The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLV, No, 12

The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLV, No. 12 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Friday, february 2, 2018

The Harvard Crimson There are important advantages to selecting an internal candidate for president. staff editorial PAGE 4

Men’s Basketball moves ahead in hopes for Ivy League success this winter season. sports PAGE 6

Durbin Speech Met with Protest

Nine Students Elected to Council

By simone c. chu and Alexandra a. Chaidez

By jonah s. berger Crimson Staff Writer

Crimson Staff Writers

A round 100 students from across the University spent Thursday evening marching up and down in front of the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum to protest Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin as, inside the building, he spoke on immigration to a select handful of Harvard affiliates.

Some demonstrators said they turned out to rally against what they called Senate Democrats’ too-eager willingness to reopen the government after a three-day shutdown last month. The shutdown began when Republicans refused to pass a bill protecting recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an Obama-era initiative that gives legal protections to undocumented young people. Durbin was one of 33

See Durbin Page 3

Protesters gather outside the Institute of Politics Thursday night to support immigration rights. Amy Y. LI—Crimson photographer

See UC Election Page 3

Impact of Endowment Tax Remains Unclear

SEE PAGE 5

By William L. wang Crimson Staff Writer

Experts say the effect of the unprecedented federal tax on Harvard’s endowment remains unclear as the federal government continues to work out how the new law will be implemented, though it could potentially change Harvard’s long-term investment strategy if tax rates increase.

In December, Republican lawmakers passed tax legislation—dubbed the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”— which requires private colleges with endowments greater than $500,000 per student to pay a 1.4 percent tax on annual endowment returns. Harvard is one of 35 institutions that could pay tens of millions in federal tax under this new provision.

Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 criticized the bill in a November email to Harvard affiliates, estimating that the University would have paid $43 million if the tax had existed in fiscal year 2017.

New York University finance professor David L. Yermack ’85 said there were “big unknowns” surrounding the tax bill as the Internal Revenue Service has yet to define how the law will be ­

Baker Library

Nine students were elected to the Undergraduate Council after this week’s midterm election, according to UC Election Commission Chair Jubin Gorji ’21. The Election Commission also called for a re-vote in Leverett House after no candidate there reached the vote threshold necessary to be elected.

A total of 371 undergraduates cast ballots this year, according to data provided by the Election Commission, representing a slight decrease from the 402 who voted in last year’s midterm election.

UC elections use the Hare-Clark voting method, a type of ranked voting system in which each candidate must reach a certain vote quota to be elected. In Leverett this week, a writein candidacy by former UC representative Benjamin Sorkin ’20 prevented ­

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Harvard Business School’s Baker Library. Caleb D. SCHWArtz—Crimson photographer

regulated.

If, for instance, capital gains are only taxed upon sale, Yermack said he would expect Harvard to do “much less high frequency trading” in order to avoid taxation.

“Until the IRS weighs in on this, we would not have a lot to go on in terms of what fraction of the profits of the endowment of any university might be taxed, let alone what might be exempt,” Yermack said. “Until they write the regulations and explain how they will regulate this, it’s anybody’s guess.”

The process of executing the new tax law, which Yermack called the “broadest tax bill in 30 years,” could take months to resolve—potentially years if a university challenges the legislation in federal court.

Business School Professor Luis M. Viceira said the 1.4 percent tax rate could affect how Harvard spends its money, but it is not likely to “make a huge difference” for the University’s overall investment strategy. Viceira warned, however, that the precedent the endowment tax sets could lead to longer-term consequences.

“Going down into the future, once

See endowment Page 3

Khurana and Kelsey Start ‘Transcript Project’

Teaching Fellows Face Course Uncertainty

By Annie c. Doris

By Shera S. Avi-yonah

Crimson Staff Writer

Crimson Staff Writer

Graduate students and faculty said fluctuating enrollments in the classes they teach can cause challenges for course staff, who often face uncertain schedules as a result of undergraduates shopping, adding, and dropping courses during the first weeks of the semester.

Psychology Professor Fiery A. Cushman said the beginning of the semester is often a chaotic time for him and his teaching staff.

“It’s a little bit of a scramble, because you’re trying to figure out exactly who your staff is going to be at the same time that you’re sectioning,” Cushman said.

Cushman teaches Psychology 15: “Social Psychology,” which had to add several sections this semester due to

Students will have the opportunity to enter the Transcript Project, a creative competition for undergraduates to reflect on their course choices and academic trajectory, according to an announcement by Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana on Wednesday.

The project encourages students to view their transcript as representative of a series of memorable academic moments rather than of a list of grades.

Students can participate in the competition by submitting a piece of work, such as a short essay, song, or photo, that encapsulates and analyzes their academic journey at Harvard.

Project creator Robin E. Kelsey, dean of arts and humanities, said undergraduates on the student advisory ­

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See Shopping Week Page 3 Inside this issue

Harvard Today 2

News 3

Bid day 2018

Editorial 4

Sorority members gather outside the Sheraton Commander on bid day Wednesday morning.

See transcript Page 3

Amy Y. Li—Crimson photographer

Sports 6

Today’s Forecast

SNOWY High: 33 Low: 11

Visit thecrimson.com.

Follow @TheCrimson on Twitter.

Disney!

HARVARD TODAY

FOR Lunch

FOR DINNER

Chicken Vindaloo

St. Louis Style Pork Baby Back Ribs

Red’s Best Fresh Local Fried Fish

Friday | feburary 2, 2018

Basmati Rice

Taco Turkey Burger Mashed Potatoes

around the ivies Yale’s Premier Acapella Groups Become Gender-Inclusive According to the Yale Daily News, two of the college’s senior, single-gender acapella groups will become gender-inclusive beginning with the Class of 2019, breaking with more than a century of tradition. The Whiffenpoofs, an all-male acapella group, and the Whim n’ Rhythm, an allfemale acapella group, made the announcement together via Facebook. In becoming genderinclusive, they will use the descriptions “SSAA— or Soprano I and II and Alto I and II” and “TTBB— or Tenor I and II” rather than “male” and “female.”

The two groups are also becoming more interrelated, as they will have a joint website and collaborative business teams.

Jennifer Hyman, Harvard Graduate and Co-Founder of Rent the Runway, Talks About Sexual Harassment at Columbia Harvard College and Harvard Law School graduate Jennifer Hyman, co-founder of Rent the Runway, spoke at Columbia on Wednesday about sexual harassment in the business world, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator.

Hyman describes ignoring an investor who sent her sexually explicit text messages; the investor then spoke to the board of her company, expressing his doubts about her position as CEO. Hyman says that she spoke out about such incidents before the emergence of the “#MeToo” movement last year.

Puck Colgate Nathan J. Krusko ‘20 stops the puck with his skate in the Harvard Men’s Hockey game against Colgate on Saturday.

TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Happy Friday, harvard!

TGIF! On a personal note, I’ve gotten so little sleep that I’m falling asleep in my dorm as well as in lecture. I really needed this weekend.

In the Atmosphere…

Cold. Nothing good lasts forever.

EVENTS Fixing Politics: IOP Fellows Unplugged Go to 79 JFK St. at 5 p.m. and listen to the IOP fellows talk about how politics can move forward in an era of partisanship and general distrust.

