The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
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VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 67
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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
| MONDAY, MAY 9, 2022
EDITORIAL PAGE 4
OP ED PAGE 4
SPORTS PAGE 6
Harvard should be at the forefront of reckoning with the evils of slavery
Reckoning with Harvard’s ties to slavery requires prison divestment
Women’s lacrosse fell to Princeton in the Ivy League tournament
Gay ‘Satisfied’ with FAS Vote By ARIEL H. KIM and MEIMEI XU CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Claudine Gay said in an interview Wednesday she is “satisfied” with the faculty’s vote to approve of a new previous-term course registration system that will do away with shopping week, adding that she is “confident” the FAS can still provide a “transformative Harvard College experience.” More than 60 percent of Harvard faculty voted last Tuesday to end shopping week — a decades-old scheduling quirk that allowed students to sample courses the first week of each semester before enrolling — in favor of the previous-term system. The vote came despite student and faculty efforts to preserve shopping week. The new system will require students to register for classes at the end of the previous semester, starting with Spring 2024 classes. Until then, a committee of faculty, administrators, and students will create an implementation plan for the new system. “I’m satisfied with the outcome and look forward to, first,
HKS Hires Climate Change Faculty By MILES J. HERSZENHORN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
the work of the implementation committee, and then the launch of the new system in two years,” Gay said Wednesday. Faculty members, teaching fellows, and departmental staff had long voiced concerns that shopping week complicated course planning and left teaching assignments uncertain. In spring 2019, the FAS Committee on Course Registration was tasked with reviewing the FAS’ course registration policies following months of discussion among faculty members. The committee released its final report in December 2021, recommending that the College replace shopping week with previous-term course registration. Gay said Wednesday she feels the committee was dedicated to ensuring that students have “meaningful opportunities both to explore, as well as to engage with thoughtfully-developed, properly-staffed courses.” “I feel confident that all the things that we aspire to make available to our students as part of the transformative Harvard College experience will still be
SEE GAY PAGE 3
At a time when major American universities are placing a high premium on the study of climate change, the Harvard Kennedy School has “successfully recruited a junior faculty member focused on climate change,” HKS Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf said in an interview Wednesday. Charles A. Taylor, a Ph.D. candidate in Sustainable Development at Columbia University, will join the Kennedy School in July 2023 after completing a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley. Elmendorf said HKS also has offers out to two senior faculty members at other universities who study climate change. In recent months, several peer institutions have taken major steps to increase their resources dedicated to studying sustainability and the climate crisis. Columbia University founded the Columbia Climate School in July 2020. Stanford University announced on Wednesday it plans to establish a new school of sustainability with the help of a $1.1 billion donation. Stanford’s school will launch with 90 faculty members and will focus on policy to combat climate
change. While Harvard has not established its own school focused on studying climate change, Elmendorf said “developing the people and the ideas to slow climate change is one of our highest priorities at the Kennedy School.” “We want to build more courses for Kennedy School students and also students elsewhere at the University who want to come take these courses,” Elmendorf said. “We want to continue to be on the leading edge of research on policy related to climate change.” Elmendorf said the future hires are meant to “build the next generation of faculty members” studying climate change. “They are leaders and will be for decades to come,” he said. “Leaders in thinking about the consequences of climate change, and practical ways to slow climate change.” “We view this as a really important part of building the school’s capacity to help our students — and students around the University — to learn more, and go forth, and be more effective advocates for developers of policies that will slow climate change,” Elmendorf added. Elmendorf said the Kennedy School’s initiatives related to climate change are “very much
Douglas W. Elmendorf is the dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
in coordination with work elsewhere around the University.” “So I think you may hear broader University plans at some point as well,” he added. Elmendorf said that the Kennedy School is also trying to hire a faculty member studying China “given the growing importance of China’s role in the
world.” During the interview, Elmendorf also addressed Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine’s weekly protests against retired Israeli Defense Forces general Amos Yadlin, who is serving as a senior fellow at the
SEE ELMENDORF PAGE 5
Crimson Faces Backlash for Editorial Supporting BDS By VIVI E. LU and LEAH J. TEICHHOLTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
The Harvard Crimson is facing backlash from campus Jewish groups, along with some high-profile Harvard faculty and alumni, after the newspaper’s Editorial Board last month endorsed the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, which calls on Western institutions to cut ties with Israel. In a staff editorial published on April 29, The Crimson’s Editorial Board reversed its precedent and endorsed BDS, which seeks to put international pressure on Israel over the country’s treatment of Palestinians. Many critics of the movement charge that it is antisemitic and implicitly denies the legitimacy of Israel. The editorial sparked inter
The Harvard Crimson is located at 14 Plympton St. in Cambridge.
JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
national furor, drawing condemnation from the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and columnists in several Israeli newspapers. It also came under fire on Harvard’s campus, where the leaders of Jewish groups condemned the editorial and some high-profile faculty denounced it as antisemitic. Late last week, several prominent Harvard faculty members — including Psychology professor Steven A. Pinker and former University President Lawrence H. Summers — signed onto a faculty petition denouncing the editorial. “I thought the BDS movement was taking positions that were basically antisemitic, immoral, poorly thought out, and would be very damaging if actually acted on,” Summers said in an interview. “I was appalled
by the content and really troubled that a usually serious and thoughtful organization like The Harvard Crimson would enthusiastically endorse them.” Rabbi Jonah C. Steinberg, executive director of Harvard Hillel, wrote in an email to Hillel affiliates on April 29 that the editorial “reflects a descent away from close analysis, as well as a difference from a notso-distant time when there was more considerable overlap between our Harvard Hillel community and the leadership of the Crimson.” According to The Crimson’s 2021 staff diversity report, 5.3 percent of The Crimson’s editors identify as Jewish. Per The Crimson’s annual freshman survey, 5.2 percent of the College’s Class of 2024 identify as
SEE CRIMSON PAGE 3
73 Seniors Awarded Committee Assembled for City Manager Search Hoopes Prizes By ELIAS J. SCHISGALL CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
By LEAH J. TEICHHOLTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Seventy-three Harvard undergraduates were awarded the Hoopes Prize, an award that recognizes outstanding scholarly work on an academic project, last Thursday. Chosen each year from departments across the University, recipients receive $5,000 in recognition of “excellent undergraduate work” on their projects, which are typically senior theses. Faculty advisors will also be awarded $2,000 for “excellence in the art of teaching.” The Hoopes Prize is funded by the estate of Thomas T. Hoopes, Class of 1919. Winning projects are available in Lamont Library for two years. Susan L. Lively, secretary of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, wrote in a statement on behalf of the Prize Office that the winners’ projects were “deeply researched and insightful.” “The range and depth of their interests and the quality INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Harvard Today 2
of their work reflects the high caliber and academic strength of Harvard undergraduates,” Lively wrote. Alec J. Fischthal ’22, who wrote a 145-page thesis on the politics of immigration reform from 1952 to 1965, said he was on the phone with his dad when he received an email notifying him of the award. “My mind went totally blank and I was like, ‘Oh my god, that’s crazy,’” Fischthal said. “You never know how good your work really is, but once you see that, it’s really affirming that people read your work and thought deeply of it.” Tucker R. Boynton ’22 said he was “flattered and proud” when he learned he had received the Hoopes for his Economics senior thesis, which examined pricing inefficiencies in the National Football League labor market. “I was pretty surprised,” Boynton said. “Frankly, I didn’t
SEE HOOPES PAGE 5
News 3
Editorial 4
A n initial screening committee composed of Cambridge City Councilors, representatives from community organizations, and local residents has begun meeting to evaluate candidates for Cambridge’s next city manager, the city’s most powerful government post. The 19-person committee had its first of three full-day, closed-door meetings to evaluate and interview candidates for the position last week. The group will meet again Friday and Saturday to continue deliberations. A wide array of representatives from city institutions including the School Committee, the Cambridge Housing Authority, the Kendall Square Association, and Cambridge Bike Safety serve on the committee alongside four City Councilors. In an interview last month, Councilor Marc C. McGovern, who oversaw the committee selection process, said more than 100 Cambridge residents
SEE CITY PAGE 3
Sports 6
Cambridge City Hall is located at 795 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. CORY K. GORCZYCKI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
TODAY’S FORECAST
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
MAY 9, 2022
PAGE 2
HARVARD TODAY
For Lunch Alu Chole Pork Sausage Sub Butter Chicken
For Dinner Roast Turkey Breast Blackened Salmon Palak Tofu
TODAY’S EVENTS AFVS Open Studios & Senior Thesis Exhibition: A Name for Our Reflections Carpenter Center, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
IN THE REAL WORLD First Lady Jill Biden Makes Surprise Visit to Ukraine
Come see this senior thesis exhibition for students in Art, Film, and Visual Studies, and observe work in painting, sculpture, animation, and more.
First lady Jill Biden arrived in southwestern Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska in a demonstration of the United States’ support for the people of Ukraine. The two first ladies met at a school converted to for refugee aid, marking Zelenska’s first public appearance since the Russia’s invasion began.
“Beauty and Illumination” Student Art Exhibit Smith Campus Center, 10:30 a.m.6 p.m. Students in the course Gen Ed 1087: Multisensory Religion: Rethinking Islam will be presenting their creative projects, spanning a variety of media. The class aimed to explore the relationship between relgion and the arts within Muslim cultures.
Philippines Holds Presidential Election
The Charles River separates the cities of Cambridge and Boston. CORY K. GORCZYCKI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Wildfire strikes New Mexico
AROUND THE IVIES YALE: SUN Organizes ‘Speak Out’ Event on Cross Campus —THE YALE DAILY NEWS
Access to Gender-Affirming Care Webinar Virtual, 4 p.m.
