The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLIX, No. 70: Commencement 2020 & 2021

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The Harvard Crimson COMMENCEMENT 2022

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

|

VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 70 |

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

| SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2022

COMMENCEMENT 2020 & 2021

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Today’s News SECTION A

Year in Review SECTION B

Year in Sports SECTION C

TODAY’S FORECAST

SUNNY High: 80 Low: 59

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HARVARD TODAY TODAY’S EVENTS Commencement Exercises for Classes of 2020 and 2021 Harvard Yard, 8 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.

IN THE REAL WORLD

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland ’74, J.D. ’77, will be the principal speaker at the Morning Exercises for the Classes of 2020 and 2021.

As Timeline Emerges, Police Criticized for Response to School Massacre Some parents criticized the police response to an elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, after law enforcement revised their account of the timeline of the shooting. According to the updated timeline, the gunman spent one hour inside the school before he was killed.

Class of 2020 and 2021 HKS Commencement Ceremony John F. Kennedy Memorial Park, 11 a.m.

The intimate ceremony, held directly after the University-wide Commencement exercises, will celebrate HKS graduates. Guests do not need tickets to attend.

Ray Liotta, Star of ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Field of Dreams,’ Dies at 67

High school students marched in support of abortion rights in Harvard Square on Thursday.

JULIAN J. JIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Class of 2020 and 2021 HLS Class Day Ceremony Holmes Field, 12:25 p.m. - 1 p.m.

AROUND THE IVIES

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren joins HLS Dean John F. Manning in conversation about the role of law in society and the ways in which she has used law to advance the public good. Guests do not need tickets to attend.

COLUMBIA: After Months of Contention, Arts and Sciences Faculty Endorse

YALE: Pericles Lewis Named Dean of Yale College —THE YALE DAILY NEWS Restructuring Proposals —THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR

BROWN: Brown Reinstates Indoor Masking Mandate —THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

American actor Ray Liotta, who was best known for his roles in the films ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Field of Dreams,’ was found dead in the Dominican Republic on Thursday where he was filming a movie. Liotta was 67.

Ukrainian Volunteer Fighters in the East Feel Abandoned Ukrainian volunteer fighters on the country’s eastern front were forced to survive off a potato a day as they came under intense fire by Russian forces. Some volunteer fighters said they felt abandoned by their military commanders.

UPENN: Incoming MBA/M.A. Student Found After Missing for Six Days —THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

COVID UPDATES

LAST 7 DAYS CURRENTLY

CAMPUS

152

In Isolation

216 2.36% Total New Cases

Positivity Rate

LAST 7 DAYS

CAMBRIDGE

593 7.45% 77%

Total New Cases

Positivity Rate

Fully Vaccinated

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY Bok To Resign Harvard University President Derek Curtis Bok announced he planned to resign in June 1991. The announcement of Bok’s resignation came ahead of the start of a major university fundraising campaign May 29, 1990

New Course in History of Science History of Science 1 hf., a new half-course dealing with the history of the physical and biological sciences, has been arranged for the first half of next year.

May 29, 1911

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

The Harvard Crimson Raquel Coronell Uribe ’22-’23 Associate Managing Editors Kelsey J. Griffin ’23 President Taylor C. Peterman ’23-’24 Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Associate Business Managers Managing Editor Taia M.Y. Cheng ’23-’24 Isabelle L. Guillaume ’24 Amy X. Zhou ’23 Business Manager Editorial Chairs Guillermo S. Hava ’23-24 Orlee G.S. Marini-Rapoport ’23-24

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE Arts Chairs Sofia Andrade ’23-’24 Jaden S. Thompson ’23

Design Chairs Yuen Ting Chow ’23 Madison A. Shirazi ’23-’24

Magazine Chairs Maliya V. Ellis ’23-’24 Sophia S. Liang ’23

Multimedia Chairs Aiyana G. White ’23 Pei Chao Zhuo ’23

Blog Chairs Ellen S. Deng ’23-’24 Janani Sekar ’23-’24

Technology Chairs Ziyong Cui ’24 Justin Y. Ye ’24

Night Editor Hannah J. Martinez ’23 Assistant Night Editors Isabella B. Cho ’24 Miles J. Herszenhorn ’25 Story Editors Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Kelsey J. Griffin ’23 Taylor C. Peterman ’23-’24

Design Editors Camille G. Caldera ’22 Yuen Ting Chow ’23 Toby R. Ma ’24 Photo Editor Julian J. Giordano ’25 Editorial Editor Guillermo S. Hava ’23-24

Sports Chairs Alexandra N. Wilson ’23-’24 Griffin H. Wong ’24

Copyright 2022, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.

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

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COMMENCEMENT RETURNS TO HARVARD YARD

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to graduates at Thursday’s Commencement exercises.

Graduates filled Harvard Yard at the University’s first in-person Commencement since 2019. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—

DYLAN J. GOODMAN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Calls Michelle on Graduates to Defend Democracy Wu Speaks at College Class Day

By CARA J. CHANG, ARIEL H. KIM, and LEAH J. TEICHHOLTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called on graduates in Harvard’s Class of 2022 to pursue “genuine debate and dialogue” in order to protect democracy in an address at the University’s 371st Commencement on Thursday, taking aim at the role big technology has played in political discourse.

Ardern, who has served as prime minister of New Zealand since 2017, told graduates to “treat difference with empathy and kindness — those values that exist in the space between difference and division.”

“We are the richer for our difference, and poorer for our division,” Ardern said. “Through genuine debate and dialogue, through rebuilding trust in information and one another, through empathy — let us reclaim the space in between.”

Ardern warned against the role disinformation plays in democracy on Thursday, saying “the time has come for social media companies and other online providers to recognize their power and to act on it.”

But even in the age of big tech, Ardern said individuals, too, must play an important part in

fostering healthy democratic debate.

“The issues we navigate as a society will only intensify. The disinformation will only increase. The pull into the comfort of our tribes will be magnified,” she said. “But we have it within us to ensure that this doesn’t mean we fracture.”

Thursday marked Harvard’s first in-person Commencement ceremony since 2019. University President Lawrence S. Bacow conferred 7,280 degrees, including 1,278 to the Harvard College Class of 2022.

Ardern became the 17th sitting world leader to address Harvard graduates at Commencement.

During her speech, Ardern called on graduates to work to protect democracy, which she said “can be fragile.” In New Zealand, she said, policymakers have passed an array of laws seeking to address climate change, ban military-style assault rifles, and decriminalize abortion, drawing raucous applause in Tercentenary Theatre.

But, she warned, “deep rifts” are opening up in democracies across the globe.

The solution, she said, is for individuals to hold firm to their beliefs — “but without the vitriol, hate, and violence.”

Ardern took aim at social me-

dia giants, which she said play a role in disseminating disinformation and radicalizing some users. She pointed to deadly 2019 terrorist attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where 51 people were killed.

“We have the forums for online providers and social media companies to work on these issues alongside civil society and governments,” Ardern said.

“Let’s start with transparency in how algorithmic processes work and the outcomes they deliver. But let’s finish with a shared approach to responsible algorithms — because the time has come.”

The prime minister received a standing ovation at the end of her address.

Bacow began the ceremony with a moment of silence, held in the wake of a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed at least 19 elementary school students and two adults.

In his opening remarks, Bacow challenged the Class of 2022 “to save a seat for others,” telling graduates to work toward improving the world around them.

“You will have more chances than most to make differences in the world, more opportunities to give others a chance at a better life,” he told the graduates.

SEE ARDERN PAGE 19

By ISABELLA B. CHO and LEAH J. TEICHHOLTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 addressed the Harvard College Class of 2022 at the school’s Class Day ceremony on Wednesday, urging graduates to seek truth in themselves and others to drive change.

The College’s Class Day, which celebrates the accomplishments of graduating seniors, was held virtually for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, students were sent packing amid the escalating public health crisis, forcing the Class of 2022 to spend more than half their college years under pandemic restrictions.

An alumna of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Wu is the first woman and person of color to be elected mayor of Boston. Wu studied Economics in Currier House during her undergraduate years.

In her speech, Wu reflected on the various ways the University’s motto — “Veritas” —

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ‘07 speaks to graduatesof the College Class of 2022 at Class Day on Wednesday. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

has permeated her own life, encouraging students to “see what is truly real” by diving headfirst into the challenges they seek to address.

“If you’re trying to solve a problem in the world, understand what it feels like first,” Wu said. “Seek out those closest to the challenge, and those who will be most impacted by the solution. I take the T to work because my own deep truth is that I’m a transit nerd, but also because there is no better way to get expertise in transit policy

Graduates Celebrate at Affinity Ceremonies

By MEIMEI XU CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Thousands of graduates received multicolor stoles during University-wide affinity group graduation ceremonies in Sanders Theatre, Memorial Church, and at Harvard Divinity School Tuesday.

With staff support from Harvard’s Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, affinity student groups hosted ceremonies for graduates from first-generation, BGLTQ, Black, and Latinx backgrounds on Tuesday ahead of the University’s first in-person Commencement ceremony in three years Thursday. A ceremony for Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and Desi-American graduates occurred Monday, and one for Native-American graduates occurred Thursday.

The first-generation student ceremony in Memorial Church opened Tuesday’s four-act series of celebrations. Hosted by Harvard Next Gen Initiative, the ceremony featured several speakers, including Harvard Graduate School of Education professor Nancy E. Hill, HGSE graduate Leah L. T. Porter, Ngoc Trâm Nguyên ’22, and former founding project lead of Next Gen Initiative, Amanda K. Moreno Sharick.

In her speech, Nguyên recounted anecdotes about her time at the nail salon where her mother worked, comparing the application of nail polish to the collection of new experiences and adventures throughout college. She encouraged graduates to connect with people from different backgrounds and come

SEE AFFINITY PAGE 23

CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

On Thursday, thousands of students, family members, and friends inundated Harvard Yard for the Class of 2022’s Commencement. On Sunday, tens of thousands more will do the same in celebration of the Classes of 2020 and 2021.

This year’s festivities mark Harvard’s first triple commencement in history and its first in-person ceremony in three years. Though up to two years have passed since some graduates were last on campus, nearly 90 percent of the Classes of 2020 and 2021 are expect-

ed to return for their in-person exercises on Sunday.

An occasion of this magnitude demanded careful preparation, administrators say.

In his remarks to the Class of 2022 during their Commencement on Thursday, University President Lawrence S. Bacow alluded to the logistical challenges associated with welcoming tens of thousands of people to campus — the “great seat scramble of 2022.”

“With all the commencements going on — dual commencements, extended commencements, just like we’re doing here — we actually had problems finding enough

SEE CLASS DAY PAGE 17

Harvard Hosts First AAPI/APIDA Graduation

By PATON D. ROBERTS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

spirit and traditions.

Leslie Rith-Najarian ’12, the resident dean of Kirkland House, acknowledged the unique challenges faced by the Class of 2022 and commended their strength.

“I have a tremendous amount of admiration for how much more this graduating class has really persevered through,” she said. “It’s particularly meaningful to feel like they’ve all crossed the finish line despite having a higher amount of adversity in the past two years of their college experience.”

In March 2020, students

Harvard’s first-ever affinity graduation for Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and Desi American students took place in Tercentenary Theatre on Monday following advocacy efforts from student leaders across the University.

In years past, Harvard hosted five affinity graduations, including ceremonies for Black, Latinx, BGLTQ, and first-generation, low-income students as well as a Native American Program and Indigenous Graduation. When the list of affinity ceremonies was released this year, APIDA students reported feeling disappointed to see their identities excluded, and several took action.