Although, to be honest, you shouldn’t listen to them anyways—they’re politicians.

Intermission Impossible Hasty Pudding Theatricals opens its show, Intermission Impossible, this weekend, starting Saturday at 2 p.m.

Buy tickets online (or don’t, they’re a little pricey) before going to their last all-male performance.

Lorenzo F. Manuali Crimson Staff Writer

Yale’s Sororities Start a Flagging System for Parties and Meet with Yale’s Delta Kappa Epsilon According to the Yale Daily News, Yale’s sororities Kappa Alpha Theta and Pi Beta Phi are instituting a “flagging” system, a list of people who they believe threaten the safety of their members.

Over the course of the past week, sorority members have met with members of Yale’s Delta Kappa Epsilon, several of whom were accused of sexual misconduct in January to discuss policies for the upcoming years.

in the real world Mueller Zeroes In on Trump Meeting Special Counsel Robert Swan ‘Iiiiiii’m gonna getcha’ Mueller III is investigating President Trump’s role regarding his son’s misrepresentative press statements. These statements came after Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a lawyer connected to the Russian government, which was arranged to obtain dirt on Hillary Clinton.

Thune Warns His Fellow Republicans The Department of Justice has issued grand Senator John Thune—the third highestranking Republican in the Senate—warned his colleagues in the House to heed the advice of national security officials. Their message?

Don’t release the Republican memo about concerns with the FBI publicly, unless a Democratic memo is also released.

in the NEWS Business School Anounces New Fellowship for Careers in Africa The Harvard Business School has announced a new fellowship to support and fund MBA graduates who work in Africa after graduation. Funded entirely by alumni, The Global Opportunity Fellowship will provide financial support for one to five years.

Harvard Deans Launch ‘Transcript Project’ to Lessen Student Stress Harvard Deans have created the ‘Transcript Project,’ a creative competition that allows students to look back on their past courses and look forward at their academic trajectory.

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

Squirrel!

WAIting at the dot

The dog belonging to the Faculty Deans of Kirkland sits outside in the fresh air.

AMY Y. LI — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

QUOTE OF THE DAY “I know that if the Dream Act passes and it’s not a clean Dream Act, I would feel nothing but guilt that this is what it took for me to become a U.S. citizen,” Laura S. Veira ’20

CORRECTIONS The Harvard Crimson is committed to accuracy in its reporting. Factual errors are corrected promptly on this page.

Readers with information about errors are asked to e-mail the managing editor at managingeditor@thecrimson.com.

Staff for This Issue Night Editor Alison W. Steinbach ’19

Design Editor Morgan J. Spalding ’19

Assistant Night Editors Editorial Editor Christian D. Pleters ’19 Sonia Kim ‘20 Annie C. Doris ’21 Photo Editors Amy Y. Li ‘20 Story Editors Casey M. Allen ‘20 Claire E. Parker ’19 Kenton K. Shimozaki ’19 Sports Editor Sarah Wu ’19 Brian P. Yu ’19 Cade Palmer ’20 Phelan Yu ’19 Meg Leatherwood ’20

The Harvard Crimson | FEBRUARY 2, 2018 | page 3

Dick Durbin Met With Protests Nine Students Elected to UC in Midterm

Durbin From Page 1

Democrats who voted to end the government shutdown instead of negotiating a new DACA bill.

Durbin, one of the original co-sponsors of the Dream Act, recently proposed an immigration reform bill— co-sponsored by Senator Lindsey O. Graham—that would make the DACA program permanent. But the bill would also cancel the visa lottery and limit family-based migration; many protesters said they find both eliminations unacceptable.

Bearing signs reading “We Are Not Your Bargaining Chip” and “The U.S. Government Has Never Protected Us,” demonstrators stationed themselves as close to the Kennedy School as possible and chanted slogans like, “Say it loud, say it clear—immigrants are welcome here!” The protesters—accompanied by a live band including at least one tuba-player—began shouting before Durbin took the stage around 6 p.m. and continued until after his speech ended.

Hyo-won “Esther” Jeon ’18, who spoke at the protest and said she helped organize the effort, said she thinks Democrats have disregarded several key opportunities to stand by the Dream Act. “When we needed them to hold the line down for us, they weren’t doing that,” Jeon said. “Every time they kick the can down the road, all they’re doing is making people more vulnerable to deportation.” ­

The demonstration was co-sponsored by nearly 20 student organizations including Act on a Dream, the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Women’s Association, and the Harvard College Democrats.

During his speech and in an interview after the event, Durbin said he supported the protesters inside and outside the Kennedy School.

“I don’t want them to give up on this country. I’m not giving up on them, and I thank them for being out there in the cold tonight, marching with their signs,” Durbin said.

Inside the Kennedy School, Durbin spoke for roughly an hour about his personal experiences with DACA recipients and his efforts to pass a bipartisan immigration deal with the White House. University President Drew G. Faust introduced Durbin, calling him an advocate for Dreamers.

A smaller group of about 14 students—a mix of undergraduates and graduate students from some of Harvard’s 12 schools—met with Durbin privately before his address.

Maribel Nava ’20, one of the attendees, declined to reveal exactly what Durbin discussed with the group, noting the meeting was supposed to be offthe-record. Nonetheless, she said she thought the conversation was at least somewhat productive.

“We got across a couple of things that we wanted to share, which are the things that matter to us so much—that it’s more than just the dreamers, that it’s

about parents, it’s about the 11 million,” she said.

Still, though, Nava said she felt overall “a little disappointed” with the meeting, noting that the Illinois senator arrived late. “Our conversation was definitely shortened a little bit,” Nava said.

Durbin devoted much of his speech Thursday evening to addressing concerns raised by Jeon and other protesters that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will not fulfill his promise to work on an immigration agreement.

Durbin said he trusts McConnell to work with him on a deal as promised.

“I’m going to hold him to that promise and I believe he’ll keep that promise,” Durbin said. “I hope he doesn’t break my heart.”

Protesters criticized this strategy and said they think Democrats should fight for a “clean Dream Act” without concessions to Republicans.

“I know that if the Dream Act passes and it’s not a clean Dream Act, I would feel nothing but guilt that this is what it took for me to become a U.S. citizen,” Laura S. Veira ’20 said.

Durbin said a clean Dream Act is not possible at the moment because he needs five or six more Republican senators to agree to the bill.

As negotiations stretch on in Washington, DACA recipients and advocates at Harvard say they feel uncertainty has become the only certainty.

“I don’t remember a time where I constantly didn’t wish for papers,” Veira said.

Harvard Deans Launch ‘Transcript Project’ transcript From Page 1 board for arts and humanities were enthusiastic about the idea and said that the college transcript is often equated with a sense of anxiety.

“I was hoping to turn the transcript into an occasion for students to think differently about the intellectual odyssey that being at Harvard can represent,” Kelsey said.

Kelsey said he views many transcripts each year as president of the College’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, a prestigious national honor society. He said that a lot of transcripts he reads are “immaculate or close to immaculate,” but are “a little short on adventure.”

The Transcript Project’s purpose is for students to reflect on their intellectual journey and set aside grades.

