called to catch and remove the bat. An undergraduate, Christopher Umanzor, told the Daily Princetonian he had seen the bat on the closed-off floor of the campus center. Though he did not see the bat, Umanzor said that he “felt it emotionally.”

UPENN The University of Pennsylvania’s admissions office has recorded early decision application numbers similar to last year’s, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian. 6,746 students applied in this year’s admission cycle, representing only a marginal increase from the 6,731 the prior year. While this year’s cycle has seen almost no change from the one before, last year’s pool marked a 15 percent increase in application numbers.

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 Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Editorial Chairs Cristian D. Pleters ’19 Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE Arts Chairs Mila Gauvini II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19

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

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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

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.

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Story Editors Jamie D. Halper ’20 Hannah Natanson ’19 Kenton K. Shimozaki ’19 Alison W. Steinbach ’19 Phelan Yu ’19

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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.

PAGE 3

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | DECEMBER 4, 2018

LAWSUIT FROM PAGE 1

Social Groups Allege Sanctions Are Discriminatory r­ einstated chapter of Alpha Phi, and a management company for chapters of sorority Delta Gamma.

In the federal case, the plaintiffs are the international organizations for two sororities, Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma; the parent groups for two fraternities, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Chi; Harvard’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon; and three current Harvard students who are also members of all-male social clubs. The undergraduates are not named in the suit.

Lawyers for the social groups filed the federal suit online, but one attorney — David A. Russcol of law firm Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein — traveled to the Suffolk County Superior Court in person Monday morning to hand-deliver the state complaint. As he left the courthouse, Russcol said he feels confident the suit has a “strong chance of success.”

“Harvard has really shown a disregard for the rights of its students to associate with people they want to associate with,” he said. “What they do off campus shouldn’t be any of Harvard’s business. It’s disappointing that the plaintiffs have had to take this action.”

Harvard could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

When faced with criticisms of the sanctions in the past, administrators have vigorously defended the policy and argued that single-gender social groups promote exclusivity.

“At Harvard, we have a very specific mission of educating citizens and citizen leaders for our diverse and interconnected society,” Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana said in a May interview. “We do not believe that it is effective to basically institutionalize segregation.”

Legal threats began to loom almost immediately after the College debuted its sanctions in May 2016. Four months later in September 2016, the allmale Fly Club retained a group of lawyers to explore its options in defying the sanctions — and the men’s final clubs repeatedly weighed and discounted suing in the years since. Ultimately, no final clubs joined the suits filed Monday.

As recently as October, Khurana seemed confident Harvard would not face a lawsuit over the penalties.

Asked how worried he was about litigation, Khurana said no one at Harvard had asked him to start preparing for the possibility that some single-gender groups might sue.

“Personally, I believe that most of these organizations are trying to find a way to become inclusive and evolve,” he said in October. “It’s just not always easy.”

A LONG FIGHT

Long before the sanctions drew legal fire, they earned blowback from Harvard professors, students, and alumni — as well as a campaign to kill the penalties on Capitol Hill.

When former University President Drew G. Faust announced the sanctions roughly two-and-a-half years ago, she spurred the ire of single-gender organizations and some faculty members alike.

Both vowed to resist however they could.

Less than three weeks after Faust’s announcement, Computer Science professor Harry R. Lewis ’68, a former dean of the College, filed a faculty motion meant to strike down the sanctions. Though Lewis temporarily withdrew his motion in January 2017 — after Khurana convened a faculty committee and asked it to revise or replace the policy — he filed another in August, calling the work of that committee disappointing. The faculty committee ultimately opted to keep the sanctions unchanged.

Lewis’s motion failed to pass at a November 2017 Faculty of Arts and Sciences meeting; 90 FAS members voted for it while 130 opposed it. And in December 2017, the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — voted to formally adopt the penalties, seemingly guaranteeing they were here to stay.

Beyond the gates of Harvard Yard, though, the final clubs had started making plans of their own. Rather than accepting the policies, several final clubs and Greek groups opted to take a legislative path to nix the sanctions.

Over the past year, two groups — the Cambridge Coalition and the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition — have worked with D.C. law firm Arnold & Porter to lobby lawmakers to oppose Harvard’s sanctions. Arnold & Porter, which boasts a top-notch reputation in Washington and a long list of contacts inside the government, will also represent the plaintiffs in the federal suit against the sanctions filed Monday.

The Cambridge Coalition, which formed in recent months specifically to counter Harvard’s social group policy, consists of all-male final clubs the Fly Club, the A.D. Club, and the Porcellian Club, as well as the Cambridge chapters of fraternities Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Delta Kappa Epsilon.

FGRC — comprising the North American Interfraternity Conference, the National Panhellenic Conference, and the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee — retained Arnold & Porter in 2015.

Neither the Cambridge Coalition nor the FGRC signed on to

either suit Monday, though two fraternities who are members of the Cambridge Coalition — Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Chi — are also plaintiffs in the federal case.

Both groups focused their lobbying efforts on a specific provision in the PROSPER Act — a higher education bill introduced in December 2017 to the U.S. House of Representatives — that aims to prevent colleges and universities from penalizing members of “recognized” single-gender social organizations. Opponents of the sanctions hope to tweak the wording of the bill to ensure it applies to the College’s sanctions.

If the coalitions succeed and the bill passes, Harvard could be forced to choose between its social group penalties and millions of dollars in federal research funding.

But that almost certainly won’t happen. The PROSPER Act, a Republican proposal, garnered scant support even among conservatives. Given Democrats flipped the House in November, the legislation is unlikely to pass before the end of this congressional term.

Final club affiliates engaged in the lobbying efforts have said they view litigation as a “last resort.”

What they do off campus shouldn’t be any of Harvard’s business.

David A. Russcol Plaintiffs’ Lawyer

Harvey A. Silverglate, a lawyer representing the Fly Club, wrote in an April 2017 email to The Crimson that he and his law firm, Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein, would explore the possibility of litigation “just in case” the Fly Club decides that a lawsuit “becomes necessary.”

Now, the final clubs’ “last resort” has become a reality — though no final clubs are formally involved.

A COERCIVE POLICY?

One of the key contentions of both suits is that Harvard used strong-arm tactics to force social groups to go co-ed — strategies, the plaintiffs allege, that amount to coercion frowned upon by state and federal law.

The state suit notes that the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act provides a cause of action against any person who, by threats, intimidation or coercion, interferes with another individual’s enjoyment of his or her constitutional rights.

To prove Harvard coerced campus social groups into going gender-neutral, the state suit

details several incidents — some of them previously unreported — in which Khurana and other administrators allegedly pressured social groups to abandon their single-gender status.