Students raised their concerns to the Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and connected affinity groups across the University.

In a resolution released April 28, which was signed by 30 organizations and 486 individuals, organizers requested University support, in the form of funding, organizational assistance, and stoles, to create a comprehensive celebration.

Despite Harvard’s willingness to provide support, student leaders reported continued difficulties. Will Huang, author of a Crimson op-ed advocating for the ceremony’s inclusion, described the logistical challenges that accompanied the last-minute organizing.

“It was up to us as student leaders within our respective

SEE HOUSES PAGE 23

SEE AAPI PAGE 22

Students from across the University celebrated their graduation at the fifth annual Black Graduation ceremony.

CARA J. CHANG—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Thirty Thousand Chairs: Planning Harvard’s Triple Commencement

By LEAH J. TEICHHOLTZ

than to experience the system you’re trying to improve day in and day out.”

In her campaign for mayor of Boston, Wu advocated for a Green New Deal for Boston, paid parental leave, and workers’ rights. At Class Day, Wu emphasized the importance of “speaking truth” in order to address the world’s pressing challenges, including climate change, gun violence, and reproductive rights.

chairs,” Bacow said. “Half of you almost wound up sitting on blankets today.”

Due to the impact of the pandemic, the University needed to expand the source of vendors for rentals this year, University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement. Set-up for this year’s Commencement festivities included hundreds of tables, up to 175 tents, and more than 30 thousand chairs.

In all, it took a full year and the involvement of “nearly all” administrative divisions to plan the events, Newton wrote.

Thousands of dining, parking,

SEE CHAIRS PAGE 17

Houses Hold Festivities for Graduating Seniors

By ISABELLA B. CHO and CLAIRE YUAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Members of the College’s Class of 2022 made ceramic tiles, kayaked, and enjoyed ice cream during the first in-person graduation festivities since 2019.

Following the University’s Commencement exercises on Thursday, each undergraduate house held its own graduation ceremony, during which graduating seniors received their diplomas.

House administrators, resident deans, and student volunteers planned the celebrations and lauded the revival of house

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Can Harvard’s Police Department Reform?

Nearly a year after HUPD Chief Victor A. Clay took over the department on a pledge to reform, he faces fundamental questions about the department’s role on campus.

By BRANDON L. KINGDOLLAR and SARAH GIRMA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

When Francis D. “Bud” Riley took over as chief of the Harvard University Police Department in January 1996, he did so on a mandate of reform.

The department, which had faced allegations of racism and misconduct in the years prior, appeared set to move in a new direction under the former Massachusetts State Police lieutenant colonel. A new method of “community policing” was the future of HUPD, he contended.

Just shy of a quarter-century later, in 2020, Riley left Harvard facing allegations that he fostered a culture of racism, sexism, and favoritism within the ranks of his department.

Now, a new voice for reform has taken his place.

Victor A. Clay, who took over as HUPD chief in July 2021, has said he will shift the department’s philosophy.

In his first year on the job, Clay has made a number of internal changes, some of which follow recommendations from a 2020 external review of HUPD that called for major shifts in the department’s approach.

In an interview this month, he pointed to an array of reforms: expanding officer training with a focus on emotional intelligence, developing a closer working relationship with Harvard Human Resources, and exploring alternatives to armed police response.

Clay’s message sounds different than his predecessor’s: He rejects the term “community policing,” which Riley championed. But he faces a skeptical campus: Nearly half of respondents to The Crimson’s Class of 2025 freshman survey expressed support for defunding the police. Unlike the 1990s, campus activism on policing often centers around calls for abolition — not just reform.

Asked about student calls for police abolition, Clay said he believes it is important to listen to students’ concerns, rather than responding in an “adversarial” manner.

“I think that’s a slippery slope, for a chief of police to say something in opposition of a group that is calling for you to do better, to be better,” Clay said. “I say listen, take the lessons learned, and then move forward from that point.”

Some students, though, say Clay’s talk of reform means little to them.

“Even these reforms that Chief Clay is proposing aren’t going to change the fundamental purpose of HUPD,” said Claire E. Pryor ’23.

“I want to call out what I see as a level of appropriating reformist rhetoric in order to fundamentally continue the status quo,” Pryor said. ­

‘A Cycle that We’ve Seen So Many Times’ In the early morning hours of March 6, Marissa J. Joseph ’23 stood at the gates of Kirkland House trying to prevent HUPD officers from entering her dorm.

Her roommate, Hoda E. Abdalla ’23, had contacted the house’s tutor-on-call about a medical emergency — a friend who was unconscious — but, ac-

cording to both students, they had explicitly requested that HUPD not be involved.

In interviews this month, Joseph said she told the officers they did not have her consent to enter the dorm, as they were not medical professionals. She said she only wanted emergency medical technicians who had arrived on scene to enter.

The EMTs proceeded through, but an HUPD escort accompanied them into the dorm, Joseph and Abdalla said.

At the gates, the situation escalated: Joseph and the tutor were engaged in an argument about the tutor’s decision to bring in HUPD. Soon, according to Joseph, an HUPD officer became involved. Joseph said a female officer who was already present at the scene began to laugh at her and, after Joseph confronted her about it, pulled up her face mask and began filming Joseph on a personal cell phone.

The department’s public log for March 6 reports that HUPD was dispatched to Kirkland’s Bryan Hall at 2:30 a.m. in response to an individual who was reported unconscious.

“Officer responding to a report of an unconscious individual was approached upon arrival by an individual who engaged in confrontational and argumentative behavior,” the log reads. “To prevent further delay in response to the unconscious individual, additional officers were dispatched. Officer reported that additional officers arrived on scene and the individual left the area.”

In a tweet later that morning, Joseph, a Crimson Editorial editor, wrote that the conduct of the officer who she said recorded her was racially motivated, alleging that the officer “accosted and harassed” her.

“Her first instinct when seeing a black person in crisis, particularly one who attends the university she is directly in service off, was to treat me like a minstrel show for her enjoyment,” Joseph wrote of the officer who recorded her.

“Me who stands at 5ft4inches and has zero physically threatening attributes aside from my Blackness,” she added in a subsequent tweet.

Artha K. Jonassaint ’24, who witnessed the altercation outside with the officers, wrote in an email that she felt “helpless” during the situation.

“Witnessing a Black student, my friend, being mocked and harassed by the HUPD is not something I will soon forget,” wrote Jonaissant, a Crimson Sports editor.

HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano declined to comment on the allegations, citing department policy against discussing specific incidents.

“It is the long standing policy of the Harvard University Police Department not to comment on specific events or name witnesses, victims or other people involved in an incident,” Catalano said.

It was not the first time HUPD officers had come under fire for alleged racism.

Riley’s “community policing” tack, new to Harvard in the 1990s, came in response to tensions between students and the department under the school’s previous police chief, Paul E. Johnson.

A Harvard Police officer patrols Harvard Yard during the University’s Commencement ceremony Thursday. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Johnson’s HUPD had received scrutiny in the early 1990s over several incidents of alleged racial profiling. In 1992, the Harvard Black Students Association — then called the Harvard-Radcliffe BSA — published a flyer calling for police reform, entitled “On the Harvard Plantation,” that detailed four police stops it said were racially motivated.

“Even at one of the most prestigious universities in America, YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK people are treated like second-class citizens,” the flyer read.

“We realized that there might be a systemic issue here,” the BSA’s then-president, Zaheer Ali ’94, said in an interview this month.

Ali said one of the BSA’s primary concerns was the department’s “prevailing assumptions” about who should be on Harvard’s campus.

“We were calling for sensitivity training, and I think that tells you how much the Overton window has shifted,” Ali said. “At the time, that was a big deal for us as students to even make the claim in writing that we did.”

The BSA document was released the same month that police officers who brutally beat Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1991 were acquitted in court, sparking a wave of protests in the city.

In 2020, after a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, murdered George Floyd, a new group was formed calling for the abolition of HUPD — the Harvard Alliance Against Campus Cops.

In a report released in 2020, the group cited concerns about the standards officers use to determine who belongs on campus — similar to the BSA in 1992.

The 2020 report said HUPD treats differently “students of color, poor and houseless community members, or community members living with mental illness.”

Data provided by HUPD’s

workload and crime dashboard show the department arrested Black people at a disproportionate rate from 2018 to 2020.

Pryor said the stops described in the 1992 flyer are emblematic of HUPD’s “history of discriminately surveilling Black students and students of color.” She cited a 2019 incident in which students of color were questioned in Harvard Yard while setting up a class art exhibit.

The police behavior drew backlash from students and faculty, though a subsequent Faculty of Arts and Sciences report found that officers did not operate with “malicious intent” when stopping the students.

HUPD officers have continued to face allegations of bias and misconduct in recent years.

Officer Anthony T. Carvello was involved in multiple use of force incidents that took place in 2019 and 2020, when he allegedly used excessive force against at least three Black men while removing them from for trespassing at Harvard’s Smith Campus Center.

A 2020 Crimson investigation also revealed multiple instances of racist and sexist behavior internal to the department. In an interview this month, Clay said he “will not tolerate” similar behavior, adding: “I was a consumer of that article, too.”’

“I’m actively looking to make sure things like that don’t exist today,” Clay said. “If there’s smoke to that fire, I’m going to investigate it. I’m going to use HR as a partner, and we’re going to resolve the issue quickly.”

Clay has restructured the department since arriving in July 2021. More than half of the senior staff in place when he arrived has departed or been reassigned. He created a new rank of captain, and is now in the process of hiring a new group of lieutenants, he said.

“The captains were all promoted from within, so there’s a boost in morale,” Clay said.

“There’s a lot of movement

The former Harvard University Police Department substation at Mather House. The department closed the substation this spring following years of student complaints. ANGELA DELA CRUZ—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

within the department, and I think it keeps folks energized.”

Pryor said the department’s history leads her to doubt the current reform efforts, which she said are part of “a cycle that we’ve seen so many times” of nonsubstantive reform in response to criticism.

Others, though, are more optimistic. Noah A. Harris ’22, who served as president of the Undergraduate Council and sits on the HUPD Advisory Board, said he is “pleased with the reforms that have happened” under Clay.

“I have seen genuine, thorough efforts being made to make changes that students have been calling for for decades,” Harris said.

Harris said part of the Advisory Board’s work has been to restore trust damaged by actions of officers in past years and to “help those wounds heal faster.”

‘Re-Imagining Public Safety’ The external review into HUPD — launched by the University in June 2020, just days after Riley said he would retire — called on the school to begin the project of “re-imagining public safety,” including finding alternatives to police response to some emergencies.

Clay said he regularly speaks with the executive director of Harvard University Health Services, Giang T. Nguyen, about improving strategies to address student mental health crises and exploring alternatives to armed police response.

“I talk to him monthly and we talk about programs — we’re looking,” Clay said. “We’re trying to find one that fits the Harvard community well, because, again, it’s about protecting the rights of the students.”

Clay added he is working on a proposal to add five new Campus Support Officer positions to the force. CSOs would be unarmed, uniformed officers who would respond to calls that do not require an armed presence, such as students who are locked out of their dorms.

Clay is also a member of the Reimagining Campus Community Safety initiative, a working group launched at the recommendation of the HUPD external review. He described his work with the group as “really, really positive.” In his “Chief’s Greeting,” Clay pledged to work with students to reevaluate HUPD’s role in campus safety.

“I am excited to partner with a variety of student-based groups and with faculty and staff on campus to rethink, and reassess, how we serve you, and also, to determine when another professional might be better suited to provide support,” Clay wrote.