COLUMBIA: CCSC Survey with Record-High Participation Reveals Unsatisfied Student Body —THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR
Strong winds persisted on Sunday as rural areas in mountain valleys fell susceptible to severe conditions. Thousands of residences have been evacuated as firefighters attempt to contain the flames.
DARTMOUTH: NFL Quarterback Russell Wilson to Speak at 2022 Commencement —THE DARTMOUTH
CORNELL: Comedians Eugene Lee Yang and Jenny Yang to Perform at Cornell —THE CORNELL DAILY SUN
COVID UPDATES
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Harvard Divinity School student Susan K. Weaver will share her project, which examines the challenges posed by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to accessing gender-affirming health care servies.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the country’s former dictator; Leni Robredo, the current vice president; and eight other candidates faces off in an election that some have described as the most significant in decades. Votes will be tallied by province other the next few days.
362 In Isolation
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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY Faculty, Students Lobby in Senate
Thirteen senior Harvard faculty members spent the day visiting senators and presidential aides to protest President Nixon’s Southeast Asia Policy. They met with figures such as Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy ‘54 and presidential foreign policy advisor Henry A. Kissinger. May 9, 1970
Then It’s Off to England
Women’s tennis players from Harvard and Yale teamed up for a tour of exhibition matches in England. The group competed against teams from Oxford and Cambridge Colleges before entering a professional tournament in Felixstowne. May 9, 1984
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
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PAGE 3
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
MAY 9, 2022
CRIMSON FROM PAGE 1
GAY FROM PAGE 1
Crimson Faces Backlash for Editorial Supporting BDS
FAS Dean Gay ‘Satisfied’ with Shift From Shopping Week
as Jewish. In a statement, The Crimson’s president, Raquel Coronell Uribe ’22-’23, wrote that the newspaper is committed to “journalistic integrity, freedom of the press, and freedom of expression.” “The Crimson strives for diversity and inclusivity in all respects, from diversity of identity to diversity of opinion,” Coronell Uribe wrote. “The Crimson rejects discrimination, including antisemitism, in all its forms — both among our staff and in our pages.” The staff editorial said “support for Palestinian liberation is not antisemitic,” adding: “We unambiguously oppose and condemn antisemitism in every and all forms, including those times when it shows up on the fringes of otherwise worthwhile movements.” The 87-member Editorial Board operates independently from The Crimson’s newsroom. Its staff editorials, which are voted on three times per week, represent the majority view of the board members present for a given meeting. The editorial was published on the heels of the annual Israel Apartheid Week, put on at Harvard by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, a student group “dedicated to supporting the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, justice, and equality through raising awareness, advocacy, and non-violent resistance,” per its website. As part of the demonstrations, the PSC put up a controversial mural in Harvard Yard that said, “Zionism is Racism Settler Colonialism White Supremacy Apartheid.” At a Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences meeting earlier this month, Government professor Eric M. Nelson ’99 questioned University President Lawrence S. Bacow about the “eruption of antisemitism on campus,” pointing to The Crimson’s editorial, the mural, and a swastika symbol that was found in Currier House earlier this month. Bacow declined to comment on The Crimson’s editorial, saying that the newspaper is “entitled to publish what they wish and to share their views as they
may.” But he added that “any suggestion of targeting or boycotting a particular group because of disagreements over the policies pursued by their governments is antithetical to what we stand for as a university.” “I think academic boycotts have absolutely no place at Harvard, regardless of who they target,” Bacow said. Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, the founder and president of Harvard Chabad, took issue with the editorial’s depiction of the PSC’s “Wall of Resistance,” saying the display was “filled with messages of hate and antisemitism.” “To have a Crimson editorial referred to it as a colorful wall? Of course there’s outrage. Of course people are stunned not only here, but around the world,” Zarchi said. Christian B. Tabash ’22, an organizer for Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Committee, said he was “pleasantly surprised” to see the editorial — and unsurprised by the backlash. “All of this fanfare is intended to divert the attention away from Israel’s crimes,” Tabash said of the response to the editorial. “For those of us who are concerned about freedom and justice, we have to keep our eyes set on what actually matters, which is keeping Palestinians at the center of our conversation.” AMany Crimson alumni have also denounced the piece. On Monday, the newspaper published an open letter signed by 69 current and former Crimson editors condemning the editorial, saying that it alienated students. In a letter to the editor published last week, former Crimson President Ira E. Stoll ’94 suggested that alumni should withhold donations to the newspaper — a point echoed by Summers on Twitter the next day. “The Crimson is an institution that I care a lot about and have devoted a lot of time to,” Stoll said in an interview. “To wake up the morning after Holocaust Remembrance Day to see that editorial calling for a boycott of the Jewish state, sin-
gling out Israel for criticism, a boycott of Israel, I just found that profoundly disappointing.” “I just think it’s appalling,” Stoll added. “You guys should be embarrassed, and I’m not the only one who thinks that way.” Staff editorials published by The Crimson have previously been critical of Israel, but last month marked the first time the board had endorsed the BDS movement. “Staff editorials represent solely the majority view of the Editorial Board, and are the result of discussions at editorial meetings, at which only active members of the Editorial Board may vote,” Coronell Uribe wrote. “The goal of the Board is to come as near as possible to a consensus and opine on newsworthy issues that impact our campus.” Days later, Daniel A. Swanson ’74, who was president of The Crimson in 1973, sent in his own letter to the editor applauding the editorial. In an interview, Swanson said it took “tremendous courage” for the Editorial Board to publish the piece, adding that the United States press corps has done a “poor job” covering the Israel-Palestine conflict. “There’s more debate in The Harvard Crimson editorial — and room for both the main editorial and dissent — than there is in the New York Times editorial page, so that’s a very good sign,” Swanson said. Summers, Stoll, and Zarchi called on The Crimson to apologize and retract the staff editorial. “The role of The Crimson’s Editorial Board is to cultivate dialogue among our readers and to serve as a springboard for debate,” Coronell Uribe wrote. “The Crimson editorial page has published, as is its standard practice, opinion pieces with multiple and different perspectives on this matter.” “We are appreciative of the various submissions and points of view that have been offered thus far,” Coronell Uribe added. “The Crimson editorial pages remain open for submissions on this topic and all others.”