One episode the suit cites took place on March 29, 2016, when Khurana allegedly issued an ultimatum to the undergraduate leaders of male and female final clubs.

The clubs’ choice, as Khurana allegedly put it at the time, was simple: go co-ed or face the consequences. He gave leaders of the groups until April 15 to make up their minds. The Crimson reported that Khurana had issued this ultimatum at the time.

More broadly, College leaders bore a personal vendetta against the groups, the suits allege. The complaints state Harvard officials often threatened to severely punish groups that did not go co-ed and comply with the College’s sanctions.

Khurana’s primary goal as dean, according to the plaintiffs, was to sanction single-gender social groups as part of an effort to ultimately remove them from campus altogether.

Early in his tenure, the dean held a series of meetings with leaders of social groups to make his intentions clear and to impress on them the dire consequences of noncompliance with the sanctions, the suits allege. In October 2014, Khurana met with the undergraduate and graduate leaders of 30 to 40 groups to hold what they thought would be a run-of-themill conversation about College policies.

But Khurana had other plans, according to the state complaint. He questioned the organizations’ values and said he doubted whether they aligned with the College’s mission. He closed the session by urging the groups to “do better,” suggesting they should go gender neutral.

The meeting was “uncomfortable and at times confrontational,” per the state filing.

The dean’s unwavering determination to implement the sanctions stemmed in part from a desire to avoid potential legal liability, according to the state brief. Khurana had learned prior to October 2014 that an Office of Civil Rights complaint alleged all-male final clubs were “major site[s] of sexual violence,” and Khurana was determined to address the problem by eliminating them, the suit states.

The Crimson reported in September 2017 that the 2014 OCR complaint — which spurred a federal investigation into the College’s compliance with Title IX — specifically cited all-male final clubs.

After the April 15 deadline passed, Khurana continued his

alleged coercion, according to the briefs. In May, he told graduate leaders of male final clubs that he planned to “close” them if they did not go co-ed, the plaintiffs allege.

The state brief alleges Khurana told clubs that, though they had the option of choosing to admit members of all genders on their own, he would soon step in if they failed to do so.

Khurana’s efforts to push clubs towards co-ed status continued into the fall of 2015, per both suits. In meetings with male clubs’ graduate leadership, he threatened a slew of sanctions should the clubs disobey his urgings to go gender-neutral, per the Massachusetts complaint.

Khurana allegedly told leaders that he could expel undergraduates who chose to join single-gender social groups.

When Alexander R. Miller, the College’s associate dean of student engagement, became a main point of contact for single-gender groups in the last year or so, he adopted similar tactics to Khurana, per the complaints.

“Dean Miller has made veiled threats about the consequences of failing to comply with Harvard’s changing demands (such as, ‘you know what the alternative is’ or ‘we might have to go there’) and has, on at least one reported instance, screamed at a student regarding an aspect of a social organization’s transition,” per the state brief.

Khurana and Miller could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

Harvard’s threats, the plaintiffs allege, are not limited to the two administrators alone.

“Harvard has also singled out students who join single-sex organizations for scathing criticism in university-wide letters, emails, reports, and media articles,” the federal complaint reads. “Harvard has threatened to deny future professional opportunities beyond those specified in the Sanctions Policy.”

DISCRIMINATION OR DIVERSITY?

Another central claim of both suits is that Harvard displayed a pattern of gender-based discrimination in pursuing and implementing its sanctions.

In the federal lawsuit, plaintiffs allege that Harvard has acted in violation of Title IX policies that forbid discrimination. The federal complaint specifically alleges that the College’s sanctions unlawfully discipline students because they “associate with individuals of a particular sex.”

“Because Harvard’s Sanctions Policy metes out its punishment based on the sex of both the student who joins the forbidden organization and the

other members of the forbidden organization, Harvard’s Sanctions Policy is sex discrimination twice over,” lawyers wrote.

In addition, the federal complaint alleges Harvard relied on stereotypes of men and women to justify the sanctions. The federal suit states the University promoted the view that men in all-male social groups are likely to engage in sexual violence and bigotry and that women join all-female social groups to deal with exclusion from allmale clubs.

The plaintiffs allege that, in an August 2016 meeting with members of some sororities, a Harvard administrator said sororities have “no value” on campus.

The plaintiffs further allege Harvard’s sanctions reflect the school’s skewed and biased vision of how male and female students should behave. The federal suit states the University subscribes to the notion that men and women who join single-gender social groups are failing to act like members of a “21st century society.”

“Harvard expressed the view that men and women who join single-sex organizations are do not act like modern men and women, exhibiting ‘behaviors and attitudes... at odds with the aspirations of the 21st century society to which the College hopes and expects our students will contribute,’” the lawyers wrote in the federal suit.

Moreover, the plaintiffs in the federal suit allege Harvard’s motivation for implementing the sanctions is inherently discriminatory. The complaint includes an accusation that the College hoped to “negatively affect” male students solely because they opt to join all-male groups in violation of Title IX. The plaintiffs cite previous Harvard reports that allegedly connect “the single-sex character of all-male organizations to a raft of negative characteristics.”

The lawyers claim that this constitutes an “anti-male bias” held by the crafters of the social group policy.

Khurana and other administrators, however, have repeatedly said the sanctions are meant to help improve diversity and inclusion on campus.

In December 2017, Faust and William F. Lee ’72, the senior fellow of the Corporation, wrote that single-gender social groups “stand in the way of our ability to provide a fully challenging and inclusive educational experience to the diverse students currently on our campus.”

Harvard has 20 days to file a response to the state suit, according to Russcol. caroline.engelmeyer@thecrimson.com. michael.xie@thecrimson.com.

SUPPORT FROM PAGE 1

RETURN FROM PAGE 1

National Fraternities and Sororities Support Lawsuit

Alpha Phi Sorority Reopens Chapter on Campus, Joins Suit

t­ he policy constitutes sex-based discrimination and denies undergraduates freedom of association.

A complaint filed in federal court by Greek organizations and three anonymous Harvard undergraduates asserts the sanctions are discriminatory based on sex and violate Title IX and the United States Constitution. A suit brought in Massachusetts court by two sororities alleges the social group penalties violate the Massachusetts Constitution and the state’s Civil Rights Act by denying undergraduates equal treatment based on their sex.

Representatives from na-

organization, Alpha Phi International. Alpha Phi International wrote in an August press release agreeing to honor the Cambridge chapter’s dissolution that the group chose to go co-ed “in direct response” to the sanctions.

