The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLV, No. 87

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 | VOLUME CXLV, NO. 87 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2018

HKS Capital Campaign

EDITORIAL PAGE 6

NEWS PAGE 3

Hasty Pudding Theatricals Must Engage in Further Reflection

Kennedy School Surpasses Capital Campaign Goals by $200 Million

109

Campus transformation

68

Faculty support

126

Financial aid

44

HKS fund

358

New initiatives

SPORTS PAGE 8

Harvard Will Face Brown for First Ivy League Football Match-Up on Friday

$705 million total

HLS Computer Science, Greek Mythology Top Enrollment Most Popular Courses Group Talks SCOTUS 1000

Undergrad Enrollment

800

Students urge Law School to bar Brett Kavanaugh from teaching, pending probe

By AIDAN F. RYAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER ­

Some Harvard Law School students are urging the school to bar Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh from returning to campus to teach this winter unless “a full and fair investigation” is conducted into allegations of sexual assault brought against him by a California professor.

Kavanaugh, who currently serves as a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, is slated to teach a course titled “The Supreme Court since 2005” during the winter 2019 term. He skyrocketed to national name recognition over the summer after President Donald Trump nominated the long-time U.S. Court of Appeals judge and D.C.-area resident to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the retirement of Anthony Kennedy.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation seemed all but certain until Palo Alto-based psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford sent a private letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in July alleging that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her at an alcohol-fueled party held over three decades ago, when both were in high school. Over the next few weeks, details of the letter leaked in the national press, eventually spurring Ford to put her name to the allegations in an interview with the Washington Post.

Ford told the Post that Kavanaugh — “stumbling drunk” at the time — pinned her to a bed, attempted to remove her clothes, and covered her mouth when she tried to scream to alert others to her plight. She said she was able to escape before anything else occurred.

Ford has indicated via her lawyers that she is willing to testify regarding her accusations before the Senate next week, though she hopes the FBI will open an investigation into

SEE KAVANAUGH PAGE 4

724

631 582

600

505 425

400

200

0

CS50

EC10A CB22

STAT110 KATHERINE E. WANG—CRIMSON DESIGNER

By CECILIA R. D’ARMS and AMY L. JIA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

For the first time in three years, Economics 10a: “Principles of Economics,” has ceded its spot as the College’s most sought-after fall class to long-time competitor Computer Science 50: “Introduction to Computer Sci­

ence” and dark horse Culture and Belief 22: “The Ancient Greek Hero: Mythology and Facing Death.”

Ec 10a, the introductory course to the Economics concentration and a prerequisite for most economics classes, dropped to third place behind CS 50 — the second most popular course for the past three fall

semesters — and CB 22, which surged to second place after its enrollment more than doubled from last year.

CS 50 led course enrollment numbers with 724 undergraduates, according to data released by the registrar’s office of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on Thursday — well ahead of the 631 and 582 undergraduates in

By ANDREA M. BOSSI CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Harvard’s first Latinx Convocation will be held this weekend on Sunday, Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. in Memorial Church to recognize the Latinx students of the Class of 2022.

The event will feature speakers and will be open to all students, their families, and faculty. Students from Latinx organizations Fuerza Latina and Concilio Latino worked together to plan the ceremony.

Cecilia A. J. Nuñez ’20, vice president of Fuerza Latina and one of the event organizers, said the event was inspired by last year’s inaugural Black Convocation ceremony, which she said signaled a move on campus to embrace diversity. ­

“We were definitely inspired by all the work the black community did by making convocation a part of their community, and it was something we thought would be useful for our community,” she said.

The event — themed “Mis Raices, Mi Communidad,” which translates to “My Roots, My Community” — has garnered a lot of attention from Harvard students, according to Nuñez.

“There are over 200 RSVPs so far, half of which are freshmen. Faculty and alumni will be coming out too,” Nuñez said. “I have been working with Concilio to plan it, and we have been working together to plan it since June.”

SEE CONVOCATION PAGE 4

CS 50 and Stat 110 have significant non-undergraduate enrollment. The total enrollment in CS 50, including 51 cross-registered students, is 796.

Comparative Literature Professor Gregory Nagy, who teaches CB 22, said the course’s enrollment hovered around 100

SEE ENROLLMENT PAGE 4

Cecilia A.J. Nunez ‘20 is one of the organizers of Harvard’s first Latinx Covocation to take place this Sunday.

CALEB D. SCHWARTZ—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Kaepernick, Chappelle Among Medal Winners

By ANGELA N. FU and LUCY WANG CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS ­

By JONAH S. BERGER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Forty-four students were elected to the Undergraduate Council in a relatively high turnout election, the UC Election Commission announced Thursday evening.

In total, 1,885 students voted in this year’s election, held Monday through Thursday. This figure includes 881 freshman students, an uptick from totals in the past two years. In 2017, 1,454 students cast ballots, while 1,820 undergraduates voted in 2016.

Freshmen traditionally vote at higher rates than do their upperclassman counterparts.

That trend continued this year.

More than 50 percent of freshmen — representing roughly 900 individuals — cast ballots to ­

SEE ELECTION PAGE 3

Harvard Today 2

CB22 and EC10a, respectively.

Statistics 110: “Introduction to Probability” and Ethical Reasoning 18: “Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory” — which regularly make the top five most popular fall courses among undergraduates — rounded off the list with 505 and 425 students, respectively.

Of these five courses, only

Latinx Groups Plan Welcome Ceremony

FortyFour Elected to UC Seats

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

ER18

KATHERINE E. WANG—CRIMSON DESIGNER

News 3

Editorial 6

Sports 8

TODAY’S FORECAST

The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research awarded the W.E.B. Du Bois medal Thursday to eight recipients, including football player and activist Colin Kaepernick and comedian Dave Chappelle.

The medal — the University’s highest honor in the field of African and African American studies — recognizes individuals who have made “significant contributions” to African and African American culture.

“The medal honors those who have made significant contributions to African and African American history and culture, and more broadly, individuals who advocate for intercultural understanding and human rights in an increasingly global and interconnected world,” according to a press release.

Kaepernick first made national headlines for his activism

PARTLY CLOUDY High: 73 Low: 66

in 2016, when he chose to kneel during the national anthem at NFL games in protest of racial injustice in the United States.