But when Joseph and Abdalla sought medical help for their friend, HUPD got the call and responded alongside EMTs — even though the pair said they asked the tutor multiple times not to involve the police.

Abdalla said when they called for help, they did not know about Harvard’s policy requiring tutors to call campus police in order to obtain medical assistance. The rule was explained to Abdalla only after

HUPD had arrived in her room, she said.

Harvard College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo confirmed that tutors are required to call HUPD in the event of a student medical emergency so that officers can direct responders to the proper location and provide building access.

“If I would have known that, then I would not have called my tutor,” Abdalla said.

Abdalla said there should be greater transparency surrounding this protocol and others that would bring in HUPD, adding that police involvement should not be a requisite to obtaining medical help.

“If students are not comfortable with it, they should have the clear option to just not have to interact with the police,” Abdalla said. “Just disentangle HUPD with medical services.”

The external review into HUPD cited several examples of police responding to calls for medical services, an issue it suggests “may not require the response of an armed law enforcement officer.”

“It may be possible for Harvard to develop more precise rules and protocols for when police respond to medical emergencies, or to eliminate police response to medical issues altogether,” the report reads.

These emergency response concerns are not limited to HUPD. The external review cited a 2018 incident of alleged police brutality against an unarmed Black student as a “turning point” in campus views on policing. Harvard University Health Services was criticized for referring callers concerned about a student’s mental health to the Cambridge Police Department. CPD officers tackled the student and struck him in the head and abdomen.

Jarrett M. Drake ’23, a proctor, said Harvard should prioritize investments into non-police response, rather than funding HUPD-run initiatives.

Drake said the University’s mental health programs are “under-resourced,” citing long wait times students face to get an appointment with the University’s Counseling and Mental Health Services.

“What is the limitation on the imagination at Harvard?”

Drake said. “Law enforcement agencies have mastered the art of making themselves seem to be the only viable option for anything.”

Clay has already addressed other recommendations raised by the external review. In an interview, he discussed several HUPD initiatives, including revamped officer training.

Clay said he has overhauled the department’s training procedures, expanding beyond state-mandated programs to sessions focusing on empathy, de-escalation strategies, and emotional intelligence. Members of the department attended a training session earlier this month on “empathy and healing,” according to Clay. He said the trainings were provided by non-police vendors, representing a unique opportunity to “step outside of our circles.”

These changes to HUPD

SEE HUPD PAGE 18

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Congratulations 2022 Graduates Dean Michelle A. Williams and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health wish you continuing success.

www.hsph.harvard.edu

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CLASS DAY FROM PAGE 3

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Speaks at College Class Day “To tackle the challenges we face today, we need to build trust in the urgency of our challenges by seeking the truth of the experiences of those on the ground, speaking the truth when it’s hard, and building the community to solve it,” Wu said.

Amid “waves of misinformation and disbelief,” Wu said it was important to continue to elevate the truth.

“Tell the truth when it’s hard, and uncomfortable, and complex,” Wu said. “Tell it so that we can build and rebuild the trust that’s needed for our brightest future.”

Wu offered her congratulations and said she was “rooting” for the Class of 2022 as she concluded her address.

“You can do anything,” Wu said. “Choose to make what you do impactful, joyful, and true.”

Following opening remarks from Class Committee First Marshal Menatallah N. “Menat” Bahnasy ’22, Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana

urged graduating students to utilize the skills they developed at Harvard to envision a more sustainable future.

Khurana painted a picture of a “hopeful version of 2036” — the year of the University’s 400th anniversary.

“In this 2036, climate change is under control, solar and wind converted into electricity have become the backbone of our energy systems, nuclear war is no longer a looming threat,” he said. “Sometime around 2022, we recognized that humanity’s diversity is its strength, and a source of infinite possibility. We realized that the world’s most important resource is its youth.”

“Right now, this vision of 2036 sounds not just unrealistic, but maybe naive and unattainable,” Khurana added. “I don’t know how we’ll get from here to 2036. But I do know that social change begins with bridge-builders. And I know that you all are ready to step into

that role.”

Youmna M. Chamieh ’21-’22 delivered the Ivy Oration, quipping about the Harvard experience and likening the school to a “long-term girlfriend.”

“In the courtship stages, back when nothing was guaranteed, we told Harvard that we ‘loved the way it thinks’ and that it was ‘not like other schools,’” Chamieh said. “And now we’re four years in, and we’re like, ‘You put the toilet seat back up.’”

“Except the toilet seat is just divesting from fossil fuels,” she added.

Following years of advocacy efforts from campus groups, the University announced last September that it would allow its remaining investments in the fossil fuel industry to expire.

In the Harvard Oration, Andrew S. Yun ’22 discussed the importance of kindness amid Harvard’s competitive atmosphere.

“It is only when I chose to be honest about my shortcom-

ings that I realized that amid the fierce competition, Harvard also has deep networks of support and care for those willing to seek them out,” Yun said.

In closing remarks, Class Committee Second Marshal Ruth H. Jaensubhakij ’22 reflected on the ways the Class of 2022 has changed during its untraditional tenure at Harvard.

“After Friday, our paths will diverge — for better or for worse,” Jaensubhakij said.

“But right now, for this moment in time, we’re all here together. Every decision we’ve made, every class we’ve taken, every late night, every rehearsal and meeting and shuttle ride and spontaneous conversation, they’ve all led us right here.”

“This is an incredibly unique and special group, and this moment — our graduation from Harvard — is unlike any other,” she added. isabella.cho@thecrimson.com leah.teichholtz@thecrimson.com

Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana speaks to graduates at College Class Day on Wednesday. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

CHAIRS FROM PAGE 3

30,000 Chairs: Harvard’s Commencement Challenge

Harvard’s Tercentenary Theatre was home to the University’s first in-person Commencement ceremony since 2019 on Thursday. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

transportation, and custodial staff, as well as more than a thousand faculty and and administrator volunteers are involved in this year’s exercises.

Harvard offered financial assistance to members of the Classes of 2020 and 2021 who needed aid for travel, accommodations, and regalia costs, University spokesperson Christopher M. Hennessy wrote in a statement.

Hennessy wrote that discussions regarding financial support for the returning graduates have been ongoing since November.

Hennessy added that the University aimed to make the celebrations accessible with no registration fees or costs for meals and other Commencement festivities.

In a May interview, Dean of

the College Rakesh Khurana credited the success of Commencement planning and attendance to the work of the Harvard Alumni Association, the office of University President Lawrence S. Bacow, and Thomas A. Dingman ’67, the special advisor to the Class of 2020 and 2021 joint Commencement.

Philip W. Lovejoy, the outgoing executive director of the HAA, wrote in an emailed statement that the association is “thrilled” to celebrate the Classes of 2020 and 2021 at an “extraordinary time.”

“We’re inspired by the positive response of so many returning to campus to be with each other, not only to look back and commemorate their time as students, but also to begin what we hope will be a lifelong fellowship in the Harvard alumni

community,” he wrote.

Lovejoy also thanked the efforts of “tireless” alumni and other volunteers who helped plan the joint Commencement.

“We’re grateful to all of our colleagues across the university, and for the leadership and generous support from President Bacow and the deans of the College and the graduate schools, which have made this celebration possible,” Lovejoy wrote.

New Zealand Prime Ministe Jacinda Ardern addressed the Class of 2022 at their Commencement on Thursday. United States Attorney General Merrick B. Garland ’74 will address the Classes of 2020 and 2021 at their in-person ceremony on Sunday. leah.teichholtz@thecrimson.com

Potential Change to Memorial Drive Closure Sparks Outcry

By KATERINA V. CORR CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Cambridge City Councilors debated a proposed policy order limiting the weekend closures of Memorial Drive to Sundays during its meeting Monday night.

In advance of the meeting, a petition circulated by Cambridge Bicycle Safety collected nearly 2,200 signatures in opposition to the change.

The policy order, sponsored

by Councilor E. Denise Simmons, was not voted upon Monday night after Councilor Paul F. Toner exercised his “Charter Right” — a practice through which any member of the Council can postpone consideration of “any ordinance, order or resolution.”

The regular closures of portions of Memorial Drive began after a one-time closure for a picnic in 1975 and a four-week pilot program in 1976. A 1985 Massachusetts law later codified the weekly closures “from the last Sunday in April through the second Sunday in November” from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

These closed portions of Memorial Drive, in addition to ­

the green space alongside the Charles River, are known as Riverbend Park.

In 2020 and 2021, Memorial Drive was closed on both Saturdays and Sundays to create more outdoor space for residents to use while social distancing to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

More than a month into its 2022 season, Memorial Drive currently closes from Western Avenue to Gerry’s Landing from 8 a.m. Saturday to Sunday at 7 p.m.

Introducing the policy order at the City Council meeting, Simmons said residents were not sufficiently consulted on the extension of the closures to Saturday.

She argued that when the Saturday extensions began during “the height of the pandemic,” Cambridge’s level of vehicular traffic was low.

Simmons said the city has not sought appropriate public input on the closures from impacted neighborhoods since more traffic has returned.

“It never stated, ‘in perpetuity,’” she said during the meeting in reference to the decision to extend the Saturday Memori-

al Drive closures. “It also never said, ‘Let’s not talk to the community.’”

Residents who spoke in support of the limitation of the Memorial Drive closure to Sundays during the meeting’s public comment period primarily cited concerns of increased traffic in residential areas.

One resident, Sheila Headley-Burwell, argued that the traffic was “overwhelming.”

“We are hostage to yet another day,” Headley-Burwell said. “How does one justify such an inconvenience and impact on and into our community, affecting various streets by pushing traffic into the front of our homes?”

Resident Lawrence Adkins’ account of weekend traffic on Western and Putnam Avenues elicited applause from some attendees at the meeting, prompting Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui to remind the audience of the Council’s meeting rules.

“I have never been in a time where I cannot leave my house without being stuck in traffic for 20 minutes,” Adkins yelled.

Residents who opposed Simmons’s policy order argued that the weekend closures of Memo-

rial Drive provide the city with more open space for biking, rollerblading, walking, skating, and other outdoor activities.

“For most of the week, almost the whole city is cut off from the river by four dangerous lanes of fast-moving traffic,” resident Benjamin C. Rolsma said. “But on Saturdays and Sundays, Memorial Drive becomes a thriving and safe place that thousands of residents can enjoy.”

Former vice mayor of Cambridge Jan Devereux described in an interview the results of an intercept survey conducted in April by The People for Riverbend Park Trust — an organization in which she serves as a trustee — on the closures of Memorial Drive.

“People were really enthusiastic about having it both days,” Devereux said. “It’s viewed as a great amenity for the Harvard Square area particularly, but really, people come from all over.”

Christopher Cassa — a representative of the Memorial Drive Alliance, a coalition of more than 25 local organizations that promotes pedestrian and cyclist access to the Memorial Drive Parkway — praised the closed

parkway as a safe recreational space in an interview.

“It’s just really heartwarming to see families and kids learning how to use a bike, or people being able to run around peacefully without having to worry if their kids might be too close to cars,” Cassa said.

During the Council’s discussion of the policy order following public comment, several City councilors expressed understanding for the experiences of both residents who supported the proposal and those who opposed it.

Marc C. McGovern described the closures as both “a tremendous resource” and “an inconvenience to a lot of the folks who live in the neighborhood.”

“I think we need to do some community outreach with those folks to see if we can mitigate the problem,” Toner said.

As a result of Toner’s exercise of the Charter Right, the policy order will next be considered during the Council’s meeting on June 6.

Cassa argued — as several residents had during the meeting — that traffic management measures could be explored.