The Harvard chapter petitioned the national organization to reissue its charter on Nov. 9, according to its lawsuit against the University. The suit says Alpha Phi reopened because it sees the sanctions as the “unjust destruction of women’s spaces and women’s rights.”

Alpha Phi International granted the request on Nov. 19.

Even though Harvard Alpha Phi has now reopened its doors, the group is not what it once was, according to the suit.

“Eleven former members, including approximately five who are current sophomores, have rejoined or expressed interest in rejoining,” the suit states.

“Now reopened, the chapter is but a shadow of the dynamic organization that once existed, because the Sanctions Policy has deterred Harvard women from joining or rejoining Iota Tau.” The lawsuit ties the decline in student interest in Alpha Phi to the sanctions. The sorority “peaked at 160 members in 2017, but membership fell sharply after Harvard announced and began to implement its Sanc-

Harvard attempted to tell the female students what would be good for them without bothering to ask them.

Rebecca J. Ramos ‘17 Former Delta Gamma President

tional fraternities and sororities Alpha Omicron Pi, Delta Upsilon, and Alpha Xi Delta wrote in emailed statements that they support the plaintiffs in both cases.

“Delta Upsilon International Fraternity strongly supports the action taken to challenge Harvard’s sanction policy that punishes students who join off-campus, single-sex social organizations,” Delta Upsilon Director of Communications Ashley Martin Schowengert wrote.

The plaintiffs in both cases defended their anti-sanctions arguments and denounced Harvard’s policy at a press conference held Monday in Harvard Square.

At the event, former Delta Gamma president Rebecca J. Ramos ’17 said the sanctions have crippled the sorority in the year since she graduated. Pointing to an anti-penalties protest attended by hundreds of women in the days following former University President Drew G. Faust’s 2016 announcement of the policy, she argued the policy has spurred backlash from some students for years.

“Harvard attempted to tell the female students what would be good for them without bothering to ask them,” Ramos said.

Lawyers overseeing both suits argued the policies are not only controversial, they are unconstitutional.

Zalkind, Duncan, and Bernstein partner Emma QuinnJudge, the lead lawyer for the state case, said at the press conference that Harvard’s sanc-

tions bar women from “opportunities” that men at the College can enjoy. She said the policy violates anti-sex discrimination provisions in the Massachusetts Constitution and Civil Rights Act. “These experiences and the opportunities that they provide go beyond students’ time at Harvard,” she said. “While they’re here, they provide them with networks, opportunities to learn from each other, to become leaders together, to share their views, to empower one another, to raise their voices together.”

R. Stanton Jones — a partner at Arnold & Porter, the well-connected D.C.-based law firm that has helped final clubs and Greek groups lobby Congress in the hope of canceling the sanctions — said at the press conference that the social organization penalties constitute “an unprecedented intrusion by Harvard into the private lives of its students and the choices they make about who to associate with off-campus.”

Harvard must file responses to both suits within the next several weeks, lawyers for the plaintiffs said Monday.

College spokesperson Rachael Dane did not respond to a request for comment Monday. shera.avi-yonah@thecrimson.com. caroline.engelmeyer@thecrimson.com.

tions Policy,” according to the suit.The lawsuit also notes that — in an apparent violation of the College’s social group policy — “some current sophomore members and alumnae in the group hold leadership positions in campus groups at this time.”

Alpha Phi and Harvard could not immediately be reached for comment Monday. After severing ties with Alpha Phi International in August, several former members of the sorority formed a new, co-ed group, The Ivy. That group will continue to exist on campus separately from the Alpha Phi chapter, according to messages sent in an internal Alpha Phi chat and obtained by The Crimson. Members of The Ivy will not be subject to the sanctions because the College granted the group recognition after it adopted a gender-neutral membership policy.

Lawyers argued in public filings that Alpha Phi returned to campus in order to make a public show of defiance against the sanctions. Group members also wrote it was important to reopen the Cambridge chapter to support Alpha Phi International’s lawsuit.

Alpha Phi president Amelia M. Apgar ’20 wrote in a message to former sorority members that the chapter “decided it was important to establish a presence on the campus due to the international lawsuit,” alluding

to the fact that Alpha Phi is an organization with chapters in both the U.S. and Canada.

She wrote in another message that the new Alpha Phi chapter planned to go “underground to keep sophomores as safe as possible, however they deem most appropriate.”

Eleven former members, including approximately five who are current sophomores, have rejoined or expressed interest in rejoining.

Lawsuit Filing

Alpha Phi had previously announced its return to Cambridge in a public Instagram post.

In addition to the Massachusetts state suit filed Monday by Alpha Phi and two other Greek groups, a set of fraternities, sororities, and anonymous Harvard students filed a separate federal complaint the same day alleging the sanctions violate Title IX and constitute sex discrimination. caroline.engelmeyer@thecrimson.com. michael.xie@thecrimson.com.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

DECEMBER 4, 2018

Proud to cover Harvard for 143 years and counting.

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON | DECEMBER 4, 2018

Four Seniors Win Chabad Menorah Toppled in Park Marshall Scholarship MENORAH FROM PAGE 1

founder and director of Chabad, said the organization has placed large menorahs on Cambridge Common and in other locations across the city for the past 19 years. Though the menorahs have been vandalized in the past, this is the first time it has happened “in broad daylight,” Zarchi said.

“It was really, you know, hateful,” Zarchi said. “He didn’t really care the fact that he was being observed and that there would be witnesses to it.”

“I wish I could say we’re shocked,” he added.

Last year saw a nearly 60 percent increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents reported in the United States — the largest single-year increase on record, according to the Anti-Defamation League. In October, 11 people died and six were wounded in a mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in ­

Pittsburgh, Penn., the deadliest-ever attack perpetrated against Jews on American soil.

And last week, a Columbia psychology professor’s office walls were vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti.

The New England branch of the Anti-Defamation League tweeted about the incident on Cambridge Common Monday afternoon, calling it “unacceptable.”

“Religious freedom means all faiths have to right to pray & celebrate without fear or intimidation,” the tweet reads.

The Criminal Investigations unit of the Cambridge Police Department had not yet identified a suspect as of Monday evening, Warwick said.

Incoming Harvard Hillel president Rebecca Thau ’20 said the executive director of Hillel, Rabbi Jonah Steinberg, has been in “constant commu-

nication” with the Harvard University Police Department since the Tree of Life shooting.

HUPD has since routinely stationed a car outside of Hillel.

Outgoing Hillel President Corey A. Gold ’19 said that though the incident left some students “very unsettled,” he believes most Jewish students feel safe at the University.