He has since received Amnesty International’s 2018 Ambassador of Conscience award and recently launched a widespread advertisement campaign with Nike.

Artist Kehinde Wiley, known for his portraits of people of color, including President Barack Obama, received a Du Bois medal this year as well.

Kenneth I. Chenault, a corporate executive who also serves on many philanthropic boards, is another recipient. Chenault is a member of the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body.

Chappelle, best known for his comedy show “Chapelle’s Show,” will also receive the award. Chapelle has produced and acted in numerous films, and he has received numerous awards for his work including two Primetime Emmy Awards

SEE AWARD PAGE 3

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018

PAGE 2

HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Breaded and Baked Pork Chops English Style Battered Red’s Best Fresh Local Fish Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese

For Dinner Pepper & Sausage Pizza Beyond Burger Cheese Pizza Tofu Curry Noodle Stirfry

TODAY’S EVENTS

IN THE REAL WORLD

Name It, Face It, End It: A Symposium to End Sexual Violence Harvard Graduate School of Education, 12 p.m.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s Schoolmate Recalled Hearing of Alleged Assault

Head to the Harvard Graduate School of Education (13 Appian Way) to learn about this important (and timely) topic.

Christina King Miranda, who was a year behind Ford in high school, remembers of hearing about the alleged assault at school after it had allegedly occurred. She commented that she does not know definitively whether the incident occurred or not.

Breakpoint: Reckoning with America’s Environmental Crisis Museum of Natural History, 6 p.m.

Shooting in Maryland

Listen to Jeremy Jackson, who’s an emeritus professor of oceanography, talk about how to reckon with America’s environmental crises (we may be already doomed). Hosted at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

Red Fang at the Sinclair Sinclair, 8 p.m.

Head to the Sinclair for some catchy music from the band Red Fang!

Red Fang has a mix of rock-style songwriting with a metal twist to it. The band was founded by David Sullivan, Maurice Bryan Giles, Aaron Beam, and John Sherman.

The Smith Campus Center’s dedication ceremony garnered crowds with free food and performance Thursday evening. KATHRYN S. KUHAR—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Based on preliminary reports, three people have died in a shooting in Maryland. The shooting happened near the campus of a Rite Aid distribution center in Aberdeen, Md. The distribution center was a support facility adjacent to a larger building.

DAILY BRIEFING A group of Harvard Law School students is calling on the school to bar Judge Brett Kavanaugh from teaching his winter course pending “a full and fair investigation” into allegations of sexual assault brought against him by a California professor. Kavanaugh, who is embroiled in a contentious confirmation process for a seat on the Supreme Court, has taught as a visiting lecturer at the Law School for years. In other news, classes on computer science and Greek heroes overtook N. Gregory Mankiw’s introductory economics course as the most popular this semester, forty-four students were elected to the Undergraduate Council, and the College will see its first-ever, student-organized Latinx convocation Sunday.

Florence Death Toll Climbs Even as Cleanup Is Underway The death toll from Tropical Storm Florence rose to 41 even as cleanup was well underway and leaders in impacted areas prepared to ask the federal government for what could amount to billions of dollars in aid. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster estimated Friday that his state has suffered $1.2 billion in “financial impact” from the storm.

AROUND THE IVIES COLUMBIA Following a National Labor Relations Board announcement Tuesday, Columbia will now be able to form the first certified union for postdoctoral researchers at a private university, the Columbia Daily Spectator reported. The postdoctoral researchers plan to hold official elections on Oct. 2 and 3, during which they will vote on whether or not to join the Postdoctoral Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers Union, a national union which also currently represents graduate students at Columbia.

CORNELL A Cornell College of Business professor has resigned after the findings of an investigation of academic misconduct, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. Brian Wansink, a professor who specializes in marketing and food and beverage management, will retire at the end of the academic year after over a year of investigation. Over the course of the last 18 months, 13 of Wansink’s papers have been retracted from various publications, including the Journal of the American Medical Association.

DARTMOUTH Dartmouth Dining Services is running low on its supply of paper straws, according to the Dartmouth. As cities nationwide have moved to limit or decrease the use of plastic straws, the nation’s paper straw supply has taken a blow, while demand has only increased. Dartmouth’s distributor has moved back the estimated date for the next delivery of paper straws to the first week of October — a full month after the original estimation.

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

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

Associate Managing Editors Mia C. Karr ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Associate Business Managers Dahlia S. Huh ’19 Max W. Sosland ’19 Digital Strategists Jamie D. Halper ’20 Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Editorial Chairs Cristian D. Pleters ’19 Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE Arts Chairs Mila Gauvini II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19

Design Chairs Morgan J. Spaulding ’19 Simon S. Sun ’19

FM Chairs Marella A. Gayla ’19 Leah S. Yared ’19

Multimedia Chairs Amy Y. Li ’20 Ellis J. Yeo ’20

Blog Chairs Lydia L. Cawley ’20 Stuti Telidevara ’20

Technology Chairs Nenya A. Edjah ’20 Theodore T. Liu ’20

Sports Chairs Cade S. Palmer ’20 Jack R. Stockless ’19

Night Editor Kenton K. Shimozaki ’19 Assistant Night Editors Simone C. Chu ’21 Luke W. Xu ’20 Story Editors Brittany N. Ellis ’19 Mia C. Karr ’19 Hannah Natanson ’19 Kenton K. Shimozaki ’19 Alison W. Steinbach ‘19

Design Editors Rachel Nadboy ‘20 Katherine E. Wang ’20 Photo Editors Kathryn S. Kuhar ’20 Amanda M. DiMartini ’20 Editorial Editor Lorenzo F. Manuali ’20 Sports Editor Jack R. Stockless ’19

CORRECTIONS Copyright 2018, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.

The Sept. 20 article “Smashing Record, Univ. Raises $9.6B” overstated the emphasis which Harvard placed on “current use” gifts during its capital campaign.

The Crimson regrets the error.

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.

