NEWS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON JANUARY 27, 2023
WRONGFUL DEATH CASE
HARVARD ADMISSIONS FROM PAGE 1
Family Appeals Dismissal of Wrongful Death Lawsuit LEGAL BATTLE. A judge dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against Harvard in December. The family of the former student has now filed an appeal. BY J. SELLERS HILL AND NIA ORAKWUE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
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he family of Luke Z. Tang ’18, a Harvard undergraduate who died by suicide in 2015, has appealed the December dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit which alleges the University and two residential deans were negligent in their care of Tang. Filed in 2018 by Tang’s father, the complaint accuses the defendants — Harvard itself, Senior Resident Dean Catherine R. Shapiro, former Lowell House Resident Dean Caitlin M. Casey ’03, and Counseling and Mental Health Services employee Melanie G. Northrop — of “negligence and carelessness” resulting in Tang’s death. Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Brent A. Tingle heard the case on Nov. 1. Last month, he dismissed claims against Harvard, Shapiro, and Casey, writing that the parties sufficiently satisfied their duty of care to Tang following an initial suicide attempt in spring 2015. The appeal, which was filed in the Massachusetts Appeals Court on Jan. 19, argues that be-
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cause Harvard and its deans were aware of Tang’s previous suicide attempt, they carried an “affirmative duty” to Tang which did not cease until a medical professional declared he was no longer at risk of suicide. The appeal argues the court “erroneously made a factual finding” that Harvard did not owe Tang care. “The non-clinician has an affirmative duty to make sure the at-risk student is receiving the ‘comprehensive coordinated’ care he/she needs regardless of the student’s words or actions,” the filing reads.
“No one at Harvard did anything affirmatively to make sure Luke was receiving the treatment it knew he needed and required him to have,” the filing reads. David W. Heinlein, the attorney representing Tang’s family in the suit, could not be immediately reached for comment following the appeal. Both the original complaints and arguments made in the appeal by Tang’s family are built on precedent originating from Nguyen v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case
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No one at Harvard did anything affirmatively to make sure Luke was receiving the treatment it knew he needed and required him to have. David W. Heinlein Attorney representing the family of Luke Z. Tang ’18
According to the filing, the College — by requiring Tang to enter into a “care contract” and providing mental health services through Harvard University Health Services — “assumed a duty of reasonable care” to Tang. This duty renders Harvard liable for harm due to a failure to provide this care for Tang, it claims.
concerning a student suicide on Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s campus in 2009. The ruling in that case established conditions in which universities can be held legally responsible for student suicide, including the student informing university officials of suicidal ideation or past suicide attempts.
Heinlein’s appeal explicitly references the precedent set in Nguyen v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Despite the controlling mandate of Nguyen, and the factors of this case which indisputably give rise to a duty of case under it, the Superior Court — in an almost unheard-of fashion given the applicable standard of review — granted summary judgment to the defendants on the issue of breach of duty — an element of the claim that must be considered by the jury,” the appeal reads. The filing also argues that the University still owed a duty of care to Tang even after he “continually denied” to officials that he was still suicidal. “One known suicide attempt is enough to trigger the affirmative duty,” the filing reads. “What is absent from the record is any evidence that a medical professional opined that Luke was no longer at risk of death by suicide or that Luke no longer required counseling,” the filing reads. Harvard spokesperson Rachael Dane declined to comment on the appeal. In November 2022, Tingle allowed claims in the suit against Counseling and Mental Health Service employee Northrop, who served as Tang’s case manager after his suicide attempt, to proceed. Her case will go to a jury trial if it is not settled out of court. sellers.hill@thecrimson.com nia.orakwue@thecrimson.com