“The motivation was to offset the many accolades that we have at Harvard for people with immaculate transcripts and to recognize the spirit of adventure which the transcript represents,” Kelsey said.

Encouraging students to consider their academic choices, the Transcript Project’s website poses a series of prompts: “What was my best semester? What made it the ‘best’?”

To launch the new competition, Kelsey said he participated in the project himself by digging his undergraduate transcript from Yale out of a cardboard box in his basement.

Kelsey also took over Khurana’s popular Instagram account on Thursday to promote the project, posting black and white photos with commentary on his years as a student.

He wrote an essay, “D is for Dean (A Dean’s Transcript Project),” in which he reflects on a D that he received in a course on philosophical logic. Kelsey wrote he was searching for answers to “life’s big questions” and became uninterested in learning “formal logic;” he flunked the final for his philosophical logic course by writing about his “disenchantment.”

Kelsey wrote that the courses on his transcript range from aerodynamics to the history of pastoral nomadism and art history. Now, as a dean overseeing many diverse fields, he said he appreciates the knowledge he gained from taking a wide array of classes.

“The mental restlessness that pervades my transcript turned out to be valuable,” Kelsey wrote in the essay.

“From my office in University Hall, I look after departments and programs that span subjects from ancient Egyp-

tian tombs to contemporary fan fiction. My roving neurons could hardly be happier.”

Kelsey said he recognizes, however, that the world has changed since he went to college. He said that vocation was “the last thing on my mind” in college, while today, it is unrealistic to expect college students not to consider future jobs and postgraduate opportunities when selecting courses and concentrations.

“I certainly wouldn’t want students to take my project as a suggestion that this is the approach that you should take,” Kelsey said. “And I fully recognize that the way I approached course selection may not even feel available to students now.”

Kelsey said he hopes students will have fun with the Transcript Project and that reflections on their intellectual journey will enable them to make “interesting and adventuresome choices” as they continue college.

Concluding his Transcript Project essay, Kelsey wrote: “Tucked in a musty box in the basement, my transcript holds a reminder that life defies logic, and deans may begin with a D.” Staff writer Annie C. Doris can be reached at annie.doris@thecrimson.com.

UC Election From Page 1 incumbent Ruiqi He ’19 from reaching the required threshold.

Sorkin, who lost his seat on the Council in last fall’s UC election, received more first, second, and thirdplace votes than He. Sorkin said he was “peeved” that he was not declared the outright winner.

Sorkin said he ran as a write-in candidate because he was not properly informed of the open seat, only finding out when candidates officially filed declarations Monday.

“I ran because the open seat wasn’t advertised and so we tried to stick it to the fact that the seat wasn’t advertised as being open, even though I knew well in advance that it should’ve been open,” Sorkin said.

UC President Catherine L. Zhang ’19 said that communication with prospective candidates could have been better, but that she promises to improve communication in the future.

“There should have been an email to Leverett and I’m glad that we had the write-in system so that [Sorkin] was able to run as a write-in candidate,” Zhang said.

“We’ll make sure in the future that all publicity is going to be streamlined, especially since our secretary is getting an email that will be able to be sent out to all students.”

Leverett’s re-vote began Thursday night with an email from the Election Commission to Leverett students, and will end Friday at 5 p.m.

Newly elected Adams House Representative K. Yu-Mi Kim ’20 said she is excited to start her term on the Coun-

cil, and will draw on her experience in student government from high school to help her on the UC. “I feel really privileged to get to represent so many truly exceptional people who have such different interests,” Kim said. “I felt like I had leadership skills that I could use to both improve Harvard community as it is today and also for future Harvard students.”

Kim said her ability to bring students from different viewpoints together would be a useful asset on the Council.

“I’m definitely both a generalist and a specialist in that I study History of Science and English and I think that I understand the experience of both science students as well as students in the humanities,” Kim said.

Newly elected Dudley House Representative Sophia M.F. Higgins ’20 also said she was eager to get to work, hoping to focus her efforts on the Council on issues facing minority students and those with mental illnesses.

Higgins, an active Crimson magazine editor, said a priority of the Council should be to improve its communication with the student body.

“The UC should probably hold more town halls just to keep the student body up to speed on where they’re at in proposing certain policies,” Higgins said.

“I think getting more student opinions in the mix will probably help the UC accurately represent what the student body wants.”

Student were elected to positions in eight houses.

Staff writer Jonah S. Berger can be reached at jonah.berger@thecrimson.com.

Impact of Endowment Tax Remains Unclear endowment From Page 1 you have started taxing returns on the endowment, the tax rate could go up,” Viceira said.

“And if it does, it can start having a meaningful impact on how Harvard will think about investing.”

Viceira said if the endowment tax rate increases—up to 10 percent, for instance— the University will have “preference for securities that are tax efficient.”

Harvard Management Company, which manages Harvard’s $37.1 billion endowment, would look for longer-term capital gains rather than short-term dividends.

“You will have a preference for not realizing short-term capital gains because they get taxed higher than longterm capital gains,” Viceira said.

“You will have a preference for equities over fixed incomes because fixed incomes will be more heavily taxed.”

In an emailed statement, Univer-

“It can start having a meaningful impact.”

Luis M. Viceira Business School Professor sity spokesperson Vanessa McMillan wrote that the University is keeping close tabs on the situation.

“At this time, the University is evaluating the details of the tax law’s provisions, assessing the impacts of the new investment income tax, and developing an appropriate approach to implementation,” she wrote.

Teaching Fellows Face Uncertainty During Shopping Week Shopping Week From Page 1 high enrollment. The class is tied for fifth most popular among undergraduates this semester. To handle increased interest in the course, Cushman said he began planning to hire an extra teaching fellow last week in coordination with Celia I. Raia, the psychology department’s graduate student coordinator.

“On Friday, when all the enrollment numbers came in, there were some classes in the department with lower than expected enrollment. So, there were some TFs, doctoral stu­

dents in psychology, who were looking to be reassigned,” Cushman said. “I spent the past week reviewing CVs and laying out what the options were.

And all of those people knew there was a chance that they could be called up from the bullpen to fill in.”

In many departments, mostly in the humanities and social sciences, Ph.D. candidates are guaranteed two sections of teaching assignments during each semester they are eligible to teach. These semesters often fall in the third and fourth years of their doctorate.Many Ph.D. candidates take on teaching responsibilities because it

is required in many degree programs.

Yet more rely on on teaching appointments for to bolster their stipends.

Graduate students who need to find new assignments after undergraduates finalize their study cards have several options. They can contact administrators in their department to find last-minute openings or use the Centralized Application for Teaching Sections, a tool some departments use to post openings, according to the GSAS Student Handbook.

Some teaching fellows, including those who come from outside Harvard, have no guarantee of a teaching

offer. Arkadiy L. Maksimovskiy, a research fellow at Harvard Medical School who occasionally teaches in the psychology department, said waiting for enrollment numbers to come in can be stressful, both financially and in terms of scheduling.

“If you ask a graduate student, I would imagine it would impact their schedule a lot more. They have more at stake in terms of schedule, but not as much in terms of income,” he said.

“For me, I guess it’s sort of the other way around. Income is certainly a part of it—it’s not guaranteed for me—and I kind of have to wait,” he added.