Page 3

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | september 21, 2018

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018

PAGE 4

HMC Auctions Ec 10a Overtaken in Popularity Off Warehouses ENROLLMENT FROM PAGE

By ANDREW J. ZUCKER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Harvard Management Company has sold $950 million in warehouse properties to private equity firm Blackstone Group ahead of HMC’s yearly returns announcement, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Harvard acquired the properties jointly with MDH Partners, a real estate development company that has worked with Blackstone in the past, according to Real Estate Alert. MDH has spent more than $500 million acquiring 80 properties since 2014, according to Real Capital Analytics.

The warehouse portfolio spans 14 million square feet, Bloomberg reported. Many of the warehouses are last-mile warehouses, which are small industrial buildings often near urban locations that help facilitate expedited delivery to customers who purchase goods from companies like Amazon online.

HMC sold a majority stake in a collection of New York City properties for nearly $244 mil-

lion to Blackstone earlier this year. The endowment’s CEO, N.P. “Narv” Narvekar, oversaw the outsourcing of the Harvard’s real estate management team to Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital last year.

In a letter to Harvard affiliates in Jan. 2017 announcing the spinoff, Narvekar praised the group’s real estate holdings.

“The real estate portfolio has been a key driver of returns for HMC since the direct platform was established in 2010, and the team will continue to be a valuable partner to HMC moving forward,” he wrote.

Narvekar’s recent decisions to sell real estate mark a shift away from how experts envisioned his strategy. His experience in alternative assets — including private equity, hedge funds, and real estate — characterized much of his career prior to joining Harvard.

Last year, HMC posted the lowest returns in the Ivy League. andrew.zucker@thecrimson. com

students until two years ago.

He said he thinks the course’s addition of a subtitle — “Mythology and Facing Death” — two years ago may be responsible for the rapid increase.

“I’ve always thought that

I’ve always thought that the reason people should learn about ancient Greek heroes is that it teaches us so much about how to live and how death is part of how we live.

Gregory Nagy Comparative Literature Professor

the reason people should learn about ancient Greek heroes is that it teaches us so much about how to live and how death is part of how we live,” Nagy said.

“So who knows, maybe it’s the subtitle that has caught the attention of people. We started it last year, and that’s when

we had one big jump, and now we’ve had a bigger jump.”

Additionally, CB 22 counts for a General Education requirement.

Sixty-five percent of fall 2017 students who responded to the course evaluation survey, known as the “Q Guide,” — a database where students assess courses and professors — reported that they spent less than three hours working on the class per week.

Economics Professor N. Gregory Mankiw, who has taught Ec 10a since 2005, said the course provides an “important foundation” for informed citizenship.

“So many issues that you read about in the news require an understanding of economics to even begin to understand what the right policy is,” Mankiw said.

According to the course syllabus, Ec 10a “is valuable both for eventual economics concentrators and for those who plan no further work in the field.”

The fall semester includes guest lectures from members of the Economics Department.

When Mankiw learned his

course had ceded the top spot, however, he said he wasn’t too

So many issues that you read about in the news require an understanding of economics to even begin to understand what the right policy is.

N. Gregory Mankiw Economics Professor

concerned.

“One thing we teach in economics is that competition is good,” he said.

Several long-standing courses have had to modify their meeting times and curricula this year to accommodate the new course schedule, which extends the length of many courses from 60 to 75 minutes. The new schedule also eliminates “Harvard Time” — a College quirk under which professors began class seven minutes after

the official start time.

Computer Science Professor David J. Malan ’99, who teaches CS 50, wrote in an email that the teaching staff adjusted the course’s schedule last year in preparation for the new changes.

“Last year, we met weekly for lectures on Fridays, 10am– 12pm; this year, we officially meet on Fridays, 9am–11:45am, which is longer, though we won’t always use the entire block,” Malan wrote.

“On days we wrap early, we’ll reserve time at the end for optional discussion and Q&A,” he added.

Nagy said that, thanks to the new course schedule, he extended his class to 75 minutes and was able to add “Songs of Sappho” to CB22, as part of his personal interest in female heroes.

“I’ve been going around saying for a long time that the creativity that goes into, especially, the ‘Iliad’ is not predominantly male,” Nagy said. “ There’s a lot of female art that goes into it,” he added. cecilia.d’arms@thecrimson.com amy.jia@thecrimson.com

KAVANAUGH FROM PAGE 1

CONVOCATION FROM PAGE 1

HLS Students Weigh In On Kavanaugh

Latinx Students Debut Ceremony

Kavanaugh first.

Kavanaugh, who has vehemently and repeatedly denied Ford’s accusations, has promised he will testify about the incident in a high-stakes hearing on Monday. Four Law School students — Molly M.E Coleman, Yaacov “Jake” Meiseles, Alexandria “Vail” KohnertYount, and Sejal Singh — demanded the University prevent Kavanaugh from teaching in Cambridge in an opinion piece published in the Harvard Law Record Thursday. The students wrote that they want to know whether the Law School will “take seriously the credible allegation of Kavanaugh’s sexual assault against a young woman before he is allowed to continue teaching young women.” The piece also notes that Kavanaugh was paid “$27,490 for 9 days of teaching” in 2017. Law School spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment. Kavanaugh first started teaching at the Law School about a decade ago when he was hired by then-Dean Elena Kagan, who now sits on the Supreme Court.

From 2008 to 2015, Kavanaugh taught a class on the separation of powers. Since 2014, he has taught a course on the modern Supreme Court — the same

class he is supposed to teach this winter.

Kavanaugh’s course is supposed to take place during the Law School’s winter term, a special three-week session of classes held in January. Every J.D. student is required to complete three winter terms before graduation. The Law Record article links to a copy of Kavanaugh’s 2017 financial disclosure report published by the Center for Responsive Politics. Kavanaugh recorded the $27,490 figure under the “Non-Investment Income” section. The salary from Harvard Law School was Kavanaugh’s only reported income on the form. The students further criticized the Law School’s failure to respond publicly to Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh.

“The administration diminishes women’s access to education when they fail to address allegations of abuse,” the students wrote. The four authors of the piece are all members of the Pipeline Parity Project, a student advocacy group that aims to end harassment and discrimination in the legal field. In an email, Coleman wrote that the opinion piece “came from the organizing efforts of the Pipeline Parity Project.” She wrote

the group will wait until after the hearings next week before pursuing further activism around the issue — including possible discussions with Law School administrators.

