The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLV, No. 30

The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLV No. 30 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Thursday, march 1, 2018

The Harvard Crimson The move to Harvard from small town, small college life can be a challenging adjustment. Editorial PAGE 6

Basketball aims to win four-team tournament to qualify for March Madness. Sports PAGE 7

Lewis Named Grad.

Speaker

Shelters Fight to Serve in Winter

By Lucy Wang

By Hamid A. Khan and A. Daniela Perez

Crimson Staff Writer

Crimson Staff Writers

Congressman and civil rights leader John R. Lewis will come to campus to speak at Harvard’s 367th commencement ceremony, the University announced Wednesday.

Lewis will address graduates during the Afternoon Program of commencement, which will take place in Tercentenary Theatre on May 24.

Lewis, a decorated icon of civil rights in the United States, has represented Georgia’s 5th congressional district for over 30 years. He was one of the “Big Six” leaders who organized the March on Washington in 1963 and he helped lead the 1965 march across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. Lewis was awarded an honorary niversity President Drew G. Faust said in an interview with the Harvard

In early January, the “bomb cyclone” hit Cambridge.

All Harvard University operations, including emergency health services, shut down almost immediately. The city gradually disappeared under more than seven inches of snow. At one point, more than 24,000 Bostonians lost power.

Throughout it all, Y2Y and the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter kept their doors open. The two shelters— both founded and run by Harvard students—stayed open to serve the local homeless community. Y2Y and HSHS remained operational despite a significant dearth of volunteers, given most College students spend winter break away from campus.

The bomb cyclone eventually

See Lewis Page 3

Y2Y, a student-run overnight shelter for homeless youth, is located in the basement of First Parish church in Harvard Square.

Hayoung

Hwang—Crimson photographer

See SHELTERS Page 3

First-Gen Groups Urge Legacy Clarity

By Delano R. Franklin and Samuel W. Zwickel Crimson Staff Writers

People gather in front of the John Harvard statue to rally for immigrant residents with Temporary Protected Status.

Jacqueline S. Chea—

Harvard students and alumni, in conjunction with a number of organizations across 11 other colleges, called for greater transparency in the use of “legacy preferences” in a Feb. 14 letter sent to university administrators across the country.

The EdMobilizer Coalition, an advocacy group for first-generation college students, published the letter, signed by 13 student and alumni organizations from hailing elite universities from all over the United States. The document, titled the “#FullDisclosure Letter,” calls for more transparency in the legacy-specific admissions process.

“We are specifically asking our universities to make all internally written admissions policies and data about legacy treatment public and to charge a joint committee of students, alumni, and administrators to re-evaluate its use,” the letter reads.

Crimson photographer

Under Bacow, Turnover Likely

Adams Holds Renovation Meeting

By Jamie D. Halper and William L. Wang

By William S. Flanagan and Katherine E. Wang

Crimson Staff Writers

Crimson Staff Writers

When Lawrence S. Bacow becomes Harvard’s 29th president this summer, not only will he bring new ideas about how to run the University, he will quickly begin appointing administrators to help advance his initiatives and fill recently vacated positions.

Though University President Drew G. Faust said in an interview last month that she plans to complete the various dean searches currently underway, it will fall to Bacow to choose a new Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development, as well as any other roles that open up before or in the first few months of his term.

Faust said administrators often step down when a new president assumes their role. She said the length of presidential terms at Harvard usually serve ­

Students called on architects to keep the “finer details” of Adams House intact at a town hall held Wednesday night to gather input on planned renovations to the residential complex.

With construction set to commence in 2019, Adams will form the sixth installment of Harvard’s ongoing House renewal project. The more-than-$1 billion undertaking began in 2012 with renovations to the Old Quincy building and Leverett House’s McKinlock Hall, followed by total overhauls of Dunster House and Winthrop House. Lowell House is currently under construction.

At the start of the town hall, Adams Faculty Dean John G. “Sean” Palfrey ’67 told attendees the exterior of Adams House will not be undergoing renovation.

Harvard Today 2

See Legacy Page 3

­

See BacoW Page 3 Inside this issue

In the letter, the EdMobilizer Coalition argued legacy preferences are discriminatory and perpetuate economic inequality. The letter’s authors claim greater transparency about admissions processes will lead to greater equality in college admissions.

One signatory Harvard-affiliated alumni group, called the Harvard Legacy Project, comprises University affiliates who hope to end the use of legacy preferences in college admissions.

Leaders of the alumni group did not respond to requests for comment on the letter.

Evan J. Mandery ’89, a member of Harvard Legacy Project, did not specifically comment on the letter but said legacy preference as part of the admissions process at the College is in “fundamental contradiction” to the College’s efforts to create a more diverse student body.

“Legacy has no plausible ethical basis as a factor in any college admissions process,” Mandery said. “They’re effectively running two separate

News 3

See Adams Page 1

Editorial 6

Adams House Lower Common Room hosted a house renewal town hall Wednesday evening, at which students were able to voice their concerns to house renewal architects. Brenda lu—Crimson photographer

Sports 7

Today’s Forecast

Sunny High: 56 Low: 40

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drinks on ANE

HARVARD TODAY

FOR Lunch

FOR DINNER

BBQ Pulled Pork

Fettuccine with Chicken, Spinach & Sundried Tomato

Beef Meatballs in Marinara Sauce

Thursday | March 1, 2018

Spicy Nacho Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Fried Calamari RI Style Black Eyed Pea Paella

around the ivies

Ghungroo

Former VP Biden Makes LowProfile Visit to Penn

The Harvard South Asian Association celebrates 30 years of Ghungroo with its annual dance show.

Griggin R. Andres—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Former Vice President Joe Biden arrived at Penn on Feb. 28 to speak to Wharton graduate students taking a highly-selective course run

by William Lauder, chair of the Estée Lauder corporation, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported.

His visit was not publicized; both a University spokesperson and a Wharton spokesperson told the Daily Pennsylvanian via email they were not informed of Biden’s visit.

Legacy Admissions Preference Letter Excludes Dartmouth Dartmouth, which does not have an independent first-generation student group, did not sign onto a letter asking institutions to reform legacy practices, the Dartmouth reported. The letter was penned by 13 first-generation and lowincome student groups across 12 universities.

Viet Nguyen, who helped coordinate the coalition, said Dartmouth was not included “because the first-[generation] student group is still in the process of being formed.”

Yale Student Suing University Gets New Lawyers Following Rosa Parks Comments

Happy Thursday, harvard!

SPRING IS HERE! ALL IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD! In the Atmosphere…

IT IS WARM FOR MORE THAN A FLEETING DAY, FOLKS. 55 degrees today!

EVENTS Combating Wall Street Lawlessness: Jesse Eisinger at Harvard Law Come listen to Pulitzer Prizewinning investigative reporter Jesse Eisinger discuss how to combat Wall Street lawlessness. The talk will be held from 12-1 p.m. at the Wasserstein Campus Center on the Law School campus.

in the real world Trump Seems to Embrace Gun Control President Trump seemed to embrace gun control measures opposed by the NRA in a meeting with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle today. Trump backed legislation like universal background checks and closing gun loopholes.