“It’s something that could be managed with better signal timing, or better signage to help people avoid an area that might be closed,” he said. “It’s just so short-sighted to me to see people talk about closing it, rather than specifically addressing and trying to figure out ways to make this more manageable and less impactful on residents.”

Devereux agreed that the city should consider various traffic mitigation measures, but said she does “not believe it is the job of the City Council to eliminate all inconvenience to drivers.”

While she acknowledged that public meetings could “guide remedies,” she said the complaints of a group of residents “shouldn’t be a way of delaying or canceling” Council initiatives.

Devereux referenced the thousands of signatures on the Cambridge Bicycle Safety petition as “a mandate.”

“It’s important for a climate — for the riverfront environment — that we stop treating it like decoration for a highway,” she said. katerina.corr@thecrimson.com

Seven New Members Elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers

By ISABELLA CHO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Harvard alumni elected seven members to the Board of Overseers, the University’s second-highest governing board, the University announced Thursday.

The newly-elected members include Monica Bharel, the Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Boston; Sangu J. Delle ’10, CEO of Africa Health Holdings; Scott Mead ’77, a London-based photographer; Lauren Ancel Meyers ’95, a University of Texas at Austin professor and director of the UT COVID-19 Modeling Consortium; Todd Y. Park ’94, co-founder and executive chair of Devote Health; Vikas P. Sukhatme, dean of Emory University School of Medicine; and ­

Wilhemina “Mimi” Wright, U.S. District Judge for the District of Minnesota.

Five of the overseers were elected for six-year terms, the standard duration of a tenure on the board. Bharel, who advises Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07, will complete the four remaining years of English professor Tracy K. Smith’s term. Smith stepped down from the board upon joining Harvard’s faculty last year.

Mead will serve on the board for only two years, completing the term of Yvette D. Roubideaux ’85, who also left the body this past year.

Harvard Forward, a student and alumni campaign that promotes climate consciousness and increased transparency on the University’s govern-

ing boards, did not advance any candidates for this year’s election cycle. Following the election of Indigenous activist Megan H. Red Shirt-Shaw in 2021, a total of four Harvard Forward-backed candidates have won seats on the Board of Overseers.

Lawyer Paul L. Choi ’86, who will serve as the president of the Board of Overseers in the coming year, praised the incoming members in a Thursday statement.

“The board benefits from a new complement of members every year, and we’re fortunate to have such an impressive group of colleagues who’ll be joining us,” he said. “I look forward to working with all of them in the coming year, as all of us do our part to help Har-

vard thrive in complicated but also exciting times.”

The board benefits from a new complement of members every year, and we’re fortunate to have such an impressive group of colleagues who’ll be joining us.

Paul L. Choi ’86 Incoming President of the Board of Overseers

The University also announced six new elected direc-

tors of the Harvard Alumni Association Thursday.

The new directors include: Sofia Bahena, assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio; Michael K. Bervell ’19, portfolio development manager at the Microsoft Venture Fund; Jyoti Jasrasaria ’12, associate at Elias Law Group; Cherie Lynn Ramirez, assistant teaching professor at Simmons University; Corina Santangelo, head of fundraising at ChildFund Mexico; and Judith M. Williams ’91, strategist at human capital consultancy Magic Deer.

Chosen from a slate of nine candidates, the new directors will serve three-year terms.

Denver-based landscape architect Allyson C. Mendenhall ’90, HAA’s incoming pres-

ident, said in a Thursday statement that she believes the newly-elected directors will help advance a robust alumni network and drive positive change.

“We are all eager for these dedicated volunteers to join in our continuing work – to ensure a vital and deeply connected alumni community and to support and empower the countless Harvard graduates from across the globe who are advancing positive change in the world,” she said.

Harvard degree-holders cast a total of 31,383 ballots in the Board of Overseers election, and a total of 32,498 ballots in the election for HAA directorships. isabella.cho@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

COMMENCEMENT

PAGE 18

HUPD FROM PAGE 4

Can Harvard’s Police Department Reform? training practices are in line with the report’s recommendations — including one that suggested “training on the particular emotional needs and mental health challenges of young adults,” among other possible improvements to the department’s approach to training.

Yalile J. Suriel, a professor at the University of Minnesota, wrote in an email that efforts around empathy training have been part of police reform for decades, but have not substantively changed how departments operate.

“The question Harvard seems to be facing now is how exactly does this initiative around empathy and emotional intelligence differ from the past and how exactly will it be implemented?” Suriel wrote.

Francis X. Hartmann, a criminal justice expert at the Harvard Kennedy School praised Clay’s reform efforts, saying his focus on emotional intelligence is “the right direction.” Hartmann said Clay would be “a pace-setter” in “trying to even have that conversation introduced” into policing.

‘Lack of Transparency’ Clay’s flagship pledge has been to lead HUPD with greater transparency and communication.

One of Clay’s first meetings as chief was with faculty members and tutors at Mather House, who requested that the department remove a HUPD substation attached to a dormitory.

Students had long complained about the facility’s presence, citing feelings of intimidation.

With the appointment of a new chief, Faculty Deans Amala Mahadevan and L. “Maha” Mahadevan saw an opportunity for change: They presented students’ concerns to Clay in a fall 2021 meeting.

After examining the substation’s activity, Clay found that officers were not using it enough to justify keeping it open given the complaints.

“If the residents don’t feel comfortable with it, then by all means, let’s find a better solution,” Clay said. “That was solely my decision on that one.”

Clay ordered the substation’s activity, Clay found that officers

were not using it enough to justify keeping it open given the complaints.

“If the residents don’t feel comfortable with it, then by all means, let’s find a better solution,” Clay said. “That was solely my decision on that one.”

Clay ordered the substation’s closure in February, subsequently increasing HUPD patrols around Mather House to maintain police visibility in the area.

Pryor, a self-described police abolitionist, said the substation’s closure represented a “huge victory” for students, but she said she remained skeptical of Clay’s overall reform efforts.

“He is trying to create a HUPD that is less vulnerable to criticism, that is less vulnerable to changes that will actually take real power away from it,” Pryor said.

Clay also said a crucial element to greater department accountability has been a closer relationship with Harvard Human Resources.

The department now forwards all internal affairs reports to HR, Clay said, and has incorporated it into its use of force review process.

“Nothing inside of the department is done just within our walls,” Clay said. “We give everything to Harvard HR because we are employees of the University. I’m not sure if that was done before, but I know going forward, that’s the way it’s going to be done now.”

Although the reports no longer stay within the department’s walls, they remain internal to the University.Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said HR does not provide sufficient accountability.

“I would disagree with their definition of in-house, if they’re sharing information with other departments within the University, but not with students,” Silverman said. “That’s not the type of transparency that we should be advocating for.”

Instead, Silverman said, the department should be doing more to disclose information to the public.

Unlike municipal police forces, HUPD is not subject to state public records laws, meaning that the department does

Two Harvard University Police officers stand in the school’s Smith Campus Center. ANGELA DELA CRUZ—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

not have to turn over official incident reports or other documents requested by the public.

Joseph described a series of difficulties in obtaining information from HUPD and Harvard administrators about the incident. The day after it took place, she emailed Catalano, the longtime HUPD public information officer, seeking access to the report. He denied her request.

“The Harvard University Police Department is a private police agency and therefore the reports are not public documents,” Catalano wrote in an email to Joseph that was provided to The Crimson. “We release reports in very limited circumstances, almost exclusively for insurance purposes, and do not provide copies of reports for person’s records. We are not going to release a copy of this report.”

Yet, Kirkland House’s resident dean, Leslie Rith-Najarian, was able to obtain a copy of the report, according to Joseph, and referenced it during a conversation with Joseph following the incident.

Joseph said Rith-Najarian

communicated with her in an inappropriate manner about the incident and did not provide information about what took place to faculty deans or tutors — some of whom Joseph said reached out to her only because she tweeted about the incident.

Rith-Najarian, who is not returning to Kirkland in the fall, did not respond to requests for comment about the incident.

Joseph said the department’s policy against granting students access to police reports represents “a blatant lack of transparency.”

“Is your purpose not to protect and defend the students of this university?” Joseph said.

“And if you aren’t accountable to the students here, then who the fuck are you accountable to?”

In an interview, Clay said HUPD will not change its disclosure practices.

“I think our primary goal is to protect the identity and the privacy of some of the folks that are involved in the incidents that we investigate,” he said.

“It’s not for me to go out and change it and just leave open reports or investigations out there

for public review.”

The Crimson sued HUPD in 2003, arguing that the department should be subject to state public records laws, which require the disclosure of police reports upon request. But the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2006 that the department’s records are not subject to the same disclosure requirements as municipal forces because HUPD is a private entity.

Campus police forces in some other states — such as the Yale Police Department — are required to abide by public records laws.

Catalano said the department provides more detail in its reports than municipal police departments, which it would not be able to do if the reports were public.

“A lot of our reports contain really confidential information about students who experience alcohol or substance abuse, mental health issues, going through traumatic potential self-harm,” Catalano said.

“We’d be forced to write less reports or even less detailed reports, and I don’t know if that is

in the best interest of everyone involved.”

But Silverman said HUPD can make incident reports available to the public while still protecting sensitive information.

“You can address that concern by allowing for certain information to be withheld or for certain redactions to be made, similar to how that can occur under our state’s public records law,” Silverman said. “They can continue to write very detailed reports.”

Disclosures or not, some students say they should be more involved in the effort of police reform.

The HUPD Advisory Board has just one undergraduate student: Harris, who graduated Thursday.

“I always thought that there should have been more student voices on the Advisory Board,” Harris said.

“I don’t think we can ever be satisfied until we have a department that makes everyone feel safe, regardless of their background,” he added. brandon.kingdollar@thecrimson.com sarah.girma@thecrimson.com

Harvard Law School Grows Loan Repayment Program Benefits

By SARA DAHIYA CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

H arvard Law School announced in a May 17 email that it plans to boost support for graduates in low-paying and public sector careers, marking the highest increase in the 45year history of its Low Income Protection Plan.

Launched by the Law School in 1978, the Low Income Protection Plan program aims to “reduce the loan repayment burden for graduates in government, public sector, and academic jobs, or in law related jobs in the private sector.”

The program subsidizes annual loan repayment obliga­

tions based on the income of graduates in low-paying industries.

An email inviting previous program participants to reapply mentioned a roughly 14.5 percent increase in the contribution scale used to calculate the amount of subsidy offered to participants.

“This means the new floor under which a participant will contribute $0 towards their eligible loan payments is $55,000, increased from $48,000,” the email reads.

HLS spokesperson Jeff Neal wrote in an emailed statement that the school chose to increase the contribution scale as the result of a review during the

school’s annual budget process.

“Harvard Law School will continue to work with students and graduates to help them thrive in law school and to pursue career options of their choice,” Neal wrote.

The change follows a letter sent to Law School Dean John F. Manning ’82 on April 8, demanding inflation-adjusted support for Low Income Protection Plan participants. Alumni have long called for improvements to the LIPP program, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and record-high inflation levels.

Some beneficiaries of the program view the change as an improvement, calling the in-

crease “a good first start.” But others say the move still does not provide adequate support to students and alumni.

“This kind of seems like the bare minimum that they needed to do to address the most rampant inflation we’ve seen in 40 years. But to say that this is a dramatic reform of the LIPP program — that doesn’t pass the laugh test,” Brendan Schneiderman, a 2021 graduate of the Law School said.

Alumni and student organizers advocating for structural changes to the program said the change falls short of drastically easing the financial strain faced by public interest litigators.

“They’re essentially not even

acknowledging the fact that we are basically having to resort to finding support for ourselves and making ends meet and literally qualifying for the same benefits programs that our clients that we provide free legal aid to qualify for,” Juan Espinoza, a 2021 graduate of HLS said.

“So it’s a double-edged sword, and it’s a bittersweet feeling of some relief,” Espinoza added.

The organizers behind the April letter are calling for the school to automatically tie the contribution scale to inflation rates, factor in adjustments to asset caps, and integrate the voices of low income students and alumni to the program’s de-

cision making body.

Espinoza said the Low Income Protection Plan program fails to support public interest work and impacts salaries across the sector.

“The repayment scale also creates a floor and a threshold that sets a metric for the broader profession to feel okay with paying public interest lawyers such low salaries,” he said.

“So, Harvard Law School is keeping salaries low in the public interest profession by keeping the repayment program so tight and low and not actually reflective of what students need,” Espinoza added. sara.dahiya@thecrimson.com

Congratulations to the 146!

Thank you for everything!

PAGE 19

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

ARDERN FROM PAGE 3

Ardern Speaks at Commencement “Take advantage of these opportunities when they arise.”

Bacow’s remarks were followed by three student orations: the Latin Salutatory delivered

by Benjamin J. Porteous ’22, the Graduate English Address by Harvard Divinity School student Lindsay Sanwald, and the Senior English Address by former Undergraduate Council President Noah Harris ’22.

Porteous’s speech — titled “In Honorem Iohannis Martini Annenbergensis,” which translates to “A Salute to John Martin of Annenberg” — recognized the beloved Harvard University Dining Services worker John S. Martin, whose warm presence has welcomed many freshmen to campus. Porteous drew laughs from the audience as he dramatically recited the poem.

In her speech, Sanwald encouraged the audience to “take off your mask, turn on your camera, and tell your story” after years of global turmoil.

“In exile, we become proph-

ets. We part seas. We leap. You have made a path for yourself.

Now cross it,” Sanwald told her fellow graduates.

In the Senior English Address, titled “The Caged Bird Sings,” Harris — the first popularly-elected Black student body president in the history of the College — spoke about how the resilience of his enslaved ancestors encouraged him to speak out for those less advantaged.

“We must see ourselves in those who are caged,” Harris said. “We must use our talents to help them, but most of all, we must be proximate enough to hear the tune of their song.”

The University awarded seven honorary degrees, including one to Ardern.Other honorees included Gloria M. Steinem, a famous journalist and feminist, and José Andrés, a renowned Spanish chef and humanitarian. cara.chang@thecrimson.com ariel.kim@thecrimson.com leah.teichholtz@thecrimson.com

COMMENCEMENT

City Manager Finalists Announced

By KATERINA V. CORR CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Cambridge’s Initial Screening Committee announced four finalists who will move forward in the search for a new city manager earlier this month.

The committee — composed of four City Councilors and 15 Cambridge residents — selected the four finalists after three days of candidate review.

The four finalists are Iram Farooq, Cheryl Watson Fisher, Yi-An Huang ’05, and Norman Khumalo.

The nearly 30 “recommended candidates” initially selected by Randi Frank Consulting, LLC — the third-party consulting group selected by the Council to aid in the city manager search — were narrowed down to ten by the Screening Committee.

The Committee then conducted two days of interviews to select the four finalists.

The Council released copies of the candidates’ resumes, cover letters, and semi-finalist questionnaires, with candidate contact information redacted.

The four finalists, includ-

ing two who have previously worked within Cambridge’s municipal government, offer a range of professional experiences.

Farooq, the city’s current assistant city manager for community development, described her “bold long-term vision” for the city in her candidate questionnaire, noting she would aim to create “a livable, sustainable, equitable, resilient and just city.”

In her cover letter, Farooq argued that her work through the Community Development Department in affordable housing and environmental sustainability has led to Cambridge’s recognition as a leading city in these fields.

She is also interested in responding to calls for a “progressive approach to policing” and early childhood education, she wrote.

Fisher, who currently serves as city solicitor in Chelsea, said n an interview that she is focused on efforts that will improve the “quality of life” of Cambridge residents. Fisher listed affordable housing, universal pre-K, climate change mitigation, and

alternative policing — among others — as issues she hopes to address if selected as city manager.

“I have been in the management of a city — a little smaller than Cambridge, but right here in the metro Boston area — for 18 years,” Fisher said in the interview.

Huang, another finalist, is currently the director of clinical operations at Boston Medical Center — a position he described as having parallels with “running a city.” He added that as a candidate without experience in city government, his approach to the role would be driven by “humility” and “listening and learning.”

During an interview, Huang praised the city’s Covid-19 response and guaranteed income initiatives but said he believes more could be done to address universal pre-K and climate change.

Khumalo, town manager of Hopkinton, Mass., argues in his candidate questionnaire that his “professional passion” aligns with the priorities of Cambridge especially in “affordable housing, climate

change/sustainability, and public transportation.”

He summarizes his leadership style with the philosophy of “Ubuntu,” something he writes “affirms that, as human beings, we are attached in every respect.”

Earlier this year, Khumalo was also named as one of three finalists for city manager of Watertown, but was ultimately not selected for the role.

This marks the fourth stage of Cambridge’s search process, following a period of resident input, the creation of a “leadership profile,” and solicitation of applications.

Cambridge will host a “Meet the Candidates” forum on Tuesday, which the public can attend in-person or virtually.

Questions for the forum will be prepared by Randi Frank, LLC based on suggestions sent via email to the consulting group.

The City Council will publicly interview each of the candidates on June 1 and will vote on the next city manager during its meeting on June 6. katerina.corr@thecrimson.com

Faculty Report Satisfaction with Harvard’s Handling of Covid-19

By ARIEL H. KIM and MEIMEI XU CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

More than 77 percent of respondents to The Crimson’s annual survey of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences said they were either extremely or somewhat satisfied with Harvard’s overall handling of Covid-19.

Responses were widely in favor of Harvard’s vaccination and testing policies, as well as its guidance and support for returning to in-person instruction. Around 94 percent of respondents indicated that they were somewhat or extremely satisfied with the University’s vaccination and booster requirements.

The Crimson distributed its survey to more than 1,100 members of the FAS and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, polling tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure track faculty on their demographics, academic life, and viewpoints on various issues, including Harvard governance.

The 111-question survey garnered 476 responses, including 333 that were complete and 143 that were partially filled out.

The anonymous survey, a link to which was emailed to nearly every member of the FAS, was open from April 11 to 26. The Crimson did not adjust the data for possible selection bias.

While the first installment of The Crimson’s 2022 faculty survey explored views on sexual harassment at Harvard, the second examines how faculty view Harvard’s Covid-19 response.

Masking and In-Person Instruction Harvard lifted its mask mandate for most indoor spaces on March 14, the same day the city of Cambridge eased its indoor masking policy. This shift in the Univer-

sity’s public health measures followed a surge of undergraduate Covid-19 cases between Feb. 28 and March 4.

More than 30 percent of respondents indicated they were somewhat or extremely dissatisfied with the University’s decision to loosen masking guidelines.

In response to an open-ended question asking for feedback on Harvard’s Covid-19 response, some faculty wrote that they feel the masking mandate was loosened too early, particularly given the uptick in cases among undergraduates.

Still, a majority of respondents supported the move, with more than 53 percent indicating they were somewhat or extremely satisfied with the loosened masking guidelines.

Some said the University’s Covid-19 response has been “too conservative” this school year, with one respondent writing that most Harvard students are “young, vaccinated, and (with few exceptions) healthy” and “are not at serious risk of illness from Covid-19.”

“They have been negatively impacted in their social, intellectual, and moral development by non-pharmaceutical interventions (e.g., discouraging socialization, masking, isolation),” a faculty member wrote. “I believe strongly in protecting vulnerable students, staff, and faculty through vaccines and appropriate NPI measures. But I do not see the point in mandating masks for vaccinated, healthy campus members when hospitals are not full and boosters are widely available.”

Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment for this story.

Many faculty members continued to require masks in their classrooms for the first week or few weeks after the FAS adopted its indoor mask-optional policy,

MEIMEI XU— FLOURISH CHART

waiting until Covid-19 numbers declined.

Nearly 48 percent of respondents continued to teach with a mask on, while 40.5 percent reported teaching maskless.

After 18 months of remote learning, students returned to in-person classes in fall 2021.

More than 73 percent of faculty respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that the transition from remote to in-person learning was managed well by the FAS. Similarly, more than 75 percent of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that the FAS or Harvard gave them enough guidance and resources for returning to in-person instruction. More than 82 percent of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that they felt safe returning to in-person teaching.

Faculty respondents were also asked to select their biggest stressors during the pandemic among family life, teaching, research, health or illness, and other reasons. The survey found that family life, teaching, and research were the top three stressors for faculty during the pandemic, followed closely by

health or illness.

Vaccination and Testing The University announced in January that it would require all eligible affiliates to receive a Covid-19 booster shot for the spring term.

Almost all faculty respondents are fully vaccinated — 98.4 percent indicated that they have received their booster shot. No respondents indicated that they are not vaccinated.

More than 88 percent of respondents reported that they were extremely or somewhat satisfied with Harvard’s Covid-19 testing guidelines in April. Last month, the University announced that it would phase out of its testing requirement — weekly testing became optional on May 10 for affiliates living on campus.

In response to an open-ended question asking for feedback on Harvard’s Covid-19 response, some faculty noted that no other university followed this testing cadence as long as Harvard.

Others wrote they wished testing was “more frequent” given the virus’s rapid infection and

transmission rate.

Some said Harvard should have allowed dependents of affiliates to be eligible for the University’s testing program as well, noting the challenges of getting family members tested.

Methodology For its 2022 Faculty Survey, The Crimson collected responses through Qualtrics, an online survey platform, from April 11 to 26, 2022. A link to the anonymous survey was sent to 1,182 FAS and SEAS faculty members through emails sourced in March 2022 from Harvard directory information. The pool included individuals on Harvard’s Connections database with FAS affiliations, including tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure track faculty.

Of those faculty, 492 accessed the link, and 476 participants answered at least one question.

A total of 333 participants fully completed the survey.

To check for potential response bias, The Crimson compared respondent demographics with publicly available information on faculty demographics

provided by the University — information regarding gender, race and ethnicity, SEAS affiliation, and ladder versus non-ladder status. Overall, the respondents to the survey were in line with the demographics of the broader faculty.

Of survey respondents, 42 percent identified themselves as women, and 25 percent identified themselves as faculty of color. Based on data in the 2021 FAS Dean’s Annual Report, women and faculty of color make up 39 and 26 percent of FAS faculty, respectively.

According to the report, 42 percent of the FAS are senior non-ladder, non-ladder, or visiting faculty. Among the respondents to The Crimson’s survey, 49 percent indicated that they are non-ladder faculty.

Of faculty who were sent the link to the survey, 140 — 12 percent — are affiliated with SEAS. In comparison, of respondents who indicated their divisional affiliation on the survey, 7 percent reported an affiliation with SEAS. ariel.kim@thecrimson.com meimei.xu@thecrimson.com

Congratulations to the 147!

We miss you (but not Zoom)!

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

COMMENCEMENT

PAGE 20

EDITORIAL

SOPHIA SALAMANCA—CRIMSON DESIGNER

THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

The World Beyond the Bubble March on, Harvard graduates — the world beyond the bubble awaits.

M

arch 10, 2020: a day that has gone down in Harvard history — and quite a few staff editorials. In the wake of the rising Covid-19 risk, students cleared out the pastry case at Lamont Café and booked red-eyed flights home. Friends clutched each others’ arms and attempted to jam months of standing dates into the few remaining days. Seniors turned in midterms and said goodbye to campus for the last time — until now.

March 10 came like an eviction notice.

But it was not just from Harvard’s physical campus in Cambridge that we were ousted.

As we returned to the faraway corners of the globe where we once eagerly welcomed our Harvard acceptance letters, the metaphorical Harvard bubble — that mini-universe of campus culture, politics, and jargon, self-sustaining and self-centered — burst.

Without a shared space and friendly runins to tether us, our connections to Harvard frayed. We began to look outward not from the perspective atop Harvard’s ivory tower, but from our new surroundings in the larger world outside of our cherished University. No longer was Harvard our first and only frame of reference.

We still carry the marks of our semesters apart. In our first full post-Covid year of 2022, we have struggled to tailor a preCovid Harvard experience to our pandemic-altered bodies and minds. Even upperclassmen who should know this place inside and out bring a freshness back to campus, a burst of mint air that escaped when the bubble popped.

A year later, we thought the Harvard bubble would be back: pristine, impenetrable, entirely isolating. Yet this year more than ever before, we have been made to reckon with events and questions that are far greater than Harvard itself. The bubble, once compromised, cannot be un-burst. Layer by layer, we have strived to reach beyond its confines, to grapple with the issues that surround our treasured Cambridge campus.

That work starts with Cambridge itself, a city rich with community and character but sometimes conspicuously absent from our collective imagination. Far too many of us have become “four-year tourists”: residents of Cambridge on paper, of Harvard in practice. Stuck behind our private police department and gated yard, we rarely venture out beyond Harvard Square or productively engage with our surroundings.

It’s safe to say that Harvard’s ever-expanding presence encourages such isolation from the rest of Cambridge — this academic year alone, the University temporarily closed its gates to non-affiliates. Thus, the age-old question of “town-gown” relations, the perennial struggle to balance local needs and ambitious higher education projects. Earlier this year, Harvard presented its 25th Town-Gown annual report to Cambridge city officials. The report praises Harvard’s “nearly 400-year partnership” with Cambridge, and highlights our “responsibility to create a campus that continuously strives toward a better future for our local community, as well as our global community.” We continue to question the nature of this partnership.

Recent interactions between Harvard and Cambridge, and now Allston, have left us feeling bittersweet. We do not dispute Harvard’s presence can be (and frequently is) a force of good. In Allston alone, the highly praised Harvard Ed Portal provides educational opportunities for local resi-

dents. As we have previously pointed out, the Ed Portal is a great example of the kind of work Harvard can and should be doing for the communities it expands into, and of the ways in which our local and educational footprints can be synthesized for the greater good. Still, tradeoffs are never clear-cut, even when it comes to praiseworthy projects. As valuable as Harvard’s learning opportunities for local residents are, they do not negate or perhaps even fully mitigate the broader harms of gentrification brought forth by our expansion into Allston. Going forward, Harvard should work harder to center the discussion around Allston residents and their needs, as they hold the biggest stakes in this process.

As students, however, we should also be mindful of our surroundings and the issues they mask. Not every crisis, even at the local level, is Harvard-centric. We cannot let the bubble’s glassy surface hide what lies beyond.

Take Harvard Square: The picture-perfect center of our small college community, complete with overpriced stores, massive tourist groups, iconic buildings — and an egregiously vulnerable homeless population. Over the past years, the graduating classes have doubtlessly grown used to the blatant inequity that haunts the square, desensitized to Cambridge’s most vulnerable inhabitants one encounter at a time. Continuity begets complacency, but shouldn’t.

Our city is at its best when it moves forcefully against the tide — supporting ambitious initiatives like universal preschool education or reimagining its approach to public safety. Our graduates are, too.

But what comes after we graduate? Generations of Harvard students have come and gone; generations of Cantabrigians have remained. The issues they face do not leave Cambridge with each graduating class, they won’t be gone when the last commencement decorations are tossed aside. Instead, they remain here and fester — unless someone, sometime actively prevents them from doing so.

Our influence — much like the corollary sense of duty — doesn’t stop at Cambridge’s doors. As an uncontestable leader among American universities, Harvard frequently sets the agenda for our peers across higher education institutions, either by wrongfully monopolizing the debate or by contending with issues with broad implications for all.

We believe Harvard’s prestige gives us the power to shape policy beyond our university; we have ample evidence that when Harvard dares lead, others follow.

The question, then, is what to do with our outsized power — where do we want to be followed? The destination is unclear, the path rocky. American universities are battling on several fronts, harried institutions wrestling with polarized perceptions of their social value and internal pressure to hold their sometimes titanic endowments accountable. Some, like Harvard, have embraced an expansive understanding of their moral obligations, drawing bright red lines surrounding their investments to greater or lesser success. Yet the boundaries of divestment are nothing if not unclear, and dedicated affiliates (including this Board) are bound to keep contesting and stretching them.

At the same time, falling admissions rates and limited housing capacity will, in the next few years, force national universities to either (rightfully and carefully) ex-

pand and risk upsetting local neighbors, or become entirely inaccessible. The very process by which so-called American elite institutions select the student body will soon be under scrutiny if not outright duress by an ideological Court eager to overturn affirmative action. And the untamable, frequently overstated discourse surrounding free speech is bound to continue — even if we remain steadfast in our view that taking a tad of public pride in one’s opinions, controversial or not, is the only healthy way to contest the cultural terrain.

These raging debates frequently bleed into broader political fights, all the way to Washington D.C., where Harvard is both an excuse and an elite boogeyman; so too does the power of the Harvard name. We expect some, if not all, of our peers to go on to hold exceedingly powerful, coveted posts: Congressional seats, prestigious judicial positions, and even Cabinet-level appointments.

Many in the graduating classes have already begun their uphill climb to the highest levels of the American polity, one well-connected internship at a time. We are confident that Harvard will, once again, find itself overrepresented among the very powerful.

What our peers do with their prominence — whether they become Jacksons or Kissingers, an embodiment of our ideals or everything we shouldn’t be — only time will tell. As a board, we only hope they come to share some of our views on anything from the death penalty to the power of organized labor and implement them in our national backyard.

Not that the world surrounding our bubble ends at Boston-Logan. At times, Harvard’s influence extends even further, well beyond Cambridge, past Boston, Washington D.C., and America altogether. Harvard is nothing if not a global brand, one at times powerful enough to help decide elections — just ask Bulgaria. Our affiliates draw praise and ire from abroad; the publications they pen and projects they support are used to litigate decades-old wedges.

Even the words this very Board votes on can reverberate internationally, make national headlines at times — a compelling reminder of our responsibility to balance boldness with nuance, truth-telling with care and measure, righteousness with humility.

But where should we — this Board, this school — stand internationally, beyond providing a helpful nudge at the ballot box or fodder for foreign debates? How can we begin to understand, let alone exert a positive influence on, conflicts and crises so far from ourselves?

The answers to that and all questions beyond our bubble are complex and thorny; our expertise suffers when we seek to address matters larger in scope and more distant in character. The issues they raise are arguably better suited to councils and governments of highly-qualified people with numerous degrees, rather than bedraggled and bleary-eyed Harvard undergraduates struggling through their first.

As Harvard undergraduates, we are — by and large — not tasked with solving the climate crisis, delivering oral arguments in front of the Supreme Court, or facilitating diplomatic negotiation in eastern Europe.

As a group, our student body holds far more potential than actual power and insight; we are budding young adults, with a wealth of opportunities before us, attempting to find our footing. But it is our responsibility as citizens of Harvard, our local Cambridge

and Allston communities, colleges across America, the nation, and the globe, to grapple consciously and thoughtfully with the issues at the center of such pertinent tasks — our duty to consolidate evidence and form well-reasoned opinions from the results. To approach justice in accordance with our beliefs in any way we can, no matter how small we may seem in the greater machinations of the world.

Due in part to our historic Harvard bubble, we often only enact this responsibility within the innermost layer of ourselves as Harvard students. We engage in heated debate over the constitutionality of fictional laws in section, provide feedback to Harvard University Dining Services to expand dining hall hours, and scan wordy emails from the administration for the big takeaways on Covid-19 policy. When it comes to anything beyond our bubbled area of expertise, though, we frequently shy away from the issue, assuming it is out of our hands.

But what is our Harvard education for if it can only be applied within the restrictive bounds of Harvard itself? In reality, we only need to direct this same thought and passion from our Harvard student issues toward parallel global ones: the overturning of Roe v. Wade, local food scarcity in Cambridge, and disinformation in political campaigns, to start. We have all the building blocks in place to tackle the challenging questions.

We just need to make a conscious effort to start considering them.

This is what we, the Editorial Board, have been doing all throughout the year, and since shortly after The Crimson’s conception in 1873. We have uncovered the facts. We have debated and opined on them. We have organized our arguments and sent them out into the world under The Crimson Editorial byline, urging actionable change within Harvard’s student body, the administration, and the broader culture of our campus.

We are not perfect reckoners, nor are we always right. We’ve defended some positions that people disagree fiercely with, and some that we ourselves no longer agree with. We disagree internally, among ourselves, in ways that are sometimes published and sometimes not. We likely pay too much attention to certain topics and not enough to others, and we sometimes hesitate to publish what we say at all.

If nothing else, we take pride in the fact that we have used our voices. We have grappled with the issues instead of ignoring them. We have carefully formed opinions and stood by them. We have put ourselves out there with our thoughts and welcomed the resulting discourse.

We urge graduating students to do the same as they leave the shadows of the Harvard bubble, never to return as undergraduates. Remain alert, alive, awake; protest what you oppose and champion what you cherish. Speak up, write at length, and confront difficult questions head-on. Let every blunder be a path to a more thorough understanding of reality.

March on, Harvard graduates — the world beyond the bubble awaits.

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.

PAGE 21

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

COMMENCEMENT

EDITORIAL OP-ED

Some Exceedingly Excellent Advice

By GISH JEN

D

ear graduates, Well, it was not what you imagined.

If while here you managed to contract a social disease despite appropriate precautions, Covid-19 was not the disease you had in mind.

What’s more, if you were somehow involved in a breakthrough, it was not supposed to be a breakthrough infection. And if you dreamed of mastering an art, it was not the art of twirling a wand up your nose.

But congratulations all the same! The band is now playing, the crowds have arrived, the platitudes have begun. Hearts are bursting with pride.

There is no parking anywhere. If anyone has earned a cap and gown, it is you, and I hope someone has thought to supply crimson masks emblazoned with, if not a Harvard H, then one more Harvard A, why not, in case for all the grade inflation, your GPA could still use inflating. For then it’s out, out with you into the cold, hard world.

If anyone has earned a cap and gown, it is you, and I hope someone has thought to supply crimson masks emblazoned with, if not a Harvard H, then one more Harvard A. SOPHIA SALAMANCA—CRIMSON ILLUSTRATOR

OP-ED

Act and Vote with the Climate in Mind

By PATRICIA M. NOLAN

C

ongratulations, Classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022! When you started your undergraduate journey you imagined your commencement celebration differently. In the early days of the pandemic, no one could have pictured how the world would change — yet you persisted through its exigent demands and earned your degree with much instruction being remote.

Now, as you return to campus for an in-person ceremony, the full magnitude of your accomplishment may not be apparent — a formality in honor of an achievement in the distant past. I hope you appreciate the significance of this occasion. You persevered through challenges and trauma no students have faced before — and earned a degree. You are impressive, and you should celebrate!