“We’re waiting to see how the next week plays out, especially in regards to steps taken (or not taken) by the Senate before we decide on where we go from here,” Coleman wrote.

Pipeline Parity has already plotted out ways to stand with Ford. The group plans to distribute buttons reading “I Believe Christine Blasey Ford” around campus over the weekend — buttons that mirror those worn by supporters of Anita Hill when she testified in 1991 hearings regarding her allegations that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her. Members of Pipeline Parity had originally planned to host an all-day viewing of Monday’s confirmation hearing in Lewis Hall — but that watch party is now “up in the air,” Coleman wrote. “[W] e’re following the Judiciary Committee’s actions, and will adjust our plans accordingly,” she wrote. This is not the first time Law School students have waded into the national debate over Kavanaugh’s candidacy.

The T closes. We don’t.

Breaking news, 24/7.

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Over the summer, students at the school circulated at least two letters — one praising Kavanaugh’s character and one opposing his nomination. Kavanaugh’s former students authored the first letter, in which they dubbed the nominee “a rigorous thinker, a devoted teacher, and a gracious person.”

The second letter, by contrast, stated that “many members of the Harvard community staunchly oppose [Kavanaugh’s] nomination to the most powerful bench in the country.”

At the time, Law School Dean John F. Manning ’82 congratulated Kavanaugh on his nomination in a statement posted on the Law School’s website.

“An inspiring teacher and mentor, Judge Kavanaugh has somehow always found extra time for his students, whether to dig deeper into important legal questions or to offer valuable career advice,” Manning said in the statement. “Let me take this occasion to thank Judge Kavanaugh for the generosity, dedication, and collegiality he has shown our community.” Manning has not commented publicly on Kavanaugh since Ford’s allegations surfaced last week. aidan.ryan@thecrimson.com

A mong Sunday’s speakers will be Elizabeth Solomon, assistant director of academic affairs and fellowship programs at the Harvard School of Public Health and a member of the Massachusetts Tribe at Ponkapoag. She will speak about the history of the land on which Harvard stands.

Several students said the event is important for reflecting and celebrating the diversity ­

It’s a step in the right direction.

Andrew Castillo ’21

of Harvard’s student body. Andrew Castillo ’21, who has Mexican heritage from both parents, said “I think it’s super cool we are having this. It’s a step in the right direction in terms of honoring the diversity of the school.”

Daniela D. M. Villafuerte ’21 said she thought the event was important for letting incoming students know about the cultural communities present on campus.

“I’m happy the freshmen get to experience this, something I didn’t,” she said. “Coming here to Harvard and seeing a Black Convocation, and no Latinx one, or anything related to my culture, gave the message there isn’t a big community here.”

Diego Navarrete ’21, who has been involved in the planning of the ceremony, said the amount of work that has gone into the event is indicative of the strong relationships between Latinx students leaders on campus.

He also said showcasing and celebrating student diversity is especially important right now in light of the ongoing lawsuit Harvard is facing over its race-conscious admissions policy, which the plaintiffs charge discriminates against Asian-Americans.

Experts say the future of affirmative action in the United States probably hangs in the balance.

Nuñez emphasized that while the event is focused on Latinx students, families, and affiliates, all are welcome to attend. andrea.bossi@thecrimson.com

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EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

A Drag Into the 21st Century

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board.

F

ollowing last year’s announcement that the Hasty Pudding Theatricals would begin allowing women to audition for its cast, six women have been accepted into the famous acting troupe — achieving gender parity.

While the Hasty Pudding’s decision to admit women is positive, finally allowing women into an organization over 40 years after Harvard went coed is a decision that is long overdue. The Hasty Pudding has cleared a very low bar in doing so. While we applaud this step, we are not offering a standing ovation.

It must be noted that this change did not come without much external pressure — and especially the advocacy efforts of women who refused to stay backstage any longer.

From the women who boldly auditioned for the cast despite an enforced “no girls allowed” policy, to Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Mila Kunis criticizing the all-male cast, we are struck by their tenacity and determination. Many of these women have since left Harvard’s campus, never to see their own name on a Pudding cast list. They have made this moment possible.

Furthermore, we hold enormous respect for the six women who have chosen to break years of tradition by joining the cast. We hope and believe that the

Hasty Pudding selected these women solely based on their credentials; it would be saddening if their presence onstage to be seen as mere tokenism. Their inclusion in the Hasty Pudding should be a testa-

We hold enormous respect for the six women who have chosen to break years of tradition by joining the cast.

The Editorial Board of The Harvard Crimson

ment to the overwhelming degree of talent and artistic skill present in Harvard women.

Around the same time as the Hasty Pudding’s announcement of its cast, the Din & Tonics also announced that they accepted their first female member.

Much of our arguments above are applicable to this case — in particular, our belief that this member was admitted on her own merits. However, we find all-male singing groups less fundamentally

problematic than an all-male performance that borrows heavily from exaggerated femininity. The Dins have not employed such tropes in their performances, and we commend them on their decision without reservation.

In its drag show, the Hasty Pudding performed a stereotypical vision of womanhood — sexualized dress, high pitched voices, heavy makeup — without giving female-identifying students a voice of their own. A show designed to play with gender that also discriminates on the basis of gender is unavoidably damaging.

As the Hasty Pudding moves into a more gender-inclusive era, its community members should ensure that its current female actors feel fully welcomed on and off stage. Moreover, we believe that the Hasty Pudding has more reflection to do. Drag was established as a space to celebrate queerness and communities of color. Students of these backgrounds should be given the opportunity to play a starring role.

This staff editorial 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.

Big Failures and Little Breaking Silence Wins

SALMA ABDELRAHMAN — SEARCHING FOR MENTORS IN MEMORIES

T

By ROMY DOLGIN

­

he striped ties were what first caught my attention. Glaring ties, clearly advertising that the wearers were in a group. Then I got closer and I saw that it was not just any group. It was an improv group.

I love improvisational comedy: I always have. Immediate Gratification Players were advertising their auditions, and I was more than a little tempted. Then the kicker: “No experience required.” The guy handing out fliers had never done improv in his life until he joined IGP. Well, I thought, I only have nine years of experience under my belt.

That might be a leg up.

Soon I found out that there were three improv groups on campus. All of them seemed open and fun and advertised directly to first-timers. I auditioned for all three and felt pretty good about myself. Sure, there was a lot of talented competition, but I had a lot of experience.

More than that, though, was the feeling I got during auditions. I felt like I fit in for the first time since arriving on campus. The energy was familiar. I knew how to relax into that theater vibe, how to let go of forethought and over-planning. How to be anyone I wanted to be for an hour or two.

I looked forward to my back-to-back auditions all week. I could not wait to join one of the troupes and be a part of a community. I could not wait to see the callback lists.

Three auditions, three days, no callbacks.

I tried to play it down and hide my disappointment, but I was really upset.

It was a flat-out rejection. It was being told that I was worse than first-timers.

It was being told that I was worse than firsttimers. I had spent nine years doing improv, and now I had nothing to show for it.

I had spent nine years doing improv, and now I had nothing to show for it.

I failed, and it hurt. I have to say, at this point I did not have much experience with failure. For me, and I’m sure for most students at Harvard, failure was not a common occurrence in high school.

I was generally good at the things I did. I was not always the best, and there were a fair few things where I was maybe the worst (I am looking at you Junior Varsity Dance Team), but outright rejection was not something I was familiar with. And it did not stop with improv. Soon thereafter I got my all-time lowest test score, homework and comps kept piling up, and I simply felt like I could not win.

This is the point where I am supposed to talk about the importance of failure. I should say that it leads to personal growth and builds character. The truth is I cannot say that; not yet, at least. I am too entrenched in the failure. I cannot yet look back on an ongoing experience with the benefit of hindsight.

What I can say, though, is that failure is unavoidable, in life but especially at this school. There are just too many

incredible people for anyone to be the best at everything. As my roommate likes to say, “You lose some, you lose some!”

In order to cope with failure, I needed to redefine my idea of success. This

What I can say, though, is that failure is unavoidable, in life but especially at this school.

There are just too many incredible people for anyone to be the best at everything. As my roommate likes to say, “You lose some, you lose some!” environment may tell us that success means one thing. That success is a specific path you have to take. That success is being the best and always coming out on top.

In reality, that is an impossible standard and can only lead to seeing every step forward as a failure. We need to define success in our own terms. It can be as simple as making friends laugh or speaking up in class. Success can be achieving small goals and making incremental progress toward new ones.

And if I cannot avoid failure, I can try to guarantee success. I have started to carve out little wins throughout the day. Go to the gym in the morning, do my laundry, finish my problem set.

By setting realistic goals and achieving them, I give myself the confidence boost I need to tackle bigger tasks, tasks that may result in failure.

But failure will not stop me from trying. I will not lower my standards or settle for less. I am still going to go after the things I care about and work as hard as I can, win or lose.

However, I will not say that consistently losing is something I am okay with. It’s hard. So, I need to break up the big failures with little wins. Eventually, I will score big.

Maybe soon I will be writing anoth-

I am still going to go after the things I care about and work as hard as I can, win or lose. er article about how failure built my character, led me to success, and can do the same thing for you. In the meantime, I will keep learning, keep failing, and keep on celebrating the small victories.

That is the best I can do for now, and I am okay with that. Sometimes things won’t go my way, but I can always stay positive and improvise a new solution. With this kind of improv practice, maybe my auditions will go better next semester.

—Romy Dolgin, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Lowell House.

­I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to begin on the journey of writing another column for The Crimson this semester. By virtue of your reading this, you know what my decision was. Yet the process of getting to a place where I felt comfortable doing this alone, without a partner to parse through ideas, write, edit, and push-back with me was not an easy one. Being publicly vulnerable is terrifying, and can reveal the ugliest parts of humanity. Not writing this semester would have felt simpler, easier, and safer. And yet, here we are.

Throughout the process of making that decision, I’d been thinking a lot about “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”, a paper delivered by Audre Lorde in 1977. In the speech, Lorde processes her cancer diagnosis as a period of awakening and a time in which she recognizes her biggest regrets in life as the things she had left unspoken and the ideas that she never gave voice to. She asks herself, “Of what had I ever been afraid?”

As I contemplated whether or not I should write this column, I began to ask myself the same question: Why am I so averse to vulnerability? Why am I hesitant to share my ideas, terrified of speaking my truth? Why do I subject myself to silence?

My answers to these questions are reflective of the same fears that Lorde grapples with. In sections for my courses I find myself keeping my hand down and my voice quiet for the fear that I have nothing new to contribute,

As I contemplated whether or not I should write this column, I began to ask myself the same question: Why am I so averse to vulnerability? Why am I hesitant to share my ideas, terrified of speaking my truth?

Why do I subject myself to silence? that what I want to say has been said before with more eloquence and power. And so, like Lorde, I subject myself to silence for fear that my words are bound to be plagiarized.

However, in “Poetry is not a Luxury”, Lorde offers up the theory that “... there are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt,” and in my journey of overcoming my silences these two sentences have been the most liberating.

No longer do I attempt to delude myself into thinking that my ideas are or must be revolutionary or even original — they aren’t and never will be.

Every thought in my brain has been thought of before. Every sentence I have uttered is a mosaic of others’ words, theories, and perspectives. My role, then, is to serve as the glue in between fractured pieces, creating something beautiful out of many other beautiful things.

In my time at Harvard my fears have also been informed by real feel-

ings of inadequacy; I continuously doubt my ability to speak confidently (or speak at all) about any issue, especially ones that require some form of expertise like law, sociological theory, governance, and politics. While I have managed to muster up the courage to be vocal about some of these issues, there has always been a voice in the back of my head that tells me I’m

Something in my head clicked, and I began to realize that the same structures that oppress and subjugate my people, the same structures I have been so vocal about fighting against, had also managed to silence me before I allowed myself to speak. not qualified or informed enough to be asserting my opinions. For every oped I’ve authored and every statement I’ve made, there are twenty others that have been abandoned in a pool of self doubt, twenty other silences.

And yet, more recently I have found myself often overcoming those silences by first working to understand where they stem from. In conversation with a friend last semester, I found myself qualifying every statement I made around writing and publishing, repeating over and over again that I would have to put in a ton of work to feel comfortable enough to begin putting pen to paper. When I offhandedly said that I would need a degree in law to write about critical race theory, she finally confronted me, telling me that I needed to come to recognize that I would never feel qualified, that as women of color in America, we have been conditioned to constantly doubt ourselves, to constantly strive towards perfection, and to let those fears and doubts consume us.

Something in my head clicked, and I began to realize that the same structures that oppress and subjugate my people, the same structures I have been so vocal about fighting against, had also managed to silence me before I allowed myself to speak. I had given them victory before the fight had even begun. And as I continue to confront and attempt to conquer my silence, I must excavate and interrogate the source of my fears. I remind myself that the world has set my default at mute. In order to ensure that the words I need to give voice to are not left in the dust, I must push myself harder and further into discomfort.

That’s what I’m working on doing this year. I am allowing myself to take up space. I will give voice to the thoughts and ideas I have quieted in the face of fear. No word will be left unspoken, no passions dampened, no excitements contained. Like Lorde says: “there are so many silences to be broken.”

—Salma Abdelrahman ’20 is a Sociology concentrator in Eliot House. Her column appears on alternate Fridays.

ARTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 | PAGE 7

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This Year in American Arts:

COURTESY OF METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER/YOUTUBE

1951, An Age of International Intimacies

LIANA E. CHOW CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

It’s no surprise that in 1951, the imagination of American artists went abroad. The U.S. was learning a new foreignaffairs juggle, and its sprawling fight against communism ranged from funding post-war reconstruction to the Korean War. Meanwhile, painters, singers, and actors produced narratives of foreign relations on a personal level. These relationships were real and imagined, romantic and platonic, entertaining and political. They reflected and shaped (and often misshaped) Americans’ views of the rest of the world. A surprising amount of 1951 art has enjoyed undeniable staying power. These moments are worth revisiting, but not just for their artistic value: In trying to portray other countries, American artists shed a light on their own.

1.The film “An American in Paris” is released, October 4 The international affair: The score is Gershwin. The setting is the Parisian arts world. The leading characters are an American World War II veteran (Gene Kelly) and a beautiful French woman (Leslie Caron) who do a pas de deux along the Seine.

The bigger picture: The film won the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of 1951. A United States-France romance was a cheering prospect at a time when the two countries were new NATO allies and the U.S. was giving France billions of dollars for Marshall Plan rebuilding. Still, it was not the plotline but rather the dancing that earned the most attention.

2. “The King and I” opens on Broadway, March 29 The international affair: Another classic 1951 musical and another Western traveler protagonist. The genteel (and heavily fictionalized) Anna Leonowens uses Western educational methods, a motherly sternness, and the power

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of ballroom dance to tackle slavery and misogyny in the uncivilized Siamese court.

The bigger picture: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s fifth musical shows more about U.S. Cold War maneuvers than it does about 1860s Siam. By 1951, the Truman administration had identified Thailand as a potential buffer against communism in Southeast Asia and pledged $10 million in aid for “modernizing” Thailand. If only they could have sent a lone schoolteacher to do the job.

3. Georgia O’Keeffe visits Frida Kahlo in Mexico, February The international affair: In February, O’Keeffe drove to visit her bedridden friend Frida Kahlo in Coyoacan as part of her first trip to Mexico. O’Keeffe wrote in a letter, “It is the first that I have felt free.”

The bigger picture: She would return to visit Oaxaca in 1957. In the years in between, the Mexican-American border became increasingly contentious and policed, but the desert that she painted stretched through political boundaries. The artists’ friendship also crossed borders: They differed in age, nationality, and style, but their visitations and a passionate 1933 letter from Kahlo to O’Keeffe illustrate a loving connection.

4. “I Love Lucy” airs its first episode, October 15 The international affair: Like the characters they portrayed, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball were a Cuban-born bandleader and an American entertainer, respectively, in real life. They consistently drew laughs from their characters’ cultural differences.

The bigger picture: By 1952, the U.S. was backing Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, the same man whose 1933 revolt

had caused Arnaz and his wealthy family to flee to Miami.

In contrast, the Cuba of “I Love Lucy” was merely seductive and exotic. It guided American viewers toward a collective, happy misinterpretation of the country.

5. The beginnings of journeys to come 1951 also saw the birth of art that would later migrate in unpredictable ways. Jazz luminary Thelonious Monk created his first recording of “Straight, No Chaser” in July, and he would take this off-kilter, nine-minute track on tour for recordings in Italy and Tokyo in the 1960s. “The Catcher in the Rye” was published the same July. Though its story was firmly planted in the American Northeast, it would become a hit in the Soviet Union later in the decade, thanks to a Russian translation complete with slang and the Soviet Union’s increased access to foreign culture.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, an up-and-coming singer named Celia Cruz joined La Sonora Matancera orchestra. This kicked off the politically fraught journey that would eventually bring her to the United States, American citizenship, and international legend status.

All these works have complicated legacies. The New York Times gave the 2015 “The King and I” production a glowing review but also called out the show’s “colonialist-minded” nature. Just as there will always be cross-national love stories, there will always be opportunities for self-reflection in them.

In a modern example, the vivid debates around 2018’s “Crazy Rich Asians” fit the bill. It is impossible to tell how we will regard its influence 60 years from now, but surely it will join the ranks of far-flung narratives whose ideals and styles were rooted in United States history.

Staff Writer Liana E. Chow can be reached at liana.chow@ thecrimson.com.

: D E N E P P A H L L E H E H T T S A S H O W T E O H S S ’ I D R CA RICK LI CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Sometimes a red pump says it all. Bloody-shoe connoisseur Cardi B demonstrated as much when she hurled one of her glossy crimson slippers at fellow rapper Nicki Minaj during a New York Fashion Week event on Sept. 7. What seemed to be the culmination of one tense night, however, goes far deeper: Feuds don’t develop in vacuums, and dedicated spectators should know this one was many months in the making. The clash is in many ways emblematic of the pressures of being a woman in the rap industry, and tracing its development offers a disheartening picture of how far the business has yet to go.

On paper, the two narratives are so trope-heavy it feels like conflict was inevitable. On one hand, you have an established act losing steam. Nicki Minaj’s 2017 left her facing scrutiny, mediocre releases, and ensuing fatigue. On the other, you had a scrappy upstart whose unapologetic attitude catapulted her into the limelight. Of course, where there is blood in the water (or perhaps just scarlet-glazed Louboutin heels), sharks soon circle. Fans and media alike were quick and insistent on pitting the two musicians against one another, a rivalry which has since snowballed out of control.

To be sure, rap feuds are no new development. Manufactured conflict between two female rappers, however, runs up against discouraging disparities long present in the industry. Analyzing individual labels reveals that they routinely choose not to sign women, barring them from the institutional support necessary to attain commercial success. Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” made her the first solo female rapper to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in more than two decades and only the fifth of all time, a title her counterpart has yet to receive despite her longer tenure. Statistics like these shed light on why the two stylistically distinct musicians are so often compared: They are the most visible members of a demographic categorically ex-

cluded from the charts, easy targets for those who only measure success relatively.

In an industry where people like to pretend there’s only space for one, maybe it’s not such a surprise that these comparisons get personal. As Remy Ma, an outspoken opponent of Nicki Minaj’s, famously said on Wendy Williams, “I have a problem when you’re trying to stop my bag, when you’re trying to stop me from taking care of my children, I have a problem with that.” It’s about more than just clout. It’s about livelihoods.

This is not to say that Nicki Minaj and Cardi B should be absolved of their actions. Both Nicki’s underhanded jibes and alleged comments on Cardi’s parenting and Cardi’s borderline assault are unconscionable. But understanding the ecosystem in which this conflict arose is telling. Perhaps the reason the former has had to play the defensive—launching an album cycle fraught with desperate attempts to top the charts—is because the success of “Queen” was a referendum on her rap position. Perhaps the reason the latter acts so erratically is because of the demands placed on her to leverage her name recognition as a rising star despite being a new mother. Sure, both artists have big personalities that might have caused friction and exacerbated tensions, but the constant goading of a hostile media environment takes at least some of the responsibility.

Tabloids and mainstream media alike love a good catfight. But as its participants lick their wounds and the furor dies down, the fact remains that the factors which fueled this conflict are very much still in play. Maybe the reason Nicki and Cardi were stepping on each other’s trains is because the public wasn’t providing them enough space to stand alone.

Staff Writer Rick Li can be reached at rick.li@thecrimson.com.

SPORTS

WEEKEND EVENT

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY ______________________________________

SATURDAY ______________________________________

SUNDAY ______________________________________

Football at Brown 7:00 p.m., Brown Stadium

Field Hockey vs. Yale 6:00 p.m., Berylson Field

Women’s Soccer at Penn 4:00 p.m., Rhodes Field

Sailing Harvard Invitational Time TBA, Charles River

Rugby at Dartmouth 11:30 a.m., Brophy Field

FOOTBALL

Harvard to Face Brown Under the Lights

By CADE PALMER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Ivy League play commences on Friday evening and Harvard and Brown have first dibs on game action. This year’s rendition of the century-long rivalry will showcase the 118th meeting between the Bears and the Crimson in Providence, R.I., at 7 p.m. under the temporary floodlights installed at Brown Stadium exclusively for this contest.

While this exact match up story has been told over and over again, the coverage is anything but typical as the game will be televised live on ESPNU and ESPN+, drawing into the viewership a national audience.

“It’s going to be awesome,” captain Zach Miller said. “We rarely get night games, we rarely get Friday night games, so for us to be able to go out there this Friday and play on ESPNU I think it’s going to be a ton of fun.”

In past renderings of this perennial match, Harvard (1-0) has dominated. The series record stands at 85-30-2 and the Crimson has topped the Bears (0-1) in the last seven meetings between the two teams. Last season, Harvard took the contest in a cool, 45-28 victory under the September sun.

Brown will arrive Friday night on the tail end of a 2-8 overall and 0-7 Ancient Eight record in the 2017 season, placing it in last place in the division.

The first game of the 2018 season didn’t seem to indicate any hint of a reversal in that trend.

In the team’s first trip across the Mississippi River in a century, it was succinctly downed by 44-15

by Cal Poly.

In comparison, the Crimson saunters into Friday’s contest down two running backs, but up a game. Senior and 2017 All-Ivy back Charlie Booker III and classmate Semar Smith were noticeably absent from Harvard’s starting lineup last weekend, but sophomore Aaron ­

Shampklin pounded any doubt of his competence from onlookers’ minds.

Shampklin danced his way into the endzone on four separate occasions, accumulating 178 yards on 15 attempts in his season opener. A Crimson running back hadn’t tallied four touchdowns in a single game since Oct. 4, 2014. The effort earned the sophomore Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week Honors.

Also in the backfield will stand sophomore quarterback Jake Smith. Despite the turbulence he experience in the backfield as a freshman — switching starts with then redshirt senior Joe Viviano — Smith was the first freshman quarterback to earn a spot on the starting squad since Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05. The sophomore seemed to be in complete command of the offense on Saturday against San Diego.

Smith toss the pigskin 195 yards, 127 of which came when the ball landed in the hands of senior wideout Justice Shelton-Mosley.

Clearing the path for Shampklin and holding the front for Smith, Harvard’s offensive line stays true to the what has become a staple of the Crimson brand — they’re quite large.

The homogenous crew of five big men are led by senior center Ben Shoults. In addition to Harvard’s 266 yards on the ground, the offensive line let only one man get to the quarterback all game.

“When our front five on the offensive side of the ball completely dominate the other team, that’s amazing,” Miller said.

“San Diego’s not a bad team.

They’re a really established program, they’ve been doing a lot of great things and their front guys are very respected in the FCS and for our front guys — our offensive line, our defensive line — to come out there and have a showing like that, that’s incredible.”

SAFE AND SOUND Senior Justice Shelton-Mosley racked up 127 receiving yards against San Diego last week. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

The line will have its work cut out for it Friday as the unit faces off against the Bears’ junior tri-captain Michael Hoecht.