there and available,” she said. Shikoh M. Hirabayashi ’24’25, the newly-elected Harvard Undergraduate Association academic officer, called for the implementation committee to have an equal number of faculty members, administrators, graduate students, and undergraduates in a statement sent to The Crimson. “Shopping week meant a lot to all of us and we tried our best,” he wrote. Hirabayashi wrote that he plans to call for a number of
changes to promote “academic flexibility and accessibility.” The proposals will include publicizing student comments made on the Q Guide, creating more questions on the Q Guide for student feedback, and facilitating contact between prospective enrollees and former students of each course. Hirabayashi wrote he will advocate for students to be able to pre-register for five classes. “These are practical policies which will prevent professors and graduate students from
constantly refiguring their staffing arrangements while maximizing student opportunities to explore and change classes,” he wrote. It remains unknown which course registration system the FAS will adopt until previous-term registration is in place for Spring 2024. Next year’s course registration schedule will be posted on the Registrar’s website this week. ariel.kim@thecrimson.com meimei.xu@thecrimson.com
CITY FROM PAGE 1
Cambridge Begins Evaluating Candidates for Next City Manager had applied for one of the 15 non-Councilor spots on the committee. McGovern said he and the Council prioritized selecting members with a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives. “When you look at the people who we chose, it’s about as diverse of a committee as you’ve ever seen in the city in a variety of ways,” he said. “Not perfect, absolutely not perfect. But I think we did a really good job trying to balance all that.” Reverend Vernon K. Walker, an official at the non-profit Communities Responding to Extreme Weather and a screening committee member, told The Crimson in April that he will be looking for city manager candidates who prioritize supporting marginalized groups. “It’s important to have that voice at the table representing
communities that are disproportionately affected by extreme weather and the climate crisis,” Walker said. Thomas J. Lucey, Harvard’s director of government and community relations and a screening committee member, wrote in a statement that he looks forward to a partnership between Harvard and the new manager on “a wide range of shared interests.” The vice chair of the Cambridge School Committee, Rachel B. Weinstein, who also sits on the screening committee, said in an interview last month she hopes the next manager will invest heavily in public education. “We want a city manager who will go far above the state-required funding to give our schools and really give our young people the opportunities and resources that they de-
serve,” she said. Following its three meetings, the committee will select a group of finalists to be evaluated in public hearings next month. The Council will then select a candidate to replace the current city manager, Louis A. DePasquale, who plans to retire in June. In the interview, McGovern raised the possibility that the selected candidate might not be ready to take over by June, and said there may need to be contingency plans in place. “We’ll have to make some kind of decision as to who’s running the show,” he said. “Do we keep Louis on for a couple months? Do we appoint somebody else? That’s a whole other ball of wax we have to consider and think about.” elias.schisgall@thecrimson.com
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
MAY 9, 2022
PAGE 4
EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD
OP-ED
The Legacy of Slavery at Harvard How much do we owe for each lifetime of servitude?