As I reflect on my message to you I wonder: will you remember what I write? I fervently hope so, since my message is to implore you to ask our alma mater to do more to address the climate crisis. (Confession: for my own graduation, I barely remember the speech by a hero of government integrity, and know my relatives were more excited by celebrity sightings of my classmates’ families).

Please take in my message, from an alum who got a taste of activism on campus where my own views were challenged, my critical thinking skills developed, and my commitment to social justice solidified.

I ended up an elected official in Cambridge, a city I first visited moving into my first-year dorm, a city now the focus of my public service and activism.

Harvard has produced many remarkable graduates — thinkers, doers, poets, artists, and every type of world player — and its leadership in college affordabili-

ty is just one example of forward thinking and positive changes. Other areas are works in progress. Harvard plays an important role in the city — in hundreds of ways college students help our young students and hundreds of ways the University interacts with and improves our city’s operations.

As a School Committee member for more than a decade and now as City Councilor, I know how much Harvard contributes.

My message is to implore you to ask our alma mater to do more to address the climate crisis.

Recently I’ve focused on our collective work on the climate crisis. I am grateful for the University’s leadership in this area; Harvard has committed to fossil fuel neutrality by 2026 and becoming fossil fuel-zero by 2050. Cambridge itself has officially committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 and the Council has pledged to 2035. Although I am thankful for the substantial work that Harvard and the city have done to address the climate crisis, it is not enough.

The climate crisis is central to our survival and to all work on equity, since vulnerable populations are already and will continue to be most affected by the calamitous impacts of a chaotic, warmed world. Catastrophic wildfires burning today, heat waves smothering entire cities, houses washed into the sea daily, and an uptick in diseases run rampant in every corner of the globe. As an alum and a City Councilor, I consider it crucial to hold our institutions accountable for actions that will have decades-long consequences. Cambridge declared a climate

emergency over a decade ago and has failed to meet almost every goal that’s been set, especially in terms of greenhouse gas pollution reduction. And Harvard, for all its scientific advances and worthy contributions to the world, contributes a notable portion of the city’s overall emissions. Specifically in Cambridge, buildings are responsible for 80 percent of citywide emissions, and Harvard buildings account for a significant amount (MIT down the road accounts for about as much as Harvard — pass it on to your MIT friends). It will be challenging to re-configure building operations to decarbonize. It will cost money and be disruptive, but those are not valid reasons to delay. As is often said, if Harvard with all its resources can’t do it, what hope is there for others? An emissions-free Harvard by 2035 is possible, if we commit the necessary financial and intellectual resources towards that goal.

You are in a position to make change.

As evidenced by the victory won by Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard last year, sustained public pressure from students and community members works. It can be grueling and demanding, but ultimately activism, especially from people in positions of privilege, can be an effective part of advocacy. We, as Harvard graduates, have a rare type of privilege that we must challenge ourselves to wield. Join me in asking and inspiring Harvard to not only work to contain the emissions pollution elsewhere, but also here, in its own home, and end all emissions from every Harvard building before it is too late.

And don’t stop there — take this message of urgency and action wherever you go.

Also, wherever you land, vote with the climate in mind.

—Patricia M. Nolan ’80 is a graduate of Harvard College and currently serves as a Cambridge City Councilor.

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If you have somehow missed the message that you will now need passion, empathy, and grit, you will now need passion, empathy, and grit. For the world is not only cold and hard but a mess. I’ll leave it to the speakers to go into the details. Let me just say that the world needs you! A lot! Please do not sleep more than is absolutely necessary.

Some other advice: Be kind, be kind, be kind.

You need not be a doormat. But make people ask what we put in the water here, that Harvard grads are so kind. (Please do not also make them ask what we smoke.) Pick the objects of your affection with care, but then love steadily and unstintingly. Wear your heart on your sleeve and wear sunblock, too.

f you have somehow missed the message that you will now need passion, empathy, and grit, you will now need passion, empathy, and grit.

And, read books! The greatest technology ever invented is not the internet. It is the book. Out in the cold, hard, messy world, you will not need more information. You will be drowning in information. You will need perspective. Vision. Clarity. Wisdom. And, above all, candor — the kind of candor that comes when people are not writing for clicks.

For example, “They fuck you up, your mum and dad.

They may not mean to, but they do.”

And: “How dreary—to be— Somebody!

How public—like a Frog” And: “…for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.”

Ha. Just what you wanted to hear on graduation day.

Poets like Philip Larkin and Emily Dickinson and Matthew Arnold are not the only ones who tell it like it is. All real writers do. That is why we see books banned, not just long ago in autocratic nations, but right now, today, in America. But poets help make my case with brevity — and, by the way, are not only bad news bears. They provide inspiration as well. Seamus Heaney observes, for example, with some help from Sophocles: “History says, don’t hope On this side of the grave, But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme.”

Yes. Hope and history can rhyme.

As JFK said, “Art establishes the basic human truths that must serve as the touchstones of our judgment.”

Now BS springs eternal, and if you are anything like your forebears, one or two of you may have gotten the hang of piling it higher and deeper. More power to you! It’s a life skill. But without candor, we lose our way. So should you one day find yourself a card-carrying pooh-bah — as some of you just may — and even if you don’t, remember: shoot no messengers, and buy no lines, not even your own. Keep your fingers on your touchstones.

Read, read, read. Let the books speak to you. Let them find you. Amanda Gorman was not speaking only of her own book when she wrote: “This book is a message in a bottle.

This book is a letter.

This book does not let up.

This book is awake.

This book is a wake.”

Read, people, read!

And with that I salute you, classes of ’20 and ’21! Congratulations! Enjoy! Respect your elders!

Seize the day! Take back the night! Go into the office! Vote! And one more thing, if I may be so candid: save the Harvard-Yale jokes for your 50th reunion. You can absolutely make them work. But they are best delivered bald.

—Gish Jen ’77 is a visiting professor of English.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

COMMENCEMENT

PAGE 22

Schools Host First In-Person Ceremonies Since 2019

By ALEXANDER I. FUNG, MILES J. HERSZENHORN, and PATON D. ROBERTS CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Harvard’s twelve schools hosted in-person graduation ceremonies Wednesday and Thursday for the first time since 2019.

The school-specific celebrations complemented Thursday’s University-wide Commencement, which featured New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as the principal speaker. The past two iterations of the events took place virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 addressed the Harvard College Class of 2022 at their Class Day celebration on Wednesday, calling on the graduating seniors to seek truth in their efforts to drive change.

At Thursday’s Commencement, the University’s ​​professional and graduate schools conferred degrees to the graduates.

Graduate school keynote speakers included former Medtronic Inc. CFO Robert L. Ryan, who spoke at Harvard Business School; Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who spoke at Harvard Kennedy School; former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch ’81, who spoke at Harvard Law School.

Here’s a look at their addresses: ­

Harvard Business School Former Medtronic Inc. CFO Robert L. Ryan delivered the keynote address at Harvard Business School’s 2022 Class Day on Wednesday, calling on graduates to use their leadership skills in aspects of life beyond the private sector.

Ryan, an HBS alum, kicked off his speech by describing his early ambitions to become an engineer.

“The pay was good, it had job security, and I thought it was a world of less than average racism,” he said.

After achieving a master’s degree in electrical engineering, Ryan discovered a career in business suited him better, he said. Near the end of his studies at Cornell, he received a Ph.D. fellowship from NASA. “This forced me to make a decision that I had delayed many times,” Ryan said. “To make a choice between several years of study for a career that I didn’t really want, or to take a once in a lifetime chance at the career I did want.”

Ryan told the graduates their time at Harvard has prepared them for “leading change in a way that will lead to a better and more equitable world.”

He added that his own time at the Business School “changed [his] life in every way imaginable,” citing his abilities to think broadly, subdue racism, and fos-

ter business and personal relationships.

In 2004, Ryan launched the Harvard Business School’s Robert L. Ryan Fellowship to fund future generations of students.

“The privilege of HBS is the opportunity to take all that this institution is and has been into an exciting and unknown future,” Ryan told the students.

“Embrace that, and embrace your journey, but do it with principle and purpose that come from what you’ve learned here, the people you’ve met, and the family and friends that support you.”

Harvard Kennedy School Moldovan President Maia Sandu told the Harvard Kennedy School’s Class of 2022 to “embrace reality or be ready to work hard to change it,” during her address on Wednesday at the Kennedy School.

At the same time, Sandu — the first woman to lead her country — said the graduates should embrace the unexpected in life.

“I would have never thought that one day I would be on this stage addressing the esteemed faculty and graduates of the Kennedy School,” Sandu, who graduated from HKS in 2010, said. “I had not planned for that, as I have not planned to become a politician or the president of my country.”

“So beware and be ready for your rollercoaster journey to take you to totally unexpected places and destinations,” she added.

Sandu described her life after graduating from HKS as “pretty intense.” When she joined the Moldovan government, Sandu said her credentials were challenged by the press despite having a career as a civil servant and being a Harvard alumna.

Discomfort is not the enemy. Discomfort is the spur towards change. Discomfort is the push towards greatness.

Loretta Lynch ’81 Former U.S. Attorney General HLS Class Day 2022

“Many people were suspicious about me leaving a very well-paid job at the World Bank to take up a job which paid 15 times less,” she said.

Still, Sandu insisted that “she never wanted to become a politician.”

“I realize that here at the Harvard Kennedy School — and in other good places — many well-educated, effective managers and sectoral leaders say

they prefer to keep their distance from politics,” she said. “I thought exactly the same — up to a point.”

“Up until I decided that I do not want to live in a country led by corrupt people,” Sandu added. “And this did not necessarily mean moving to a different country.”

While Sandu is most wellknown in Moldova for combating corruption, her leadership has received international attention in recent months because of a different combat: the war in Ukraine.

“Today, we have a war at our border,” she said. “Moldova has done and will continue to do all it can to help.”

“Nine out of 10 refugees have been hosted by Moldovans in their homes, even before the government provided facilities,” Sandu said. “The entire country united to provide support with everything they could.”

“The compassion, respect, and kindness shown by Moldovans make me very proud of my people,” she added. “The Moldovan government will do its best for the support to continue.”

Harvard Law School At Harvard Law School’s 2022 Class Day, former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch ’81 spoke to the graduating

class, emphasizing the power of resilience and discomfort.

Referencing recent mass shootings across the country, Lynch encouraged the graduates to “work to save us from this darkness.” She continued on to reassure those who may be feeling “shell-shocked” from the past two years.

“You have developed a resilience the depths of which you have yet to plumb, and a resolve that you didn’t have before, the strength of which will surprise you when you begin to draw down upon it,” she said.

Lynch also referenced recent challenges to voting and abortion rights.

“We see the culmination of years of efforts to curtail the fundamental right to vote, the birthright of every citizen, and here, in a country founded on individual liberty, we’re about to see the reversal of the individual’s right to make one of the most private and consequential decisions of their lives on their own,” she said.

She called on the graduates to embrace discomfort as a necessary vehicle for change.

“Discomfort is not the enemy. Discomfort is the spur towards change. Discomfort is the push towards greatness,” Lynch said. alexander.fung@thecrimson.com miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com paton.roberts@thecrimson.com

AAPI FROM PAGE 3

Harvard Holds Inaugural AAPI/APIDA Graduation

Graduates celebrated at the University’s innaugural AAPI/APIDA affinity graduation ceremony on Monday.

CARA J. CHANG—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

schools to literally circulate the links – to get the stole, to get the tickets – within WhatsApp groups, which is really kind of chaotic, and not everyone is in those groups,” he said.