Maksimovskiy, who is a currently a teaching fellow in Psychology 1355: “The Adolescent Brain,” said that his appointment was finalized on Monday afternoon.

“If it’s a good match, all the professor can say is that it depends on the final enrollment in the class. That can go on for a while, and no one knows until shopping week is over. This semester, it was like, high probability Friday afternoon and it was finalized [Monday],” he said.

Staff writer Shera S. Avi-Yonah can be reached at shera.aviyonah@thecrimson.com.

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EDITORIAL

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 2, 2018 | PAGE 4

THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

Educating Others Is More Than a “Job”

The Power Within W

ith speculation about Harvard’s next president abounding, some experts monitoring the presidential search have argued that candidates already affiliated with the University have a leg up on the competition. Harvard has historically promoted from within its own ranks, and since the early 1900s, only one president has not held an administrative or faculty position at the University before assuming its top role. This practice certainly comes with its own drawbacks, and we appreciate the arguments for new perspectives to drive the University forward. Nevertheless, we believe that— with perhaps a few exceptions—the complex and dynamic responsibilities of the next president make it unwise to deviate from the current trend.

There are real and important advantages to selecting an internal candidate. Individuals already heavily involved in the day-to-day life of the University likely have a greater knowledge of Harvard’s unique administrative quirks and internal politics. They would enter the job prepared to navigate Harvard’s unique ecosystem and enact new policies as efficiently as possible.

Especially at this moment in Harvard’s history, with the University facing a host of pressing issues—including new taxes on its endowment, ongoing controversy over sanctions on unrecognized social organizations, and debates over faculty diversity—Harvard’s next president must be prepared to hit the ground running on their first day in office. We

There are real and important advantages to selecting an internal candidate. have previously opined on the need for a smooth transition. An internal candidate is more likely to be wellversed on each of these complex and nuanced conversations, enabling them to steer the University forward.

Promoting from within is also an effective strategy to inspire Harvard administrators and professors to stay with the University in the long term. In particular, as more educators across the country are being forced into temporary “in-residence” and “visiting” positions, we urge Harvard to provide clear pathways to greater

leadership and influence on campus for its faculty in order to retain and cultivate talent.

Still, the search committee should not unnecessarily winnow their pool of talent by refusing to consider outside candidates. Not all past presidents, even with previous positions within the University, have had impeccable track records during their tenures. If an outsider is to be seriously considered, however, the searchers should carefully scrutinize the candidate’s prior demonstrated ability to jump into a new role. The searchers should therefore consider internal and qualified external candidates in compiling their shortlist, while bearing in mind the necessity for a quick learner and talented listener, able to intimately understand Harvard’s unique dilemmas and strengths.

Michelle I. GAO BETWEEN THE LINES

W

hen you accuse someone of something, you have to prove your allegations. When you want to change the status quo, you have to convince people why your new way of thinking is better. Whether you think your conclusion should already be obvious to people or not, you have the burden of proof.

That’s why I don’t understand antagonism towards those who ask to be educated about racism, sexism, and all the other “-isms” that afflict marginalized people. In the past few years, we have made great progress against these social problems, even taking into account all the backlash against it.

But many of the people who want their voices to be heard for things to change are abandonPeople who complain ing their roles.

They write about educating want books titled to skip steps. They “Why I’m No Longer Talking want to wake up in a to White Peoworld where everyone ple About Race” and articles tialready understands tled “Feminists and doesn’t need to ask. are not responfor educatBut we don’t live in that sible ing men.” world yet. It has to be It’s understandable if made. someone is being insulting or threatening. No one should feel obligated to stay and deal with them. However, I’ve heard some people say, “It’s not my job to educate you” or express similar sentiments—less as a legitimate defense against trolls, and more as a copout when engaging with curious, well-meaning people who happen to not have marginalized identities. I think this is the most self-defeating strategy that marginalized people can adopt.

It’s easy to say, “It’s not my job to educate you.” That statement is true, after all. But just because it’s not one’s job doesn’t mean one shouldn’t do it. Talking to a possibly skeptical audience is an opportunity to hone one’s positions and to genuinely convince someone. Yes, it’s hard, exhausting, and often futile. But the alternative—not doing anything—is much worse.

If you don’t take the opportunity to teach someone else about your identity, you just give it away to Google. Now, the Internet can be a starting place for learning. For example, when applying for jobs, one often looks up a company beforehand to sound informed during an interview. Similarly, when one want to learn more about others’ experiences and beliefs, one should do some research beforehand. It’s easy enough.

But the Internet is also littered with misinformation and deception. Even in instances where that’s not the case, an online article or YouTube video can never replace the experience of learning from a human being. For those saying that people who don’t share your identity can’t understand your experiences, at least sharing them is better than driving others down Internet rabbit holes.

One argument of those who say “It’s not my job” is that they have already educated people too many times, said the same things too many times. So they accuse people of not having learned already. But people who in good faith ask you to help them understand are not an “oppressors,” even if their “privilege” has shielded them from previously having needed to have these conversations. Why quibble over people’s pasts when you can help them develop the educated opinion you want them to have? They won’t get there any other way. Yes, maybe conversations will fail. People might be too naïve, or get too defensive, or reveal that they’re uninterested in what you have to say. But you won’t know until you engage.

People who complain about educating want to skip steps. They want to wake up in a world where everyone already understands and doesn’t need to ask. But we don’t live in that world yet. It has to be made. Those who are in power clearly won’t enact change, so we have to change things ourselves. And we are going to need allies.

This doesn’t mean you always have to be the spokesperson for your marginalized identity. As a former teacher used to tell my class with increasing frequency after President Donald J. Trump was elected, you always have the power to decline to have the conversation. No one’s always ready to answer hard questions and get personal, especially around painfully personal topics. Ultimately, we’re all human beings who are allowed to say no just because we don’t feel like talking today.

But if you opt out of a conversation, then you have to accept the consequences. Namely, you can’t get mad when it turns out that people still do not understand that which you wanted them to grasp. If you were in a position to change things, and you didn’t take it, it’s not their fault.

No, it’s not your job to educate. It shouldn’t be treated as one anyway—quite literally, it’s not something you do to pay the bills, even though it may not excite you. It’s something you do because you want more people to understand your views, to create a more equal world. It’s what you, as a marginalized person who wants to change things for people with that marginalized identity, are in a unique position to do. Educating people is your prerogative.

Dare I even call it a privilege?

­

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.

My Favorite ‘Shithole’

By RUBEN E. REYES JR.

M

y favorite “shithole”—in the words of President Donald Trump—is El Salvador. It is a country of more than 6 million people squeezed into 8,000 square miles. In rural San Vicente, on the farm where my mother grew up, the sky is so clear and devoid of pollution that stars shine brightly. Textbook descriptions of the Milky Way make sense, as one looks up to see one star stacked upon another, endlessly. El Salvador is founded on the Nahuat state of Cuzcatlan, indigenous lands that have produced artists, thinkers, and poets who’ve given the world handbooks for achieving social justice. One of the country’s most important poets wrote, “I believe the world is beautiful / and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.”

But, the U.S.’s biggest headlines involving El Salvador are extremely narrow in scope. Attorney General Jef f Sessions visited in July to meet with Salvadoran law enforcement off icials about gang violence. It’s the countr y to which politicians claim they are going to deport all gang members of MS-13.

Hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans who’ve lived in the United States for more than 20 years are losing lega l stat us. Mea nwhile, the president insinuated that El Salvador is a “shithole.”

People must be ig norant to believe that El Salvador is a place that is fully and unequivocally irredeemable. Ig norance is the soil in which white supremacy sinks its roots before becoming a f ullf ledged ideolog y. Ig nora nce reduces El Salvador to a “shithole,” and Har vard is doing ver y little to curb it.

St udying El Salvador at Ha rvard is diff icult. The Salvadoran Civil War might occupy a week of a histor y syllabus. Salvadoran immig ration may be mentioned in passing. But taking a class solely focused on El Salvador—or Central America as a whole—is impossible. This is largely because Harvard still does not have a formalized Latinx Studies prog ram. This academic gap presents both the problem and a potential solution.

Latinx St udies was f irst proposed at Har vard in 1972 as Chica no a nd Puerto R ica n St udies.

Since then, the f ield has drastically changed. While the 1972 proposal focused almost exclusively on Mexico and Puerto Rico, the f ield now includes scholarship on immig rants from a variet y of Caribbea n, Central A merica n, a nd South American countries. Leading scholars’ understanding of the relationship bet ween the United States and Latin America has dramatically evolved.

This presents a problem for establishing Latinx studies on campus. It ’s dif f icult to conv ince high-caliber Latinx Studies scholars to come teach at Har vard when we have no department or clearly desig nated resources to support their work. At a panel last spring, I asked A sia n A merica n St udies scholar Lisa Lowe how to deal with the lack of infrastructure left by years of inaction. Her answer was simple: Har vard should tr y

By TANNER MCCOLL

doing something new to deal with an ever-chang ing f ield.

Central American Studies could be this “something new” Har vard desperately needs. The f ield, as scholars Beth F. Baker and Ester E. Hernández write, is “an interdisciplinar y f ield that bridges ethnic studies and area studies,” focusing on the reg ion that includes countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicarag ua, and Belize. The f ield itself is still developing.

The only Central A merican Studies department in the country, established in 2000, is at California State, Northridge. Scholarship in Central American Studies is happening at other universities, but often without much support. “[M]ost scholars focusing on US Central Americans have labored on their own without infrastructural support,” Baker and Hernandez write. “These teachers are breaking g round in their f ields… and their own disciplines.”

This problem offers Harvard an opportunity. Even if Harvard were to establish a traditional Latinx Studies program, like the one that was founded in West Coast universities in the late ’60s (or Yale in 1982), it would not necessarily be attractive to academics comfortably settled in their own Latinx Studies programs. Central American scholars, on the other hand, are seeking institutions that are serious about supporting their scholarship. Harvard could be that institution.

If the funds were allocated for a Latinx Studies Center, with an explicit focus on innovative scholarship in Central American Studies, scholars would have motivation to bring their talents to Harvard.

A cluster-hire of any number of leaders in the field to staff such a center—like the ones proposed in 1971, 1979, 1993, 2001, and 2005— would bring Latinx Studies to Harvard. Harvard could finally fill a gap they’ve had for decades, while

also bring ing together a cohort of scholars to embark on new, exciting scholarship the University could be proud of.

These new hires, combined with the handful of scholars already doing work in the field of Latinx studies at Harvard, would finally have a place with the space, resources, and support system to finally bring a robust program to campus. The future of Latinx Studies could be Central American Studies. More importantly, we could be creating that future at Harvard.

Two years ago, in the first piece I ever wrote for The Crimson, I made a critically incorrect assumption about Latinx Studies at Harvard. I wrote that, “Harvard can’t afford to fall behind now, and we won’t let it.” The sad truth is that Harvard has fallen 50 years behind. But as the United States g rapples with Central American immig ration, biculturalism, and the ugly presence of white supremacy, it’s critical that Harvard catch up. When it does, maybe we’ll have elected public servants who don’t think of nations like El Salvador as “shithole countries.”

Ruben E. Reyes Jr. ’19, a former Crimson Editorial Chair, is a History & Literature concentrator in Leverett House.

Michelle I. Gao ’21, a Crimson editorial editor, lives in Weld Hall. Her column appears on alternate Fridays.

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

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 Associate Managing Editors Mia C. Karr ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19

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

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

Associate Business Managers Dahlia S. Huh ’19 Max W. Sosland ’19

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

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

Editorial Chairs Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19 Cristian D. Pleters ’19

Digital Strategists Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Dianne Lee ’20

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

Arts Chairs Mila Gauvini II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19

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

The Harvard Crimson | February 2, 2018 | page 5

Gore Street Project Continues HBS Announces New Africa Fellowship By patricia j. liu

Crimson Staff Writer

Despite Cambridge residents’ frustrations about construction plans to renovate Gore Street, Cambridge City Council announced Monday that construction would proceed as planned, though with a plan in place to mitigate its effects.

The construction, set to begin Feb. 2, includes a new gas pipeline developed by Eversource and a new sewer pipeline developed by DivcoWest, the developer of the neighborhood Cambridge Crossing. The city of Cambridge is also installing a new water pipeline, paved roads, and accessible sidewalks, among other improvements.

The project at Gore Street, which sits between Monsignor O’Brien Highway and Warren Street, was first proposed around 20 years ago. But, the project stood at a standstill for a 10year period, City Manager Louis A. DePasquale said at Monday’s City Council meeting.

When the city previously suggested moving the project to the another site, the Prison Point Facility, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority insisted that Gore Street was the only option.

Kathy Watkins, assistant commissioner of engineering for the Department of Public Works, said that the alternative route did not have the capacity in its system.

“The Prison Point Facility is designed to be a wet weather facility, so they do not encourage and they do not want additional dry weather typical sewer flow into that system,” Watkins said. “It has significant pumping constraints based on that.”

During public comment, some residents of Gore Street said they were

concerned about potential damage to their properties, many of which are decades old and have been passed on for generations.

“There was folklore there, there was history, and many things I’ve appreciated about the neighborhood are now being threatened,” said Martha E. Kats, a longtime Gore Street resident.

Owen O’Riordan, commissioner of the Department of Public Works, said the city has experience working on

“It’s about mitigating the effects of what those neighbors are going to feel the next years while they are undergoing this large project.”

Alanna M. Mallon

Cambridge City Councillor “thousands upon thousands” of properties. He said that home inspections would help ensure damage would not happen.

Audrey A. Cunningham, another resident, read from a statement with more than 50 signatures from residents. The statement criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the decision to move forward with the project and argued that the construction put the “desires of a huge developer” over the “lives and and property of lifelong residents.”

“The residents of Gore Street are fu-

rious. There is a sense of outrage that we were never informed throughout the twenty plus years that this was under discussion,” added Lois E. Sullivan.

Despite concerns from residents, DePasquale said that the Gore Street construction project was not up for negotiation. The infrastructure improvements are necessary for the wellbeing of the city as a whole, he said.

“When I became City Manager, my biggest commitment was to work with neighborhoods, to try to make sure they were heard and listened to,” DePasquale said. “But this is a really tricky situation because when it comes to the sewer work and infrastructure work, it is the city’s responsibility to meet the needs of all our residents.”

Additionally, the City Council adopted policy orders to discuss the possibility of improvements to East Cambridge’s Gold Star Mothers Park and of using construction technology that could speed up the project. Councillor Alanna M. Mallon said she hopes the city can “give something back” in light of the challenges associated with the project.

“It’s about mitigating the effects of what those neighbors are going to feel the next years while they are undergoing this large project,” Mallon said.

Mallon stressed the significance of more communication with residents not just for the Gore Street construction but for “all projects.” Mayor Marc C. McGovern agreed that an open discussion involving the public was important for future decisions.

“One of the things we can push the City Manager on and continue to improve on is making sure that we are engaging in the process with the community where all points of views are respected and have the opportunity to be heard,” McGovern said.

By andrew j. park and grace a. greason Crimson Staff writers

The Harvard Business School announced a new fellowship Wednesday to support MBA graduates who work in Africa directly after graduation.

The Global Opportunity Fellowship (GO: Africa) will award graduates up to $50,000 towards the difference between their salaries and $100,000, with the goal of supporting MBA graduates who pursue career opportunities in Africa.

The fellowship will provide financial support for one to five years and grant a maximum of $150,000 over that time span to graduates beginning with the Class of 2018.

The fellowship grew out of a review of the financial aid process at HBS, according to Chad Losee, managing director of admissions and financial aid at the school.

His department consulted with alumni and students interested in Africa to develop a program that would encourage recent alumni to bring their job skills to a continent often overlooked by Business School graduates, Losee said.

“The reason we feel it’s going to make such a big impact is prevailing salaries are lower and there’s also a fair amount of exchange rate fluctuation in some of the currencies on the continent,” he said. “Being able to supplement that income from a U.S. dollar perspective, we think it will go a long way.”

GO: Africa grew out of the school’s mission statement to “educate leaders

Varsity Club Distributes Book on Mental Health By madeleine r. nakada Crimson Staff Writer

The Harvard Varsity Club distributed copies of a book about mental health and Ivy League athletics to Harvard athletes and athletics administrators on Wednesday, drawing praise from current and former student-athletes.

“What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen” tells the story of Madison S. Holleran, a successful student-athlete at the University of Pennsylvania who took her own life in the spring of her first year at the university.

Author Kate Fagan’s ESPN feature, “Split Image,” was widely read and praised for its in-depth look at Holleran’s struggles with mental health despite outward appearances of happiness and success at an Ivy League university. In “What Made Maddy Run,” Fagan looks closer both at Holleran’s ­

life and the role social media and social stigma play in students’ mental health.

The idea of distributing the book started early last fall when Jessica L. Perillo ’14, a special assistant for the Varsity Club, presented the work to administrators in Harvard’s Athletics Department. The Varsity Club and the Athletics Department gave copies of the book to athletic coaches and department administrators in December, and then to varsity captains on Wednesday.

Perillo, a former member of the women’s softball team, said that she wanted to share the book with current athletes after seeing parallels between her own experience as an Ivy League athlete and the struggles that Holleran faced. Perillo was a student at Harvard when Holleran took her life in Jan. 2014.

“I remember when the incident happened. Unfortunately, it was during my

“The more you can talk about this, the better.”

Jay D. Hebert

Captain of the Men’s Track and Field Team time at college and I remember hearing about it,” Perillo said.

“I thought, if I could relate to this story, then there must be so many others that can relate to it too,” Perillo added. “There was a little bit of comfort of knowing that I wasn’t kind of alone feeling that way as a student-athlete.”

Jay D. Hebert ’18, captain of the men’s track and field team, said that he thought the book would give Harvard athletes an opportunity to look at their

own lives from a new perspective.

“As student-athletes, I think we get absorbed in that world sometimes,” Hebert said, referring to the competitive nature of Division I college athletics added to the rigor of Ivy League academics. “The book is a good opportunity to sort of step out and see it from a different perspective.”

Perillo said that the Varsity Club has no plans to host formal discussions on the book. Instead, she said she hopes the book sparks discussion within athletic teams without formal conversations guided by administrators.

Hebert said he hopes that after he and his co-captain read the book they will be able to discuss it with the team.

“Through my experience, putting faith in a college kid to read this and digest it and understand everything on their own, that’s asking a lot,” Hebert said. “The more you can talk about this, the better.”

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who make a difference in the world” and builds on its recent efforts to expand its impact in Africa, according to the fellowship’s website. The Business School opened a research office in Johannesburg last year, which will foster relationships with academic and business leaders throughout the continent.

The creation of the fellowship also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Africa Business Conference, the largest student-run conference at HBS. The Business School’s Africa Business Club hosts the conference, which brings in 1000 attendees from close to 30 countries and features a variety of speakers and panels, as well as a competition for African startups with a reward of $10,000.

The new fellowship is funded entirely by alumni donations, according to Losee. Currently 1,700 HBS alumni work in Africa—a network that recent graduates are encouraged to use to find career opportunities, Losee said.

Students interested in both for-profit and nonprofit work are encouraged to apply, Losee added.

“Students have so many different ideas and so many different industries that they want to have an impact in from education to manufacturing to job creation,” Losee said. “We really want to keep this fairly open so that people can pursue what they’re uniquely good at and what they’re specifically passionate about.”

Staff writer Andrew J. Park can be reached at andrew.park@thecrimson.com.

Staff writer Grace A. Greason can be reached at grace.greason@thecrimson. com.

Astronomers Discuss Black Holes, Cosmic Radiation By amy L. jia and sanjana l. narayanan Crimson Staff Writers

About a hundred astronomers and visiting scholars gathered in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’s Phillips Auditorium to hear about the latest advancements in astrophysics at a Thursday luncheon hosted by the Harvard-based Institute for Theory and Computation.

The institute’s weekly luncheons attract attendees from around the world, who enjoy sandwiches and chips while listening to four 10-minute presentations on different topics within the field. Presenting at this week’s luncheon were Maciek Wielgus, a fellow at Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative; James J. Bock, a physics professor at Caltech; Saurabh Singh, a Ph.D. student at the Raman Research Institute in India; and Christopher F. McKee ’64, professor emeritus of astronomy and physics at UC Berkeley.

Harvard Astronomy Department Chair Abraham “Avi” Loeb said the weekly luncheons are an important way for astronomers and scientists to stay up-to-date with the latest results in the field.

“Astronomy is a very active frontier of research. We now know things we haven’t known a decade ago, which are very exciting,” said Loeb, who is also the director of the Institute and the Black Hole Initiative.

Loeb added that Harvard’s unique resources and academic environment are valuable for the future development of his field.

“Harvard is very special. A year and a half ago, we inaugurated the Black Hole Initiative, which is the only center in the world which focuses on black holes, all aspects of black holes,” Loeb said.

“The special thing about this center is that it involves people from the astronomy department, the physics department, the math department, and philosophy and history of science departments.”

At Thursday’s luncheon, Wielgus described one Black Hole Initiative-related project, which uses the Event Horizon Telescope to image the silhouette of Sagittarius A*, a radio source believed to be a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

After explaining the premise of his research, Wielgus identified visibility errors as one of the main challenges for the project.

The colloquium then turned to focus on the BICEP-Keck experiments, which measure the cosmic microwave background radiation that pervades the universe. Data from the experiments are being used to find signals of gravitational waves from the beginning of the universe, according to Loeb.

Singh’s presentation discussed the first stars formed during the period when the universe became completely ionized, as well as an experiment measuring the effects of radiation from those stars on hydrogen gas in an earlier universe.

Sports

The Harvard Crimson | February 2, 2018 | page 6

Wide Open Road for Harvard in Battle for Ivy League MEN’S BASKETBALL By troy boccelli Crimson Staff Writer

Coming off the heels of a last-minute loss to Penn in the final game of the conference season last spring, Harvard had the chance to dance despite an undefeated conference season from Ancient Eight heavyweight Princeton.

It was uncharted territory for the Ivy League to say the least.

After falling to the Tigers twice on buzzer-beaters in the regular season, Tommy Amaker’s squad would have a chance to duke it out a third time with Princeton if the Crimson could take down Yale once more, making three total wins over the Bulldogs.

That game, however, would never materialize as Harvard lost in its tournament opener to Yale and, just as it deserved to, Princeton headed to the NCAA tournament.

The inaugural tournament didn’t all go as expected, though. In the other opener a Penn squad with a losing record took the Tigers into overtime in front of a crowd of Quaker faithful.

Had Penn won, the No. 3 and 4 seeds of the conference would’ve been competing on Sunday for the opportunity to represent the Ancient Eight in March.

I think the biggest takeaway from this is that it must’ve just really sucked to be Princeton in that first game of the conference tournament.

No team had gone undefeated in conference play since Steve Donahue’s Cornell squad finished perfect in 2008.

Now the Tigers were playing overtime basketball with a team that not only had a losing record, but on their home court as well. This isn’t to say, though, that the conference tournament is flawed by any means—had Penn gone

dancing it probably would’ve raised flags about the location of the tournament, but all in all it was an overdue addition to the conference.

What last season exemplifies the best, though, is the degree to which every team loves the conference tournament when they wouldn’t otherwise win the conference outright.

If I were a betting man, I’d say Tommy Amaker is starting to feel a bit like Princeton probably did at the end of last season. This isn’t to say the Crimson is on the verge of an undefeated season, but coming off a weekend sweep on the road and given Yale’s loss to Brown and Princeton’s loss to Penn, it would appear Harvard is becoming the team to beat.

To be clear, the season is still young and we’re only through the first backto-back weekend of basketball.

With that said, Coach Amaker’s squad has a lot going its way—a Yale team that was expected to be neckand-neck with the Crimson is still without standout guard Makai Mason, and the Bulldogs also lost forward Jordan Bruner for the year with a torn meniscus. The Crimson also already played and beat Yale on the road, so what would have likely been Harvard’s toughest matchup is over. The Crimson escaped with a 54-52 win.

Princeton, predicted to be Harvard’s next toughest matchup, lost its conference opener to an up-and-coming Penn squad which is also somehow the only other team still undefeated in Ivy League play. If anything, the Quakers might turn out to be the Crimson’s toughest matchup in the conference season. Headlined by sophomores AJ Brodeur and Ryan Betley, Penn will probably be Harvard’s biggest contenders for the next two years. While talented, the Quakers also arguably

lOOKING up Sophomore forward Robert Baker looks to shoot a jumper over a Penn defender on the road. Undefeated in conference play thus far, the Crimson is well-positioned in the Ivy League standings early on. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA – CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

more inexperienced that Amaker’s squad—nearly all of the Crimson’s current sophomores saw significant playing time while two of Penn’s starters hardly saw the floor last season.

It would be tough to really put any other team in contention here. Brown has a seriously talented freshman in Desmond Cambridge and Brandon Anderson is arguably one of the best guards in the conference, but the Brown Bears are still probably a year or two from contention. Columbia won a grand total of three games in their non-conference slate and lost nine in a row at one point. They also lost to Princeton by nearly 40. For its part, Cornell dropped one to the Lions.

What this adds up to is Harvard’s best shot at a conference title in the past two years—Princeton graduated an immensely talented senior class and Yale is without what could very well be its best two players.

The road is as open as it could be for the Crimson.

It hasn’t all been perfect for Harvard, however. In its non-conference schedule the Crimson struggled against plenty of teams it should have absolutely been able to beat; these included losses at Holy Cross, Manhattan, CSU Fullerton, and Northeastern.

Perhaps most importantly, Harvard has been without former Ivy League Rookie of the Year Bryce Aiken. The

sophomore guard went nearly a month off the court and then played sparingly on the road at Dartmouth and Yale before scoring 18 points in 20 minutes at Brown.

All told, the Crimson has what might be its best chance in the next few years. Once again, if I was a betting man I’d take Harvard to finish with the best record in conference.

Unfortunately for this team, that doesn’t mean much anymore. With the tournament at the Palestra once again, Crimson faithful should just hope for a first round matchup against not-Penn.

Staff writer Troy Boccelli can be reached at troy. boccelli@thecrimson.com.

Around the Ivies: Crimson Looks to Continue Streak a way to top a Cornell team that largely revolves around its star guard.

Now to the picks:

moving forward Junior guard Corey Johnson drives past a Yale defender last weekend.

AROUND THE IVIES By troy boccelli and stephen j. gleason Crimson Staff Writers

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to Feb. 20, 2016 in Ithaca, N.Y., a place to which few people dream of returning.

We could pick lines from several Bruce Springsteen songs to describe a place that brags about its gorges (“My City of Ruins”, “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day”, and “Better Days” all come to mind), but I think a line from “Working on a Dream” says it best about the city of 30,000—“out here the nights are long, the days are lonely.” It was an uncharacteristically warm day in a place where the sun rarely shines, literally or figuratively.

Ithaca is 52 miles from the state’s best basketball school (Syracuse), 100 more than that to its nearest NFL team (Nate Peterman’s Buffalo Bills), and 227 away from its travel partner and the other half of the Gentleman’s C’s, Columbia.

With that said, it’s understandable why almost 2,000 people were in the stands on that February Saturday night two years ago when two Ivy League teams that had a combined league record of 4-14 squared off at Newman Arena.

Harvard fans may remember the team’s matchup at Cornell from two seasons ago, a game that saw the Crimson claw back from a 21-point deficit and shock Cornell on a buzzer-beater by then-freshman point guard Tommy McCarthy.

It was the most exciting game of the season for a team that was essentially eliminated from Ivy League contention before the calendar even turned to February.

What is easily overlooked from that game is the performance, particularly in the first half, from Big Red guard Matt Morgan, who, like McCarthy, was playing in just his 10th Ivy League contest.

Fast-forward two years and Morgan is arguably the top offensive player

in the Ancient Eight and the best pure scorer that Harvard will face this season. The spindly shooting guard with an unorthodox jumpshot is averaging 23.6 points per game—good for sixth nationally—while playing for a team that enters the weekend with a 7-10 record on the season highlighted by a 37-point shellacking at the hands of Princeton.