S
lavery is cemented into Harvard’s foundation. From the names of buildings and professorships to the founding capital of various subdivisions of the university, Harvard would — quite literally — not be what it is today without enslavement. Harvard’s landmark Legacy of Slavery Report now brings scholarly authority to these intuitively unsurprising facts. Forced labor likely once maintained the campus where we now live and study. The prestige and excellence which brought us here were built, in part, by fortunes that relied on the existence of unimaginable cruelty. Financial ties to slavery persisted far into the 19th century, long after the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts in 1783. Harvard did not merely exist in a society that accepted slavery; it repeatedly benefited from that institution. This report is a strong foot forward in acknowledging a painful past. Uncovering the truth is important: Action must follow. What is now needed at this juncture are material reparations. $100 million is an excellent start: At 0.19 percent of Harvard’s endowment, it cannot be the end. It cannot be enough. What can be? How much do we owe for each lifetime of servitude? A thousand dollars? A million? The answer, of course, is that money can’t undo the horrors of slavery. It can’t rectify the injustice done to people long dead. What Harvard can do, though, is bring some justice to Black Americans alive today whose lives are worse because of its actions over the centuries. This report has done much to make precise the generality that Harvard benefited from American slavery. In contexts where the links between past injustice and present inequity can be so precisely cataloged, the case for reparations becomes overwhelming. To start, Harvard can commit money to ensuring the rapid creation of a well-funded ethnic studies department. In order to contend with an insidious
past, we must devote good, comprehensive scholarship to it, something that a committed ethnic studies department would be more than capable of doing. To this end, Harvard must invest in the training and hiring of Black faculty and must make a conscious effort to actually retain them. Redoubling efforts in this direction will not only help Harvard students but produce knowledge essential to improving the lives of Black Americans everywhere.
What Harvard can do, though, is bring some justice to Black Americans alive today whose lives are worse because of its actions over centuries. In another step to committing to justice beyond our gates, Harvard must divest from private prisons. Continued investment in a clear example of modern-day slavery makes a mockery of Harvard’s efforts to reckon with its past. How can we deal with the legacy of slavery when we are still seeking profits that rely on forced labor? Once more, we reiterate our call to abolish legacy admissions. Legacy policies grant a special privilege to the descendants of those Harvard once preferred. In doing so, they take the privileges Harvard once unjustly afforded to slaveholders in particular, and rich whites in general, and extend the resulting inequity into the present. Even as Harvard has a responsibility to improve the world, it has a special responsibility toward Black students on a campus with our checkered history. The absence of a Black student center — a space consciously for Black students within a university which so long excluded them — is conspicuous, and we
call on Harvard to build one. Extending beyond material interventions, we call on Harvard to rename every building named for an enslaver. Replace some with the names of those they enslaved. Policy improvements are required across the University’s operations if it wants to do right by its Black students today. The Harvard University Police Department’s continued existence has dramatic and negative consequences for Black people on and around campus. Physical reminders of racism abound. Our museums are sometimes unjust in their retention policies, for example by wrongly refusing to return the daguerreotypes of Renty Taylor and his daughter, Delia, to their rightful owner. Black faculty are dramatically underrepresented. And the adults who are on campus too often trivialize or invalidate the experiences of Black students. As Harvard continues to reckon with its racist elements past and present, student input is key. A committee of student leaders and activists would be able to speak personally about how Harvard can actively support Black and Indigenous students. The Legacy of Slavery report has provided a solid scholarly foundation: Students will provide a personal perspective. Some of these prescriptions are specific to Harvard, but some apply much more broadly. There must be a concerted effort nationally, especially at the federal level, to reckon materially with the evils of slavery. Harvard should be at its forefront. This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.
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Reckoning With Harvard’s Ties to Slavery Requires Prison Divestment and Education By SARA M. FELDMAN
T
he recent “Report of the Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery” is a necessary work of scholarship and thought which is long overdue. While in awe of the authors and their superior knowledge of both Harvard and slavery, I remain troubled by something that is missing. The report discusses the legacies of slavery that remained after the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “conferred emancipation nationwide in 1865.” However, it stops short of addressing the full text of the 13th Amendment, wherein slavery is abolished “except as a punishment for crime,” and makes no mention of Harvard’s current role in the system that emerged from this exception. In reality, slavery has never been completely banned in this country or in Massachusetts. The path from slavery and slave patrols to our racist carceral and policing systems is well-documented. I will not attempt to instruct the reader in the history and horrors of prisons, jails, and detention centers in the United States and Massachusetts, or the violent policing that accompanies them. I have only been arrested and locked up overnight after protesting outside such a facility and know that my treatment was much better than average. It took weeks for me to heal both physically and psychologically from just that little bit, yet others endure much harsher treatment for longer — or even die at the hands of this system, which is bolstered by racism. Incarcerated people are compelled to perform what can best be described as slave labor and the bodies of the criminalized are commodified in business cal-