‘A Little Bit Like Being at Home’: Harvard Student Groups Celebrate Lunar New Year
Admissions Trial Transcipts Released
A judge released transcripts from a 2019 admissions trial held at the John J. Moakley Courthouse. JUSTIN F. GONZALEZ—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
information, the nature and degree of the harm, the reliability of the information, and the interest that the public has in the information” when deciding which sidebars should be unsealed. The sealed transcripts include an email exchange between Thomas J. Hibino, director of the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, and William R. Fitzsimmons ’67, dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. According to Burroughs, Hibino’s email contained a “joke memo” written as if a Harvard admissions officer was “inappropriately satirizing” Asian American applicants. Hibino had previously headed the investigation of Harvard College’s admissions process for discrimination against Asian American applicants. Burroughs did not specify the date the email was sent. “The material is dated, it implicates the interests of a third party who was never cross-examined at trial, and its relevance to the case is limited only to the Dean’s response, which shall be unsealed,” Burroughs wrote. “Further, the offensive attempt at humor includes inappropriate and inflammatory language that does not need to be repeated or aired,” Burroughs added. “The specific words used are not relevant to the case — the salient information is the recipient’s reaction to the email, which will be unsealed.” In response to Hibino’s email, Fitzsimmons wrote, “I’m
stunned. This person passed away a few years ago, and I had forgotten she had such a sense of humor. Will deconstruct at lunch. Where should we go?” Harvard spokesperson Rachael Dane declined to comment on the decision or Fitzsimmons’ response. In a Nov. 15 letter to Burroughs, Harvard lawyer Seth P. Waxman ’73 requested that trial transcripts containing sidebars remain sealed to protect “personal and confidential information.” On Nov. 17, SFFA filed a letter agreeing that identifying information should remain sealed, but opposed Harvard’s blanket request to keep the sidebars sealed. “SFFA had no objections to unsealing,” SFFA President Edward J. Blum said in an emailed statement to The Crimson on Friday. Burroughs ruled in favor of Harvard in the 2018 admissions trial, striking down allegations of discrimination against Asian Americans in the College’s admissions process. “I was surprised that Harvard objected to unsealing the sidebars because it really had been four years since the trial,” Gersen said. “And the case is now at the Supreme Court of the United States.” The Supreme Court is expected to hand down a decision ending race-conscious admissions in higher education in early spring or summer. michelle.amponsah@thecrimson.com emma.haidar@thecrimson.com
HLS Pledges $500k Gift to Royall House and Slave Quarters BY JO B. LEMANN AND NEIL H. SHAH CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Hanging decorations adorn Leverett House dining hall to celebrate Lunar New Year. JOEY HUANG—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER BY MADELEINE A. HUNG AND JOYCE E. KIM CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Ushering in the Year of the Rabbit, student groups across campus celebrated Lunar New Year with plans of banquets and dinners in the near future. This year, the Lunar New Year fell on Jan. 22 — the day before spring semester classes began. Through their celebrations, affinity groups and some upperclassman houses hoped to bring the feeling of home to Harvard. The Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Students Association will host their annual Lunar New Year banquet next Friday, featuring performances from the Harvard Taekwondo Club, a traditional lion dance, and a multicourse family-style dinner. Christy Zheng ’25, co-president of the Chinese Students Association, said she was “excited to bring everyone back together again.” “Lunar New Year is just such an important holiday to the Asian community, and normally, we would be at home celebrating with our families,” she said. “But since we’re at college, we want-
ed to create a space where people could come and celebrate with their friends and still have the big feast and performances that they might have at home.” “Lunar New Year as a holiday is just the most important, and it’s a symbol of growth and renewal — just like the new year,” she added. “And so we wanted to make sure that there’s a space to celebrate that.” Amy Huang ’24, another co-president of the Chinese Students Association, said it is important for students to celebrate with others during the Lunar New Year.