“I think that HUPD and the Cambridge police are taking perceived threats and real threats very seriously, especially during this especially sensitive time for the Jewish community,” he said.

Ultimately, Zarchi said he hopes people focus on the effort passersby made to restore the menorah — an action he called “a little modern-day Hanukkah miracle.”

“You see these wonderful people — wonderful people who we don’t know and could

be some even not of the Jewish faith — who were disturbed by what they witnessed and immediately sprung into action to restore it and to bring the menorah to its full glory,” Zarchi added.

Chabad student presidents Gabriela J. Siegal ’20, Anne A. Rosenblatt ’20, and Hannah K. Harris ’20 wrote in an email that they “condemn this act of vandalism,” but nevertheless will continue with their Hanukkah celebrations.

“We appreciate the efforts of the Cambridge community members who took the time to restore our menorah,” they wrote. “Despite the rise of anti-Semitism, tomorrow at 5pm, we will gather as a community on the steps of Widener library to light the Hanukkah candles with President Bacow.” molly.mccafferty@thecrimson.com

RHODES FROM PAGE 1

International Rhodes Scholars Selected Outside of the classroom, Romanova leads an a cappella group, The Harvard LowKeys, and has competed in synchronized skating on national and international levels.

Liu, a Human Development and Regenerative Biology concentrator, said he is “still kind of processing” the news. Liu, along with the other international Rhodes scholars, received notice of his win a week after the American Rhodes scholars were announced.

He said in an interview Sunday that he was driving home

from a movie with his friends during Thanksgiving break when he got the call.

“I was at a loss for words initially, and I think afterwards, I was just really grateful for all the support that I’ve had throughout the years at Harvard and beyond,” Liu said. “It really takes a village and so I’m just super grateful.”

Liu will be studying public policy, global health, and epidemiology at Oxford. He said his experience working as one of the directors of the Cambridge youth homeless shelter Y2Y led

him to see how “incredibly interdisciplinary” health challenges can be.

He said he hopes to work in pediatrics in community and homeless clinics after his Rhodes scholarship.

Mrkusic graduated from Harvard in 2017 and has since worked on a documentary about the criminal justice system, conducted climate change migration research, and worked as a freelance journalist.

At Harvard, she completed a special concentration in Environmental Studies and Human

Rights. She said she intends to continue that trajectory at Oxford through a masters of public policy and a masters in forced migration and refugee studies.

Liu said, despite winning a Rhodes, “not much has changed,” but he said he is ready for his future at Oxford.

“I’m still a little consumed by finals, I’m still very behind, but it’s still really humbling and I think in many ways, it’s exciting,” Liu said. alexandra.chaidez@thecrimson.com sanjana.narayanan@thecrimson.com

Faculty Appoints Stubbs Dean of Science

By AMY L. JIA and SANJANA L. NARAYANAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Physics and Astronomy Professor Christopher W. Stubbs has been appointed dean of science for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, according to an email sent by FAS Dean Claudine Gay to the faculty body last Thursday.

Stubbs served as interim dean of science since June, after Geophysics Professor Jeremy Bloxham stepped down from the position at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year. From 2007 to 2010, Stubbs chaired the Physics Department.

Stubbs said he has several new initiatives in mind. First up on his agenda: overseeing the recently established Quantitative Biology Initiative — which seeks to create predictive mathematical models for living systems — and the Quantum Science Initiative, which brings together physicists and engineers to collaborate in areas such as quantum computing.

“We have some interesting intellectual initiatives that my predecessors got underway that we need to get fully implemented,” Stubbs said. “Undertaking those in partnership with the Engineering School and making sure that those new scholarly enterprises flourish: that’s another objective.”

In terms of the new ideas ­

he will bring to the deanship, Stubbs said he aims to expand Harvard’s course offerings in the Sciences, given the new General Education program next year.

Science concentrators will now have to meet a Science, Technology, and Society requirement that cannot double-count with their concentration, so Stubbs said he wants students to have as many interesting options as possible.

“Things that distinguish a little bit the approach that I’ve taken from that of my predecessor is I’m deciding to try to play a strong role in curricular issues,” he said. “I’ve been talking a lot with department chairs and colleagues about offering a slate of courses that we think will be interesting and attractive to Harvard students and addressing some of the course volume requirements that we have.”

Stubbs also cited the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ upcoming move to the Allston campus — slated to open in Fall 2020 — as an opportunity to rethink the geographic layout of the Sciences departments.

“Coordinating that with what we do in Allston gives us an opportunity to do some longrange, strategic thinking about configuring the spaces that we have to achieve intellectual adjacencies, to revise our instruc-

tional spaces, to maybe move a little bit more in the direction of hands-on learning,” Stubbs said.

Finally, Stubbs emphasized his commitments to supporting postdoctoral students as they prepare to apply for faculty positions, as well as improving communication between faculty members and staff.

“We absolutely need to establish a mutually respectful and inclusive workplace,” Stubbs said. “We need to have faculty fully appreciate how essential the staff are in our running an effective organization and helping us achieve our educational and scholarly goals as a University.”

In addition to these new efforts, Stubbs said he wants to continue the progress made by his predecessor in promoting gender parity in the sciences.

He praised Bloxham and former FAS Dean Michael D. Smith for raising the percentage of female tenure-track faculty in the department to 50 percent.

“Given the gender representation challenges we face in these fields, I think that’s a tremendous accomplishment,” Stubbs said. “Our office is as committed to inclusive diversity as was the case with our predecessor. I certainly hope we can continue in that vein.”

Astronomy Department Chair Abraham “Avi” Loeb praised Stubbs as a “brilliant re-

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searcher” in an email. In particular, Loeb pointed to Stubbs’s contributions to the identification and characterization of dark matter and dark energy — two primary constituents of the universe that are still not well understood — pioneering work that expanded the frontiers of existing knowledge at the interface between physics and astronomy.

Regarding Stubbs’s tenure as interim dean of science, Loeb said his leadership style during that time was “focused on substance” and highly “efficient.”

“He is kind and generous in interactions with students and colleagues, and transparent and straightforward in his public deliberations,” Loeb wrote.

Loeb wrote that Stubbs has worked to promote consensus during group discussions and often ended meetings with a list of action items to achieve agreed-upon goals.

“There is no doubt in everyone’s mind that scientific research and education at FAS will blossom under Dean Stubbs’s leadership for years to come,” Loeb wrote. “We are all excited to work with Dean Stubbs in promoting science at Harvard and beyond.”wrote.