Other organizers expressed frustration with the additional stress brought on by the advocacy and planning needed to organize the event.

“On top of graduating, we have to work on all these planning things,” said Colin H. Liu, a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.“One of the clear solutions could be that you can still have student input, but you just resource [the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging] more, so that there’s more people just working on events that you know are going to happen.”

HKS student Camille N. Choe alleged the University has demonstrated a “greater pattern” of poor treatment of marginalized groups.

“There is just this really pervasive pattern of marginalized communities at Harvard University bringing up these initiatives – things that we feel that

we want on campus that would better represent us and create more equity – and just being met automatically with resistance by administration instead of support or encouragement or resources,” she said.

Choe also credited other groups for their assistance.

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment on specific student criticisms but wrote in a statement that Harvard “looks forward to continuing to work with our community members to strengthen these recognition events in the future.”

“Commencement marks a significant moment of achievement for all of our students, and this week, in partnership with student groups the University co-hosted celebratory events to recognize these achievements, as well as honor those who have helped students reach this milestone,” he wrote.

Monday’s AAPI/APIDA ceremony included speeches from keynote speaker Beena Sarwar — a Pakistani journalist, filmmaker, and former Harvard Nieman fellow — and HGSE

professor Josephine M. Kim. The graduation concluded with remarks from organizers Huang, Choe, and Leah L. T. Porter and Harvard’s Chief Inclusivity and Diversity Officer Sherri Ann Charleston.

Attendees commented on both the effort invested by student leaders and the emotional significance of the ceremony.

Krish R. Jaiman, an HGSE master’s student, applauded the work of the organizers.

“I felt like if it wasn’t for the work of a group of people to get this done, that it wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Another HGSE student, Suchakrey “Toys” Koomplee, praised the feeling of inclusivity the ceremony provided.

“I’m not really a big fan of celebration and all of that, rituals and all that, but this one feels really warm and welcoming. It’s like you were with someone you really know,” Koomplee said.

“We really belong, we feel really welcomed, and I think it’s a really lovely environment to be in.” paton.roberts@thecrimson.com

HMC Buys More Shares of Meta, Alphabet in First Quarter

By ERIC YAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Harvard Management Company more than tripled its shares of Meta Platforms — formerly known as Facebook — as it saw nearly all of its stock holdings decline in value during the first three months of 2022.

The move reversed HMC’s position at the end of 2021, when it slashed its Meta holdings by nearly half.

At the end of March, HMC — which is responsible for managing the University’s endowment — owned more than 1.2 million shares of Meta, a 230 percent increase from the 370,000 shares it held three months prior.

But the total value of HMC’s Meta holdings increased by just 120 percent, reaching $274 million, over the same time period, a reflection of the tech giant’s poor performance in the stock market this year.

To date, Meta’s stock price has declined by more than 43 percent in 2022.

The Harvard Management Company’s latest disclosure of its public securities portfolio — required by the Securities and Exchange Commission of all investment managers overseeing more than $100 million in assets — revealed modest changes in its stock holdings during the first quarter, which ran from Jan. 1 to March 31.

Consistent with previous reports, nearly all of HMC’s direct public investments lie in the technology, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical sectors. ­

Just three of the 44 companies in HMC’s public portfolio saw their stock price rise during the first quarter.

The losses come as key financial indices, including the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ, continue to suffer significant declines in 2022.

HMC also hiked its investments in Alphabet, the parent company of Google, by 43 percent. The total value of HMC’s holdings in the technology corporation now sits at $242 million.

Together, the company’s investments in Meta and Alphabet accounted for more than half of HMC’s $990 million public securities portfolio at the end of March.

HMC’s direct public holdings represent less than 2 percent of the University’s $53.2 billion endowment.

The vast majority of the University’s endowment is overseen by external managers. According to the company’s report for fiscal year 2021, 34 percent of the endowment’s assets lie in private equity while 33 percent are in hedge funds.

John M. Longo, a professor at Rutgers Business School and the Chief Investment Officer for Beacon Trust, wrote in an email that the endowment’s significant allocation to alternative investments such as hedge funds “likely preserved capital or resulted in lesser losses,” despite turbulence in the stock market.

He added that despite “disappointing” recent performance by Google and Meta,

“both firms remain well positioned for the long-term.”

As was the case in the previous quarter, HMC did not directly invest in any exchange-traded funds — managed funds composed of many underlying securities.

HMC’s previous ETF holdings, which were all liquidated in the last quarter of 2021, had long come under fire from activist groups like the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign, which alleged the investments represented the University’s indirect exposure to the prison industry.

In its biggest liquidation of the quarter, HMC sold off all its shares of Royalty Pharma, a company that helps fund clinical trials for novel drug treatments. HMC’s holdings in the company totalled $138 million at the end of 2021.

HMC also invested in two new companies during the first quarter: Vigil Neuroscience and Pardes Biosciences.

Vigil Neuroscience, which develops treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, is the world’s first therapeutics company focused on microglia — cells central to the brain’s immune system. Pardes Biosciences, founded in 2020, develops antiviral treatments for Covid-19.

Patrick S. McKiernan, a spokesperson for the Harvard Management Company, declined to comment on the filings. eric.yan@thecrimson.com

Harvard Management Company Direct Public Holdings First Quarter, 2022

ERIC YAN—FLOURISH CHART

PAGE 23

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COMMENCEMENT

AFFINITY FROM PAGE 3

Graduates Celebrate at Affinity Group Ceremonies together to combat inequality.

“Let us paint lines so thick that there is no room for injustice or hatred to spew in,” she said. “Let us use so many sparkles and bedazzles that we are emboldened to make change.”

The annual Lavender Graduation for BGLTQ graduates and affiliates took place Tuesday afternoon at the Divinity School.

Boston poet laureate Porsha Olayiwola took the stage as the keynote speaker, and Harvard Law School graduate Harry Chiu appeared as the student speaker.

The fifth annual Black Graduation ceremony followed, bringing music, song, and dance to Sanders Theatre.

“They basically took us to church,” said Chidi D. Akusobi, who received an M.D.-Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School.

Following a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”

by HGSE graduate Gabriel O. Montague, Law School graduate Courtney J. Brunson delivered the student speech, highlighting moments in history in which individuals precipitated a major change throughout the

country. She pointed to the efforts of small groups of parents whose advocacy for the desegregation of schools culminated in Brown vs. Board of Education, the Supreme Court case that ended racial segregation in public schools.

Brunson called upon the graduates to focus on making an impact in the lives of people they interact with every day.

“I encourage you to not, upon graduating from Harvard, set out to change the world,” she said. “Rather, I ask that you improve the lives of the people right next to you. Many of your patients, constituents, and clients will be better off because you dedicate your moments to improving their circumstances and bettering their outcomes.”

The ceremony also featured speeches from Harvard Kennedy School professor Cornell William Brooks, who received a faculty award for diversity, equity, and inclusion during the ceremony. LaTosha Brown, a 2019 HKS Institute of Politics fellow and the co-founder of the civic engagement organization Black Voters Matter Fund,

served as the keynote speaker.

Brown urged the graduates to recognize the opportunities created by generations of Black trailblazers throughout history.

“There were many firsts that laid the path, created the foundation, opened up the way for us to get here, for us to be here,” she said. “There was a sister that was scrubbing a washboard so that her child could have her child that one day could come to Harvard.”

Akusobi said he appreciated the chance for celebration between people from the University’s different schools.

“We’re all so siloed,” Akusobi said. “Events like these are really great reminders of we are part of larger communities — that we’re not only alone, and that when we are together there is this sense of joy and purpose and responsibility and happiness.”

After attendees filed out of Sanders Theatre, a second wave of families, students, and friends filled the wood-paneled auditorium for the Latinx Graduation ceremony that evening.

Faculty speaker Christina

The University hosted an affinity graduation ceremony for Latinx students in Sanders Theatre on Tuesday.

JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Shiao-Mei “V” Villarreal, a lecturer at the Graduate School of Education, thanked the families present for the role they played in supporting their grad-

uates’ education.

“So many of you crossed borders, you left your homelands, you sacrificed your time, your own well-being to ensure that

these graduates could be here one day to walk this stage at Harvard,” she said. meimei.xu@thecrimson.com

HOUSES FROM PAGE 3

Houses Revive Their Festivities for Graduating Seniors

Eliot House celebrated its seniors at its first house-wide graduation ceremonies since before the pandemic. AIYANA G. WHITE—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

were evicted from campus due to the escalating public health crisis, forcing the Class of 2022 to spend more than half of their college years under pandemic restrictions.

Kirkland House held a luncheon for graduating students and their families, featuring speeches from the faculty deans and a photograph ceremony.

Samuel “Sam” Murdock ’23, a Kirkland resident, was among the students who stayed behind after classes ended to help organize the festivities.

“A lot of it has just been preparing logistical things,” he

said, such as preparing the cards and Kirkland House pin mementos that were handed out to seniors during the house’s graduation ceremony.

With the relaxing of Covid-19 restrictions, houses were able to resurrect old traditions that they were unable to sustain over Zoom.

In addition to attending a reception, painting murals, going on a kayaking trip, and submitting photos for a slideshow, residents of Mather House took part in a longtime tradition — ceramic tile-making.

“The whole theme is kind of like: ‘It’s been a while since

we’ve done this; let’s see if we can work outside of the box and do some of the traditions we could before,’” said Sean O’Connor, the interim house administrator for Mather.

Of the nearly 130 graduating seniors in Mather, 90 of them made tiles, a count that “blew us out of the water,” O’Connor said. The students’ creations will soon be displayed on the walls of Mather’s basement, joining the tiles of previous graduating classes.

The faculty deans of Quincy House welcomed graduating seniors to their terrace for an ice cream social on Sunday and

a photoshoot on Monday.

Michael Y. Cheng ’22, who called the house festivities “really fantastic,” said he is looking forward to embarking on life outside of Harvard’s gates.

“Everything’s just ending, and I’m going through the motions. It’s like a bunch of elaborate ceremonies to leave, essentially,” he said. “I don’t think college should be the best four years of your life, and I feel like the future has got to be better.”

“I’m sentimental, but I’m ready for what’s next,” he said. isabella.cho@thecrimson.com claire.yuan@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

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IN PHOTOS Commencement Returns

Commencement returned to Harvard Yard on Thursday with pomp and circumstance that can’t be recreated over Zoom. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called on graduates in the Class of 2022 to stand up for democracy.

Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian called Harvard’s Commencement Exercises to order on Thursday to raucous applause. AIYANA G.

Lorem Ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. FIRST M. LAST—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Graduating senior Benjamin J. Porteous ’22 delivered the Latin Salutatory at Harvard’s Commencement Exercises on Thursday. AIYANA G.

University President Lawrence S. Bacow spoke at the Harvard’s Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2022 on Thursday. JULIAN J. GIORDANO— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Mather House residents enter Harvard Yard for Thursday’s Commencement Exercises. DYLAN J. GOODMAN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks at Thursday’s Commencement ceremony. DYLAN J. GOODMAN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Dean of Arts and Humanities Robin Kelsey, former Undergraduate Council President Noah A. Harris ’22, and Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair walk down the aisle in Thursday’s Commencement Exercises. DYLAN J. GOODMAN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson ’92, who serves on the Harvard Board of Overseers, attended Thursday’s Commencement Exercises. DYLAN J. GOODMAN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Sociologist William Julius Wilson, feminist Gloria Steinem, and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were awarded honorary degrees during Thursday’s Commencement. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

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