FIFTEEN MINUTES

EDITORS’ NOTE

FM CHAIRS

Olivia G. Oldham ’22

Matteo N. Wong ’22

EDITORS-AT-LARGE

Jane Z. Li ’22

Scott P. Mahon ’22

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Josie F. Abugov ’22

Paul G. Sullivan ’22

Malaika K. Tapper ’22

Rebecca E.J. Cadenhead ’23

Maliya V. Ellis ’23

Saima S. Iqbal ’23

Roey L. Leonardi ’23

Sophia S. Liang ’23

Kevin Lin ’23

Garret W. O’Brien ’23

Harrison R.T. Ward ’23

WRITERS

Josie F. Abugov ’22, Maya S. Bhagat ’22, Kendrick N. Foster ’22, Tamar Sarig ’22, Jennifer Luong ’23, Harrison R. T. Ward ’23, Aiyana G. White ’23, Christina M. Xiao ’24, Anne M. Brandes ’25, Katie S. Griem ’25

FM DESIGN EXECS

Cat D. Hyeon ’22

Max H. Schermer ’24

FM PHOTO EXECS

Sophia Kim ’23

Jonathan Yuan ’22

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Simon J. Levien ’23, Josie W. Chen ’24, Angela Dela Cruz ’24

DESIGNERS

Keren Tran ’23, Samanta A. Mendoza-Lagunas ’23

PRESIDENT Amanda Y. Su ’22

MANAGING EDITOR

James S. Bikales ’22

The last time we published a physical copy of this magazine, Cornel R. West ’74 was still a Harvard professor. You are holding the first printed edition of Fifteen Minutes in almost two years, in which West’s 51-year relationship to the University, as well as his recent and turbulent departure, are front and center.

The pandemic ceased not only printing but also in-person reporting. If we’ve been slowly working our way back, then this “glossy” issue announces an emphatic return: JSA and HRTW, two of our executives, took the Amtrak from Boston to New York City to interview West, accompanied by SJL, who took original photographs for the piece. Their conversation lasted for over three hours and lays the foundation for an incisive and fastidiously-reported story that investigates why Harvard would not even consider a towering Black intellectual figure and activist for tenure when West already held that status nearly 30 years ago. The story asks what and who, exactly, constitute the “True Harvard”: prestige, endowment returns, a sprawling administration — or those who seek earnest dialogue and speak truth to power, the so-called “undisciplines”?

The issue includes a slew of other timely and thoughtprovoking stories. TS profiles Susan Block, a leading professor of psychosocial oncology and palliative care, who in the middle of teaching a class on caring for critically-ill patients was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. AMB and KSG talk to a lawyer suing over mask mandates in Cambridge public schools. KNF dives into the archives to recount the tale of the Sever Hall benches, which were sold to alums in the 1940s and ’50s. And as the University claims to value student mental health, JL talks to the students running Harvard’s peer mental health groups.

Rounding out the issue are two beautiful and moving personal essays: Fittingly for our first print issue since the pandemic closed Harvard’s campus, CMX tells us about her love of writing to pen pals with physical letters. MSB writes a heart-wrenching reflection on how she has not been home to Mumbai, India in nearly two years. And, if you stick around to the very end, AGW drew a lovely comic about dreaming.

To our writers, thank you for your excellent reporting and sharp prose. To our executives, thank you for diligent editing, late nights, and insightful work shaping the future of this magazine. And to you, thank you for reading — we are more excited than words can express to inaugurate Fifteen Minutes Magazine’s return with the first of many glossily-printed issues to come.

MNW & OGO