“We are all excited to work with Dean Stubbs in promoting science at Harvard and beyond.” amy.jia@thecrimson.com sanjana.narayana@thecrimson.com

By BRIDGER J. GORDON and ELIZABETH X. GUO CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Four seniors at the College were named winners of the 2019 Marshall Scholarship on Monday — marking the largest number of Harvard undergraduates selected as Marshall Scholars in the last five years.

Lyndon H. Hanrahan ’19, Justin C. Lee ’19, Manny A. Medrano ’19, and Vaibhav Mohanty ’19 are among the 48 U.S. undergraduate students selected for the prestigious scholarship, which covers the cost of a graduate-level education at an institution in the United Kingdom in any field of study.

This year’s scholarship class is the largest in the program’s 65-year history, according to a press release.

Hanrahan, a Quincy resident, is pursuing a joint concentration in English and Visual and Environmental Sciences with a secondary in Theater, Dance, and Media. Hanrahan said he aspires to become a filmmaker.

“It was so surreal to find out.

I didn’t think I was going to get it,” Hanrahan said. “I knew I was never going to be able to afford studying film post-grad, unless there was some sort of radical scholarship that allowed me to do so. I just sort of thought it was too wonderful an opportunity to pass up.”

Hanrahan said that during the in-person interview for the scholarship, he “tried to make a real plead for the arts as having a deserving and valid place within these post-graduate fellowships.” Hanrahan plans on using the scholarship to study at the graduate school at the Royal College of Art in London.

Lee, who is an Eliot resident concentrating in Economics with a secondary in Statistics, said he will use the scholarship to pursue a Master of Philosophy in Economic and Social History at the University of Oxford.

Encouraged to apply by Harvard Economics Professor and former Marshall Scholar Benjamin M. Friedman, Lee said he found the scholarship appealing because of the opportunity it presented for studying economic philosophy in Britain.

“I knew I wanted to do graduate work in economics in particular, but in the United States, ­

the econ programs are very mathematical, very empirically based, and that’s different from the more philosophical focus and historical focus of British universities,” Lee said.

On campus, Lee served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Economics Review and currently captains the Harvard Triathlon Club. He said that he also looks forward to joining Oxford’s triathlon team next fall.

Medrano, who is a fellow Eliot resident, also shares Lee’s enthusiasm for studying abroad. Medrano is concentrating in applied math at the College with a secondary in archaeology, and he will be pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of St. Andrew’s in Scotland next fall.

Since 2016, Medrano has been researching khipus, which are Incan artifacts were used to encode numeral information, with the Harvard Anthropology Department. Deciphering this language has been, according to Medrano, “the perfect applied math problem.”

“To study in a different country is always special and especially because the field that I work in is global,” Medrano said.

“I study another continent, so studying it from different viewpoints and from experts in different locations is really helpful to develop my own views on how to look at history and the past,” he added.

Mohanty, a resident of Quincy House, concentrates in Chemistry and Physics with a secondary in Music. Next fall, he plans to study theoretical physics at the University of Oxford.

“I’m incredibly excited. I’m looking forward to the wonderful opportunities that I’m going to have in the U.K. and in Oxford,” Mohanty said. “I want to become a physician scientist, but I want to combine theoretical and computational methods from physics and apply them to biology.”

Mohanty praised the Marshall Scholarship’s mission of fostering international collaboration and interdisciplinary study.

“I think the Marshall has been looking for scholarly independence and an ability to collaborate with individuals across disciplines towards this common goal,” Mohanty said.

48 Seniors Chosen for Phi Beta Kappa Class of 2019

By KEVIN T. CHEN and ANISSA R. MEDINA CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Forty-eight seniors began their Monday with some exciting news: they had been elected to the College’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, a national academic honor society.

They join 24 juniors elected last spring.

“I woke up to the news this morning and was over the moon excited — receiving a nomination was an honor in itself,” Anant T. Pai ’19 wrote in an email. “I never imagined I would actually be elected.”

Harvard’s Alpha Iota chapter typically selects students who have “chosen the most challenging courses available, pursued independent research as part of an honors concentration, achieved excellence in coursework across all academic divisions, and attained outstanding grades in all courses,” according to the College’s Handbook for Students.

About 44 percent of the class of 2019’s newest inductees concentrate in the division of Science, a change from last year, when Social Sciences made up the largest portion with 42 percent of the class.

Those studying within the Social Sciences constitute roughly 35 percent of the 48 seniors this year, while the Arts and Humanities and the School of Engineering and Applied Science represent 13 and 8 percent, respectively.

The concentration with the highest representation among inductees was Economics, with six students receiving the honor. A total of 22 different concentrations made up the “Senior 48.”

Many students were excited and thankful upon hearing of their induction.

Rana C. Bansal ’19 wrote in an email that felt humbled when ­

he received the email informing him of his selection.

“I’ve picked my classes though my interests in economics, government, and statistics and try to balance quantitative and qualitative coursework each semester in order to make the most of what Harvard has to offer,” Bansal wrote.

Many of the honorees said they explored interests beyond their concentrations during college, enrolling in classes in many academic departments.

Sarah Horne ’19 wrote in an email that she took courses in seven different academic disciplines her freshman year.

“Interdisciplinary learning is incredibly enriching, and I have found that I learn the most when I am studying the same issues from many different academic perspectives,” she wrote.

Daniela Muhleisen ’19, a Government concentrator, wrote in an email that she also appreciated the opportunity to engage in an interdisciplinary education.

“I love learning about Latin American history and violence prevention and public health policy, but I also love writing poetry and fiction,” Muhleisen wrote. “I have been able to pursue all these passions here. It’s really just a blessing.”

Yanet C. Gomez ’19, a Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology concentrator, wrote in an email that she coupled her biology studies with social anthropology classes to prepare her for a career as a physician, and that she was “extremely grateful” for the recognition.

“As a first generation student and immigrant, my time at Harvard has not been easy; I see this as a huge honor,” Gomez wrote.

The 48 students will be officially inducted into the society during a ceremony on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in Leverett House’s Library Theater.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | DECEMBER 4, 2018

PAGE 6

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

COLUMN

Harvard Should Compensate Its Overworked Workers

An AsianAmerican Athlete’s Application to Harvard

T

he University recently acknowledged that 291 part-time workers surpassed their 17.5 hour weekly cap last year, or were “cycled” between working as “temps,” or temporary workers, and “LHTs,” or less-than-half-time workers, to avoid exceeding their 90 day limits. The University may have sought to take advantage of this loophole to cut costs. We believe its actions were unethical, and that it should compensate its employees for the extra hours they worked.

From a purely fiscal standpoint, the case for cycling workers from temp to LHT status and back is clear. Doing so allows the University to avoid providing workers with full-time employment benefits. From a legal perspective, the practice does not run afoul of any laws.

However, this does not mean it is ethical for Harvard to engage in these practices. Many of these workers deal with economic uncertainty and put in many hours hoping to secure elusive full-time positions after working as temps or LHTs. It is therefore only fair that Harvard remunerate employees for all the extra hours they worked, given the expectation of

stable long-term employment that lured many to work part-time in the first place.

Fortunately, the University and the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers came together to forge a new agreement that was put up for a vote yesterday. A joint union-Harvard committee will ensure that the agreement is enforced properly.

Additionally, the University must release data detailing the hours that LHTs and temps work, as well as the duration of their employment. The new guidelines

Many of these workers deal with economic uncertainty and put in many hours hoping to secure elusive full-time positions appear to be a significant improvement for part-time workers, as they promise to break the process of cycling and lengthy workweeks that have exploited workers for far too long.

Nonetheless, it is worth noting that both the union and Harvard have not explicitly incorporated the voices of those affected by this policy in the negotiation process. Temp workers and LHTs are not members of HUCTW. However, their opinions should certainly matter in deciding the labor practices that they will work under. We believe that moving forward, both parties should solicit these workers’ thoughts.

We expect the HUCTW poll to have been a free and fair election, leading to a decision that will make the lives of hundreds of workers easier and more prosperous — whether they choose to accept the agreement or return to the bargaining table and fight for a new contract.

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.

—Ridhwana Z. Haxhillari ’21, a Crimson editorial comper, is a Government concentrator in Lowell House.

—Grace M. Chao ’19 is an Economics concentrator in Mather House. Her column appears on alternate Tuesdays.

Doing is Loving

L

ove what you do and do what you love.” This age-old phrase was preached by Ray D. Bradbury and now continues to be used, overused, and reversed. It has even been turned into an acronym — DWYL. But what exactly does it mean for us to do something and love it? Or to choose to do something for the rest of our lives because we love it?

After being fortunate enough to spend some time interning this past summer, I was able to gain insight into what adulthood is truly like. Luckily, most of my mentors were happily enveloped in what they were doing. So, seeing them take on task after task with enthusiasm was cause for hope. But when the questions turned over to me and my future plans, I reflexively responded with “I want to do what I love and love what I do.” Though this phrase was followed by synchronized head nods and uh-huhs, after thinking about what I had just said, the phrase seemed to only leave me more confused.

Everyone wants to spend their waking hours doing things they enjoy. No one goes out into the world wanting to work for something or someone they despise and actively choose to do things they hate. Yet, most people genuinely hate what they do and visibly and audibly complain about it. (I see you working on those problem sets, Econ concentrators shooting for Goldman Sachs.) Thus, if everyone acknowledges the meaning of the DWYL phrase, why do people still commit to things they hate? Does the phrase not carry the weight that it once did?

M

which we are doing what we love?

After pondering the question for myself and then asking family and friends, the answer is simple: Doing what you love does not have to mean doing what we think we should love or what other people think we would love. It can often mean doing something that benefits those we love, including ourselves.

That custodian mopping the floors at 9 a.m. has a two year-old daughter at home who he gets to see every night after his shift. When he comes home, he can spend quality time with her and treat her to nutritious formula that he is able to pay for with his custodian paycheck. The doctor, the hotel receptionist, the graphic designer, the mechanical engineer, the mail carrier, and the hundreds of unique jobs that an individual can have all have the potential to be worthwhile if they sustain a higher meaning for themselves.

Doing what one loves, then, means doing what one values, whether that is in direct relation to one’s job or a result of it.

Thus, as finals approach and as the stress starts to fume out of students’ ears, it is important that we remind ourselves that we are not defined by what we assume our dream position or dream life will be. It is important to live in the moment and realize that what we are doing now is our dream. We are at Harvard, we are learning incredible things, and we are blessed with opportunities others do not have. Just breathe and everything else will fall into place.

OP-ED

Not necessarily. With looming financial and future obligations, it becomes ever more difficult to do what one loves as one gets older. Everybody loves and values things differently. However, a common characteristic among people who do not “do what they love” is that they love something else more. Their ultimate choice of occupation took a sacrifice.

In my view, we are essentially all doing what we love, just not in the typical way everyone thinks. For example, the custodian of your first-year dorm — more likely than not — would prefer to not clean up your vomit from the night before. Yet, there they are the next morning, at 9 a.m., mopping the bathroom floor and genuinely wishing you a good morning as you grudgingly walk to the morning class you thought you could handle but are now severely regretting.

As a twenty year-old, that custodian mopping up your vomit may have used the same DWYL phrase to describe their future. But at the time, doing what they loved most likely did not involve a mop and some disinfectant. And, this does not apply only to the lower paying ends of the spectrum. A doctor, lawyer, broker, or politician may not always love what they do. In actuality, many individuals in those fields warn against joining their field. They would suggest you avoid the troubles associated with the job entirely and tell you to choose something “better.”

So, how will we ever make the right choice? How will we ever know what loving what one does really means? And how will we choose a career and a life in

Grace M. Chao THE UNDERGROUND

y curiosity got the better of me a month ago, and I emailed a request to the Harvard FAS Registrar’s Office to view my admissions file. I figured that with only one semester left in my college career here, I’d be distant enough from my application process and freshman “community conversations” about imposter syndrome to handle any brutally honest comments about my application from the admission department. Of course, the continuing saga of the Students for Fair Admissions lawsuit against Harvard also only piqued my curiosity.

To be perfectly honest, I did not necessarily enter the viewing room last week with the best of intentions. I was searching for a scrap of evidence that my race or status as a recruited athlete overshadowed the rest of my application, with which I could write a scathing column. Ultimately, I was underwhelmed by the assessment in my file. But what was I expecting? A handwritten comment in the margins of my Common Application standardized test score section saying, “scores not quite high enough for an Asian, but good enough for an athlete”?

I chide myself now for my ill-conceived expectations. Even though the admissions trial has shed a bright light on the mysterious 1 to 6 ranking system and evaluation process, there were still several markings I could not identify the meaning of. The only substantive assessments accessible were comments from my alumni and on-campus interviews. These certainly carried no explicit acknowledgement of the racial tinge that both sides of the trial seem to imagine heavily color every application, but unsurprisingly my interviewers acknowledged that I was being actively recruited by the rugby coach.