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It’s kind of like Christmas in Taiwan – and everyone would go and visit their grandparents and eat together. Henry Kuo ’23 Co-President, Harvard Taiwanese Cultural Society
“I think it’s really important to a lot of people here — a lot of students — to be surrounded by that
community,” she said. Henry Kuo ’23, co-president of the Harvard Taiwanese Cultural Society, said the organization plans to hold a dinner gathering in the next few weeks to celebrate Lunar New Year. “It’s to bring together people in a community,” Kuo said. “I think people bond through eating.” Kuo described Lunar New Year in Taiwan as a time for families to get together and see relatives they have not visited in the past year. “This is probably the only time when everyone is on holiday,” Kuo said. “It’s kind of like Christmas in Taiwan — and everyone would go and visit their grandparents and eat together, have fun together.” “It’s more of a family gathering for us — for TCS,” he added. On Thursday, the Harvard Vietnamese Association hosted a Vietnamese New Year celebration — Tet — in the Lowell House dining hall. The event featured traditional food, as well as music and games. Anna G. Luong ’25 said she attended the event because she found it difficult being away from family for the New Year. “I think — especially being
away from home and being away from family — having a little bit of an experience of what at home would be called Tet with my peers is what really drew me to this event,” she said. “Also, they have amazing Vietnamese food,” Luong added. Luong said that her appreciation for Lunar New Year has deepened as she has grown older. “In the past, I would have said, ‘Oh, it’s a means of getting some extra money throughout the year,’” she said. “But now that I’m older, it really symbolizes for me appreciating my family and being able to grow up a little bit — sit at the adults’ table and talk to them, let everyone know how I’m doing, and staying in touch.” Ethan N. Phan ’25 — social chair of the Harvard Vietnamese Association — said he enjoys their events because they feel “a little bit like being at home.” “I really miss home and I miss my family,” he said. “And going to the Vietnamese events really feels kind of comforting and reminds me of home. It makes Harvard feel more like a welcoming space.” madeleine.hung@thecrimson.com joyce.kim@thecrimson.com
arvard Law School announced H a gift of $500,000 to the Royall House and Slave Quarters on Wednesday as part of a continued effort to recognize the University’s historical ties to slavery. The Royall House and Slave Quarters, a museum in Medford, Massachusetts, is located on the former plantation of the Royall family, which was the largest slaveholding family in the state. At least 60 enslaved people lived on the plantation, and their forced labor contributed to the Royall’s fortune. Isaac Royall Jr. bequeathed an endowed professorship in 1781 that became Harvard’s first professorship of law and the forerunner of the Law School. In 2016, HLS retired its school seal — which contained the Royall family’s crest — due to its connections to slavery. The school unveiled a new seal in 2021 and permanently retired the Royall Professorship of Law last year. According to the school’s press release, HLS and Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences aim to work with the Royall House and Slave Quarters on “future research and educational programming” and facilitate visits by Harvard affiliates to the site “for reflection, learning, and research.” In recent years, Harvard has worked to study and confront the role slavery played in its rise to prominence. The University released its landmark Harvard and
the Legacy of Slavery report in April 2022, which includes mentions of Isaac Royall Jr. and the Royall family’s connections to the University. The report also acknowledged HLS professor Janet E. Halley’s research into Isaac Royall Jr. in 2008, which inspired students to advocate for the Law School’s seal to be changed. Harvard Law School Dean John F. Manning ’82 said in the press release that the school has “grappled with the painful history” of its origins. “Our work with the Royall House and Slave Quarters will help us continue together to acknowledge, learn from, and share with others our complicated history, to honor and commemorate the enslaved people whose labor generated wealth that contributed to the establishment of our law school, and to better understand and address the ongoing legacy of slavery in today’s society,” Manning said. Kyera Singleton, the executive director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters, said in the release that she hopes the Law School’s donation to the museum will help educate more people about “how the legacies of slavery impact communities, particularly Black communities and communities of color, today.” “To understand contemporary society, we all must contend with the history of slavery and the institutions it founded and shaped in our own backyards,” Singleton said. jo.lemann@thecrimson.com neil.shah@thecrimson.com