The 6 foot 4 inch, 310 pound defensive end found the ball carrier 14 times last week in Brown’s defensive disaster. “[He’s] absolutely one of the top players in the Ivy League,” coach Tim Murphy said. “He’s a beast. You think he’s a senior...

[I] thought he was a senior last year, he was a sophomore last year.”

Hoecht isn’t the only threat.

On the inside, senior defensive tackle Daryle Banfield returns into the fray after an 18-tackle 2017 season. Last week alone, the 6 foot 3 inch, 300 pound senior drove Cal Poly players to the dirt eight times.

“I think they have a great [defense], they have a lot of returning starters,” Shoults said.

“I know that their nose guard is back…he’s a great player. They always play hard, especially

when they’re at home and they always want to get after us. So they’re going to have a great team and we’re going to have a great challenge ahead of us.”

With only one week of film, the Crimson enters this matchup with less knowledge of who it’s playing than last week, when the team had two weeks of 2018 film to draw upon. To exacerbate this, the Bears have changed their defense. To exacerbate it further, Brown played a triple option team last week.

“For the first time in 20 years they’ve changed defenses,” Murphy said. “They have been doing very well with the same coaching staff for a lot of years and they’ve gone from a four down team to a three down team. It’s hard to tell versus a triple option team because everything is just so different. It’s 95 percent run and a very different type of run than what you’re going to get from us.”

Last week, Shelton-Mos-

ley was kept mostly silent on punt and kick returns as San Diego kicked either short or out of bounds. This week, he faces perhaps the best punter in the Ancient Eight, Bears’ senior Ryan Kopec. In 2017, Kopec placed five kicks inside Harvard’s 20yard line and did not overshoot for a touchback even once. In one instance, he booted the ball 69 yards to the Crimson two. He also landed punts on the Harvard nine, eight, nine again and four-yard lines.

Against Cal Poly, Brown relied mostly on the pass game in the debut of sophomore quarterback Michael McGovern.

Throughout the matchup, the second year threw 50 passes, finding the hands of his wideouts exactly half of the time for 312 yards.

“They’ve got their fair share of new faces too so we don’t have a great feel — with the small sample size we have — for their personnel or their scheme,”

Murphy said.

Noticeably absent — at least for the Crimson coaches, players and sports writers — from the Bears’ 2018 roster is second-string gunslinger T.J. Linta. Prior to subbing in Linta in last season’s third quarter, Brown had scored two points.

In the span of 18 minutes, Linta threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns. The quarterback has since graduated and is the starting play caller for the Wagner Seahawks in his fifth year of eligibility as a grad student transfer.

Friday night’s game under the lights will be the first time the Crimson has played in such circumstances since last season’s 52-17 loss to Princeton at Harvard Stadium. In addition, the Bears have a grass field as opposed to the turf one in Cambridge. It was in the Yale Bowl that the Crimson last played on cade.palmer@thecrimson.com

TENNIS

Harvard Jumpstarts Fall Slate with Road Tourneys

By SHUVOM N. SADHUKA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Both Harvard tennis teams got off to promising starts to their seasons this past weekend, ­

earning victories against conference and out-of-conference rivals. The men’s team submitted a strong performance at the Chowder Fest tournament, winning singles and doubles

matches against Old Dominion, Indiana, and Texas Tech.

The women’s team traveled to the Dartmouth and Columbia Invitationals, finishing with winning records at both and

going nearly undefeated at Columbia.

For the men’s team, the 2018-19 season is one with some uncertainty, in large part due to the departure of head coach

READY FOR LAUNCH Following the conclusion of the opening weekend for both the women’s and men’s teams, Harvard tennis is poised for success over the coming year. On the first day of the women’s match against Dartmouth, the Crimson won all six of its contests. LU SHAO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Dave Fish at the end of last season after he spent 42 years with the team and amassed 21 Ivy League titles. Taking Mead’s place as the new head coach is Andrew Rueb ’95, who most recently served as the assistant coach under Fish. As a player at Harvard, Rueb won Ivy League Player of the Year twice and captained the team in his final season.

However, the team has plenty to build off from last year, especially under senior captain Andy Zhou, who came into the weekend ranked No. 112 in the ITA Preseason Singles Rankings.

Zhou showcased his abilities at Chowder Fest, sweeping opponents from Old Dominion, Indiana, and Texas Tech 3-0 in singles Flight 2. Freshman Brian Shi and junior Logan Weber also impressed in their doubles debut together, going undefeated on the weekend, including an impressive 7-6 tiebreaker over Texas Tech’s duo of Parker Wynn and Bjorn Thompson.

Other notable Harvard performers included senior Andrew Ball and freshman Harris Walker, both of whom went 2-1 in singles.

The women’s team sent squads to Columbia and Dartmouth to open the season. At Columbia, Harvard won five singles matches and four doubles contests. The Crimson certainly has plenty of future potential in its younger ranks, as freshmen Rachel Lim and Chelsea Williams both put forth stellar debuts. Williams,

who came into Harvard as a five-star recruit, won a threeset match over Mika Genkova from St. John’s University.

Lim won both two matches in her singles draw before teaming up with fellow freshman Annika Bassey to split a pair of doubles matches. Williams was paired with Clemence Krug of LIU-Brooklyn to defeat a Hofstra duo, 8-1.

The tournament at Dartmouth was a particularly strong one for the Crimson, as Harvard’s team prevailed in all six matches on the first day before losing just two matches the rest of the way. The Crimson also swept the Big Green in doubles play, winning four out of four matches. Perhaps most impressive was freshman Rachel Eason, who went undefeated on the weekend, defeating Dartmouth’s Allison Chuang, 6-0, 6-2 and Madison Hwang, 6-1, 6-2. She also worked with junior Natasha Gonzalez to defeat Dartmouth’s duos of Jasmini Abidi and Chuyang Guan and Nina Paripovic and Nicole Conrad, 8-4 and 8-3, respectively.

Both teams have tough schedules ahead of them — the men’s team will be at home for the Ivy Plus tournament against Princeton and Yale this weekend, the women’s team off to California for the Oracle ITA Masters — but if this opening weekend was any indication, Crimson tennis is poised to see a great deal of success on both the women’s and men’s sides during the 2018-2019 season.