I was left wondering if perhaps the whole trial affair isn’t just a lot of sound and fury. Admittedly, my mixed Asian-white ethnic and racial background hasn’t had the same influence on my lived experiences that it’s had for some of my peers. I shouldn’t be surprised that it didn’t figure very strongly in my application. But I also know, thanks to some surprisingly excellent Crimson reporting, that there was still more to my admissions process than what I could see in that slim folder. I’ll never be privy to those closed-door committee discussions or votes where more unpacking of status and qualifications take place.

Perhaps the most valuable part of this experience was a reminder that my admissions readers and evaluators have initials and names, and live real lives. As I read their comments, I didn’t feel like the abstraction of “Harvard” in all its overwhelming weight and legacy was scrutinizing me with a magnifying glass in an austere admissions court. Rather, real people with names were basically filling out a form, a strangely comforting sense of personal bureaucracy that felt very different from the admissions trial’s rhetoric.

Don’t get me wrong: I still don’t believe for a second that the admissions process doesn’t somehow move the goalposts for applicants based on various labels and statuses. If anything, this trial has revealed what we already all knew to be true — that college admissions is nothing but a crapshoot for most people. But I believe it is possible for us to think too much of central figureheads, to improperly personify an institution or idea into something it is not.

What do I mean by this? Well, when we speak in such generalized nothingburgers such as “Harvard is committed to diversity” or “Harvard under-resources this-or-that interest group,” we seem to envision some omnipotent master “Harvard”-planner pushing buttons and pulling levers to nefariously alter the balance of power and resources on this campus. If our demands and agenda are heard, we have found favor with the all-powerful brain; if they aren’t, the powers that be are clearly conspiring against us.

The reality is surely much more mundane. I often joke to my friends at dinner (usually followed by groans) that mid-level bureaucrats are the ones who really run the world. It’s not as if University President Lawrence S. Bacow or Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana are personally reading applications or approving funding for student groups. The middling Office of Student Life administrators, a cohort of very normal admissions officers, the likes of DMV clerks and the IRS, and other oft-faceless rubber-stamp bureaucrats who are just trying to do their jobs and stay in their administrative lanes — these are the ones who have a much more measurable impact on our lives.

I struggle to believe that most large institutions like Harvard, with its countless demands of routine administrative machinery, can actually enact something like the master scheme to reward or punish chosen groups we seem to imagine it has. If anything, viewing my admissions file was a reassuring yet somewhat haunting reminder of the human nature of institutions.

CALEB D. SCHWARTZ—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

By RIDHWANA Z. HAXHILLARI

Much ado about nothing.

PAGE 7

SPORTS

THIS WEEK’S GAMES

PREVIEW

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | DECEMBER 4, 2018

TUESDAY ______________________________________

WEDNESDAY ______________________________________

SATURDAY ______________________________________

Women’s Basketball vs. Maine 7:00 p.m., Lavietes Pavilion

Women’s Squash vs. Dartmouth 5:00 p.m., Murr Center

Women’s Basketball vs. Rutgers 2:00 p.m., Lavietes Pavilion

Men’s Ice Hockey at Bentley 7:05 p.m., Waltham, Mass.

Men’s Squash vs. Dartmouth 5:00 p.m., Murr Center

Men’s Basketball at Vermont 7:00 p.m., Burlington, Vt.

MEN’S SQUASH

Harvard Crushes MIT, Is Unbeaten Ahead of Ivy Play

By LEV COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In a riveting fourth game, Harvard sophomore John Finley Ong fought back from a deficit to delight the crowd by winning a nail-biting game and tying his match at 2-2. It was the loudest the crowd got all afternoon, but it was not enough for Ong, who ended up losing the fifth game handily.

That was about the only thing that went wrong Friday for the No. 2 Crimson (3-0), who thrashed MIT 8-1 in the Murr Center for a third straight easy win to start the season.

The next-most exciting match took place at the same time on the furthest-away court, where senior Rana Bansal roared back from a 2-0 deficit to eek out the third game and then take the fourth and fifth, ensuring that Harvard would go at least 8-1 for the third consecutive match.

“Rana had a great comeback,” sophomore Samuel Scherl said. “He was down and won in five, that was awesome.”

The other seven matches lacked the same level of intrigue that came with Ong’s and Bansal’s. The Crimson swept all seven, with the gap in talent evident pretty early on in most of the matches. Freshman Marwan Tarek, playing from the No.1 position, was especially impressing, wowing the crowd with difficult shot after difficult shot en route to a smooth victory in which he only allowed 11 points.

Tarek was one of two freshmen who played Friday. On an adjacent court, freshman George Crowne took a little while to warm up, falling behind in the first game before battling back to take that one

and the next two for good measure.

“They [the freshmen] are looking really strong and really composed,” junior captain Timothy Brownell said. “They’re playing beyond their years and I’m really impressed so far. If they can just stay the course, it’s looking like a good season so far.”

While the first three matches of the season have not been especially competitive, they still serve as valuable experiences for everyone, particularly the freshmen.

“I think it’s been great getting the freshmen used to college matches in less intense situations,” Scherl said. “It’s hard when you’re playing at Trinity and there are 150 Trinity people yelling and getting in your face. It’s an easier way to ease into college competition and see what it’s like.”

Brownell, playing from the No. 2 position, and Scherl, No. 3, both matched Tarek’s dominant performance, ceding just 11 points each in their respective matches. They both looked assured from the get-go, jumping out to healthy leads in each game and winning wire-towire.

“I thought my movement was pretty good,” Brownell said. “It was my first match this season competitively, so it just felt really good to be out there wearing the jersey.”

Harvard was sure not to underestimate MIT (6-3) despite the gap in quality between the two teams.

“It’s about taking everyone seriously and preparing well,” Brownell said. “For these guys [MIT] we’re one of the biggest matches of the year, so they come out to play hard and we’ve got to respect them.”

EYES ON THE PRIZE Losing just one of its nine contests on the day, Harvard’s game saw overall dominance. HENRY ZHU—CRIMSON PHTOTOGRAPHER

This was the last of three matches against Boston-area rivals, and the Crimson took care of all three with ease, winning by a combined 25-2.

Now, though, the going will get tougher, as the Harvard’s last match before a month-long gap comes next Wednesday against No.7 Dartmouth (1-0). The Big Green will be the best opponent the Crimson has faced all season, and it will also be Har-

vard’s first Ivy League match.

The Crimson will hope to match last year’s dominant 9-0 victory over Dartmouth. It will seek the return of a few injured players, one of whom, junior Saadeldin Abouaish, played from the No. 1 position in that match last year and came back from a 2-1 deficit to edge out his opponent 3-2.

“I think when we get our injured guys back in the lineup

we’re going to be a notch better,” Scherl said.

After the Dartmouth match, Harvard will have played a lot more matches (four) before the semester break than it has historically (usually no more than two). Scherl downplayed the significance of this schedule shift and went on to say that he has been happy with the team’s early preparations this season.

“We’re using every match as

an opportunity to identify some gaps and weaknesses and fix those,” Scherl said. “Over the course of the season we’ve gotten a lot fitter — fitness has been a big component this year.”

The national championship hopefuls will look to use that enhanced fitness to cruise into the semester break at 4-0. The Crimson’s match against Dartmouth starts at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Murr Center courts.

SWIM AND DIVE

Harvard Travels South to Meets in Texas, Georgia

DIPPING THEIR TOES IN Recent meets are important for swimmers and divers in preparing for Ivy League season. LU SHAO—CRIMSON PHTOTOGRAPHER

By MATTHEW MU CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Last week, both the men’s and women’s swimming teams traveled out to Austin, Texas for the Hall of Fame Invitational and the diving teams to Athens, Ga., for the Georgia Fall Invitational.

“The Texas meet is an opportunity to really suit up to see how we’ve progressed up to the midseason,” senior Grant Goddard said. “All the top swimming schools are there so it’s really good to swim against them to see where we are.”

Beginning on Wednesday night, the men’s swim team fielded a team of sophomore Levente Bathory, freshman An-

drew Acosta, junior Raphael Marcoux, and junior Zach Snyder in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Placing 11th with a time of 6:40.89, Harvard competed in the event for the first time this season.

Thursday opened up with with final qualifying times in the 500-yard freestyle posted by senior Brennan Novak, Snyder, and senior Gavin Springer.

With times of 4:19.11, 4:26.36, and 4:29.23, respectively, all three swimmers notched season-best times.

In the 200-yard individual medley, Harvard had junior Daniel Chang and senior Daniel Tran both qualify for the finals.

In the championships rounds, Chang defeated the surround-

ing competition in the C-final with a season-best time of 1:46.66, thus qualifying for the NCAA B Standard. Tran finished the D-Final in 1:49.43 which gave him a third place finish among the eight racers.

Closing Thursday’s opening session, junior Dean Farris notched the third fastest time in the preliminary rounds of the 50 freestyle at 19.49. This was the first time this season that a Harvard swimmer broke 20 seconds in the event.

The night ended with a series of relays, with the quartet of Farris, Marcoux, Goddard, and sophomore Mahlon Reihman coming in at fifth with a time of 1:19.80 in the 200 freestyle relay. Shortly after was the 400

medley relay in which Farris, Chang, Marcoux, and Reihman finished seventh with a time of 3:10.38.

On Friday, Farris qualified for two NCAA B Standards in the 200 free with a season best time of 1:33.53 and a first place finish in the 100 back with a time of 45.26. Now, the Atlanta native holds the top three times in the 100 back in program history.

Daniel Chang followed in Farris’ footsteps with an additional B Standard qualification in the 400 yard individual medley, posting a time of 3:51.56. The men’s team meet ended with both Novak and Snyder putting up NCAA B Standard qualifying times of 15:02.72 and 15:23.99,

respectively, in the 1,650 yard freestyle on Saturday.

“We had a really strong showing,” Goddard commented. “Usually when we go to Texas, a lot of the guys go to pick up their NCAA cuts to qualify for the NCAA championships in March. I was really impressed with what we did out there — a lot of the times that guys were getting were top times in the Ivy League.”

In Athens, Georgia, the men’s dive team had sophomore Alec DeCaprio earning a season-best and NCAA Qualifying Standard 307.10 points to come in sixth place in the 1-meter board. Sophomore Hal Watts followed in eighth with 271.30 points. The next day, Watts was Harvard’s top performer, finishing seventh in the 3-meter board with 301.85 points.

For the women’s swim team, the Harvard quartet of senior Sonia Wang, freshman Samantha Shelton, freshman Helena Moreno, and junior Miki Dahlke finished in seventh place with a time of 7:09.84 in the 800yard freestyle relay. Foursomes of senior Meagan Popp, freshman Mikki Thompson, sophomore Michelle Owens, and senior Claire Pinson and senior Brittany Usinger, junior Matti Harrison, freshman Liz Boyer, and senior Valerie Yoshimura finished the night with times of 7:20.11 and 7:23.97, respectively.

“The freshmen are swimming amazingly,” said tri-captain Meagan Popp. “It’s really good seeing our freshman adapting to the college system and really thriving.”

On Thursday, Dahlke came in second place of the B-final of the 500-yard freestyle with a NCAA Qualifying B Standard time of 4:45.45. Meanwhile, Wang recorded Harvard’s top time in the 200 individual medley with a B standard time and third place finish of 1:59.19.

The night ended with the

quartet of Dahlke, junior Mei Lynn Colby, Shelton, and sophomore Ingrid Wall producing a season best time of 1:32.36 in the 200 free relay and the quartet of Harrison, sophomore Jaycee Yegher, sophomore Cassandra Pasadyn, and Pinson posting a 3:49.17 finish in the 400 medley relay.

On Friday, Dahlke posted Harvard’s fastest time of the year in the 100 yard butterfly with a B Standard time of 53.64.

Shelton duplicated this in the 200 freestyle with a 1:46.45. In the finals later that night, Shelton posted the eighth fastest time in the event and Dahlke came in fourth in the B-final.

On the final day, Shelton, the Texas native, posted Harvard’s first sub two minute in the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 1:54.98. Both Yagher and Popp placed in the A final of the 200 breaststroke with times of 2:13.85 and 2:16.19, respectively. Two other swimmers posted B Standard times on Saturday, with Dahlke finishing the 100 freestyle in 49.01 and Usinger posting a 1:58.04 in the 200 butterfly.

“We had some really good swims,” says Popp. “For us, this meet was more of a practice meet preparing us for the Ivies that will come later in the season. Right now, people were working on their techniques in their strokes and it was just really inspiring to see all the fast swims.”

In Athens, senior Mikaela Thompson finished in third place in a season best effort of 290.50 in the 3-meter diving event. Harvard had two other divers place in the top 10, with freshman Esther Lawrence placing fifth with 264.80 and sophomore Georgina Milne in ninth with 249.75. In the 1-meter dive, Lawrence came in fifth place with 270.95, Thompson in eighth with 24.80, and Milne in ninth with 268.00.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | DECEMBER 4, 2018