culations and deals — even inside prisons which are not operated by private corporations. I struggle to understand what it can mean for an academic institution to redress its legacy of slavery while ignoring its own ongoing role in perpetuating these unbearable wrongs. Harvard affiliates and alumni continue to incarcerate other human beings through their work in government and the legal profession. How many advance their careers by producing intellectual justifications for legalized slavery? While other Harvard affiliates already do outstanding work for abolition, what could the institution do to make that the norm? Although the report recommended many actions Harvard could take to reckon with its historical role in slavery, it did not offer much about present-day abolition. Harvard’s first step towards abolition must be a commitment to never again invest in corporations that implement or benefit from incarceration, taking guidance from the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign. The most visibly harmful of these investments are in private prison corporations, but there are many others that exploit prison labor or provide goods and services necessary for the operation of government-run carceral institutions. Without prison divestment, is it not fair to say that slavery continues to fund Harvard University — and that Harvard funds slavery? For as long as slavery continues to exist by any name, abolition demands that we work to liberate those who are not free. Where we cannot yet physically liberate, we must still advance the freedom and dignity of incarcerated people. The students I met while teaching in the Ed-
ucation Justice Project — the University of Illinois’ college-in-prison program — offered the most eloquent endorsements of the liberatory value of education that I have ever heard. I can attest to the fact that there are excellent, overachieving students hungry for knowledge, who are locked up with only limited access to reading material and limited study time due to their aforementioned labor. Several institutions of higher learning offer college-in-prison programs, but potential college students in the carceral system remain overwhelmingly underserved. Some are entirely deprived of their human right to higher education, and others can only access correspondence classes or programs offered by Christian colleges that eschew secular accreditation. It is time to establish a for-credit Harvard-in-prison program which would offer a superior education to the talented students incarcerated in the region. At present, only a tiny percentage of free people enjoy access to a Harvard education. But is anyone ever admitted to Harvard College from prison? As we continue the work of abolition, why not offer the liberatory power of a Harvard education as one of our efforts? If the institution would support a college-in-prison program, I would, along with other faculty and students, help to make it a reality. Could some of those $100 million dollars allocated towards reckoning with Harvard’s legacy of slavery be directed towards the liberation of people who are still not free? —Sara M. Feldman is the preceptor in Yiddish in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
I Won’t Get In a Public Elevator By HALEY M. STARK
T
he elevator in Sever Hall seduces me. When its door vanishes into the wall, the open enclosure casts a beguiling light before the entrance. The 2,000 lbs weight-limit poster flirts, “I can carry you and all of your books to the third floor, no problem!” Yet, despite my inability to feel and move my right foot or hand, I choose to remain faithful and ascend four flights of the grand staircase. In this ongoing age of the Covid-19 pandemic, the elevator is not for me. And no, it’s not for you, either. I had a spinal cord stroke in 2014 and nerve damage disabled most of my right side. I have accommodation housing and I use railings in the shower, but outside of my residence hall, I do whatever I can to avoid using elevators and accessible spaces. Why put in all this (sometimes physically dreadful) effort? The average elevator is about seven feet wide and six feet deep. To achieve six-foot social distancing, you may have to back someone into a corner. In the elevators on campus that are smaller than average, you can maybe, at a minimum, achieve a slightly more intimate three or fourfoot distance. Regardless of the size of the elevator, you can now choose to enter an elevator without a mask on — a new right of yours as a vaccinated student at Harvard College. How do the choices you make about your elevator usage translate to the riders who may have been among the 15.15 percent of student voters who expressed that the current Covid-19 policies are “too relaxed” on the UC referendum distributed at the end of March?
Your elevator etiquette demonstrates an awareness — or lack thereof — of the ongoing safety concerns that accompany a disabled person’s dayto-day life. I can’t speak on behalf of the other 598 students who voted this way, but to me, your elevator etiquette demonstrates an awareness — or lack thereof — of the ongoing safety concerns that accompany a disabled person’s day-to-day life. People who have disabilities that require them to use elevators are often the same people who are at a higher risk of contracting Covid-19. Those who have no alternative to using elevators should not be endangered by able-bodied people who are potential carriers of infectious diseases. I would like to assume that Harvard students and faculty are respectful enough to notice someone with a disability in an elevator and choose to wait until the next vacant trip.
Those who have no alternative to using elevators should not be endangered by able-bodied people who are potential carriers of infectious diseases. But I have come to realize that the apathy towards the disabled community on campus is far-reaching. Before Housing Day, while applying for accessible housing close to the Yard, I received an email confirming that I would be guaranteed a dorm with an elevator. In spite of my sixpronged list of housing accommodation needs, however, the message concluded with the statement that “distance and proximity considerations may not be considered sole criteria for eligibility, as accessible transportation services are available to all Cambridge/Allston Harvard facilities.” As grateful as I am for access to Harvard’s shuttles, I cannot help but wonder why I, a student who cannot move my extremities, had to convince the Accessibility Education Office that I might want to be housed a little closer to my classes… if possible, please. Elevator usage, unlike my housing, is something that involves all members of the Harvard community who use our accessible facilities. Unfortunately, I cannot send a polite email to all elevator riders requesting them to limit their use. The choice to not use an elevator is one that able-bodied students can make to help maintain the safety of my disabled community at Harvard, especially if those students are also exercising their right to remove masks indoors. Alternatively, people can try to use the elevator with as few other riders as possible.