Reagan’s Retreat: Lebanon and the Limits of U.S. Power, 1981–1985 Alexandra Tejblum Evans, an Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy, will be speaking about U.S. policy toward Lebanon from 1981 to 1985. Go to 1 Brattle Square (Room 350) at 12:15 p.m. to listen in!

Lorenzo F. Manuali STAFF WRITER

A Yale junior currently under suspension for sexual misconduct allegations has replaced his lawyer in his suit against the university, the Yale Daily News reported. The student, Daniel Tenreiro-Braschi—known in the case as John Doe—was until recently represented by Andrew T. Miltenberg, a New York-based lawyer specializing in campus assault cases who once compared Tenreiro-Braschi to Rosa Parks in an interview with the YDN. “This is a Rosa Parks moment for certain people and not everybody that feels oppressed has the ability to litigate those cases,” he said. Miltenberg and his partners withdrew from the case of Feb. 16. Tenreiro-Braschi’s new lawyers are Susan Kaplan and Robert Fleischer.

Winterfest Plaza The Plaza Winterfest in front of the Science Center will stay open until Mar. 9.

Lu Shao—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Walmart Raises Age to Buy Guns to 21 Walmart—where you can buy a Dolly Parton album, a steak, and a gun all in one shopping trip—has decided to raise the age at which consumers can buy guns at its stores to 21. This move comes in the wake of tragic Parkland shooting.

Hope Hicks Announces Resignation as Trump’s Communications Director Known as the “Trump Translator,” White House Communications Director Hope Hicks announced her intention to resign Wednesday. A fixture in the Trump White House, her resignation is one of many that have occurred during the Trump administration’s time.

Florida Students Return to School Two weeks after the shooting that claimed 17 lives, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla came back to school.

School principal Ty Thompson said healing would be the focus of the week.

The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 Derek G. Xiao, President Hannah Natanson, Managing Editor Nathan Y. Lee, Business Manager 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.

WAIting at the dot

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Staff for This Issue

“It was supposed to be an emergency arrangement, but that need never went away.”

Night Editor Alison W. Steinbach ‘19

Harvard University Homeless Shelter Administrative Director Corey A. Gold ’19

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.

Design Editor Elena M. Ramos ’20

Assistant Night Editors Editorial Editor William S. Flanagan ’20 Richard P. Wong ‘20 Idil Tuysuzoglu ‘21 Photo Editors Brenda Lu ‘20 Story Editors Iulianna C. Taritsa ‘20 Brittany N. Ellis ‘19 Joshua J. Florence ‘19 Sports Editor Mia C. Karr ‘19 Hannah Natanson ‘19 Leon K. Yang ‘21 Alison W. Steinbach ‘19 Sarah Wu ‘19

The Harvard Crimson | March 1, 2018 | page 3

John Lewis Named Speaker Lewis From Page 1 Gazette that Lewis is an inspiration to the world and praised him for his service.

“For more than 50 years, John Lewis has dedicated himself to the ideals of equality and decency, standing up for what is right, even when it meant putting himself in harm’s way,” Faust said.

A native of Alabama, Lewis joined the Civil Rights Movement at a young age and continued to fight for equality across numerous demonstrations, at times persevering despite physical injuries like a fractured skull.

He became involved in politics as a member of the Atlanta City Council in 1981 and earned election to Congress as ­

a representative for Atlanta, remaining a member ever since.

Lewis is currently senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party in the House as well as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

He holds more than 50 honorary degrees from universities like Princeton and Columbia.

He is also the recipient of numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement.

That award forms the only such distinction ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

History professor Lisa M. McGirr, who teaches U.S. in the World 41:

“Power and Protest: The United States in the World of the 1960s,” wrote in an emailed statement that she thinks Lewis is a “terrific” choice of speaker.

She pointed to his actions in the civil rights movement and called him an “inspiration” for Harvard graduates.

“He is an excellent and timely choice at a moment when a new generation of young people are beginning to raise their voices to demand an end to gun violence and continued racial injustice,” McGirr wrote.

Lewis’s office did not respond immediately for comment Wednesday night.

Staff writer Lucy Wang can be reached at lucy. wang@thecrimson.com.

First-Gen Groups Call for Clarity Legacy From Page 1 admissions contests.” The Harvard-Radcliffe Asian-American Women’s Association is listed as a signatory of the document, but group co-president Julie S. Chung ’20 wrote in an emailed statement that she “signed the petition personally, but not in any way through the Asian American Women’s Association.”

In addition to the two Harvard-affiliated organizations, signatories include first-generation student groups at other colleges like Brown and Cornell as well as organizations focused on supporting low-income students at Duke, University of Chicago, Swarthmore, and Emory.

Last year, EdMobilizer authored a petition calling on universities to eliminate application fees for low-income and first-generation college applicants.

Former Undergraduate Council president Yasmin Z. Sachee ’18 and the Har-

vard College First Generation Student Union member Derek Ponce ’18 signed this previous letter.

In 2011, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 told The Crimson the acceptance rate for students with legacy status had hovered around 30 percent in recent admissions cycles; students with legacy status composed 12 to 13 percent of the student body at the time.

The admissions office did not directly respond to requests for comment about statistics for more recent years.

College spokesperson Rachael Dane confirmed the admissions office’s “definition of legacy” has not changed since the 2011 statistics were provided.

“Regarding legacy admissions at Harvard, please note that Harvard College’s application process is the same for all candidates,” Dane wrote in an emailed statement. “Among a group of similarly distinguished applicants, the daughters and sons of Harvard

College alumni/ae may receive an additional look.”

Fitzsimmons has previously defended the success of legacy students in the admissions process.

“If you look at the credentials of Harvard alumni and alumnae sons and daughters, they are better candidates on average,” Fitzsimmons said in 2011.

“Very few who apply have no chance of getting in.”

While the College’s admissions policies on considering legacy status have remained the same, the admissions process has likely become more competitive overall. A record number of students applied for admission to the Class of 2022, and the Class of 2021 saw the lowest admission rate in the College’s history.

Staff writer Delano R. Franklin can be reached at delano.franklin@thecrimson.com.

Staff writer Samuel W. Zwickel can be reached at samuel.zwickel@thecrimson.com

Bacow Era Could Mean Turnover Bacow From Page 1 as natural career breaks for people who work in any given administration.

“People who have served with me may feel that their chunk of time is the appropriate one,” Faust said. “I think

People who have served with me may feel that their chunk of time is the appropriate one.

Drew G. Faust

University President it’s less about me than this is a time when it’s a moment to do something different and something new.”

Shortly after Faust was appointed in 2007, she took over searching for new deans for the Medical School, the Graduate School of Design, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

She also quickly created the position of executive vice president and appointed Tamara Rogers to the then-vacant position of vice president for alumni affairs and development.

Though no other vice presidents besides Rogers have said they plan to step down at this time, more turnover could surface in the coming months.