The Crimson’s matchup at Cornell two seasons ago was a historic one for Morgan. The Concord, N.C., native came out firing, scoring 19 points in the game’s first 11:44 (the same number as the entire Harvard team) in a half when it felt like the Big Red could not miss. Cornell made its first six 3-point attempts and shot 62.5 percent from the field before intermission.

For a Crimson team that prided itself on defense, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker had no answer for the 6’2” freshman, who was nailing threes just inside midcourt, weaving through the Harvard defense, and throwing down monster dunks. Morgan entered the locker room with 22 points on six-ofnine shooting, including a four-of-seven line from three-point range. He finished the game with 27 points, becoming the Big Red’s all-time freshman scoring leader (through just 24 games) in the process.

A lot has changed since that meeting two years ago in Ithaca, but the high level of play from Morgan has been a constant. The junior has been a second team All-Ivy pick in each of his first two college seasons, averaging over 18 points per game both years. He dropped 34 points in a game against Delaware earlier this season and has gone for 20 or more points in 14 of his team’s 17 contests.

Unlike many high volume shooters, Morgan has scored the basketball efficiently, shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 40.3 from three-point range.

Of the nation’s top ten leading scorers, the Cornell junior leads all of them in field goal percentage and is third in three-point percentage.

We’re not sure if there’s a difference between Ivy League Player of the Year

TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA – CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

(which over the past five years has been awarded to the best player on one of the conference’s two best teams) and Ivy League Most Valuable Player (an award that we made up but would be given to the player whose team would be the worst without him), but Morgan would definitely be the frontrunner for the second honor. In addition to leading his team in scoring by a large margin, Morgan is also the Big Red’s leader in assists and ranks third in rebounds. If college basketball had a wins above replacement stat, Morgan’s would be very high and a Cornell team without him would have a win total that would be very low.

Just for entertainment’s sake, let’s look at some of the non-Morgan related tidbits from that game two seasons ago. Cornell has a new coach in Brian Earl, who took over Cornell after nine seasons as an assistant at Princeton, after it did not renew the contract of Bill Courtney following the 2015-2016 season.

While Courtney set a low bar with his .347 winning percentage over six seasons (highlighted by a 2-26 campaign in 2013-2014), Earl is doing his best to one-up his predecessor, leading his team to wins in just 32.6 percent of the games that he has coached while at the helm of the Big Red. Harvard coach Tommy Amaker used ten players in the contest two seasons ago. Five are still on the team, but junior guard Corey Johnson is the only one who consistently finds himself in the Crimson’s rotation. Harvard still prides itself on its defense but was a much more efficient three-point shooting team two years ago (38.7 percent) than it is this season (30.7). However, the Crimson enters its meeting with Cornell in a much different spot than it did two years ago. Harvard sits in first place in the Ivy League and has won its last four conference contests, a far cry from its 1-5 mark to begin Ancient Eight play in 2015-2016.

Morgan may be the best pure scorer that Harvard will face this season, but it’s going to be a long walk home to Cambridge if the Crimson cannot find

DARTMOUTH AT CORNELL A co-writer of ours at The Crimson said something ridiculous the other day. He said, “I think we’ve exhausted all Ithaca commentary.”

False.

There is no such thing. This matchup in particular presents an interesting case. Both of these institutions have something no other school in the Ivy League has. That’s right, both have acceptance rates above 10 percent.

Incredible.

Cornell was founded by Andrew Dickinson and Ezra Cornell with the purpose of creating, “an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” They really followed through—Cornell has both the highest acceptance rate in the Ivy League and you can study hotel management whilst in Ithaca.

For its part Dartmouth just changed its logo to a really ugly and fake looking pine inside of a letter D. It’s no wonder former Ivy League Rookie of the Year Evan Boudreaux left.

With no Boudreaux, and without a win in conference so far, things are looking sad in Hanover.

Pick: Cornell HARVARD AT COLUMBIA This game might have been the Crimson’s low point of last year’s conference season. Coming off a last-minute win at Cornell the night before, Harvard shot a ridiculous 39 three-pointers, connecting on a grand total of 25 percent.

Needless to say, the Crimson lost despite an off night from touted freshman guard Mike Smith for Columbia.

The real takeaway from that game, though, was that a supposedly esteemed institution in the middle of New York can’t provide internet for visiting journalists. If the Lions can clean up their act in this department then perhaps we’d be more friendly when it came to the pick.

It would also help to win more than three games in non-conference play.

Pick: Harvard BROWN AT PENN This might be the closest matchup of the weekend. The Brown Bears come in with the highest scoring offense in the conference while the Quakers have what might be the most talented frontcourt in the league. Penn stunned Princeton and for its part Brown upset Yale. This one should be interesting to watch.

No sarcasm here. This should actually be a good game.

Pick: Penn YALE AT PRINCETON A couple weeks back we called Harvard’s game at Wofford a true bowtie and button-down affair, but I think this matchup would definitely take that crown if there was one. I feel like this is the kind of game where the players get served hors d’oeuvres at the half and there’s a joint celebratory

tea afterwards where the players toast to good fortune and exclaim, “Pip pip cheerio!”

Anyway, these two have really fallen from grace the past two weeks. We said it once, but we’ll say it again: Yale lost to Brown and Princeton lost to Penn. With that said, Yale comes in injured and Penn is no doubt a better team than Brown.

Pick: Princeton HARVARD AT CORNELL In breaking Ithaca news apparently the dean of Cornell’s business college abruptly resigned and people are looking for answers.

What we would like to know is why no one was this concerned when Cornell’s basketball team went missing a couple years ago.

Pick: Harvard DARTMOUTH AT COLUMBIA We’d like to paint a picture for this one—a lone and starving lion scavenges in the expanse of a big green forest that’s slowly wilting away. The starving lion comes to base of a pine tree to rest and as it slowly reclines the wilting pine falls. Both die in the incident.

We’re not sure that was completely clear, but both of these teams have overall 4-13 records and will no doubt be fighting along with Cornell to not finish last in conference. Dartmouth took the biggest L of the season when Brown ran the length of the floor and won on a buzzer-beater while Columbia played a month and a half of basketball without a win.

This one will be close, but for all of the wrong reasons.

Pick: Columbia BROWN AT PRINCETON Princeton is objectively the most dislikable program in the Ivy League.

Their marching band wears these ridiculous orange coats and they crowd out the urinals at half time.

They also parade their other athletes across the middle of the court at halftime and make them wave at the crowd which is frankly just a little bit strange for our taste.

Brown, on the other hand, has really good pizza and cookies for its esteemed journalists and gives you seats right near the action.

This would tend to influence our decision one way, but we calls it like we sees it.

Pick: Princeton YALE AT PENN Notably absent from our writing this year has been our mascot analysis’.

This one would be tough to call just as the matchup would in real life. Really, bulldogs are really just cute little dogs that exist because of a lot inbreeding and Quakers are sworn to peace and friendliness. These two shouldn’t fight.

Come Saturday, though, we think the pup will step up to the plate.

Pick: Yale Staff writer Troy Boccelli can be reached at troy.boccelli@thecrimson.com.

Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at stephen.gleason@thecrimson.com.