As we transition to pre-pandemic rituals, I implore you to consider the parts of your daily life that might involve someone at a particular risk for contracting Covid-19. As we transition to pre-pandemic rituals, I implore you to consider the parts of your daily life that might involve someone at a particular risk for contracting Covid-19. In actively considering my own elevator usage, I will decide to pant and sweat, like an exasperated mouse after hundreds of rotations of an exercise wheel, for the first 10 minutes of all of my classes on third or fourth-story levels in their respective lecture halls. And when I see someone getting into the elevator with my disabled peers, I will not assume their able-bodiedness or ponder whether they are up-to-date on their testing cadences. I will simply hope they have no other choice but to ride the elevator. —Haley M. Stark ’25, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Thayer Hall.
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
MAY 9, 2022
HOOPES FROM PAGE 1
73 Undergraduates are Awarded Hoopes Prizes think that my project on sports labor markets was going to match up with some of the more serious topics, making real advancements in the academic fields,” Boynton said. Not all of the winning projects were papers. Tiffany A. Rekem ’21 received a Hoopes for a film titled “Declarations of Love,” which was her senior thesis for the Art, Film, and Visual Studies Department. Though Rekem, who worked on the film for three years, said the process of working on the thesis was at times “grueling,” she said it “meant a lot” that her work resonated with the Hoopes Prize committee. “I see it as an affirmation of the art as a rigorous way of ap-
proaching a subject and that it can be a study, in addition to being a piece of art,” Rekem said. Kendra I. Heredia ’22, who won the award for her project on the history of women’s health in factories in northern Mexico, said she was “grateful” that months of work on her thesis concluded with receiving the Hoopes Prize. “This was the first time that I really sat with myself and was very proud of the work that I had done and felt like I could finally relax, knowing that that chapter is closed and that thesis process is finished, and that it ended in such a great, beautiful way,” Heredia said. leah.teichholtz@thecrimson.com
2022 Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize Winners Farah Afify Stephanie Alderete Sorcha Ashe Bjarni Atlason Fahima Begum Jacob Blair Tucker Boynton Brett Brannon Anna Cambron James Caven Letitia Chan Jay Chandra Candice Chen Kelsey Chen John Chua Alan Dai Anna Doris Sonia Epstein
Lauren Fadiman Alec Fischthal Emma Forbes Louis Golowich Rachel Guo Andrew Ham Emily He Kendra Herida Rose Hong Jonathan Katzman Alison Kim Edward Lee Sydney Lewis Anne Lheem Sophia Li Jimmy Lin Zelin Liu Abhishek Malani
Sreekar Mantena Miles McAllister Joshua Moriarty Samuel Murray Sivabalan Muthupalaniappan Yash Nair Michel Nehme Ana Luiza Nicolae Indu Pandey Todd Qiu Ramiz Razzak Tiffany Ann Rekem Edward Richardson
ELMENDORF FROM PAGE 1
HKS Dean on Climate Change, Yadlin Protests Belfer Center’s Middle East Initiative this semester. Elmendorf acknowledged guests like Yadlin who are invited through the Middle East Initiative, “often elicit negative commentary from some people, and sometimes elicit protests from people.” But he said the Kennedy School has “invited people with a wide range of views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over time.” Nadine Bahour ’22, a Palestinian student who participated in the protests, voiced concerns that the different perspectives are not given an equal platform. “I think all voices should definitely be represented, which is what the HKS strives for,” Bahour said. “But I have not witnessed in my four years here equal representations between Palestinian and Israeli
voices and perspectives on the Kennedy School campus.” Joseph G. Leone, a second-year student at the Kennedy School who participated in the protests, said Yadlin’s invitation to HKS as a senior fellow was “disturbing” to him because of his role in the Israeli military. “There’s a difference between a historian or a political scientist who is knowledgeable vs. someone who is an active participant and advocate for violence against civilians, which is a war crime,” he said. In an interview after his first study group of the semester in February, Yadlin said he was proud “to defend Israel from those who want to destroy it.” “All I have done in my service was according to the international law,” he said. Leone also said he believes
the location of Yadlin’s study group was changed after the initial rallies in an attempt by the school to “deter protests.” “I think they moved it somewhere where protesters could not show up, could not make their voices heard,” he added. Elmendorf said in the Wednesday interview that the study group was moved after concerns were raised “that the original physical configuration made it possible for the protesters to actually disrupt the study group.” “We were able to identify another location where disruption could not occur, but yet the protesters could still be at the school and do their protesting,” Elmendorf added. “And that seemed like a better way to accomplish our dual goals here.” miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com
From Weeks to Weld.