Derek C. Bok, Harvard’s 25th president who served two decades in the role, said administrative turnover associated with a new president stems from two main things.

He pointed to the chemistry the incoming president has with the current staff members, and to whether people from the former administration see the regime change as a chance to move onto something new.

He said the turnover process, though, can take some time.

“Sometimes that will kind of take a year,” Bok said. “People will announce to a new president that they’re going to leave in a year, and that gives a little bit of breathing room for the new president to choose a replacement.”

Though Bacow will be new to the presidency, he is already heavily involved with Harvard leadership.

He serves as a member of the Har-

Adams House Students Ask to Keep Quirks Adams From Page 1 “There are certain limitations that you probably should know about in the beginning, which are that the Historical Society for Cambridge will not allow us to change the outside,” Palfrey said.

“So everything happens inside. But a lot can happen inside.”

Architects then gave a formal presentation, offering an overview of the likely timeline for construction. The presenters said renovations to Adams House will proceed in stages, with different residential halls of the House set to be restored at different times.

Claverly Hall is slated to be renovated from June 2019 to July 2020, according to Elizabeth R. Leber, a partner at architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle.

Apthorp House and Randolph Hall will follow in the next summer, and Russell Hall and Westmorly Court the year after.

After the formal presentation, the architects invited students to answer a few questions by texting responses to a phone number. One question asked what spaces or architectural features in the House are “character-defining” or “particularly important to preserve.”

The most popular response comprised the Adams House tunnels, a network of mural-filled underground tunnels that connect the House’s different entryways.

Other students responded that the

House library and the Outing Club— located on the street level of Claverly— should be preserved, as well as the dark wood that decorates the House’s interior walls.

“This is what people expect of the Harvard experience,” attendee Cameron J. Maltman ’20 said. “If you come in here and take a wrecking ball to these finer details, you lose that.”

Maltman said that, when his family visited, they were very impressed by the old-fashioned characteristics of his room, especially the fireplace.

“It’s easy to imagine back to the old Adams House people, back in the ‘30s, who would be using that fireplace in the winter while they sat in their big armchairs and read Chaucer,” he said.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Assistant Dean for Physical Resources Merle Bicknell attended the town hall Thursday.

He spoke about Harvard’s other renovation projects, noting that Winthrop students were generally satisfied with improvements to the House.

Since Winthrop was the last House to be renovated, administrators surveyed Winthrop residents for feedback, hoping to use their recommendations for future House renewals.

“We haven’t had a single complaint about the housing, at all, which is fantastic,” Bicknell said. “The one thing they said to us is they want more party space, and so that’s something we’re conscious of.”

vard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body.

Bok said he is unsure if Bacow’s familiarity with the University will lead to less turnover than is typical in presidential transitions.

Judy S. Olson, who served as chief of staff when Bacow became the president of Tufts in 2001, wrote in an email to The Crimson that she did not know Bacow prior to his appointment to Tufts, but that she had a positive experience when he served as her boss.

While Olson did not comment specifically on the staffing transition during Bacow’s tenure at Tufts, she listed many challenges associated with staffing a president’s office.

“The challenge in staffing a president’s office is assembling a team of people who work well together to the benefit of the university, who are great at what they do, are creative and versatile, and understand that they serve the entire university community and are there to help,” she wrote.

Staff writer Jamie D. Halper can be reached at jamie.halper@thecrimson.com.

Staff writer William L. Wang can be reached at william.wang@thecrimson.com.

Y2Y, HSHS Serve in Freezing Weather Shelter From Page 1 passed, and students returned to campus. But the storm highlighted the larger predicament the student-staffed shelters face in the winter season.

During the often-freezing Harvard winter, Y2Y and HSHS must navigate extreme weather conditions with a skeleton staff—watching the demand for overnight beds rise while the volunteer pool shrinks.

A SMALL SPACE FOR A LARGE PROBLEM On many nights, Y2Y has a dozen callers for a single bed.

Y2Y operates via a random lottery system, which homeless youth enter online or by calling the shelter. Individuals lottery for 30-day beds or onenight cots, the latter of which typically have a win rate of 70 to 80 percent, even with high demand.

With only 22 beds and five cots, Y2Y’s capacity is small compared to the number of local homeless youth in need of beds, according to Y2Y director Sophie R. Applbaum ‘19.

“We’re full or at least one person away from being full pretty much every night,” Applbaum said.

As a result, the shelter must often turn people away, especially during colder weeks, she said. Since the onenight bed lottery runs for half an hour starting at 9 p.m., entrants must wait until almost 10 p.m. to hear whether or not they won a place to sleep that night. Those who are turned away can request referrals to adult shelters for the night, but, for some homeless youth, this forms an undesirable alternative.

“Adult shelters are not primarily set up to help young people and to make young people feel like they’re safe,” Applbaum said. “Many people will choose to sleep outside, pretty much no matter the condition, rather than sleeping at an adult shelter.”

Y2Y—which first opened in Dec. 2015—distinguishes itself by delivering services suited for youth needs, serving only those between the ages of 18 and 24. The shelter is also unique for its nontraditional offerings—Y2Y provides more than just beds at night.

One of only two youth-specific overnight shelters in the Boston area, Y2Y offers young adults legal services and case management, as well as appointments with doctors, dentists, and mental health clinicians.

The space is also fully gender-inclusive, aiming to create a safe and accepting environment for queer homeless youth, who comprise 40 percent of homeless young adults, according to a 2012 study conducted by the Williams Institute.

The vast majority of Y2Y staff and volunteer base are college students within the same age range as the guests, which creates a “cooperative dynamic” between the two groups, according to Applbaum.

ROUNDING UP VOLUNTEERS When the winter months turn icy, Y2Y and HSHS often turn to local volunteers in addition to Harvard students, staffers say.

With most Harvard students away for the bulk of December and January, far fewer people sign up to help with shelter meals and clean-up.

Though always fully staffed with trained supervisors to comply with

safety regulations, the two shelters must sometimes function with only a few additional volunteers to help out.

According to HSHS administrative director Ana K. Chaves ’17–’18, Harvard students constitute roughly 70 percent of the total volunteers.

During term-time, the shifts are primarily worked by undergraduates, but in their absence, volunteers from the Cambridge area play an integral role in keeping the shelter up and running.

“Cambridge is surrounded by a lot of people that don’t disappear the moment the semester ends. We really do rely on much of the community members that live around here, whether those are young professionals or grad students,” said Corey A. Gold ’19, an administrative director for HSHS. “Different congregations come and do group shifts together.”

The Harvard Square Homeless Shelter operates at maximum capacity from the start of its operations in November until its season ends in midApril. On most days, the shelter is open from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., and the hours are broken down into four shifts, each staffed by four to six volunteers in addition to the two trained staffers.

As the weather consistently falls below the freezing point starting in early December, an increasing number of people call to enter HSHS’s daily lottery, used to allocate the limited number of beds. With the shelter regularly operating at maximum capacity over break, staffers say the absence of routine volunteers is felt even more acutely, with some shifts going understaffed.

OPERATING THROUGH THE COLD Even with most of its regular volunteers gone, HSHS continues its operations as per usual, often relying on the assistance of new helpers. “It is always a comfort to have experienced volunteers.

Just when things start to pick up, you can always rely on their own expertise, but first-time volunteers are usually enthusiastic, which is great,” Chaves said.

Despite difficulties ranging from freezing storms to absent student volunteers, Y2Y and HSHS continue to fill their beds and shelter the local homeless community.

For much of the staff, it is not the logistical accomplishments but the emotional importance of the job that stays with them well after their shifts end.

“As the numbers rise and as more people call in to lottery, as our capacity remains the same, I think we come more closely into contact with the reality of the need that we are trying to serve,” Chaves said.

For some, turning away an increasing number of people serves as a sobering but essential reminder of the need both shelters are meant to address.

“It’s a different confrontation with the issue,” Gold said.

“We’re going into our 35th year this season, and it was supposed to be a one year thing. It was supposed to be an emergency arrangement, but that need never went away.”

Staff writer A. Daniela Perez can be reached at daniela.perez@thecrimson.com.

Staff writer Hamid A. Khan can be reached at hamid.khan@thecrimson.com.

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Page 4 | March 1, 2018 | The Harvard Crimson

Ed School Hosts DACA Panel

By Ruth Zheng Crimson Staff Writer

With ongoing uncertainty regarding the renewal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Graduate School of Education hosted a panel focused on ways to support undocumented students in K-12 schools on Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking to a crowd of current and aspiring educators, panelists highlighted the important role schools play in the lives of undocumented students.

The panel was part of a larger series called “DACA Seminar” being held at Harvard over the course of this semester.

Everyone on the panel had a stake in the debate on immigration reform, many having experienced growing up undocumented and all being outspoken advocates for the undocumented community. Panelists expressed concern over the lack of knowledge schools have when it comes to supporting undocumented students.

“Out of the undocumented people in my life, 95 percent of us found out we were undocumented in school,” said ­

The Harvard Graduate School of Education hosted a panel discussion about supporting undocumented students in K-12 schools. Brenda Lu—Crimson photographer

Jin K. Park ’18, one of the event’s speakers. Park said he was fortunate enough to have a high school counsellor who helped him through the DACA process so that he could apply to colleges.

For many undocumented students, though, schools are not as supportive or informed.

Astou Thiane, a middle school teacher and member of Teach for America, said many teachers “don’t know what their roles are” and are unaware of the laws put in place to protect undocumented students.

The uncertain fate of DACA affects many teachers and school staff as well as students. “There are thousands of DACAmented teachers in our public school systems today,” Roberto G. Gonzales, a GSE professor and moderator of the panel, said.

In addition to the importance of educators having the knowledge to assist undocumented students, the panel also emphasized the need to counter harmful immigration narratives in schools.

Luis Ortega, one of the panelists and founder of the activist organization Storytellers for Change, shared his experience about being an undocument-

ed student. “I was told that someone like me doesn’t go to college,” he said.

Other panelists shared similar stories about facing discouragement while in K-12 school. Viridiana Carrizales, the Managing Director of DACA Corps Member Support at Teach For America, cited a high dropout rate for undocumented students, beginning as early as late elementary school.

“Students are asking themselves ‘Why does it matter? Why should I try harder in school if there is nothing for me?,’” Carrizales said.

For Park, being on DACA also meant constant pressure to be high-achieving and thus “deserving of America.” Other panelists spoke similarly about the problem of tying value to achievement.

“As long as we are willing to say that some students are more worthy than others, we will always have a failing education system,” Ortega said.

This semester’s DACA Seminar program comes in the midst of a series of other recent events focused on immigration and DACA at the University, including a student conference, a number of protests, and other panel discussions.

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The Harvard Crimson | March 1, 2018 | page 5

HSA Obtains Campus Insights

By Elizabeth H. yang Crimson Staff Writer

Harvard Student Agencies acquired Campus Insights, a student-run millennial user experience firm, earlier this month as part of an expansion into the technology industry.

Campus Insights, founded by brothers Riley Soward and Stephen Soward in 2014, is a tech consulting startup that conducts user research and analysis for their clients’ apps or websites.

The company employs college students to interview similarly aged tech users, according to James N. Swingos ’20, who has worked with the Sowards since last July and has now taken over as CEO of Campus Insights.

Swingos said that using student interviewers in a casual setting is an advantage of the company’s model.

“It’s more relatable, and as a result interviewees feel more comfortable,” he said.

As both founders have graduated from Boston College and moved on, they looked to HSA to continue the mission of Campus Insights.“They were like, how do we keep this going?

Let’s put in an organization that systematically has college students run ­

the show,” Swingos said.

Swingos said the acquisition aligned with HSA’s future plans.

“We wanted to keep moving into tech because we think it’s an awesome opportunity for managers to learn

They were like, how do we keep this going?

Let’s put in an organization that systematically has college students run the show.

James N. Swingos ‘20 CEO of Campus Insights

about more technical spaces, as opposed to more traditional HSA stuff,” Swingos said.

HSA began their expansion into the

tech and startup area over a year ago with the inception of Dev, their new web and app development program.

“Campus Insights was a logical addition to that portfolio,” HSA President Ali Dastjerdi ’19 said. “We build software products for companies, and then we also have an arm that tests those software products for those companies.”

Dastjerdi said the acquisition process, ongoing for the past year, has been a learning experience.“I suddenly found myself in the world of acquisitions,” he said. “The number of negotiations, the contracts, the details—all of that was a huge learning endeavor, but was incredibly exciting to take on.”

Swingos now works with a team of five others, comprising four researchers and another salesperson in addition to himself.

“In general, sales is pretty tough because we’re selling a very niche product, to a niche group of people,” Swingos said. In particular, he said, it is more difficult for college students to sell to higher profile companies.

“We just finished a project with Airbnb a month and a half ago, and we’re working with a Fortune 50 company right now,” Swingos said.

Staff, Students Rally for TPS

By Sonia kim Crimson Staff Writer

More than 50 people rallied in Harvard Yard on Wednesday afternoon to support workers with Temporary Protected Status.

The rally was organized by the Harvard TPS Coalition—a group of workers who form part of some of Harvard’s campus unions—and its allied labor and student groups. Organizers sought to send a message that union workers and immigrants impacted by the Trump administration’s decision to terminate TPS benefits are “Here to Stay,” a phrase used to show solidarity against Trump’s deportation pledges.

The Trump administration recently chose to end the Temporary Protected Status program for immigrants from Haiti and El Salvador, among many other countries, affecting thousands of immigrants across the nation and dozens of Harvard affiliates.

Several representatives of different unions—UNITE HERE Local 26, 32BJ SEIU, the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers, and the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers—attended the event. The rally featured speakers from these and other co-sponsoring student groups that focus on immigration, labor issues, and communities of color.

Speaking to the crowd in front of the John Harvard statue, Geoff Carens, a member of the HUCTW, addressed not ­

only TPS workers, but also DACA recipients.

“Your struggle is our struggle,” Carens said. “We are with you today, we are with you tomorrow, and we are with you everyday. We have a racist administration, but we will not rest until we get justice.”

“This issue is an attack on labor and on immigrants and we’re not going to be silent about it,” Student Labor Action Movement member Anselm Kizza-Besigye ’21 said. “We’re going to keep fighting to support TPS workers here at Harvard and everywhere around the country to make sure they are safe and able to stay in their communities,” he added.

Towards the end of the rally, Harvard campus police demanded to see the identification cards of people at the rally, something that had not occurred in previous pickets, according to Carens.“I’m not exactly sure why and they didn’t give us a good reason either,” Carens said. “And during the rally [police] also wouldn’t allow people to film or take videos on their phones without a permit.”

In an emailed statement, Harvard University Police Department spokesperson Steven G. Catalano wrote that “HUPD monitored a demonstration in Harvard Yard this afternoon.”“Representatives from Harvard Public Affairs and Communication asked the parties to stop filming as they did not have a film permit,” he wrote. “HUPD officers

TDM Concentration Looks to Add Faculty

By Annie C. Dorris Crimson Staff Writer

The number of students concentrating in Theater, Dance, and Media—Harvard’s youngest concentration at four years old—have doubled over the past three years.

Now, staffers for the program are searching for new faculty members and are diversifying the concentration’s curriculum in an effort to further integrate its three namesake focus areas.

Eight students declared TDM as their concentration in 2015, while 14 sophomores chose TDM this past fall, according to Sylvaine Guyot, interim chair of the concentration and professor of Romance Languages and Literatures.“It does not happen so often to be in this moment of growth and development in a program. I think it is immensely exciting, promising, and timely,” Guyot said.

The expanding TDM committee is in the process of conducting two searches for new faculty members, one in playwriting and the other as an artistic director. Guyot also hinted that a “fourth dimension” of TDM may be on the horizon.” There is going to be a new position in composition in the music department and that faculty member will be teaching courses suitable for cross-listing with TDM,” she said. “The idea is to get someone who has worked in relation to the performing arts.”

As TDM has grown, so has the diversity in its curriculum. Guyot said the performing arts of today are much more of a “continuum” than they used to be.“One thing we would like to impart on our students is the mutually constructive relationships and inextricable connection between the form, vocabulary, history and method of dance, theater, and media,” she said.

Guyot said she thinks the TDM concentration lies at the crossroads of many disciplines and offers a balance between practice, theory, and history. ­

TDM faculty come from the American Repertory Theater, Harvard academic departments, and from the practice.

The flexibility of the TDM curriculum, Guyot added, allows students to choose between an integrated course of study and a more narrow area of specialization. But she said she hopes students will not leave TDM without an appreciation of the integrated nature of the performing arts. “Even though you want to become a specialist of theater only, you will be aware that you cannot conceive of theater independently from dance, media, and music,” Guyot said.

Looking ahead, TDM is continuing

spoke to one of the student organizers at the end of the demonstration.”

Christine Mitchell, a student at the School of Public Health and a teaching fellow at the College, said the government’s new policy decisions have led to many health repercussions for immigrant workers and their families.

“The TPS and DACA repeal has created fear from separation of families and fear of deportation,” Mitchell said.

“We need to ensure safe, healthy, equitable, and permanent residence for all those under attack right now.”

The rally, which lasted for about 90 minutes, also brought together people from other campuses in the Boston area. Students from Tufts, UMass Boston, Lesley, MIT, and Northeastern demonstrated to show support for TPS workers.

Carla Morales, a student at UMass Boston and a member of the TPS Committee of Massachusetts, said she came to the rally to stand in solidarity with TPS employees at Harvard.

“I think this rally was a sign of democracy that helps our voices be heard for a cause that is important and for a cause that supports not just TPS workers but all immigrants who are discriminated,” Morales said.

A self-described TPS recipient herself, Morales said she hopes to continue advocating for her rights and the “rights of all immigrants to obtain permanent residency in the [United States].”

Ian h. mcclanan

Ian H. Mcclanan skateboards across campus on a sunny afternoon. Kai R. McNamee—Crimson photographer

FAS Council Talks Business Degree, Asia

By Angela N. Fu Crimson Staff Writer

Members of the Faculty Council heard a proposal from the Business School concerning a new Ph.D. program and voted to dissolve the Council on Asian Studies at their biweekly meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The body also approved a plan to change the name of the Neurobiology concentration.

The dissolution and the renaming stem from proposals the Faculty Council—the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ highest governing body—heard at its previous Feb. 14 meeting. The first proposal advocated the dissolution of the Council on Asian Studies because the Asia Center already carries out most of the duties of the Council. The second sought to rename the Neurobiology concentration to “Neuroscience” in an effort to match the terms used by scientists in the field.

Faculty Council member David L. Howell said both proposals passed without facing any opposition from Council members.

The changes will go into effect immediately given neither of the proposals need to go before the larger general Faculty.

The Council also heard from faculty at the Business School, including Dean ­

Nitin Nohria.

They presented a proposal to establish a Ph.D. in Business Administration in place of a degree they currently grant, termed “Doctor of Business Administration.”

The proposal claims the D.B.A. degree is outdated and does not accurately reflect the work students do in order to achieve the degree.

Howell said he thought there was “pretty strong support” for the proposal from the other Council members.

“The folks of the Business School made a very strong case that the D.B.A. degree has changed so much over time that Harvard really stands out as an outlier,” Howell said.

“It’s kind of a slight disadvantage to students who get that degree and then go out to the job market because nowadays, when people hear D.B.A., they think of it as kind of an executive education degree rather than a research degree.”

The Council will likely vote on the new Ph.D. program at its next meeting on March 21. The entire Faculty will then hear that proposal at its April meeting.

The next full Faculty meeting is slated for Tuesday, March 6.

Staff writer Angela N. Fu can be reached at angela.fu@thecrimson.com.

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I think it is immensely exciting, promising, and timely.

Sylvaine M. Guyot

Interim Chair, Department of Romance Languages to move towards the “practical continuum between disciplines.” In designing classes for next year, the TDM faculty are looking to mostly add courses that showcase an interdisciplinary or integrative element.“There has been a necessity for us, as faculty and practitioners, to collaborate amongst ourselves,” Guyot said. “We’re thinking of developing co-taught courses with one faculty in theater and one faculty in media, for instance.”

One such course that bridges theater and media will be co-taught by English professor David Levine and by VES professor Karthik Pandian, both of whom are currently planning the details of the class.

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Sports

The Harvard Crimson | March 1, 2018 | page 7

A Beginner’s Guide to Harvard’s Tourney Hopes Henry zhu kazhu kid men’s basketball

By Henry ZHU Crimson Staff Writer

March has descended upon us.

To the casual sports fan, it is now time to create bracket pools, re-download the March Madness app, and quickly obtain a College Basketball 101 of how fringe teams in the A-10, MAAC, and yes, Ivy League have performed. Everyone knows that one guy who can give a halfhearted yet cogent breakdown of the No. 13 seed school no one has ever heard of. Or taking credit when the Florida Gulf Coasts and La Salles of the basketball ecosystem make it past the first weekend.

If you are that guy, here is your chance to quickly acquaint yourself with the 2017-2018 Harvard basketball season and the Ivy League. Trust me, this will be quick and painless. Then you can go shamelessly back to watching Trae Young’s 30-foot highlights and hating on Grayson Allen.

I present you the Harvard Crimson Basketball FAQs. ­

HOW IS THE TEAM PLAYING THIS SEASON? WHO IS PLAYING WELL? Ah, the classic one.

The easy answer is this: 15-12 overall after a challenging non-conference schedule with opponents like Kentucky and Minnesota. 10-2 in Ivy League play and second only to Penn, whose sole Ivy loss was to Harvard.

Before the start of play in the Ancient Eight, the Crimson held its ground with tight defeats to the aforementioned Wildcats and Gophers.

However, shooting woes and inconsistent play haunted Harvard against some of its lesser opponents, leading to disappointing losses against Holy Cross, Manhattan, and George Washington.

Fast forward to today. Team performance on the court has improved, a combination of re-discovered perimeter accuracy and lock-down defense throughout the conference season.

The Crimson is situated as the second seed in the Ivy League heading into the final weekend of play, despite losing arguably its top player in sophomore guard Bryce Aiken to a knee injury for much of the calendar year. More on this later.

In his absence, sophomore forwards Chris Lewis and Seth Towns have taken on the offensive load. Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, who is currently in his 11th year leading the team, has emphasized “inside-out” basketball.

Amaker’s main interior anchor in this style of play? Lewis, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound big man who deploys a traditional back-to-the-basket, post-up game.

Ranked No. 68 nationally on the ESPN 100 coming out of high school— the highest-ranked recruit ever to come to Harvard—Lewis is averaging 12.1 points this season and has the highest field goal percentage—60.6— in the Ivies. Primarily deploying backboard hook-shots and relying on an effective left-handed finish, the sophomore scored a career-high 25 points

Vying for the Tourney Harvard looks to emerge victorious at the four-team Ivy League tournament, held at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa., in order to qualify for the NCAA March Madness Tournament. The team is currently ranked second in conference play in the Ancient Eight, with a record of 12-2, only behind Penn. Timothy R. o’MEARA—Crimson photographer

in the Crimson’s victory over Penn on Feb. 10.

The other offensive centerpiece, Towns, has put up even more impressive numbers in the Ancient Eight.

Leading the Ivies in scoring and averaging 15.8 points per game this season, Towns has been Amaker’s go-to man late in games.

The sophomore recently said that he models his game after James Harden. Unsurprisingly, the Columbus, Ohio, native—who turned down offers from Ohio State and Michigan to come to Cambridge—has taken on the isolation, slash-to-the-paint playing style of the Houston superstar.

Defensively, sophomore forward Justin Bassey is Amaker’s “MVP.” Marking up on the opponent’s lead offensive weapon, Bassey has contributed largely to Harvard’s defensive efficiency, one of the top in the nation. The Crimson has held Ancient Eight opponents to just 63.2 points this season.

OH YES, WHAT ABOUT BRYCE AIKEN? The outlook on the point guard is poor, and he is highly questionable to return back to the court this season, according

to Amaker. “[The knee] is just not progressing the way we need it to or he wanted it to put him in a position to feel comfortable,” said Amaker in a Feb. 28 press conference. “I don’t anticipate that changing as we go down the stretch.”

In his place, sophomore guard Christian Juzang has taken over almost literally all of the minutes at the point guard position. For context, Juzang has played in an average of 40 minutes in the last five games. Without another reserve point guard on Amaker’s healthy roster, the Crimson has seen two 20-plus point games from Juzang since early February.

Two weeks ago, Juzang combined for seven triples and 11 made field goals in two contests.

Another theme for this season, according to Amaker? Improved contribution from the reserves.

“We talk so much about our bench and our balance,” said Amaker after the Feb. 9 win. “You look at our stat sheet, we had tremendous balance. Henry Welsh off the bench gave us great minutes. Robert Baker had a few plays, a big block, big defensive rebounds here and there.”

SO WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO MAKE MARCH MADNESS? This is where things get complicated.

Only one representative from the Ivy League will qualify.

To do so, the Crimson will need to win a four-team playoff held in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 10-11 at the Quaker’s home ground, the Palestra.

Last year’s victor, Princeton, capped off an undefeated conference season with a trip to Buffalo, where it fell in the last minute to fifth-seeded Notre Dame. Having lost three key seniors from last season, the Tigers currently are tied for seventh in the conference table. Let’s just say they need a miracle to even make the four-team Ivy Tournament.

So where does this leave everyone else? The topdog this year is Penn, which carried an experienced team forward when most of its competitors, including the Crimson, are breeding youth in their programs. The Quakers just beat Harvard by three last weekend, leaving them situated at the top of the Ancient Eight with an 11-1 record.

Full breakdown below: 1. Penn 11-1 2. Harvard 10-2 3. Yale 7-5 4. Cornell 5-7 5. Columbia 5-7 6. Princeton 4-8 7. Brown 4-8 8. Dartmouth 2-10 There you go. Two games left in the regular season for each team. Top four seeds make the conference tournament. Winner qualifies for the first round of March Madness. Given how late the tournament is played, Selection Sunday will also be the same day as the championship game.

A whirlwind of emotions for the victor, to say the least.

COACHING TOWARDS the DANCE Harvard coach Tommy Amaker looks on as his team battles Yale on Jan. 26 in New Haven. The Crimson bounced back from early season inconsistency and hopes to secure a spot in the NCAA tourney. Timothy R. o’MEARA—Crimson photographer

TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS TOURNAMENT. HOW ARE TEAMS SEEDED? The Ivy League is notoriously stubborn. So stubborn that only last season did it abandon the antiquated round-robin, winner-take-all format of the past.

No more hunched-over fans watching on laptops at a remote Dartmouth-Yale game to determine the Crimson’s postseason fate. It’s time for the playoffs, baby.

For the second straight year, the tournament will be held at the historic Palestra. Massive home-court advantage, you might say? That’s one side of the coin. The flip side is that no other Ivy League location can seat more than 7,000 fans. Philly really likes its sports teams. Sorry about that, Cambridge. Or New Haven. Or Ithaca. Yes, even Ithaca. I apologize.

“It was a pretty cool experience,” said freshman forward Danilo Djuric-

ic after his first game at the Palestra on Feb. 24, in which the Crimson fell 7471. “It’s a great gym with a lot of history, and I am looking forward to returning and making sure there is a different result.”

Obviously, the top four teams with the best conference records qualify.

But here is time for even more breakdown of the esoteric tiebreaker rules.

Bear with me.

If two teams are tied, the team with the best head-to-head record against each other is seeded higher. What if two teams split their season series?

Then it goes to the head-to-head of the next highest seeded conference team.

So basically here, who has the better record against No. 3 Yale? Same record against Yale? Go down to the record of the No. 4 team. Get it?

SO WHAT DOES HARVARD HAVE TO DO THIS WEEKEND TO BE THE NO. 1 SEED AT THE IVY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT? There are four possible situations.

Harvard plays Cornell and Columbia, while Penn plays Yale and Brown this weekend. Essentially, Penn needs to lose at least one game to be jumped by the Crimson. Here are the desired scenarios for Harvard fans: 1. Harvard sweeps and Penn loses both games.

2. Harvard sweeps and Penn loses to Yale (Crimson 2-0 against Bulldogs, Penn 1-1) 3. Harvard sweeps, Penn loses to Brown, Princeton also loses to Brown, and Dartmouth beats Columbia (This would be utter madness).

In short, if Penn beats Yale and either Brown or Dartmouth loses on Friday, Harvard stays at the two seed heading into the tournament.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR AS HARVARD HOSTS CORNELL AND COLUMBIA? Saturday is Senior Day for Zach Yoshor, Andre Chatfield, and team captain Chris Egi. Both games this weekend will be tipping off at 7 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion. It is the last opportunity for Cornell and Columbia to fight their way into the tournament as the fourth seed.

Columbia has the tiebreaker in its favor given the Lions’ Feb. 2 victory against the Crimson, but all bets are off for who gets that coveted spot.

It would take another FAQ in itself to explain the current No. 4 tiebreaker.

There’s a breakdown of the men’s basketball team season for all the casual fans out there.

Missed anything? No worries. Read up on our weekly coverage and live game updates. And yes, no shame in pubbing at the end of my first column.

All the best.

Staff writer Henry Zhu can be reached at henry. zhu@thecrimson.com.

Page 8 | MARCH 1, 2018 | The Harvard Crimson

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

As Jews, We Do Not Compromise on Civil Rights

The Practicality of a ‘Pracademic’

L

awrence S. Bacow, recently announced as Harvard’s 29th University President, is no conventional academic. During his long career in the field of American higher education, he has held a mixture of academic and administrative roles.

He served on the faculty of MIT for more than two decades, before moving to administrative positions at MIT as chair of the faculty and then chancellor. In 2001, he left those roles to become the president of Tufts University, where he served until 2011. Given this lengthy resume, Bacow has been described as a practical academic—a “pracademic”—who has built a career balancing his interests in administration and research.

Compared with his two immediate predecessors—University President Drew G. Faust and Lawrence H. Summers—Bacow has accrued more administrative experience before taking Harvard’s helm. Alternatively, he has published a smaller body of published research, compared to Faust, who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and Summers, who was a John Bates Clark medalist. This contrast in professional focus—Bacow has been removed from academia for over twenty years—could raise questions about his preparedness to take over as University president.

While academic attributes are crucial, we believe that it is equally if not more important for a University president to have prior administra-

tive experience. While the leader of any university must be familiar with the world of academia, they must also have substantial and tested experience in administration. As Bacow fulfills both of these requirements, we believe that his experiences make him an ideal candidate to lead Harvard through a time of rigorous challenges and change.

We believe that Bacow’s “pracademic” skills will allow him not only to succeed, but also to cut new paths in higher education.

As Harvard struggles with a lagging endowment alongside internal controversies such as sanctions on unrecognized single-gender social organizations, we believe that the president must be equipped to steer Harvard through the uncertain years ahead. The current faculty and administration undoubtedly possess the skills needed to overcome the University’s challenges, and much of that potential lies within Harvard’s academic productivity. To tap into these resources, we agree that Bacow must understand the inner workings of academia. His 24 years on MIT’s faculty are more than enough to establish this

familiarity, which is unlikely to be forgotten by any length of hiatus.

Harvard’s presidency also entails a number of non-academic roles, from lobbyist to fundraiser to advocate for higher education. In all of these positions, a leader of the University must have experience in managing and representing schools at the highest level.

In addition to his administrative experience at MIT, Bacow’s experience as the president of Tufts gives him the type of practical experience that no similar role could. In that position, he showed not only that he could balance the multifarious tasks at the helm of a major institution, but that he could do so while pushing that institution forward. Bacow exceeded all expectations at Tufts, heading a revolution for their financial aid and endowment.

Given this track record, and during these crucial moments in Harvard’s history, we require a practical administrator more than an accomplished academic. We believe that Bacow’s “pracademic” skills will allow him not only to succeed, but also to cut new paths in higher education.

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.

BE A CRIMSON CARTOONIST Submit a sample cartoon or any questions to Associate Editorial Editor Wonik Son ‘19 (wonik.son@thecrimson.com).

From Community College to Harvard Transferring is hard, but worth it.

I

t’s late at night on March 1, 2017. The midnight deadline is approaching fast, and I’ve been hunched over my laptop on my living room floor for hours. My fingers are flying across the keyboard in a frenzied effort to finish up the last few questions on my transfer application. The clock is ticking— it’s too late to edit now. I grit my teeth, and press submit with mere minutes to spare; it’s a shot in the dark. I’ll go back in the morning and realize the personal statement I wrote last-minute has nothing to do with the assigned topic, cry for a few minutes, and then console myself with the fact that I probably didn’t have a fighting chance with which to begin.

If you told me that night that exactly one year later I’d be publishing a column in The Harvard Crimson— let alone get accepted to Harvard—I would have laughed in both doubt and exhaustion-induced delirium. In truth, applying to Harvard was a spur-ofthe-moment decision made to spite an ex-boyfriend who didn’t think I’d ever make anything of myself. That, coupled with the discouragement of an advisor at my community college, lit me on fire. Hell hath no fury like a woman doubted, apparently. I knew the statistics were grim; only about a dozen transfers are admitted each year, and I was pretty sure my very small, very rural community college wasn’t on Harvard’s radar. I didn’t even know anyone who’d gone to an Ivy League school. All I knew was that there were at least two people I needed to prove wrong. I didn’t give myself much time to think while I sped through my application, but once it was submitted, I wondered if I was taking things a little too seriously. Was I, in the infinitesimal chance I’d be admitted, prepared to leave my quiet, isolated corner of Virginia for urban Massachusetts? Could I survive in a city I’d never visited at a massive institution I knew almost nothing about? Would the pride of coming to Harvard be worth

the struggle of transferring?

It was, but not at first.

On the surface, I hit the jackpot.

I’d spent two years taking classes out of the same three buildings and packing my lunch every day because there was no cafeteria. There weren’t any restaurants or stores around campus— in fact, there wasn’t much of anything but mountains and trees. The lecture halls themselves were built into a hillside. Harvard was absolutely huge (and flat!) by comparison, and I was amazed by all the hustle and bustle; I’d spent a couple days in New York City when I was fourteen, and that was the limit of my exposure to city life. I was most impressed by the food. My first Harvard meal was a transformative experience, infinitely better than food out of a lunchbox or vending machine.

I needed to prove that despite all the difficulties of transferring, I could survive and maybe even thrive here.

Harvard was at first glance everything I’d ever dreamed of, but the transition from small-town, small-college life quickly proved pretty difficult. My first day in Cambridge was symbolic for the comedy of errors my first semester would prove to be: I was running late for a transfer orientation dinner, and my parents, unsure of whether we were driving the wrong way down a one-way street, dropped me off on a sidewalk that was nowhere near where I needed to be. After a fifteen minute struggle to find my way to Dunster House, I got locked inside the courtyard and spent another fifteen minutes trying to find my way out.

Being so far away from home and living in such an unfamiliar environ-

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 1, 2018 | PAGE 6

ment was tough. I was embarrassed by my accent, I didn’t know anybody, and everyone already had established friend groups in which I just didn’t fit.

I failed my first test so badly that I got a personal email explaining, in statistical terms I didn’t understand, how badly I failed (which prompted to me change my concentration—the first time). I fell through on most of my commitments and failed to maintain my budding friendships. I did the best I could, but the fear that I didn’t belong and never would nagged at me, and I continually questioned my place at Harvard. Ironically, being surrounded by so much life, activity, and opportunity made me wither.

By the time I’d scraped and crawled through the end of my first semester, transferring didn’t seem worth it anymore. I was a fish out of water, just trying to survive, and I wondered what had happened to that fire that led me to apply to Harvard in the first place. It took the entirety of the month-long winter break for me to gather my bearings and remember why I was here—or rather, why I even wanted to come here in the first place. My first semester had been overwhelming and sometimes flat-out miserable. The only sense I saw in returning to Harvard was that, instead of proving myself smart and capable to a couple of people that barely even knew me, I needed to prove myself wrong. I needed to prove that despite all the difficulties of transferring, I could survive and maybe even thrive here.

And so here I am. The initial adjustments are behind me and I’m having a little more success this time around.

Coming to Harvard has been an invaluable experience, and I’d do it all over again, difficulties and all. It’s been hard, but that’s made it all the more worthwhile.

Emilee A. Hackney ’20 is an English concentrator living in Adams House. Her column appears on alternate Thursdays.

By AMELIA Y. GOLDBERG and HELENE C. LOVETT

P

resident Donald Trump’s nominee Kenneth L. Marcus awaits confirmation as the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. We believe Marcus has a track record of opposition to students’ civil rights that makes him unqualified for this position. He has supported Secretary of Education Betsy D. DeVos’s rolling back of key Title IX protections for survivors of sexual assault, opposed race-based affirmative action programs in public schools, and though he has expressed concern about “race and sex discrimination against white, male Christian students,” he has not expressed equal concern over harassment of BGLTQ students. Nevertheless, Eric D. Fingerhut, CEO of Hillel International, has chosen to endorse Marcus’s nomination. We believe that this decision was motivated by Fingerhut’s commitments to supporting Israel, but we reject his decision to prioritize that over the fundamental civil rights of students.

Marcus has committed to supporting DeVos’s efforts to roll back key Title IX protections for survivors of sexual assault, including access to accomodations from their universities to pursue their educations and freedom from direct cross-examination by an accuser. Marcus also supports DeVos’s guidelines to implement processes in which only the accused can appeal, and survivors are asked to mediate with their assailants. As Jews, we believe that students should not have to choose between standing with their Jewish community and standing up for the rights of sexual assault survivors and all students. This endorsement is especially disheartening given Hillel’s stated “longstanding commitment to help end sexual assault on campus” and past commitments to campaigns against sexual assault on college campuses. In the midst of the #MeToo movement, the responsibility for standing with survivors, especially in the context of pervasive sexual assault and discrimination on college campuses, is clearer than ever.

Furthermore, in his confirmation hearing, Marcus expressed reluctance about intervening in an instance of racial inequality in We call on Hillel schools. He is a committed advocate International against race-based members around the affirmative action equal opportucountry to stand with and nity programs. Adstudents in opposing ditionally, in the hearing, he lacked the confirmation of an understanding of Kenneth Marcus. how gender identity is protected under Title IX discrimination law and did not actively commit to protecting the rights of students with disabilities. We call on Hillel members around the country to reject Hillel International’s endorsement of someone who will not actively intervene on behalf of our entire community. We know that identity cannot be compartmentalized, and failures to protect the rights of some identities to the exclusion of others breaks apart our community. Protections based on religion should not exclude protections for students of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and races, and abilities that are critical for us to thrive.

However, it appears that Fingerhut values a narrow approach to American Jewish dialogue and activity around Israel over all the other protections due to students. Hillel International’s endorsement calls him “an excellent partner and collaborative leader on these issues of critical importance to Jewish students,” specifically on “issues related to anti-Semitic activity and anti-Israel activity on college campuses.” These statements reference Marcus’s history of encouraging colleges and universities to classify calls for targeted divestment from Israel as anti-Semitic. We acknowledge that Jewish students have a variety of political beliefs about this issue. Prioritizing single-sided politics not only undermines Hillel’s values of open discourse in the Jewish community but also unacceptably jeopardizes all students’ civil rights.

We strongly support, as have the the Progressive Jewish Alliance and BAGELS, Hillel’s Jewish BGLTQ group, Harvard Hillel in upholding our community’s values of support and respectful disagreement by clarifying that Harvard Hillel does not issue or take part in endorsements of candidates for public office, including this one. We call on Hillel International members around the country to stand with students in opposing the confirmation of Kenneth Marcus, joining civil rights leaders including the NAACP, the National Bar Association, the National Council of Jewish Women, National Education Association, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Whether Marcus is confirmed or not, failing to act signals to students that a bureaucratic affiliation is more important than protecting the rights of students. In the the face of Fingerhut’s unacceptable endorsement, silence is not neutral, and the time to speak out is now.

Amelia Y. Goldberg ’19 is a Social Studies concentrator in Adams House.

Helene C. Lovett ’19-’20 is a Neurobiology concentrator off-campus.

The Harvard Crimson President Derek G. Xiao ’19 Managing Editor Hannah Natanson ’19 Business Manager Nathan Y. Lee ’19

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

Associate Managing Editors Mia C. Karr ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Associate Business Managers Dahlia S. Huh ’19 Max W. Sosland ’19 Editorial Chairs Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19 Cristian D. Pleters ’19 Arts Chairs Mila Gauvini II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19 Blog Chairs Lydia L. Cawley ’20 Stuti Telidevara ’20 Design Chairs Morgan J. Spaulding ’19 Simon S. Sun ’19

Digital Strategists Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Dianne Lee ’20 FM Chairs Marella A. Gayla ’19 Leah S. Yared ’19 Multimedia Chairs Amy Y. Li ’20 Ellis J. Yeo ’20 Sports Chairs Cade S. Palmer ’20 Jack R. Stockless ’19 Technology Chairs Nenya A. Edjah ’20 Theodore T. Liu ’20