The Crimson thecrimson.com
SPORTS
WEEKLY RECAP
SCORES
BASEBALL VS. UPENN W, 4-3 WOMEN’S LACROSSE VS. PRINCETON ___________________________________________________________ L, 6-13 ___________________________________________________________ MEN’S TENNIS VS. STANFORD L, 3-4 MEN’S TENNIS VS. MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY ___________________________________________________________ W, 4-0 ___________________________________________________________ WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD 2ND SOFTBALL VS. CORNELL ___________________________________________________________ L, 4-10 __________________________________________________________ MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD 2ND ___________________________________________________________
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
Harvard’s Season Concludes with Loss to Princeton By BENJAMIN R. MORRIS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
The return. For the first time in five years (three complete seasons, given that the 2020 and 2021 matches were canceled), Harvard women’s lacrosse (7-8, 4-3 Ivy League) stepped in between the lines to compete in postseason action. The Crimson qualified for the 2022 Ivy League Tournament after wrapping up the regular season with two essential victories. The first win was a dominant, 18-8 performance against a local foe from across the Charles River, Boston University (2-15, 1-8 Patriot League). This set the stage for the Crimson’s biggest game of the season up to that point, with the team set to take on Brown (78, 3-4 Ivy League) in its regular-season finale. Given that Harvard and Brown entered the contest with identical records–conference and non-conference–and that the two squads were tied for the fourth seed in the Ivy League, that match basically took the form of an elimination play-in game, as the winner would secure the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament, while the loser would see its season come to a close. Although both teams came out with energy, the Crimson was able to double Brown’s goal total and entered the half with an 8-4 lead. However, the Bears would not go away and completely flipped the script in the third quarter, rattling off eight straight goals before Harvard was able to squeak in its lone goal of the frame with 1:17 remaining. The Crimson took the field in the fourth quarter in an entirely different situation than 15 minutes prior, now trailing Brown 12-9. With their backs against the wall and their season on the line, the members of the women’s lacrosse team came togeth
er, ready to fight with the hope that this would not be their last 15 minutes together. For twothirds of the final frame, the teams traded goals and Brown found itself still in front 14-12 with slightly over five minutes remaining. However, in a truly remarkable stretch that spanned only one minute and 11 seconds, Harvard roared back at the Bears and ripped off three straight goals, giving the Crimson a 1514 advantage with 4:11 left on the clock. The remaining four minutes of the match were grueling and intense, as players on both Harvard and Brown gave it their all in an effort to keep their seasons alive. Whereas the Bears needed to speed up to beat the clock that was running down on the match as well as their season, the Crimson simply needed to bunker down and hold on. From Harvard’s perspective, every one of the final 251 seconds that ticked off the board seemed to do so at half-speed, as the passing of each brought the Crimson a tad closer to clinching a spot in the postseason, while simultaneously raising the levels of tension and angst among those at Jordan Field. Harvard battled vigorously to maintain its lead and successfully did so until the clock finally struck zero. When the final horn sounded, feelings of joy and excitement quickly overtook any remaining shreds of nervousness, as the Crimson locked up the fourth seed and booked its ticket to the Ivy League Tournament for the first time in 2017. Following its bout with Brown, Harvard had six days to prep and rest as much as possible before heading to New Jersey for a semifinal date with No. 9 Princeton (14-3, 7-0 Ivy League). The Crimson took the field against the Tigers earlier this year on April 23 in a matchup that saw Princeton leave Cambridge with a 14-9 victory.
With this in mind, Harvard came into the match looking to avenge its earlier defeat.However, beating Princeton is no easy task and the Tigers stepped onto the field looking to continue their dominance and prove that their unblemished Ivy League record was well earned. After an early back-andforth to open the game, Princeton broke through with a goal at the 9:16 mark to surge out to the lead–a lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the match. The Tigers quickly followed this goal by scoring an additional three in a row before first-year attacker Caroline Mullahy got the Crimson on the board. The second quarter followed a similar pattern, with Princeton outscoring Harvard 3-1, bringing the score to 7-2 at the half. Unfortunately, the energy and play of the Tigers did not drop off in the second half. Although Harvard was able to keep the game tight in the second half, the team could not break through the Princeton defense enough to potentially get back in the game. Princeton cemented its victory in the fourth quarter by building on its lead, eventually taking the game with a 13-6 win. Although the season may not have come to an end the way Harvard may have liked, the team has certainly taken some major steps this year that everyone involved should be proud of. On top of qualifying for the Ivy League Tournament for the first time in five years, the women’s lacrosse players demonstrated an immense level of pride and commitment that will resonate within the program for years to come. There are only five graduating seniors on the team this year, meaning that, as the snow starts melting and birds start chirping next spring, this unit will be back in almost its entirety, ready for another shot to prove itself. benjamin.morris@thecrimson.com
UNGUARDABLE OFFENSE 2019 senior Keeley Macafee, pictured during a game against Yale that year. R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
TIMOTHY
SHE SCORES AGAIN Women’s lacrosse co-captain Grace Hulslander, pictured as a freshman in 2019.
TIMOTHY R.
O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
ATTACKING THE GOAL Hannah Keating, pictured as a junior in 2019. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER