The Harvard Crimson - Volume CL, No. 18

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

HOUSING

Cambridge City Council to Vote on Housing

TALLER HOUSING. The Cambridge City Council is set to vote on a controversial zoning petition that would increase the maximum height restrictions for buildings with 100 percent affordable housing.

SEE PAGE 13

Ad Board Disciplinary Actions Drop Again

‘SEVEN-YEAR LOW.’ The Harvard College Administrative Board heard just 17 disciplinary cases — a seven-year low — for the 2021-22 school year. Of the cases, six students were required to withdraw.

SEE PAGE 9

SEAS

Prof. David Parkes Named Next SEAS Dean

NEW DEAN. Harvard Computer Science professor David C. Parkes will serve as the next dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the University announced Tuesday.

SEE PAGE 8

CULTURE

‘Fahrenheit 451’ Book Review

‘NOT A DRILL.’ Ray Bradbury’s 1953 dystopian novel, “Fahrenheit 451,” is at once a captivating and concerning work of literature. It is not my favorite book. But there’s worth in revisiting this classic.

SEE PAGE 15

ARTS

From Cannes: ‘Asteroid City’

Revels in Absurdity

PAGE 14

SPORTS

Harvard Softball Coach Jenny Allard Leaves for Pittsburgh

PAGE 17

Washington Takes Aim at Harvard Admissions

ADMISSIONS POLICY. College admissions practices has long been the battleground in the ongoing war over the future of higher education, and Harvard has faced nationwide scrutiny over its admissions practices for the last decade. After the Supreme Court ruled to end affirmative action this summer, Harvard is once again caught in the crossfire. SEE PAGE 6

Harvard Moves Toward Tenure Revocation for Embattled Business School Professor Gino

BY RAHEM D. HAMID NEIL H. SHAH AND CLAIRE YUAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino — who faces allegations of data fraud — was notified on July 28 by Harvard’s Office of the President that the school had begun the process of reviewing her tenure for potential revocation, according to an attorney for Gino.

University spokesperson Jonathan L.

Swain declined to comment on whether Gino had received such a notification.

In a series of four posts in June, data investigation blog Data Colada accused Gino of data fraud in four research papers she co-authored. After an HBS investiga-

AI GUIDELINES

tion committee determined that research misconduct had occurred, Business School Dean Srikant M. Datar placed Gino on unpaid administrative leave, barred her from campus, and revoked her named professorship. Two of Gino’s papers were retracted following the posts from Data Colada — a third had been retracted in September 2021 — and the fourth is scheduled to be retracted in September 2023.

On Aug. 2, Gino filed a lawsuit against Harvard, Datar, and the three professors behind Data Colada — Uri Simonsohn, Leif D. Nelson, and Joseph P. Simmons — alleging that they conspired to damage her reputation with false allegations. In a statement posted to LinkedIn the day she filed the complaint, Gino denied the allegations, writing that she has never “falsified data or engaged in research mis-

FAS Releases Guidance for Classroom AI Use

BY ELIAS J. SCHISGALL CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

One year ago today, practically nobody was familiar with ChatGPT. Now, top Harvard academic officials are bracing for a world where artificial intelligence tools are ubiquitous throughout higher education.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard’s largest academic school, released its first public guidance for professors on the usage of generative AI in their courses this summer.

Issued by the Office of Undergraduate Education, the guidance is broad, offering general information on how generative AI works and its potential academic applications. The guidance does not impose an AI policy across the FAS, instead suggesting draft language for three different approaches professors can take toward AI use in their courses: a “maximally restrictive” policy, a “fully-encouraging” policy,

and a mixed approach. Dean of Science Christopher W. Stubbs said in an interview that a “grounding” principle for the guidance was that “faculty have ownership over their courses.” “I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all course policy here,” Stubbs said. “What we’re asking the faculty is that they become informed, that they understand the impact this has on the learning objectives for their courses, and then importantly, that they communicate to students clearly and often what their course policy is.”

The FAS guidance also builds on University-wide AI guidelines issued in July, which focused on protecting non-public data. The FAS guidance instructs faculty not to enter student work into AI systems, and Stubbs noted that third-party AI platforms own both users’ prompts and computer-generated responses. Instead, Harvard University Information Technology is developing an “AI

SEE PAGE 8

conduct of any kind.”

The suit also alleges that “Harvard’s gender bias against women was a motivating factor in HBS’s decision to subject Plaintiff to an onerous investigation and to impose upon her severe penalties,” in violation of federal anti-sex discrimination law Title IX.

While the complaint states Datar told Gino on June 13 that he would request that the University president (at the time, Lawrence S. Bacow) begin formal proceedings to revoke her tenure, it contains no reference to the notification from the Office of the President — which, according to one of her attorneys, she received four days before the suit was filed.

The revocation of Gino’s tenure would be a historic move: The Crimson could not identify any instances of Harvard revoking a professor’s tenure since the

HARVARD SQUARE

American Association of University Professors formalized rules about tenure in the 1940s.

Gino’s tenure review promises to be a complex process, even without considering the ongoing lawsuit. Before the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — makes a final determination, the complaint must pass through reviews by two separate bodies.

First, a Screening Committee must make an initial assessment of the claims against Gino. If it decides further action is warranted, this first committee makes a recommendation to a Hearing Committee. This second committee, composed of tenured professors, then conducts an investigation and recommends further action to the Corporation, which has final

SEE PAGE 5

Manhole Explodes in Harvard Square

BY YUSUF S. MIAN ELIAS J. SCHISGALL AND CLAIRE YUAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Two manhole explosions on Brattle Street shut down traffic in Harvard Square amid undergraduate move-in Wednesday morning, according to the Cambridge Fire and Police departments.

No bystanders were reported injured, but a firefighter was hospitalized due to smoke inhalation.

The first explosion took place at 8:34 a.m. Wednesday just outside Bluestone Lane, a Harvard Square coffee shop at 27 Brattle St., sending up a plume of brownish-gray smoke. The fire department responded soon after, with police severely restricting access to the Square.

Shortly after the fire department arrived at the scene, a second manhole exploded, with flames coming out of both, Fire Chief Thomas F. Cahill Jr. said at a

press conference Wednesday afternoon.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the blasts, though manhole explosions are typically the result of an electrical spark igniting the gas within the manhole. Manholes, which allow access to a city’s sewer system, can contain high levels of hazardous gases like hydrogen sulfide, methane, and carbon monoxide.

Cahill said it would be impossible to identify what led to the blast until someone can inspect the inside of the manhole, which could take a few days.

“Until you can get your eyes on it, there’s really no way to determine the cause,” Cahill said. He added that he believed the cause was related to the electric equipment within the manhole.

Christopher R. McKinnon, a spokesperson for residential energy company Eversource, wrote in an email that the company was responding to a damaged “underground secondary cable.”

SEE PAGE 11

Harvard Increases Allston Funding UNIVERSITY KENNEDY

HKS Student Editors Petition Dean

Okediji Named African Studies Director

I-90 INFRASTRUCTURE. Harvard has added $32 million to its pledged cash contribution for the Allston I-90 Multimodal Project — the infrastructure initiative poised to transform Allston over at least the coming decade — as part of a new, detailed plan for financing the project unveiled last week. Under the new plan, Harvard, Boston University, and the City of Boston are set to contribute $300 million to the $1.9 billion project, which will realign the Massachusetts Turnpike and bring a new commuter rail station to the neighborhood. BY JACK R. TRAPANICK CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

OPEN LETTER. Dozens of students affiliated with the Harvard Kennedy School’s student-run policy journals signed on to an open letter last week calling on HKS Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf to reinstate 14 student policy journals as independent student organizations. The open letter, signed by 31 HKS students and former students, comes just weeks after the HKS Shorenstein Center announced the elimination of student-run individual policy journals, which will be consolidated under a single “HKS Student Policy Review.” BY ASHER J. MONTGOMERY—CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Get breaking news

AROUND THE IVIES

SALOVEY TO STEP DOWN

Yale President Peter Salovey intends to step down from the Yale presidency at the end of the 2023-24 academic year, Salovey announced Thursday morning. Salovey, who is 65, began his tenure as president in 2013, after serving in several administrative roles at the university, according to the Yale Daily News. Yale’s board of trustees has already named eight of its members to serve on a presidential search committee and plans to also appoint four faculty members.

THE YALE DAILY NEWS

SHAFIK AND ROSENBURY LEAD THE UNIVERSITY INTO A NEW ERA

Columbia President Minouche Shafik and Barnard President Laura Rosenbury became the first two women to simultaneously lead the two institutions when they both assumed office on July 1. The two institutions have never had two leaders assume the top posts at the same time. Across the schools, at least a dozen senior roles have also seen new appointments in the past year.

THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR

CS TEACHING ASSISTANTS, BROWN REACH CONTRACT FOR 2023-24 ACADEMIC YEAR

A union representing undergraduate computer science teaching assistants reached an interim agreement with Brown University for the 202324 academic year in a contract that applies to all computer science teaching assistants. The announcement of the new agreement — the first since CS teaching assistants voted to unionize in March — follows eight bargaining sessions between the union and Yale University. The contract was ratified with over 99 percent approval.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TRUCK CRASHES INTO DORM, BUILDING STILL LIVABLE FOR STUDENTS THIS FALL

A truck crashed into a Dartmouth undergraduate dormitory Monday morning, leaving no one injured but causing “considerable damage” to the building. The crash left the truck and one of the dorm’s walls significantly damaged, but the building will continue to house students in the fall after it was deemed to be structurally sound. A member of the Hanover Police Department said that the truck was unoccupied at the time of the crash and that no arrests have been made in the incident.

THE DARTMOUTH

NEW LEADERSHIP. Harvard Law School professor Ruth L. Okediji will serve as the faculty director of the University’s Center for African Studies, the center announced earlier this month. Okediji’s research has focused on intellectual property research, particularly the impact of intellectual property policy on developing countries. Okediji’s work has impacted government policy in countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and South America. BY LEAH J. LOURENCO—CRIMSON STAFF WRITTER

The Week in Photos

SUITCASES AND BOXES. Cars flooded through Harvard Yard on Wednesday as Harvard’s freshmen — the Class of 2027 — officially moved onto campus. Hauling suitcases and packing boxes through a drizzle, then a downpour, and finally some sunshine, the newest additions to campus began their first year.

JOEY

HUANG—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

MANHOLE EXPLOSIONS. Two manhole explosions on Wednesday shut down traffic in Harvard Square as undergraduates moved in. No bystanders were reported injured, but a firefighter was hospitalized due to smoke inhalation. The area was cordoned off overnight. BY IAN C. HUA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

RISE UP. Cambridge launched its direct cash assistance program for eligible low-income households over the summer. The $22 million program — which began issuing payments in June — provides eligible households with $500 per month for 18 months. BY

TURNER—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

ADAMS RENOVATIONS. Construction on Russell and Westmoerly halls began, marking the start of the third stage of the Adams House renewal project. Renovations on Randolph Hall were completed this summer. BY SAMI E. TURNER—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

UNDER THE TENT. As the freshmen moved onto campus, various pre-orientation programs — including the First Year Retreat and Experience — gathered in the Yard to welcome them. BY JOEY HUANG—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

TROPICAL STORM IDALIA LANDFALL BROUGHT FLOODING, POWER OUTAGES

Hurricane Idalia — which first made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday — caused heavy rain and flash flooding across much of the Southeast. Briefly a Category 4 hurricane, Idalia weakened to a tropical storm after hitting Florida and moved off the coast of the Carolinas on Thursday morning. No deaths had been reported to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. The storm is expected to move away from the U.S. East Coast and towards Bermuda.

NY ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS TRUMP INFLATED WORTH BY UP TO $2.2B

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was sued by New York’s attorney general, who said Trump, his business, and members of his family had fraudulently overvalued their assets by billions of dollars for years. Trump is scheduled for a civil trial in New York in October, during which Attorney General Letitia James will try to bar him and three of his children from leading their family business, the Trump Organization, as well as require him to pay a $250 million fine.

AT LEAST 74 DEAD IN BUILDING FIRE IN JOHANNESBURG

At least 74 people, including a dozen children, were killed after a blaze tore through a five-story building in the center of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but it is one of the deadliest residential fires in the country’s history. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called the fire “a great tragedy felt by families whose loved ones perished in this awful manner.”

TRUMP PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN GEORGIA ELECTION SUBVERSION CASE

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in Georgia state court on Thursday to charges of interfering in the 2020 election. Trump also asked to have his case severed from some of his 18 allies who were also charged in the case.

MITCH MCCONNELL SUDDENLY FREEZES FOR THE SECOND TIME

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suddenly froze during a Wednesday press conference for the second time in the last few weeks. In March, McConnell fell at a Washington hotel and had a concussion. He has since fallen at least twice more. Following the incident, other Republican politicians and observers called for answers and raised concerns regarding his health and ability to serve. The attending physician of Congress pronounced him “medically clear” to work.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

Associate Managing Editors Leah J. Teichholtz ’24

Meimei Xu ’24

Editorial Chairs Eleanor V. Wikstrom 24

Christina M. Xiao ’24

Arts Chairs Anya L. Henry ’24

Alisa S. Regassa ’24

NEXT WEEK 3

What’s Next

9/1

GLOBAL DAY OF SERVICE

Science Center Plaza, 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Students in the class of 2027 and across all class years are invited to volunteer for a day of civic engagement across the Boston area and online.

9/2

HARVARD MEN’S LACROSSE VS.

YALE

Jordan Field, 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.

Harvard Men’s Lacrosse will host Yale in an Ivy matchup on the Jordan Field at noon. Each student in attendance will receive a laptop sticker of their House crest. The House with the largest turnout will get free pizza during finals week.

Sunday 9/3

HARVARD CHORUSES AND HARVARD-RADCLIFFE ORCHESTRA PRESENTS VERDI REQUIEM

Sanders Theatre, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

This Sunday in Sanders Theater at 3pm, Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and the Harvard Choruses (Harvard Glee Club, Radcliffe Choral Society, Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum) will present a performance of Verdi’s Requiem. Under the baton of HRO Music Director Federico Cortese, 250 Harvard students will perform alongside world-renowned soloists.

Monday 9/4

ASKWITH EDUCATION FORUM: THE REAL WORLD OF COLLEGE

Longfellow Hall, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Join Biddy Martin, the former President of Amherst College and a President in Residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, in a conversation with Wendy Fischman and Howard Gardner, authors of “The Real World of College: What Higher Education Is and What It Can Be” to discuss larger challenges and dilemmas facing higher education.

Tuesday 9/5

MINDFULNESS SELF-CARE FOR STUDENTS OF COLOR

Virtual, 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Hosted by CAMHS, the group focuses on building and sharing meditative practices for students of color at weekly meetings. Participants will learn cognitive mindfulness-based stress reduction skills to cope with different situations.

Wednesday 9/6

PRESIDENT’S INNOVATION CHALLENGE HOSTED BY I-LAB

Klarman Hall, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.

The President’s Innovation Challenge is Harvard’s annual celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation. From 6-7 p.m., you will hear live pitches from 25 finalist teams, and discover who will receive a share of $515,000 in funding.

GREEK AND ROMAN ART FROM THE LOEB COLLECTION

Harvard Art Museums, 12:30 p.m. - 1 p.m.

The museum staff members will present a gallery talk on the exhibit “A World Within Reach: Greek and Roman Art from the Loeb Collection,” which will be on view through May 7. The exhibit looks at issues of power, desire, and wonder in antiquity and today.

Friday 9/8

LONGEVITY: THE ROLE OF EPICS

Snyder Auditorium, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

The Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology will host the 7th Cutter Symposium Friday afternoon. Three distinguished speakers will discuss connections between epidemiology and life expectancy in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and opioid crisis.

SUNNY STROLL

Magazine Chairs Io Y. Gilman ’25 Amber H. Levis ’25

Blog Chairs Tina Chen ’24 Hana Rehman ’25

Sports Chairs Mairead B. Baker ’24 Aaron B. Schuchman ’25

Associate Business Manager Derek S. Chang ’24

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE

Design Chairs Sophia Salamanca ’25 Sami E. Turner ’25

Multimedia Chairs Joey Huang ’24

J. Giordano ’25 Technology Chairs

Y. Ye ’24

Night Editors Cara J. Chang ’24 Brandon L. Kingdollar ’24 Leah J. Teichholtz ’24 Andy Z. Wang ’23-’24 Meimei Xu ’24 Eric Yan ’24

Assistant Night Editors Alex Chou ’26 Julian J. Giordano ’25 Claire Yuan ’25

Story Editors Brandon L. Kingdollar ’24

J. Teichholtz ’24

Meimei Xu ’24

Design Editors Toby R. Ma ’24

Sami E. Turner ’25

Laurinne P. Eugenio ’26

Photo Editors Julian J. Giordano

GINO FROM PAGE 1

Affiliates Sign Petition to Support Black Students

CALL TO ACTION.

Hundreds of affiliates urge Harvard to better support Black students after the recent swatting attack and Supreme Court ruling.

More than 400 Harvard affiliates have signed onto a petition demanding University administrators take steps to better support Black students, citing last semester’s swatting attack against four Black students and the recent Supreme Court decision striking down race-conscious admissions. “We demand that the University take action to address the harm caused and protect the mental, emotional, and physical safety of Black students,” the petition reads.

The petition comes nearly five months after four Black undergraduates were ordered out of their Leverett House rooms at gunpoint by Harvard University Police Department officers responding to a false 911 call.

In the week following the attack, 45 student organizations cosigned an open letter to top Harvard administrators detailing a list of criticisms and demands related to the University’s response.

Later that month, five undergraduate and three graduate student representatives attended a meeting with top University administrators, including

then-President Lawrence S. Bacow, then-President-elect Claudine Gay, Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana, and HUPD Chief Victor A. Clay.

Though the administrators did not agree to the demands made by Black student leaders during the hour-long conversation, they pledged to meet with the students again, according to three people at the meeting.

The new petition reiterates the demands from last semester’s letter and issues new demands in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard severely curtailing affirmative action in higher education admissions.

The petition called for a University-wide statement regarding the swatting attack and an apology for Harvard’s initial response; commitment to an in-person town hall between Black students, President Claudine Gay, Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana, and other University leadership; and “substantial changes” to Counseling and Mental Health Service and HUPD.

The list also demanded the University “adhere to calls to atone for Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery.”

Kojo Acheampong ’26, a member of the Boston Party for Socialism and Liberation and an organizer of the petition, said the petition aims to bring attention back to issues raised during the spring semester.

“Our real strategy with it was, ‘Okay, we got people engaged, we agitated around the issues. We have to do our own organizing,’”

Acheampong said. “That was a tactic.”

Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in an emailed statement that students have been invited to participate in “ongoing efforts to improve campus safety and mental health services and supports.”

“Since the spring, University representatives have continued to meet regularly with the students who submitted the initial petition, including student

HMS Pushes Conclusion of Morgue Report to October

manager Cedric Lodge of stealing and selling human remains from the school for profit.

leaders from the Undergraduate Black Community Leaders (BCL) and Harvard Black Graduate Student Alliance (BGSA), who are actively working with administrators to plan for student gatherings with administrators this fall and spring,” Newton wrote.

“Students have also been invited to participate in ongoing efforts to improve campus safety and mental health services and supports,” he added.

Still, Acheampong said he is

Harvard Moves Toward Gino Tenure Revocation

jurisdiction over tenure revocation. In higher education, tenure revocation represents the most severe discipline a university can impose. For example, Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne — who university-appointed investigators determined fell short of scientific standards of rigor in his research and then failed to correct the scientific record — resigned from the university’s presidency but will remain a tenured faculty member.

Roger L. Geiger — a historian of higher education and professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University — said if Harvard revokes Gino’s tenure, it may lead to an “automatic lawsuit.”

“The question of revoking her tenure hasn’t even come up and she already has a lawsuit,” Geiger said. “Whenever people get threatened, what they tend to do is lawyer up.” Geiger said the “basic argument” for the protection of lifetime tenure “has always been that it’s necessary to protect academic freedom.”

“If, after a certain number of years, you are subject to an arbitrary dismissal, that would seriously compromise academic freedom,” he said. “In the case of Gino, it’s a matter of intellectual integrity on a number of her papers, so that would conceivably be sufficient to revoke tenure.”

rahem.hamid@thecrimson.com

neil.shah@thecrimson.com claire.yuan@thecrimson.com

skeptical that the meetings alone will bring meaningful change.

“We understand that being in the room doesn’t matter, having these meetings doesn’t matter,” Acheampong said. “It’s really us and getting ourselves politically organized so we can face these issues ourselves, and demand admin change, and put pressure on them to change them.”

Harvard Medical School has pushed the expected timeline for a report on its Anatomical Gifts Program — whose former morgue manager was indicted for stealing and selling human remains — from the “end of summer” to October.

In an Aug. 23 update to the Frequently Asked Questions page on its site, the school wrote that the ongoing external panel evaluating the Anatomical Gifts Program is now expected to finalize its report in October. The page had previously stated that the report was expected to be completed by the “end of summer.”

The University appointed an external panel of experts to assess the policies and practices of the program after federal prosecutors accused former morgue

In the weeks following Lodge’s indictment on counts of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the interstate transport of stolen goods, family members affected by the mishandling of human remains filed multiple class-action lawsuits alleging negligence on Harvard’s part.

The panel began its work in mid-June, shortly after Lodge’s indictment was announced. Its report is expected to provide feedback as well as recommend improvements and added safeguards to the program.

“Harvard University has appointed an external panel of experts to evaluate our Anatomical Gift Program and morgue policies and practices, with the goal of providing constructive feedback and recommendations to improve the security and integrity of the program and of the gen-

erous whole-body donations it receives,” the website states.

The Medical School has committed to making the panel’s report publicly available.

The members of the panel include Sally S. Aiken, a forensic pathologist and former president of the National Association of Medical Examiners; Robert J. McKeon, director of the Body Donor Program at Emory University School of Medicine; and Brandi Schmitt, executive director of anatomical services at University of California Health.

“HMS is dedicated to lifelong learning and to introspection, innovation, and growth, particularly in the face of challenge,” the Medical School website states. “These values drive our commitment to do all we can to prevent something like this from happening again.”

jade.lozada@thecrimson.com neil.shah@thecrimson.com

affiliates called on the University to better support Black students, referencing a swatting attack against four Black seniors in Leverett House last semester. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON

Harvard Admissions Come Under Fire in D.C.

THE FIRST TEST for University President Claudine Gay will be defending Harvard against attacks on its admissions policies.

BY MILES J. HERSZENHORN AND CLAIRE YUAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

WASHINGTON — Harvard had a miserable summer in the nation’s capital.

In late June, the Supreme Court effectively struck down affirmative action in college admissions in a ruling against Harvard just two days before University President Claudine Gay assumed office. In July, congressional Democrats reintroduced a bill to ban legacy admissions preferences, Senate Republicans threatened Harvard and other universities with congressional investigations if they seek to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ruling, and the Department of Education opened an inquiry into Harvard’s legacy admissions practices.

By August, at the end of Gay’s first month in office, it was clear that college admissions practices had emerged as the new battleground in the ongoing war over the future of higher education — familiar territory for a university that frequently sparred with the Trump administration and has faced nationwide scrutiny over its admissions practices for the last decade. Now, Harvard is once again caught in the crossfire.

‘This Isn’t a Meritocracy’

U.S. President Joe Biden fired the first shot of the next battle over college admissions policies when he criticized legacy admissions preferences just hours after the Supreme Court declared Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policies unconstitutional on June 29.

“Today, I’m directing the Department of Education to analyze what practices help build a more inclusive and diverse student bodies and what practices hold that back, practices like legacy admissions and other systems

that expand privilege instead of opportunity,” Biden said in remarks from the White House.

Less than one month later, the U.S. Department of Education put the President’s words into action.

After a federal complaint alleged that Harvard’s consideration of legacy and donor status violates the Civil Rights Act, the department officially opened an investigation into Harvard to examine “whether the University discriminates on the basis of race by using donor and legacy preferences in its undergraduate admissions process in violation of Title VI and its implementing regulations,” according to a letter from the Education Department announcing the investigation.

Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) expressed support for the Education Department’s investigation in a written statement to The Crimson.

“Right now, ‘legacies’ and the children of donors are more likely to be admitted to top colleges and universities than Black and Latino students combined,” he added. “This isn’t a meritocracy — it’s classism and racism, and the Department of Education must act now to put an end to it.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Jeffrey A. Merkely (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jamaal A. Bowman (D-N.Y.) took action in Congress, reintroducing a

donors, and taxpayers shouldn’t be funding it,” Merkely wrote in a statement to The Crimson.

“We’ve seen momentum for ending legacy admissions build since the Supreme Court decision, and Congress should seize this moment to end unfair admissions advantages that overwhelmingly benefit students who are white and wealthy,” Merkley added.

The bill, titled the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, is co-sponsored by two Senate Democrats and 39 House Democrats, marking a significant increase in support for the legislation since it was first introduced in February 2022.

Bowman — who introduced the bill in the House — said in an interview with The Crimson that after the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action, the time has come to end legacy and donor preferences and create a more level playing field in higher education admissions.

“It’s very disappointing that the Supreme Court banned the use of race-conscious admissions at the most prestigious universities but didn’t do anything about legacy admissions,” Bowman said. “When we’re talking about true equity in the education system, we can’t allow big donors and big money and legacy to con-

“Following the Supreme Court’s recent decision, we are in the process of reviewing aspects of our admissions policies to assure compliance with the law and to carry forward Harvard’s

tion Department administers to create more fairness in our overall higher ed system,” she added.

“This is now the issue that is ripe.”

While Merkely and Bowman’s bill does not have a single Re -

Both legacy admissions and country club sports admissions policies tilt against diversity — and Congress may want to look

longstanding commitment to welcoming students of extraordinary talent and promise who come from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences,” Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote in a statement after the Education Department announced its investigation into the University’s use of legacy and donor admissions preferences.

In an interview with The Crimson, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a former Harvard Law School professor, stressed that the issue of legacy and donor admissions preferences “isn’t about a single college.”

“This is about how to rethink the rules around college admissions in light of the Supreme Court destroying one of the principal tools that schools have used to diversify their student body,” Warren said. “Both legacy admissions and country clubs sports admissions policies tilt against diversity — and Congress may want to look at that more closely.”

publican co-sponsor — a sign it stands little chance of passing a GOP-controlled House and divided Senate — some conservatives have expressed general support for ending legacy and donor admissions preferences.

After the ruling against Harvard in June, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) — a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — called on Harvard to end legacy preferences in an interview with Fox News.

“I think the question is, ‘How do you continue to create a culture where education is the goal for every single part of our community?’” Scott said. “One of the things that Harvard can do to make that even better is to eliminate any legacy programs where they have preferential treatment for legacy kids.”

Complying with the Court

time soon.

In an email to affiliates sent hours after the Court handed down its decision, Harvard’s top leadership reaffirmed the University’s commitment to diversity while promising to abide by the law.

“We will certainly comply with the Court’s decision,” wrote 18 top Harvard administrators, including outgoing President Lawrence S. Bacow and Gay, the incoming president.

“In the weeks and months ahead, drawing on the talent and expertise of our Harvard community, we will determine how to preserve, consistent with the Court’s new precedent, our essential values,” the administrators added.

Still, some congressional Republicans were left unconvinced by assurances from Harvard and peer institutions that the universities would abide by the Court’s decision.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote in a statement to The Crimson that he has “no doubt that college admissions offices will continue to try every trick they can to work around the Supreme Court’s decision.”

“Fortunately, the public has caught on to what these officials were doing, and will likely be keeping a close eye on them in the future,” added Cruz, a Harvard Law graduate.

bill that would prohibit colleges and universities from participating in federal student aid programs if they practice legacy and donor admissions preferences.

“Though the Supreme Court gutted race-conscious college admissions, make no mistake, affirmative action is still alive and well for children of alumni and major

trol higher education in the same way it controls our politics here in Congress.”

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

Harvard announced in July that the University has undertaken an internal review of its admissions practices.

But Warren cautioned that some of her Republican colleagues may not support a congressional probe into legacy and donor admissions practices in higher education.

“The reason I say ‘may’ is there may be some people on the other side of the aisle who are just fine with that tilt built into the admissions process,” Warren said.

“We spend a lot of federal dollars in these schools and have a lot of other rules that the Educa-

Though some conservatives have joined efforts to limit legacy and donor preferences, far more have sought to continue the campaign against affirmative action — with the latest conflict over concerns that elite institutions of higher education will seek to sidestep the Court’s ruling.

The skepticism comes even after many universities — including Harvard — released public statements promising to respect the Supreme Court’s ruling, indicating that conservative attacks against elite institutions of higher education won’t subside any-

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) went even further, accusing Harvard and nine other higher education institutions of “an intention to circumvent” the Supreme Court’s ruling in a July 6 letter. Vance also threatened to probe the institutions’ admissions policies and told the schools to “retain admissions documents in anticipation of future congressional investigations.”

Nearly every university named in Vance’s letter committed to abiding by the Supreme Court’s ruling — and none indicated that they would attempt to circumvent it.

Vance also expressed frustration with how Harvard and the nine other universities replied to his July 6 letter, saying in an interview that the institutions all wrote similar letters and accused them of responding in a “frankly

Elizabeth Warren Democratic Senator for Massachusetts

at that more closely.

Edward J. Markey Democratic Senator for Massachusetts

Right now, “legacies” and the children of donors are more likely to be admitted to top colleges and universities than Black and Latino students combined.

Harvard’s legal team and administrators exit the Court on Oct. 31, 2022, after oral arguments in the lawsuit brought by anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

collusive way” and in a manner that “suggests they have no real interest in following the law.”

“They don’t have to agree with the Supreme Court’s ruling — I’m sure a lot of Americans don’t,” Vance said. “But when the Supreme Court makes a ruling, it is not up to the Harvard or Yale or Princeton administrator to ignore it.”

But in a response to Vance, Harvard General Counsel Diane E. Lopez reiterated the University’s commitment to abide by the law, according to a July 20 letter obtained by The Crimson.

“Let me first unequivocally state that Harvard University will fully comply with the Court’s decision,” Lopez wrote. “I hope you had an opportunity to read the full statement issued by the University in which the University’s academic leadership and key senior officers jointly affirmed that they would do so.”

Vance, however, escalated his feud with the universities by asking Lina M. Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, to investigate whether the schools might be in violation of antitrust laws because Vance claimed the universities coordinated their responses to his original letter.

“Schools that maintain regular communication and profess shared interests, including an interest in maintaining a ‘racially diverse’ student body, may be tempted to jointly adopt new and experimental policies, such as preferences for low-income students, assured in the knowledge that their competitors will not do otherwise,” Vance wrote in an Aug. 10 letter to Khan.

In an interview with The Crimson in late July, Vance left open the possibility that he will request Gay testify before Congress about Harvard’s admissions practices.

Vance also took aim at higher education more broadly while promising to continue to press Harvard and other universities to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling. “I don’t like the system of higher education that we have in this country,” he said. “But given that we do have that system, you cannot create a racially discriminatory way of admitting people into our best colleges.”

“So yeah, we’re gonna follow this and try to create some actual equity in this country, not the fake equity that people are trying to put on the books,” Vance added.

A Reckoning for Higher Ed

While shaping the future of Harvard’s admissions policies will almost certainly define the beginning of her presidency, Gay — like her two immediate predecessors — will need to steer the University through a larger nationwide political fight over the future of higher education.

Paul Reville, a professor of educational policy and administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said he believes “higher education has been under attack for some time.”

“Affirmative action is only one front in a battle being waged against the legitimacy of higher education,” Reville said.

Over the coming years, Reville expects to see the curricula and business models of higher education institutions to come under increased attack from both federal and state politicians — battles, he said, that will impact far more students than the current fight over admissions.

But Gay’s first major test as president will require navigating Harvard’s commitment to diversity in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling while contending with internal and external pressures around the University’s legacy and donor ad-

JULY 20

Harvard responds to J.D. Vance, reiterating compliance

missions preferences.

Former University President Lawrence H. Summers has called on elite universities to end legacy preferences and also encouraged the institutions to review other admissions policies, such as boosts for athletes.

“I would be somewhat surprised if five years from now the position of the U.S. elite higher education institutions on legacy admissions isn’t different than it is today,” Summers said in an interview in August. “And I hope it will evolve.”

Some newly elected members of the Harvard Board of Overseers — the University’s second-highest governing body — have also expressed support for ending legacy admissions.

Fiona Hill, who was elected to a six-year term to the Board of Overseers in May, made abolishing legacy admissions preferences a cornerstone issue of her campaign for a seat on the Board.

While leaders in Washington are also calling on Harvard to adapt its admissions policies, Summers suggested that Gay — as University president — might be more focused on the Harvard affiliates calling for an end to legacy and donor preferences.

“Presidents of Harvard have found it useful to be able to communicate with key figures in Congress and the executive branch,” Summers said. “But I don’t think those relationships are the most important relationships for a Harvard president compared with relationships with students, with faculty, with alumni, with local political leaders.”

But it’s not just a handful of politicians in Washington who have taken a keen interest in the status of legacy admissions in elite higher education institutions. As public scrutiny intensifies, Harvard’s bid to maintain an image of unrivaled commitment to diversity in education has also grown more challenging.

James S. Murphy — deputy director of higher education policy at nonpartisan think tank Education Reform Now — said he is “very confident” that many universities will drop legacy admissions this fall.

“This is the diversity test for colleges this summer, and it’s a basic one,” Murphy said. “If you don’t get rid of legacy, then all of the statements that were released the day of the decision were empty.”

The challenge for university presidents like Gay, Murphy said, is to have the courage to break with centuries of institutional practice.

“It was blindingly clear that part of the barrier here is this incredibly old guard who is so enmeshed in these traditions that it’s hard for them to see their way around it,” Murphy said.

Ivory A. Toldson — national director of Education Innovation and Research for the NAACP and a psychology professor at Howard University — predicted a more prolonged timeline, pointing to the importance of donor and legacy preferences in generating donations and other financial benefits for universities like Harvard.

“I don’t think they’re going to give up that funding without a fight,” Toldson said. Still, he said, Harvard may voluntarily do away with legacy preferential admissions if there is sufficient public pressure — that is, “if it gets to the point where it’s embarrassing for the institution.”

But for Toldson, the debate around legacy also comes down to the loss of race-conscious admissions, which served as a “neutralizing” force.

“It provided at least something that institutions could do to offset all of the preferences they’re giving in all of these other areas,” Toldson said. “You can’t say that legacy admissions won’t deny opportunities to underrepresented students. That’s just not true.”

“The only thing you can say is that it’s being offset by another practice or policy,” he said. “So what is that?”

miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com claire.yuan@thecrimson.com

University President Claudine Gay spoke with demonstrators protesting in Harvard Yard for greater institutional support of ethnic studies in July.

JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into Harvard University’s donor and legacy admissions preferences in July after the nonprofit Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a federal complaint. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Support for legislation against legacy admissions has heightened since the fall of affirmative action. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Gay’s first challenge as Harvard’s leader will be handling scrutiny over the College’s admissions policies. MARINA QU—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

James S. Murphy

Deputy Director of Higher Ed Policy

If you don’t get rid of legacy, then all of the statements that were released the day of the decision were empty.

CS Prof. David Parkes Named Next Dean of SEAS

Concluding a monthslong search, Computer Science Professor David C. Parkes is announced as the next dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

BY MERT GEYIKTEPE CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Harvard Computer Science professor David C. Parkes will serve as the next dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoesktra announced Tuesday. The announcement concludes a monthslong search to find a permanent replacement for Francis J. Doyle, who announced in December that he would become the next provost of Brown University. Doyle’s tenure as SEAS dean concluded on June 30.

Parkes will start as the next head of SEAS on Oct. 15, per the announcement. Computer Science professor and former FAS Dean Michael D. Smith, who was named interim SEAS dean in May, will continue in the role until Parkes takes office.

AI GUIDELINES FROM PAGE 1

HUPD Leads Mass. Colleges in Sustained Complaints

BY RYAN H. DOAN-NGUYEN AND YUSUF S. MIAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Harvard University Police Department had the fifth-most “sustained complaints” of 273 Massachusetts law enforcement agencies, according to a newly released state database of police disciplinary records over nearly 40 years. The data only includes “sustained” disciplinary records — allegations with sufficient evidence to establish a policy violation — and excludes “not sustained” and “unfounded” complaints against officers, as well as those for which they were “exonerated.”

HUPD received a total of 77 complaints – the highest among all Massachusetts college campuses — levied against 30 officers, according to the database. Of those 30 HUPD officers, 13 received three or more complaints, ranging from dishonesty and failure to adhere to procedure to termination for a crime.

The database, which was released by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission last Tuesday, details disciplinary records for law enforcement agencies across the state from December 1984 through January 2023 — a total of 3,413 records of 2,165 officers accused of misconduct.

The commission oversees police licensing and reform and was established by the Massachusetts legislature in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd as a reform to promote “justice, equity, and accountability” in policing.

Harvard President Claudine Gay called Parkes “an outstanding convener and connector” in an announcement published in the Harvard Gazette, a University-run publication.

“His demonstrated ability to bring people together will enable SEAS—and Harvard—to identify challenges and opportunities emerging on rapidly changing horizons, and I look forward to working closely with him in the years ahead to advance our mission,” she said.

Parkes has been a faculty member at Harvard since 2001, specializing in artificial intelligence and machine learning as a professor. Outside of teaching, Parkes served as SEAS area dean for Computer Science from 201317. He also founded the EconCS research group at the school and has co-directed Harvard’s Data Science Initiative since 2017.

Parkes has been elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and the Association for Computing Machinery. Parkes has also received the National Science Foundation Career Award, the Thouron Award, and the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fel-

lowship. Parkes was also actively involved in the transition of SEAS to Allston, serving as the co-chair of the FAS/SEAS Committee on Allston and SEAS. Alongside two other faculty members, Parke helped design the Science and

I want SEAS to be a welcoming place where everyone feels comfortable and at home.

David C. Parkes

Newly Appointed Dean of SEAS

Engineering Complex in Allston, now home to SEAS. As SEAS dean, Parkes will be tasked with working with a new president and FAS dean to support a rapidly changing area of research and education at the University. He will also face continued questions about racial and gender disparities among affiliates at the school. In a statement for the Gazette, Parkes said he believes the school must broaden its “intellectual ambition around a few prior-

Harvard Releases Guidance for AI Use in FAS Classrooms

Sandbox” tool in conjunction with third-party AI companies for Harvard affiliates to use.

“The AI Sandbox offers a single interface that enables access to several LLMs and provides a ‘walled-off,’ secure environment in which to experiment with generative AI, mitigating many security and privacy risks and ensuring the data entered will not be used to train any public AI tools,” Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in an email.

The school also hosted informational sessions for faculty about generative AI in STEM and writing courses early last month. The sessions detail possible applications of AI as a learning tool, such as real-time information synthesis, code generation, or evaluating arguments. They also suggest strategies to “AI-proof” coursework, such as written exams and multi-step writing processes.

Still, the FAS discouraged professors from using AI detection tools, which Stubbs said were too unreliable. Stubbs said a short-term priority for the FAS is to “verify that the syllabus for courses have a clear articulation of course policy.”

“I think it’s essential that we communicate class-by-class to students what the expectations are for how this gets incorporated into the learning goals of the course,” Stubbs added.

Last semester, 57 percent of faculty who responded to The Crimson’s 2023 Faculty Survey reported that they did not have an explicit policy surrounding the use of AI. Despite the FAS’ insistence on a clear AI policy, many courses from across the school’s divisions still lack such policies. Among 51 available syllabi for fall semester classes in the Government Department reviewed by The Crimson, 29 lacked any men-

tion of AI use, including 24 undergraduate courses. Among 47 syllabi in the English Department, 20 lacked an AI policy.

In the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department, six out of nine available syllabi for fall courses lacked an AI policy. Out of 27 Computer Science fall courses with available syllabi, six lacked an AI policy, including some where artificial intelligence was itself an object of study.

The AI policies that were present in course syllabi varied widely, with some courses entirely restricting tools like ChatGPT and others permitting their use entirely. Many courses detail unacceptable uses of AI, such as answering homework questions, explaining concepts, or writing code, while others wholly forbid AI use except for specific course assignments.

elias.schisgall@thecrimson.com

ity areas” through conversations with affiliates.

“This collaborative process is also one of the ways we can come together as a school and build a new narrative about who we are,” Parkes said. “Where should SEAS be leading? For me, artificial intelligence and sustainability jump out as two hugely important, technologically and scientifically deep, SEAS-spanning areas.”

Parkes said he also hopes the school can “forge new ties with industry, nonprofit organizations, and policy makers.”

“I also want to be very focused on community,” he said.

“I want SEAS to be a welcoming place where everyone feels comfortable and at home — able to be their best, to learn, and to contribute knowledge.”

Hoesktra praised Parkes as not only a respected academic but also as a “beloved teacher, advisor, and mentor who invests in preparing the next generation of leaders.”

“He is a committed and insightful academic leader, experienced in addressing a broad range of opportunities and challenges facing SEAS, FAS, and the University,” she added.

mert.geyiktepe@thecrimson.com

Out of the 273 law enforcement agencies with reported sustained complaints, HUPD ranks fifth — after the Massachusetts State Police, Springfield Police Department, Boston Police Department, and New Bedford Police Department.

The majority of complaints against HUPD officers were related to motor vehicle operation, such as officer Peter J. Chierus, who received six sustained complaints of “motor vehicle accident, unsafe operation, or damage.”

HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano wrote in an email Monday that 62 percent of disciplinary complaints from the department’s review involved police vehicle accidents or unsafe operation of a motor vehicle.

But the database also details several more serious complaints against HUPD officers.

According to the database, current HUPD sergeant Jack O’Kane was suspended in 2018 for approving a search that was “deemed unlawful.” With 8 total complaints between 1999 and 2019, O’Kane is among the 12 Massachusetts police officers with the most sustained complaints in the database.

The database also shows that O’Kane was terminated in 2001 after his fourth complaint for profanity and unprofessional comments, but he was later reinstated through union arbitration. Another current HUPD officer, Josiah Christian, was suspended twice: first in 2015 for sending an “explicit text to a female colleague,” which prompted a Title IX investigation, and again in 2019 for physically assaulting another officer after being called a homophobic slur. In 2021, an arbitrator ruled that Christian was excessively punished by the department.

As a part of changes made to HUPD’s public dashboard in June, HUPD already reports information on personnel complaints from 2020 to 2022. The dashboard shows that there were 18 personnel complaints between 2020 and 2022, and seven of these complaints were sustained.

ryan.doannguyen@thecrimson.com yusuf.mian@thecrimson.com

BY THE NUMBERS

77

total complaints levied against 30 HUPD officers. This is the highest number of complaints of all Massachussetts college campuses.

62%

of disciplinary complaints in HUPD’s review involved police vehicle accidents or unsafe operation of vehicles.

3,413

records among the 2,165 officers accused of misconduct. The database includes records from December 1984 through January 2023.

5

is HUPD’s ranking of the 273 law enforcement agencies that reported sustained complaints.

Harvard College Ad Board Disciplinary Actions Drop

required to work a full-time, paid, non-academic job for more than six months before petitioning to return to the College, according to the Ad Board’s website. This withdrawal normally lasts for one to two academic years.

The Harvard College Administrative Board reviewed just 17 disciplinary cases for social behavior during the 2021-22 school year — a seven-year low — according to a report released by the school earlier this year.

Though the total number of cases dropped significantly, from 40 the year before and 67 in 201920, six students were required to withdraw, an unusually high proportion compared to past reports. Students who are forced to withdraw — the most severe sanction short of dismissal — are

Chaired by Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana and composed of approximately 30 College administrators and faculty, the Ad Board is responsible for the application and enforcement of Harvard College policies. The body’s responsibilities also include approving student petitions, enforcing academic standards, and disciplining students.

The Ad Board releases annual statistics on disciplinary actions taken against students for “social behavior,” including sexual misconduct and drug and alcohol offenses. These cases are distinct from those regarding academic dishonesty, which have been adjudicated by the Harvard Honor Council since 2015.

The Ad Board has not yet publicly released statistics on student petitions or academic standards for the 2021-22 academic year, and a spokesperson for the College did not comment on when that data would be released.

This year, a high proportion of cases — 35 percent — resulted in the requirement to withdraw, compared to 5 percent in 2020-21 and 13 percent in 2019-20, though the total number of students re -

quired to withdraw was comparable to past years.

Six students were placed on disciplinary probation, down from 13 in the 2020-21 academic year. Students who are placed on probation may be asked to withdraw upon subsequent violations.

The Ad Board issued no admonishments and only four house warnings in the 2021-22 year. Admonishments are warn-

ings that do not rise to the level of probation, while house warnings are warning letters documented in a student’s file.

The waning numbers continue a downward trend that kicked off during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the total number of cases nearly halved between the 201819 and 2019-20 school years.

Harvard’s Institute of Politics Announces Fall 2023 Fellows, Susan Rice and Eight Others to Join

BY ASHER J. MONTGOMERY CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Former National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice and eight other politicians and political journalists will serve as fellows at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics this fall, the IOP announced in a press release Wednesday.

The seven resident fellows include Cheri L. Beasley, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina; Rodney L. Davis, a former Republican U.S. representative; Andrea R. Flores ’10, former director of Border Management on the National Security Council; Betsy Fischer Martin, former executive producer of NBC’s “Meet the Press”; Jonathan L. Martin, politics bureau chief and senior political columnist for Politico; Daniel Mulhall, former Irish ambassador to the United States; and Jeffrey A. Rosen, former acting attorney general.

I am confident their diverse expertise and guidance will inspire this year’s students to pursue careers in public service.

The fall cohort will also feature two visiting fellows: Rice and former Republican U.S. Senator Roy D. Blunt.

IOP Director Setti D. Warren said in the release that the fall 2023 fellows “embody the IOP’s mission of public service.”

“I am confident their diverse expertise and guidance will inspire this year’s students to pursue careers in public service and prepare the next generation for political leadership,” Warren said.

The resident fellows will lead study groups over the next eight weeks on topics including “diplomacy and statecraft, governing in a divided America, national political parties, judiciary affairs, and policy development,” according to the release.

The study groups are slated to begin on Sept. 25 and will run until mid-November.

The visiting fellows will participate in discussions, events

and programming during a shorter stay at the IOP.

Sebastian R. Feune ’25 and Elizabeth M. Benecchi ’25, the co-chairs of the Fellows and Study Groups program at the IOP, said in the release that they believe the cohort will bring interesting and thought-provoking discussions to the IOP, especially in today’s political climate.

“We are witnessing the entanglement of politics and elections with the American legal system, reshaping the contours of accountability and governance,” they wrote. “During this period, we are also tasked with looking ahead as the presidential election nears and global conflict persists.”

“With no shortage of subjects for discussion, our incoming Fellows Cohort is poised to infuse vital and substantive dis-

course that will not only captivate the minds of those in the IOP but reverberate across the broader Harvard community,”

of Donald Trump’s presidency, said in the release that he believes that students are essential to the “future function and effi-

As our nation continues a fierce debate over who should have access to American citizenship, I’m excited to engage with students and other members of the Harvard community on the future of U.S. immigration policy and how this country can realize its promise of a multiracial democracy.

they added.

Rosen, who served as acting attorney general in the final days

tives from many years in Washington and learning in tandem about how today’s students and faculty are thinking about the challenges of governance and administration,” Rosen said.

Flores wrote that she is excited to return to Harvard — where she was “introduced to the possibilities of public service as an undergraduate and learned how to lead as a Mexican American woman.”

“As our nation continues a fierce debate over who should have access to American citizenship, I’m excited to engage with students and other members of the Harvard community on the future of U.S. immigration policy and how this country can realize its promise of a multiracial democracy,” she wrote.

cacy of our government.”

“I’m looking forward to sharing experiences and perspec-

Stephanie Cutter, a leading Democratic political strategist, has served as a public relations consultant to Harvard President Claudine Gay since she was announced as the University’s next president in December 2022. Harvard Public Affairs and Communications, the University’s public relations arm, hired Precision Strategies — a strategy and marketing media agency co-founded by Cutter — to assist HPAC with work related to the announcement of the University’s 30th president, according to Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain.

Cutter’s work with Gay came ahead of a summer that saw Harvard’s admissions practices face challenges from both Republican and Democratic politicians.

Precision Strategies, one of the most prominent Democratic consulting firms in the nation’s capital, was co-founded by Cutter in 2013 alongside two fellow former advisers to former U.S. President Barack Obama. The firm has worked with groups ranging from March For Our Lives, a gun control nonprofit, to Bank of America and the National Football League. A former adviser to several key Democratic politicians in Washington, Cutter has been described by Politico as one of the party’s “top strategists and crisis managers.”

In Congress, Cutter worked for former Senator Ted Kennedy ’54-’56 and former Senator Harry Reid during his time as Minority Leader. In addition to working for Obama, Cutter also served as an executive producer for President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Cutter’s work with Gay came ahead of a summer that saw Harvard’s admissions practices face challenges from both Republican and Democratic politicians. Gay officially assumed the Harvard presidency two days after the Supreme Court ruled against the University in a case that effectively struck down affirmative action in college admissions.

According to Swain, Harvard occasionally engages outside vendors to provide support and capacity for the University’s communications and marketing work, including hiring GCI Health — a healthcare communications company — to help with the development of the student mental health “We’re All Human” campaign in October 2022. Gay will be inaugurated in a ceremony steeped in tradition in Tercentenary Theatre on Sept. 29, just over nine months after her announcement as the University’s 30th president. The ceremony is set to feature a host of storied traditions — Gay will receive the University’s keys, seals, and charter before sitting briefly in the notoriously uncomfortable Holyoke chair. HPAC — which is responsible for the University’s communications and lobbying — is working with the University Marshal’s office to plan and publicize the event. The ceremony, which will begin at 2 p.m., is open to all Harvard University ID holders.

DISCIPLINE. The diminishing numbers reflect a trend started during the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw case numbers drop.

Pictured from left to right, the incoming fall 2023 Institute of Politics fellows: In the top row, Susan E. Rice, Jonathan L. Martin, and Andrea R. Flores ‘10; in the middle row, Roy D. Blunt, Cheri L. Beasley, and Daniel Mulhall; and in the bottom row, Rodney L. Davis, Betsy Fischer Martin, and Jeffrey A. Rosen. COURTESY OF THE HARVARD INSTITUTE OF POLITICS

Andrea R. Flores ’10

Former Director, Border Management on the National Security Council

Setti D. Warren IOP Director

Fund for Data Bloggers Passes $315,000

LAWSUIT. Supporters raised more than $315,000 for professors sued by HBS professor Francesca Gino for defamation.

BY NEIL H. SHAH AND CLAIRE YUAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

A group of academics has raised more than $315,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to support the legal expenses of the professors behind data investigation blog Data Colada — who are being sued for defamation by Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino.

Supporters of the three professors — Uri Simonsohn, Leif D. Nelson, and Joseph P. Simmons — launched the GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for their legal fees after they were named in a $25 million defamation lawsuit filed by Gino last month.

In a series of four blog posts in June, Data Colada gave a detailed account of alleged research misconduct by Gino across four academic papers.

Two of the papers were retracted following the allegations by Data Colada, while another had previously been retracted in September 2021 and a fourth is set to be retracted in September 2023.

Organizers wrote on GoFundMe that the fundraiser “hit 2,000 donors and $250K in less than 2 days” and that Simonsohn, Nelson, and Simmons “are deeply moved and grateful for this incredible show of support.”

Simine Vazire, one of the fundraiser’s organizers, said she was “pleasantly surprised” by the reaction throughout academia in support of Data Colada.

“It’s been really nice to see the consensus among the academic community, which is strikingly different than what I see on LinkedIn and the non-academic community,” she said.

Elisabeth M. Bik — a data manipulation expert who also helped organize the fundraiser — credited the outpouring of financial support to solidarity and concern among scientists.

“People are very concerned about this lawsuit and about the potential silencing effect this could have on people who criticize other people’s papers,” Bik said. “I think a lot of people want to support Data Colada for their legal defenses.”

Andrew T. Miltenberg — one of Gino’s attorneys — wrote in an emailed statement that the lawsuit is “not an indictment on Data

Colada’s mission.”

“What the lawsuit demonstrates is how both Data Colada and Harvard deviated from their stated processes and treated Prof. Gino’s investigation differently from other misconduct investigations,” he added.

According to defense attorney Ken White, “What the increasing prevalence of legal threats and defamation cases does is deter people from important participation in the scientific process.”

“Courts are poorly equipped to adjudicate science. Courts aren’t peer review. Our system of peer review — the people weighing in on issues and things like that — is the way that scientists approach these questions,” said

White, who has previously represented and advised science bloggers on defamation issues.

Though the fundraiser has already exceeded its indicated goal of $250,000 by more than $65,000, donations remain open.

Vazire said there isn’t a final target amount for the fundraiser but that all unused money will be refunded.

“We had to set a goal because that’s how GoFundMe works, but I think every little bit helps,” she said. “

We’re just raising as much as we can and letting them know that it’s available if they need it for their legal funds, and if not, they’ll return it to the donors,” he added.

The crowdfunding initiative,

Vazire said, is also an effort to “put some pressure on Harvard and on the three data quality researchers’ universities to step up and support” Data Colada.

“Many of us are really shocked that the universities involved are kind of leaving them out to dry,” she said.

Jessica Flake — a fundraiser co-organizer and psychology professor at McGill University — said the retaliation against Data Colada for whistleblowing has encouraged a “culture of fear” around reporting research misconduct.

“If they are to settle out of court or to lose this lawsuit, it would be really damning for science,” Flake said. “There’s no mecha-

nism for reporting data fraud.”

Vazire also said the backlash against Data Colada has had a “chilling effect.”

“The damage is done, even with this GoFundMe, even if Joe, Leif, and Uri win the lawsuit, and they don’t pay anything out of pocket,” she said.

“Let’s build something more, where we don’t rely on individual people who have the guts and the courage to go out on such a limb,” Vazire added. “It’s not good for them. It’s not good for science.”

According to Vazire, researchers involved in organizing the GoFundMe have had discussions of “proactively” organizing a more general fund “so that people know that there’s money there that will

be there for them if they are targeted by this kind of lawsuit.”

“I think it would help offset preemptively some of the fear that is now instilled in people because of this lawsuit,” Vazire said.

White, the defense attorney, felt that such a fund would only serve as a “patch” and that people should instead work “to legally deter meritless defamation suits.”

“That’s like kids selling lemonade to buy extra health care for their teacher who’s sick. A much better way to do it would be to work harder to repair the system,” White said.

HBS Dean Datar Defends Investigation Into Gino in Email to Faculty

Harvard Business School Dean Srikant M. Datar clarified and defended the school’s investigation into allegations of research misconduct against HBS professor Francesca Gino in an email to faculty earlier this month.

Datar’s email to HBS faculty, dated Aug. 14, marked the school’s first public statement on Gino’s professional conduct since Data Colada — a data investigation blog — posted allegations of data fraud against Gino in June. Gino is currently on unpaid administrative leave from the school.

Gino then filed a defamation lawsuit against Harvard, Datar, and Uri Simonsohn, Leif D. Nelson, and Joseph P. Simmons — the three business school professors behind Data Colada — on Aug. 2, alleging that they conspired to damage her reputation with false accusations and that the University violated Title IX policies by imposing excessively harsh sanctions.

Gino’s work was previously targeted by a 2021 Data Colada investigation which found that a landmark paper she co-authored in 2012 contained fraudulent data. The paper has since been retracted.

According to Datar’s email, an investigation committee com-

posed of “three senior HBS colleagues” — named as Business School professors Shawn Cole, Teresa Amabile, and Robert Kaplan in Gino’s lawsuit — conducted a “comprehensive evaluation” into Gino’s work over the course of 18 months and “determined that research misconduct had occurred.”

Datar wrote that after reviewing the investigation committee’s results, “I could come to no other conclusion, and I accepted their findings.”

“I did this with personal concern for Professor Gino, but also with complete confidence in the investigative work that had been done and knowing I must do what is right for our institution,” he added. Gino has vigorously denied misconduct, writing in a public LinkedIn post three weeks ago that she has “never, ever falsified data or engaged in research misconduct of any kind.” Gino’s lawsuit also alleges “the investigation committee also ignored exculpatory evidence, failing to consider or give credence to credible witness testimony.”

Data Colada and Harvard, she wrote in her post, “created and perpetuated a false narrative about my ethics and integrity.”

In his email, Datar also explained his decision to impose sanctions on Gino, which included placing her on administrative leave and removing Gino from

her endowed faculty position — the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration.

“I ultimately accepted the investigation committee’s recommended sanctions,” Datar wrote. “The sanctions reflect a shared belief that the misconduct represented a significant violation of academic integrity and that the evidence not only met but surpassed the applicable preponderance of evidence standard.”

Datar wrote he “shared [his] conclusions” with Gino and began the process of placing her on administrative leave and requesting retractions of the four papers in question. Three of the four papers have now been retracted — one in September 2021 and two following Data Colada’s posts in June. The last is set to be retracted in September 2023.

Datar did not address Gino’s lawsuit against the school in his email — citing the ongoing nature of the litigation — but wrote that HBS will “engage thoughtfully and comprehensively” with Gino’s lawsuit, “providing facts in response to her assertions and focusing on the evidence.”

“I know that we have been exceedingly diligent and careful thus far in our process, and I have confidence this will be reflected as the litigation moves forward,” he wrote.

investigation blog Data Colada, which is being sued by Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino for defamation.

MICHAEL GRITZBACH — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Announcing The Crimson Editorial Board’s Fall 2023 Columnists

ON OUR COLUMNISTS: The Editorial Board is pleased to announce its columnists for the upcoming fall semester. Columnists will publish on a bi-weekly basis, each focusing on a theme of their choice. We are also proud to continue our reported columns initiative, piloted in 2020, which incorporates both journalistic research and interviews, as well as editorial commentary.

PORTRAITS BY SOPHIA SALAMANCA

JULIEN BERMAN HARVARD’S PROFESSIONAL PIPELINES

MILO J. CLARK AND TYLER S. YOUNG VOICES UNBOUND

Ellie H. Ashby, a Crimson Editorial Editor, is a junior in Adams House studying Social Studies. Her reported column will explore the unsaid ways Harvard’s campus and culture is influenced by its Protestant history, hoping to challenge students and administration alike by bringing to light narratives that have faded from our collective consciousness.

Phoebe G. Barr is a senior in Lowell House studying History and Literature, as well as a leading organizer with Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard and an affiliate of Data for Progress and Fossil Free Research. Her column will explore how Harvard has been complicit in the climate crisis, and how this complicity comes from institutional inertia, prioritizing profit over progress, and an unwillingness to include students, faculty, and the wider community in decisions that affect us all.

Julien Berman, a Crimson Editorial Editor, is a sophomore in Adams House likely studying Economics. His reported column will analyze the professionalization of higher education, demonstrating the influence of the culture of careerism on the pathways from Harvard to a number of different job areas, from law to politics to academia itself.

Milo J. Clark is a senior in Lowell House studying Physics, and Tyler S. Young is a sophomore in Leverett House interested in studying Applied Math. Their column seeks to explore increasingly complicated issues of free speech and open discourse and how these matters play out within Harvard’s unique social context. They hope to convince readers to embrace open dialogue, encourage academic dissent, and champion free speech in our community.

Joseph W. Hernandez, a Crimson Editorial Editor, is a junior in Adams House pursuing a concentration in Government. His reported column will explore the systemic issues that plague education in the greater Boston area and the country at large, unpacking the inequalities of education from a student perspective and suggesting meaningful changes to the college experience.

McKenna E. McKrell, a Crimson Editorial Editor, is a sophomore in Adams House, likely studying Classics. Her reported column will explore the history of Radcliffe College, the ways in which women have carved out a place for themselves within Harvard, and what this means for redefining who belongs here.

Aneesh C. Muppidi is from Albany, N.Y. He is a junior living in Lowell House and concentrating in Computer Science and Neuroscience. His column, “Leafing By,” dives into Harvard’s hidden green spaces, sanctuaries, and gardens and their historical narratives. As he drifts through these natural canvases, he will explore subtle echoes of student journeys and identities within the College’s vibrant tapestry.

From Denver, Colo., Matthew E. Nekritz, a Crimson Editorial Editor, is a junior in Cabot House studying Social Studies. His reported column will explore and reflect on our consumption at Harvard — in different contexts of the verb “to consume” as in to purchase, to use, to take in, to devour, to drink, and to destroy.

Aaryan K. Rawal is a sophomore in Eliot House studying Government and Ethnicity, Migration, Rights. His column will leverage his nationally recognized experience in queer advocacy spaces to explore Harvard’s relationship to the LGBTQIA+ community, with a focus on understanding how the College can respond to anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation in public education.

Ebony M. Smith, a Crimson Editorial Editor, is a senior in Eliot House studying Government and African & African American Studies. Her column will explore Blackness at Harvard, and the many ways in which the Black Harvard community brings indispensable value to campus.

Andy Z. Wang is a second-semester senior in Winthrop House studying Social Studies and Philosophy with a secondary in Computer Science, as well as a former Crimson News Editor. His reported column will investigate how cutting-edge technologies are changing the way that we interact with each other, conceive of higher education, and view ourselves.

Prince A. Williams, a Crimson Editorial Editor, is a junior and Black revolutionary in Adams House studying History and African & African American Studies. His column will shed light on the world of campus activism, emphasizing the significance of effective organization in shaping social movements to win and take democratic power from below.

ELLIE H. ASHBY A DEEPER DIVE INTO HARVARD’S FAITH

JOSEPH W. HERNANDEZ BOSTON: EDUCATION’S CAPITAL CITY

AARYAN K. RAWAL QUEER QUERIES

EBONY M. SMITH EBONY AT HARVARD

ANDY Z. WANG COGITO, CLICKO SUM

PRINCE A. WILLIAMS FIGHT THE POWER!

ANEESH C. MUPPIDI LEAFING BY

MATTHEW E. NEKRITZ THE THINGS WE CONSUME

MCKENNA E. MCKRELL SEVEN SISTERS AND THE OLD BOYS’ CLUB

PHOEBE G. BARR HARVARD’S ROLE AMID CLIMATE CHAOS

There is very little I would not do to re-experience Gego, Sarah Sze, and young Parisian Picasso at the Guggenheim.

Summer Postcards 2023

AH, SUMMER: Every college student’s sweetest fantasy. Finally free to map out three months to ourselves, we, the editors of The Crimson Editorial Board, explored steep mountains, cultural heritage sites, and, on occasion, archives and universities.

Seems like you can take the student out of school, but the learning never stops.

14 Plympton Street

Cambridge, MA 02138

enMySpanishteachersofthepastsevyears would be ashamed of me,andbutatleastbeingabletoorderfood struggle through slow, basic conversations with patient locals wasveryfun.Thebeacheswerealso amazing!

As a thesising senior, this was a summer of archives: hundreds of records and reports and letters in small, semi-ordered boxes, the fruit of special collections housed across two continents. It was surprisingly exhausting work, poring over the faded text on these fragile slips of paper; at times, it felt like my brain had turned inwards on itself. But the right company broughtmebackintomybodyandintothepresent,reminding me to take joy in my transcontinental travels. (Theglimmeringturquoisewatersdidn’thurt,either!)

Conducting thesis research in three cities across the United States was simultaneously thrilling and exhausting. Turns out, living out of a suitcase for 10 weeks, staying in a mix of cheap motels, the homes of family friends, and my mom’s Honda Pilot can tire one out pretty quickly. But it was worth it, and stargazing in Joshua Tree Na

Social Studies

Adams House

Workingonmythesisthissummer, Igottovisitlotsofuniversitycourtyards — University of Salamanca, University of Cambridge, UniversityofAlcalá…Thisoneinparticular wasverypicturesque,atthePontificalUniversityofSalamanca.

14 Plympton St. was the centerpiece of my summer: I was lucky enough to work at our beloved newspaper full time for two months with the most amazing summer staff. Somehow, between only half a dozen writers, we managed to put out more than 80 stories, print a breaking news special edition paper, and throw rubber ducks across the newsroom without breaking anything (or anyone). Kept the old sheet flying, and can’t wait for the new semester.

SLEMANI, KURDISTAN, IRAQ

SCOTLAND, U.K.

After years of workshopping, rehearsal, and a weekend-long run at theLoebExperimentalTheatre,IthoughtIwasdonewith“Atalanta,” anewmusicalwrittenbymyfriendMira-RoseJ.KingsburyLee’24. Thatwas,untilamonthlaterwhenMiratoldusallwe’dbetakingthe

show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the biggest theater festival in the world.

After months of sporadic Zoom rehearsals, we all clamored onto planes, stuffing ourselves in middle seats for nine hour flights. In Edinburgh, we all crammed ourselves in an Airbnb, spending every night touching up on songs, singing Billy Joel, and talking into the weesmallhoursofthemorning.

It was simultaneously exhausting, beautiful, and exhilarating. And I wouldn’tgiveuptheexperiencefortheworld.

CAMBRIDGE, MA

Touched some grass; hiking in Air Force Ones not recommended.

Social Studies

Kirkland House

Undeclared

land,VisitingKurdistan,mymother’shomeforthreeweeksthissummerwas anincredibleexperience.Fromthevibrant bazaars to the mountains of our ancestors, each place reminded me of the value and strength in preserving Kurdish history, language, and heritage.

The months I spent working with our summer team at The Crimson were memory-filled, perfectly chaotic, and well-suited to be recounted in songs.

An off-key rendition of Elton John and Kiki Dee’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” was an iconic duet from the first of many karaoke nights. An acapella version of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” accompanied a highly competitive 3 a.m. game of Uno, while familiar Jack Johnson hits and Corrine Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On,” played on guitar, came with the sunrise a few hours later. We learned Miley Cyrus’s “Hoedown Throwdown” choreography, had a “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” listening party, and jammed to Motown while sorting old print papers on the newsroom floor. Nobody could stop sudden outbursts of “Pump Up the Jam” from Technotronic, and on our last day I cleaned to the tune of ABBA’s “Our Last Summer.”

I will miss this summer, but these songs will make some of the happiest moments hard to forget.

DALAL M. HASSANE ’26

Undeclared

Leverett House

Undeclared

ELLIE H. ASHBY ’24

JOSHUA TREE, CALIF.

MAIA PATEL MASINI ’25

LIVERMORE, N.H.

AUTUMN SHIN ’26

MALLORCA,SPAIN

CHRISTINA M. XIAO ’24

Computer Science and

Social Studies

MANUEL A. YEPES ’24 Social Studies

Government, Eliot House

ELEANOR V. WIKSTROM ’24

Cabot House

NEW YORK, NY EL NIDO, PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES SALAMANCA, SPAIN

CARA J. CHANG ’24

CAMBRIDGE, MA

VANDER O. B. RITCHIE ’26

EDINBURGH,

MCKENNA E. MCKRELL ’26

THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL

Council to Vote on Housing Heights

UP FOR VOTE. Cambridge City Council will vote on an initiative to increase the maximum height of affordable housing buildings.

BY JULIAN J. GIORDANO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Cambridge City Council is set to vote on a controversial zoning petition that would increase the maximum height restrictions for buildings with 100 percent affordable housing — allowing for development projects as high as 15 stories in some parts of the city.

The petition — dubbed “AHO2” — would amend the Affordable Housing Overlay, an ordinance passed in 2020 that streamlines the approval process and lowers costs for developers seeking to build affordable housing in Cambridge.

Sponsored by Councilors Burhan Azeem, Marc C. McGovern, E. Denise Simmons, and Quinton Y. Zondervan, the amendment was first discussed at a Housing Committee meeting in February.

After six months of deliberation and public input, the Council’s Ordinance Committee voted 6-3 to move forward with the amendment at its Aug. 3 meeting. The Council will review the amendment and conduct a final vote when it resumes regular meetings in the fall.

“We need more affordable housing,” Simmons said at the committee meeting. “The first leg of AHO got us down the road, but it didn’t get us where we wanted to go.”

The annual AHO report, released earlier this month, shows that six AHO developments with a total of 616 units are actively underway, while another 16 sites are under review.

But Cambridge’s affordable housing waitlist currently has more than 22,000 applicants, with nearly 4,500 living in Cambridge.

“We’re not talking about housing in the abstract,” Simmons said. “We’re talking about people, families, homes.”

Under the proposed amendment, affordable housing projects in 13 designated “AHO corridors” and areas zoned for residential heights of 40 to 65 feet would be able to build up to nine stories (or 100 feet) — an increase of three stories from the original AHO.

Similarly, areas with maximum residential heights above 65 feet could see projects up to 13 stories (or 150 feet) tall — a six-story increase. And in Central, Harvard, Union, and Porter squares, future developments could rise as high as 15 stories (or 170 feet).

Setbacks — spaces between developments and their property lines — would be eliminated for all buildings under the amendment. The singular exception would be for projects less than four stories (or 45 feet) tall, which would be required to have a minimum rear yard setback of 15 feet — a five-foot reduction from the original AHO.

The proposed amendment also removes limits on floor-area ratios — the ratio of a building’s total floor area to the area of its zoning lot — in the designated squares and corridors, allowing buildings to occupy all of their lot space regardless of their height.

“This is one tool, and it’s not going to solve everything,” Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said, voicing her support for the amendment while calling for the Council to do more to encourage affordable housing developments.

“This is our number one issue,” Vice Mayor Alanna M. Mallon said, citing daily calls she receives from families asking how they can afford to keep living in Cambridge.

“At the end of the day, we are creating units not just for today and for those families that are calling,” Mallon said, “but families 10, 20, 30 years down the line.”

Still, Mallon and other councilors said that they were not satisfied with the process of this amendment’s creation.

“I don’t love how we got here, I don’t love that there wasn’t a community process,” Mallon said.

Councilor Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 — who voted against the amendment — said that she would have liked to support the change if there had been more time to discuss and edit it in committee.

Nolan disagreed with the increased height limits for the 13 newly defined “AHO corridors,” which include Massachusetts Avenue, Broadway, Cambridge Street, and Memorial Drive. She argued that these streets should be defined as “secondary corridors” and have lower height limits. Nolan also raised concerns about whether transportation infrastructure can support new residents, noting that the amendment reduces mandatory parking minimums.

Councilors Paul F. Toner and Dennis J. Carlone also voted against the amendment, both objecting to the increased height maximums.

“It’s going to haunt people,” said Carlone, who has been a vocal opponent of the amendment since March, when he called the proposal “the most dramatic change in zoning” in the nearly 50 years he has lived in Cambridge.

An urban designer and architect by trade, Carlone said that families “have a better life in lower buildings” and that “large buildings reduce the value and

livability of its neighbors.”

Toner also expressed concern about the potential for taller affordable housing developments outside of Harvard Square and Central Square.

“If you tell people in a neighborhood that there could be a building up to 12 stories next to their single-family home, I have a problem with that,” he said.

McGovern replied by saying that he doesn’t think that Cantabrigians will notice the difference between a 10-story building and a 12-story building in their neighborhood.

“The people who will notice,” he said, “are the people who aren’t going to get to live in those extra units.”

McGovern encouraged his colleagues to “be on the right side of history,” saying “no matter how everybody votes on this, there’s going to be a lot of people upset with all of us.”

Indeed, just four days before the Ordinance Committee’s vote, councilors heard a vast array of comments for and against the amendment at a two-hour public hearing.

“I think this proposal is about what kind of city we want to be and what kind of citizens and neighbors we want to be,” East Cambridge resident Esther Hanig said, urging councilors to support the amendment. “Do we want a diverse and just city? Do we want to be caring and compassionate, looking beyond our own individual needs to a larger view?”

Some supported the goal of increased affordable housing but

disagreed with raising the height maximums.

“I oppose these amendments to the AHO, and it really breaks my heart to do so,” said West Cambridge renter Billie Jo Joy, who argued that “it is the developers and the landlords who will benefit the most” and instead called for a moratorium on all market-rate construction.

Other speakers opposed the amendment and original AHO legislation in their entirety, not wanting for more affordable housing to be built in Cambridge.

“It is a vicious cycle,” Young Kim said. “The more affordable housing we build, the more people will apply to live there.”

Public input continued at an Aug. 8 Cambridge Planning Board meeting that received more than 125 comments. Board Chair Mary Flynn said the amendment was one of the most divisive items taken up by the Board, which reviews proposed zoning amendments and submits recommendations to the City Council.

With four of its seven members absent, the Board voted to continue discussion at an Aug. 29 meeting.

The Planning Board’s recommendation will be taken into consideration by the Council when it votes on the amendment in the fall.

While regular Council meetings resume on Monday, Sept. 11, the amendment is not on the agenda for the first meeting. The deadline for the Council to vote on the amendment is Nov. 1.

julian.giordano@thecrimson.com

Harvard Increases Funding Pledge for I-90 Project

BY JACK R. TRAPANICK CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Harvard has added $32 million to its pledged cash contribution for the Allston I-90 Multimodal Project — the infrastructure initiative poised to transform Allston over at least the coming decade — as part of a new, detailed plan for financing the project unveiled last week.

Under the new plan — first reported by Commonwealth Magazine last Wednesday — Harvard, Boston University, and the City of Boston are set to contribute $300 million to the $1.9 billion project, which will realign the Massachusetts Turnpike and bring a new commuter rail station to the neighborhood. In the process, the realignment will open dozens of acres of unused Allston land.

The remaining funds will come from a $1.1 billion commitment by the state — in the form of bonds, loans, highway tolls, and the newly-implemented millionaire tax — and $500 million in grants from pools of infrastructure funding provided by recent federal legislation.

As recently as January, the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected an application for federal funding submitted by the state, though many at the time — including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 — met the rejection with little surprise, citing a lack of detail in the plans for the project’s financing and design.

Now, Harvard has increased its cash contribution from $58

million to $90 million, while BU has raised its commitment from $8.5 million to $10 million. Boston is committing $100 million directly from its budget and another $100 million through “value capture” — in which the expected increase in private land value surrounding the realignment helps fund the project, via property taxes and development fees.

Much of the private land set to rise in value around the Pike is owned by Harvard — most notably Beacon Park Yard, a key parcel of land for the realignment encompassing 90 acres beside the Charles River.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation filed a new application for federal funding on Aug. 21 based on the new financing plan. Harvard Executive Vice President Meredith Weenick endorsed the application in a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg ’04 the same day.

In the letter, Weenick stressed

the time and hundreds of millions of dollars Harvard had invested to make the project viable, including by relocating the previous occupant of the land, freight rail company CSX Transportation.

“Harvard is pleased to have the opportunity to support MassDOT’s application by both memorializing future-looking commitments and outlining the foundational steps undertaken by the University to support this Project over the last two decades,” she wrote. “These contributions are a reflection of the unique opportunity that the Allston Multimodal Project presents, and we look forward to continuing to work with state and local partners on next steps.”

The vacant land Harvard currently owns is poised to become immensely valuable following the realignment.

“I can’t think of more prime real estate right now than Beacon Park Yard,” said Anthony P.

D’Isidoro, president of the Allston Civics Association and a member of the Harvard-Allston Task Force.

Allston residents and officials said the new financing plan is an important step forward for the project, which is still years from breaking ground and will soon enter its 10th year of planning. The realignment project is currently slated to start construction in 2027.

D’Isidoro said that plan marks the clearing of “a major roadblock,” adding that the cost of the project would only increase with time, and many details about the design and environmental impact of the project remain to be sorted out.

Lizzie M. Torres, a board member of the Allston Civic Association, said she believes the project is “getting closer,” in part due to Wu, who took office in late 2021.

“We do have a mayor who cares a little bit more,” she said.

MANHOLE

Manhole Explosion Stops Traffic in Harvard Square

“We responded just before nine o’clock this morning for reports of a manhole fire and immediately coordinated with Cambridge police and fire on scene to isolate the damaged cable and make the area safe,” McKinnon wrote.

Cahill said the fire department detected carbon monoxide levels above 100 parts per million in several businesses in the area, leading to their evacuations. He did not give a timeline for the business’ reopening. He added that despite the fire department’s efforts to lower carbon monoxide levels, they still registered in excess of 25 parts per million in some businesses at the time of the press conference, around 3:30 p.m.

A CPD alert shortly before 10:00 a.m. reported a “major traffic disruption” due to the blasts and warned residents to avoid the area.

“As a result of this explosion and subsequent response, Harvard Square is closed to vehicle traffic, and pedestrian traffic is restricted. If at all possible, people should avoid traveling through Harvard Square until further notice,” the alert read.

As of 11:37 a.m., at least five fire trucks remained outside the site of the explosion, though the flames had been extinguished, according to a firefighter on the scene. Firefighters were packing up their hoses and preparing to do a final check for carbon monoxide. The traffic closure appeared to be limited to the Brattle Square area by that point, with vehicular traffic resuming on JFK Street shortly before noon.

Luis Garcia, a front-of-house manager at Felipe’s Taqueria on Brattle Street, described watching a growing cloud of smoke and active flames outside the restaurant.

“We were all inside the building, and all of a sudden, we hear a little explosion, and the lights went on and off,” Garcia said.

“Then we came out of the building and we saw a lot of smoke next door,” he added, referring to the area outside Bluestone Lane. Cahill also said during the press conference that Eversource was working to turn off power to a third manhole that had been actively emitting carbon monoxide. He said that because manholes are connected underground, it is typical to see multiple failures at one time.

McKinnon, the Eversource spokesperson, confirmed later Wednesday evening that power had been cut off for the third manhole.

“The state seems to have an urgency and eagerness to move forward with this project that we didn’t see in the past,” said Harry E. Mattison, an Allston resident and activist.

The billions of dollars in infrastructure funding signed into law by President Joe Biden last year will run out in September 2026. If MassDOT does not land the federal grant money by then, they’ll have to find a new source of money to keep the Multimodal Project financially viable.

Significant planning work remains. The state and city must now juggle the interests of residents, business groups, neighboring universities, and environmental advocates to approve a design for the finished project of the Pike — all while working to remain on track for construction to begin in 2027.

The Charles River Watershed Association, a local environmental group, has expressed opposition to current design plans for the Pike itself, which would retain 12 lanes of highway next to the river.

Mattison, meanwhile, warned that the project is on a “collision course” to repeat the mistakes of the Seaport, an area of South Boston often cited by neighborhood activists as an example of failed redevelopment.

“It’s been a struggle to get very basic elements of transit, and other 21st century elements of good urban design for this project,” Mattison said.

jack.trapanick@thecrimson.com

Harvard Square Business Association Executive Director Denise Jillson wrote in an email to HSBA members that Eversource’s ongoing work would leave some businesses in the area without power.

McKinnon wrote that Eversource brought a generator to the area on Wednesday afternoon for customers who had lost power, and that customers would be hooked up to the generator once Eversource receives approval from the City of Cambridge.

The manhole explosion and emergency response did not significantly impact student movein Wednesday — the designated move-in date for freshmen not participating in pre-orientation programs and the first scheduled date for upperclassmen to arrive on campus. The explosions did not appear to cut off access to the Yard or upperclassman Houses by the late morning.

Cambridge City Council meetings are held at Cambridge City Hall, which is located in Central Square. MARINA QU—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Soldiers Field Road separates the University’s main campus and Allston. DEREK G. XIAO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

From Cannes: ‘Asteroid City’ Revels in Absurdity

WES

latest film is once again a visual masterpiece, a meta exploration of love, connection, and the creation of art.

BY MILLIE MAE HEALY CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Wes Anderson’s latest film is once again a visual masterpiece, a meta exploration of love, connection, and the creation of art.

Framed as a fictional play about teens and their dysfunctional parents at a “Junior Stargazer/Space

Cadet convention,” “Asteroid City” opens by introducing the play’s writer and many of the fictional actors who will play the characters seen in the majority of the film. The actors playing major roles are never fully developed as characters — making the choice to begin with this protracted sequence a perplexing choice. Nonetheless, “Asteroid City” features a stacked cast, with multiple Hollywood stars appearing in minor roles and cameos, an ensemble that allows for

a chaotic, engaging story. While some of the characters get lost in the off-the-wall hijinks, the large ensemble allows for complex, layered relationships between the main characters and a depth of activity on screen. There are constant running gags in the background of scenes, and though this at times becomes distracting from the convoluted main story, they deepen the characters’ relationships and the richness of the world onscreen.

The desert landscape of the titular “Asteroid City” is wonderfully oversaturated, with vibrant colors that add an artificial feel to this fictional meta narrative. Similarly, all of the wide shots are carefully posed, like action figures lined up for a photoshoot, creating precise tableaux that add to this level of curation. From beginning to end, the candy colors and careful blocking create a distinctive atmosphere that really sells the film’s main mission.

More than anything, the world presented on screen is captivating. Anderson shows an absolute disregard for the 180-degree rule as the camera pans in all directions at every opportunity, showing scenes from all sides and ig-

noring walls and other physical obstructions as the camera travels, confining the characters. These dizzying movements create a confusing sense of space, and wonderfully clash with the otherwise posed feeling given by the narrative of the film. However, although fascinating, “Asteroid City” feels much more like a commentary on a media like film than a play where the audience’s line of view is very much fixed.

In keeping with the visual storytelling, the plot is equal parts off putting and delightful. Though all of the main elements are laid out at the beginning like a feast of Chekhov’s guns, the winding and shocking paths taken to get there are certainly creative. “Asteroid City” is certainly concerned with style, and excels most when playing with expectations of story and film-making rather than at creating a strong emotional core. Truly, all of the characters are unstably drawn, making surprising, off-thewall decisions, which is at times entertaining, and other times unsatisfying. Much of the film subscribes to this kind of off kilter scene work, with surprising and sometimes illogical dialogue, re-

Artist Profile: Sasha Denisova

Comedy and Tragedy in ‘The Gaaga’

BY LOLA J. DEASCENTIIS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

It’s been well over a year since Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. Though news of the war may now feel distant for those outside of Ukraine and Russia, it remains close and personal for many refugees.

One Ukrainian refugee, Sasha Denisova, is a celebrated playwright and director who has continued to make art since fleeing to Poland at the onset of the war.

Denisova’s most recent theatrical work is “The Gaaga,” a “site specific phantasmagoria” that premieres in the U.S. in June, incorporating humor, tragedy, and political commentary to express the toll of war.

“The Gaaga” centers on the hopeful imagination of a young Ukrainian girl who dreams of Vladimir Putin and his allies facing a trial for war crimes. The play takes place in the bomb shelter where this 17-year-old has found refuge, though the scenes that play out depict her unlimited imagination.

“I’m really into merging the documented reality — the real facts, something that already exists — with fiction and science

fiction,” Denisova said in an interview with The Harvard Crimson, translated by actress and colleague Darya Denisova.

To perfect this merging, Denisova spent long periods of time researching the speeches of Putin and other government officials to make their dialogue as realistic as possible. Additionally, Denisova incorporates facts into political fiction when she writes that Putin and others are placed in The Hague Penitentiary Institution, a real prison operated by the International Criminal Court. Hague is pronounced “gaaga” in Russian, thus serving as the play’s namesake. Denisova added that this purposefully corresponds with most babies’ first verbal sound.

“It gives us a picture of today’s Putin, who’s killing innocent people, children, civilians in general on a daily basis,” Denisova said, discussing the production’s greater purpose. “Now, there’s this image in front of us of Putin in misery being in prison already, and this closing of this entire horror is relatively close.”

Through this creative combination of reality and imagination, the crimes and horrors of those responsible for the war in Ukraine are laid out in a digest-

ible manner. In fact, Denisova deliberately gave “The Gaaga” a comedic edge as a way to ease tension and prepare the audience to take in gruesome details.

“As a Ukrainian, I find it very important to keep talking about the genocide that is happening in Ukraine right now. But also for many of the people, it’s difficult to take more and more tragic information on a daily basis, so by making it a comedy, we find somewhat of a relief,” Denisova said.

Denisova does not only incorporate satirical humor through the story’s premise, but also in its details. For example, she includes dialogue surrounding a former KGB officer’s strong belief that Canadian geese have been spreading viruses, and some of the prisoners sing “Hotel California.” For Denisova, such scenes are a form of dark, wartime humor.

Nonetheless, there are still deeply tragic moments, which recount atrocities such as the Bucha massacre and the Mariupol theater airstrike. This careful balance of tragedy and comedy is at the very core of “The Gaaga,” and it is ultimately what makes the production so unique.

The balance of tragedy and comedy, fiction and fact are a re-

actions, and transitions. This approach offers much to interest, but less to affect. Though there are several resonant throughlines and callbacks throughout the movie that keep the train running, they often run the danger of being obscure. To help balance this, characters sometimes spell out their feelings to keep the viewer onboard, hurting the film’s sense of spectacle without adding much to the plot.

Some of the most endearing moments of the film come from the youngest characters. All of the genius teenagers in the invention competition, depicted as outof-touch nerds who have finally found companionship among equally zany young people, are entertaining in every scene they have together, and the budding romance between Woodrow (Jake Ryan) and Dinah (Grace Edwards) is particularly heartening and grounding. Similarly, the silly and melancholic scenes centering war photographer Augie’s (Jason Schwartzman) three daughters, and their struggle to accept their mother’s death particularly stand out.

Naturally, given the film’s central theme about the power of love,

romance is in the air. Augie’s offbeat whirlwind relationship with actress Midge (Scarlett Johansson) is memorable and interesting, especially in light of the frame narrative moments between their actors that complicate their surprising interactions, but is much less warm than the blooming relationship between their children Woodrow and Dinah. Other romances featured are sweet, but are more successful at pairing off characters in the large cast than being memorable.

The story’s heart lies in the metanarrative and its sense of yearning. Though this doesn’t provide clarity, it does provide a much-needed bedrock to the hijinks of the main plot. “Asteroid City” is definitely emotionally arresting, though at times it is unclear why. It is a film to puzzle, to dazzle, and a joyful if perplexing ode to cinema and storytelling.

4 STARS

milliemae.healy@thecrimson.com

flection of the works that inspired Denisova. On one hand, she was inspired by the surreal, fantastical story of “Alice in Wonderland.”

Much like this famous tale, “The Gaaga’s” plot is purposefully illogical, unreasonable, and very strange.

In contrast, Denisova spent time carefully studying the Nuremberg trials of World War II. The structure and setup of “The Gaaga”’s trial scenes were largely based on this globally significant event.

While imagination provides comedy, the character whose imagination audiences follow conveys tragedy — most poignantly through her young age.

“I think war through children’s eyes is always something very shocking,” Denisova said. She shared that her writing process entailed reading the diaries of the children in Mariupol. As a result, Denisova left her

teenage protagonist unnamed to make the play relatable to all children facing the tragedies of war.

Fittingly, the actress who plays “The Girl” is a Ukrainian refugee herself. Taisiia “Taya” Fedorenko fled Kyiv in February of 2022 and now lives in the United States, where she recently graduated high school and will now pursue a bachelor’s degree at The New School.

“The Gaaga” premiered in Poland in February, exactly one year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Four months later, the production’s U.S. premiere took place in Cambridge, Mass. “The Gaaga” has found a home right in the heart of Harvard Square; it runs at Beat Brew Hall on Brattle Street.

Those who frequent this popular beer hall will be surprised to find it temporarily converted into a bomb shelter for the set of the play. The set juxtaposes chil-

dren’s toys with shattered windows and collapsed walls, contributing effectively to the plot’s tragic depiction of war.

Denisova said that she thought Cambridge audiences would be perfect for this unique genre.

“Sasha has been walking around Harvard and Cambridge and just felt how connected the people of this area could potentially be to this piece,” interpreter Darya Denisova shared.

Sasha Denisova adapted the genre to her newfound American audience by adding more music cues and small numbers.

“I hope all jokes and all the little bits are going to work and speak to the audience,” she said.

“The Gaaga” runs at Beat Brew Hall in Cambridge, Mass. from June 2-18; additionally, performances will stream live online from June 8-18.

lola.deascentiis@thecrimson.com

ANDERSON’S

Celebrated playwright and director Sasha Denisova brings her background as a Ukrainian refugee into her theatrical work. COURTESY OF SASHA DENISOVA

Jason Schwartzman and Tom Hanks star in Wes Anderson’s latest film, “Asteroid City.” COURTESY OF FESTIVAL DE CANNES

BY VIVIENNE N. GERMAIN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Ray Bradbury’s 1953 dystopian novel, “Fahrenheit 451,” is at once a captivating and concerning work of literature. It is not my favorite book. In fact, when I first read it as my 7th-grade summer reading assignment, I did not like it. But there’s worth in revisiting this classic.

“Fahrenheit 451” is set in a future where firefighters start fires instead of preventing them. In this fictional world, books are illegal, and firefighters are responsible for burning them. The narrative follows Guy Montag, a fireman who grows disillusioned with his life, intrigued by literature and knowledge, and thus becomes identified as a danger to his society. He eventually flees into hiding and commits to preserving literary works.

As a 12-year-old reader, I appreciated Bradbury’s pro-book and anti-censorship concept, but I did not enjoy the story. The writing felt heavy-handed and lacked nuance. When I was assigned to read it again as part of my 11thgrade summer reading, it bored me even more. I resented its obvious themes and ideas, which left no room for nuanced interpretation or disagreement. As an avid reader of dystopian literature, I enjoyed the genre, but with predictable characters and an overwhelmingly overt message, “Fahrenheit 451” was not complex enough to excite me.

Today, I realize that the story’s simplicity is crucial to its efficacy. In a way, “Fahrenheit 451” acts as an emergency alarm. Alarms should not be complicated; they should draw widespread attention and direct a clear response, without confusion. The book highlights the perils of censorship and directs readers to value literature, information, and expression. Ultimately, “Fahrenheit 451” benefits from its simplicity. It conveys a straightforward message: preserve free speech.

Like an emergency alarm, Bradbury intended his message to serve as a warning. He described himself as “a preventer of futures, not a predictor of them.”

However, it seems impossible to truly prevent a future, and “Fahrenheit 451” eerily predicts several elements of the present day. Long before their inventions, Bradbury wrote about inear headphones, flat television

From Our Bookshelves: ‘Fahrenheit 451’

ARTS 15

sparks controversy. Despite the fact that free speech is a critical part of the First Amendment, often considered the backbone of freedom in the United States, book-banning is a politicized and polarizing issue in 2023. While book-banning is largely an anti-BGLTQ and anti-Black action today, Bradbury had the opposite concern. He hated “political correctness,” and he wanted to protect the ability to “criticize” BGLTQ people and Black people. “Fahrenheit 451” initially served as a caution against censorship during the Cold War, but in the 1990s, Bradbury considered “Fahrenheit 451” a caution against censorship of sociocultural hate speech.

While the message in “Fahrenheit 451” is insightful, Brad-

The novel serves as a reminder that censorship is dangerous — not just for certain groups of people, but for everyone. Bradbury’s alarm is not a drill. We can listen, or we can burn.

screens, and most scarily, an increase in book-banning. As the narrative’s earliest possible setting is 2023, “Fahrenheit 451” is crucially relevant in the present moment.

As established, books are illegal in the dystopian world of “Fahrenheit 451.” The government believes that they depress and confuse civilians. Citing those same reasons, many of today’s real-world conservative parent advocacy groups and Republican legislators spearhead increased efforts to ban specific books in public schools and libraries. The American Library Association

reported that the number of attempts to ban books in 2022 nearly doubled since 2021, and free speech organization PEN America reported 1,477 instances of individual books banned in the first half of the 2022-23 school year. These numbers are only increasing — and they largely target marginalized voices, as about 41% of banned book titles include BGLTQ themes or characters and about 40% include prominent characters of color.

“Fahrenheit 451” warns against the dangers of banning books by showing that this practice consequently bans ideas

A Not-So-Fair Verona

BY SERENA JAMPEL CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Romeo and Juliet is arguably the most famous love story of all time, so it’s no surprise that thousands of tourists flock to “fair Verona,” the charming Italian city where the play is set.

And with tourism surging across Europe, Shakespeare’s famed city of love and tragedy is getting more attention than ever.

Romantic pilgrims flock to the city’s kitschy stores and contrived museums, reveling in Romeo and Juliet’s enduring passion. But local traditions surrounding young Juliet’s statue speak more to an undercurrent of misogyny than a quest for love that conquers all.

Legend has it that rubbing Juliet’s bronze breast will bring good luck (much like another familiar statue’s foot in our own Cambridge). Tourists old and young, of all genders and identities proudly and enthusiastically grope the statue meant to represent a 13-year-old girl — whose infatuation with the son of a family enemy was not exactly a model of a mature, healthy relationship.

A quirky tradition or a tacky tourist gimmick is one thing, but the optics of watching a contiguous flow of people grab Juliet, snap a picture, and go on their merry way makes it feel like more. If one of the most iconic and beloved fictional women of all time is constantly groped for others’ momentary enjoyment and personal gain, what does that mean for the rest of us real-life women?

The origins of the questionable tradition coincide with the relatively recent installation of the statue. It was created in 1968

by Nereo Costantini and installed in 1972 in the courtyard of a villa historically belonging to the Cappello family, who are believed to be an inspiration for the Capulets in Shakespeare’s play. However, the balcony and the items in the restored villa were built in the mid-20th century to entice tourists. Furthermore, the statue standing in Verona today is a reproduction made in 2014 because the constant manhandling caused cracks to form in her right breast and arm. How much unwanted touching does it take for a woman to crack? For this Juliet, it was approximately 5 million people per year.

The original statue was placed in the current location as the burgeoning feminist movement took hold in Italy. While the legend of touching her breast for good luck cannot be linked to a specific person or political group, it feels too convenient that at a time when advocacy for womens’ rights was gaining momentum, this statue and the tradition of lewdly grabbing her would surface.

Only two to three percent of statues in the world depict women, illustrating a vast gender gap in public monuments. Of those, many depict allegorical virtues like Liberty, Justice, or Faith. Very few statues represent women known for their stories, successes, or good deeds. This gender gap demonstrates that our societies do not celebrate the lives of remarkable women nearly as much as men, an uncomfortable reality that has affected everything from public policy to social norms. When one of the rare statues of a woman celebrated for her role in a beloved story is the object of inappropriate at-

tention, it feels like yet another limit on womens’ potential. It is as if a woman cannot be celebrated publicly without other people taking ownership of her body and violating that veneration.

Juliet is no feminist icon. She spends most of her short life confined by a man (her father) or obsessed with one (Romeo). What little agency she claims is used to take her own life in despair. Still, her character has resonated with millions of people over generations. The romance, the naivete, the passion — she is a great fictional character because we empathize with her impossible situation and root for her love to prevail.

Sadly, hers is also the reality of many women across the globe — taken advantage of and put into impossible situations by men who hold sway over them. The message of the statue is that she, and women like her, are everyone’s property, available to be demeaned and disrespected for the momentary pleasure of another.

Obviously, a statue is not perfectly analogous to a human woman and neither is a fictional character from the 16th century. A statue will always be a symbol and a public monument, naturally lending itself to extra attention and handling. But when 81 percent of American women reported experiencing sexual harassment in a 2018 survey, we should be radically reassessing the environments that enable inappropriate gender-targeted behavior.

Yes, it is just a statue. But it is also a statue of Juliet, a young girl whose innocence and passionate love are idealized, fetishized, and mocked. She walks the impossible line of womanhood, too girl-

and knowledge, leading to the detriment of society. Books aren’t the only things that are destroyed during the story: houses are also burned, and people are killed. Bradbury proposes the idea that the death of literature leads to the death of us all, a collective downfall: Censorship kills. This concept is most compellingly portrayed through fire, an essential symbol in “Fahrenheit 451.” Fire represents destruction, as uncontrolled fire obliterates everything it touches. However, fire also represents awareness, as controlled fire —

like a candle — illuminates. The firemen’s book-burning is not governance, as their destruction only becomes out-of-hand, eliminating more than just books. However, Guy Montag finds inspiration in a character who reminds him of candlelight and its ability to make books legible in the night — to access knowledge in darkness. In both situations, fire represents power. In this way, Bradbury proposes that governments and civilians have the choice to use their power either for the destruction or cultivation of knowledge.

70 years later, that message

bury’s suggestion to use it as a defense of hate speech is disappointing. His disdain for political correctness is misguided, because it is essential to avoid hate speech to maintain safe, inclusive, affirming spaces. Still, Bradbury’s claim does not undermine his warning. The U.S. government should never ban any sort of speech that does not incite violence, whether the speech is agreeable or disagreeable, because the ability to say, write, and read anything in public spaces — including schools and libraries — is essential to American liberty and the preservation and development of a functional and forward-looking society. Whether the language is productive or problematic, it should not be legally prohibited. Free speech must extend to all.

“Fahrenheit 451” is not one of my favorite reads, but it is a necessary and valuable read that presents a topical and pressing message. The novel serves as a reminder that censorship is dangerous — not just for certain groups of people, but for everyone. Bradbury’s alarm is not a drill. We can listen, or we can burn.

vivienne.germain@thecrimson.com

ish yet also too serious, too defined by the men around her and yet too independent to rule out completely. Centuries of critics and the -

atergoers have found resonance in her story and her emotioal turmoil, whether or not they believe she’s a feminine or feminist ideal. The least we owe her — and to all

women — is to show her some respect. And yes, that includes not snapping that pic on vacation. serena.jampel@thecrimson.com

The cover of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451.” COURTESY OF SIMON AND SCHUSTER

The Juliet statue in Verona, Italy, is believed to bring good luck to pilgrims who rub the statue’s bronze breast. COURTESY OF VERONIKA BASHAK

FIFTEEN QUESTIONS

Kathleen M. Coleman, a member of Harvard’s faculty for a quarter-century, is a Classics professor and the department’s chair as well as a Senior Research Curator for the Harvard Art Museums.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

FM: You were born and raised in what is now called Zimbabwe during a time of social, ethnic, and racial strife, and you studied there and in South Africa during your undergraduate years. Can you talk about these experiences and the influence they had on your scholarship and life?

KMC: I think one of the most formative experiences of my life — it would have been 1972, I think — I’m an undergraduate at the University of Cape Town, and some of the students, a small group of the students, were protesting for equal education for all.

I wasn’t involved in that, but the police set on them. They were demonstrating on the steps of St. George’s Anglican Cathe dral in Cape Town, and the police attacked them and placed them into the cathedral, and this mo bilized the entire campus.

It was deeply inspiring to feel people being brought together a cause like that, I’ve rarely felt that since.

I remember we sang “We Shall Not Be Moved.”

I came down to the campus, and it was in total chaos. While I’d been off campus, the police had actually stormed the cam pus with dogs, and one of the people in our dorm had been at tacked, and her lip was damaged, severely damaged. My friend Jane and I were sent out to Maitland, which is sort of a blue-collar part of Cape Town. And I remember being greeted with just complete refus al to hear what we were talking about. It was deeply inspiring to feel people being brought to gether in a cause like that, I’ve rarely felt that since.

FM: What do you think is most misunderstood about Ancient Rome and the ancient world?

KCM: Obviously, the practice of gladiatorial combat is com pletely abhorrent to us. That goes without saying, I hope. But I think it’s just so important to try and understand why the Romans thought it was okay to do it.

The practice of gladiatorial combat is completely abhorrent to us. That goes without saying, I hope. But I think it’s just so important to understand why the Romans thought it was okay to do it.

It leads one into dark areas of ancient society, like this sharp distinction that was made in the ancient world between free and enslaved, and gladiators were enslaved persons, or they could take on the mantle of an enslaved person if they were freeborn and serve as a gladiator. And then, if you were an enslaved person, you were property. And as property you had no rights, including the right of any determination of your own life or death.

FM: You have said, on the subject of gladiatorial combat, that “confronting paradox in a distant civilization may be a useful exercise in our modern, globalized world.” Can you talk about how it could be a useful

KATHLEEN COLEMAN ON GLADIATORS, THE CLASSICS, AND POEMS

THE CHAIR OF HARVARD’S CLASSICS DEPARTMENT discusses her experiences in apartheid South Africa, the gladiators of Ancient Rome, and the future of the Classics. She has been “privileged,” she says, “to spend my career basically pursuing my hobby.”

BY GRAHAM R. WEBER CRIMSON MAGAZINE ASSOCIATE EDITOR

exercise?

KCM: I think looking deeply into something like that should make us more sensitive to the problems in our own culture, the things that we gloss over and we think are perfectly okay, which, in 2,000 years time — if there’s even a planet in 2,000 years time — may look absolutely incomprehensible.

To be able to look and see that another culture thought something was okay that we can clearly see was not okay should be able to help us be a little more humble about our own civilization.

FM: You are currently working on a book about an 11 year-old poet, Q. Sulpicius Maximus. Can you talk about that?

KCM: Quintus Sulpicius Maximus died at the age of 11 years, five months, 12 days, having delivered an extemporary poem like a jazz improvisation that he made up out of his head at a competition presided over by the emperor Domitian. And then he died.

This poem is the only poem, I believe, we have from antiquity that we know was written by a child or proposed, I should say, by a child.

And so it is of huge interest for what it tells us about the educational system in antiquity, and about his parents’ ambitions for him.

They were formerly enslaved. So you can see how getting to the point of performing at a competition presided over by the emperor is a big, big deal if your parents had been former slaves.

This is a story about social climbing in the ancient world, about the power of education, about the hybridity of Greek and Roman culture.

FM: You have written extensively about the 20th-century South African poet Douglas Livingstone and the influence that the Classics had on his work. What piqued your interest in him, and why do you study his work?

KCM: Long ago, when I was living in Cape Town, we had a radio program of South African poetry on Sunday afternoons.

And I used to put my transistor radio on the veranda wall while I was tidying my garden. And that’s how I first heard some of his poetry being read aloud. And he writes these remarkable poems about the natural world in southern Africa and the animals and insects and so on. And I realized how beautiful it was.

This is a story about social climbing in the ancient world, about the power of education, about the hybridity of Greek and Roman culture.

When I started reading it for myself, I realized that he uses some classical allusions and motifs in very interesting ways. So I did a bit of research about

him and discovered that he’d actually never learned Greek and Latin or had any sort of classical education, he was something of an autodidact. If I’ve done anything to make his work more widely appreciated, I’ll be very pleased because I think he’s magnificent.

FM: Do you have a favorite poem of his?

KCM: Yes, “Gentling a Wild Cat.” It’s an amazing poem. I read it in my “Lost” course, but I always cry. I can’t help it.

FM: Do you have any longtime favorite restaurants, coffee shops or other spots in Cambridge?

KCM: I still regret The Dolphin on Mass Ave, which isn’t open anymore. That was a favorite haunt of Harvard faculty, between Harvard Square and Central Square. I can be sometimes seen at Tatte, it must be confessed.

FM: Interest in the humanities, including the Classics, has declined in the last decade. How can this trend be reversed? What would you say to students considering studying the classics?

KCM: The paradox in my subject is that almost every living person is easily fascinated by the ancient Greek and Roman world. But that’s different from coming to study them, obviously.

I think we should be fighting hard against this idea that whatever you study at college is what you’re

going to do for the rest of your life.

It’s true that college is preparing you for the workforce in the sense that we’re teaching people to think and express themselves, and nothing does that better than a tough course in something difficult, like a foreign language or lost culture or something like that. So I think the humanities are ideal for positioning people for the modern workforce.

The paradox in my subject is that almost every living person is fascinated by the ancient Greek and Roman world. But that’s different from coming to study them, obviously.

FM: The Classics have been the subject of recent political and academic controversy over a perception that its study perpetuates racist ideology.

In 2021, The New York Times Magazine quoted Princeton Classics Professor Dan-el Padilla Peralta as writing that, “far from being extrinsic to the study of Greco-Roman antiquity, the production of whiteness turns on closer examination to reside in the very marrows of classics.” What do you make of this criticism?

There are many, many, many ways of looking at classical antiquity, and, undoubtedly, there are people who align the ancient world with some reprehensible aspects of modern

And, undoubtedly, these mismatches are perpetrated. But there are so many valuable lessons to be learned from antiquity, including the lessons of looking at the things that went so severely wrong in the ancient

The complexity of ancient thought and of its modern reception should obviously make us just as careful not to heroize antiquity as not to demonize it in totality. We also in the Classics Department, have introduced programs and partnered with things like the graduate school to try and expand the classics to make them accessible to and make, you know, studying them at a place like Harvard, available to underrepresented minorities and students who might otherwise not otherwise have the chance to learn Greek and Latin and can come here to learn them.

FM: In 2018, Fifteen Minutes reported that you had written a 17,000-word memoir in the voice of your then-recently-deceased cat, Catalline, that chronicled its experiences across three continents, including the end of apartheid in South Africa. As of the publication of that article, the memoir had not found a publisher. What have you done with the memoir since then?

KCM: It lies on my computer, and, I don’t know but, when I retire, I’ll start again the effort of trying to get it published. But I let friends read it if they’d like to, and I’m gratified if they say that, by the end, they’re in tears, because it was a very affecting story.

graham.weber@thecrimson.com

Fifteen Minutes is the magazine of The Harvard Crimson. To read the full interview and other longform pieces, visit THECRIMSON.COM/ MAGAZINE

JOEY HUANG—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Three National Champions

SPELL OF SUCCESS. This summer, Harvard track and field added three NCAA championship titles to its record book.

BY JACK CANAVAN AND NADIA A. FAIRFAX CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Harvard track and field team sent ten athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship at the University of Austin in Texas from June 7 through June 10. Over the course of the four-day competition, the team had three individual champions and broke five school records along the way.

Up first, sophomore Kenneth Ikeji competed in the men’s hammer throw on day one of the competition, setting a high standard for the Crimson to follow. Ikeji won the event with a throw of 77.92 m, setting a new Harvard and Ivy League record. The United Kingdom native’s throw was also far enough to set a facility record. His teammate, senior Alexander Kolesnikoff, competed in the men’s shot put and threw 19.88 m to earn ninth place.

On the women’s side for the throwers, senior Stephanie Ratcliffe earned a gold medal, becoming a national champion in the women’s hammer throw. Ratcliffe concluded her undefeated season, throwing 73.63 m to set a new Harvard, Ivy League, and Australian national record. Her throw was also the first NCAA title in the event for the Crimson.

Along with Ikeji’s national championship in the men’s hammer throw, the two swept the event. Her teammate senior Estel Valeanu took a spot on the podium for her event, earning sixth place in the discus throw, with a mark of 58.25 m to break her previous school record. Senior Sarah Omoregie earned 16th place in the women’s shot put with a throw of 16.90 m.

Representing the sprinters, Sophomore Izzy Goudros finished 18th in the nation with a score of 5460 points in the women’s heptathlon.

Sophomore Graham Blanks and Juniors Acer Iverson and Maia Ramsden represented Harvard in the teams in the distance events.

“For the most part, just race it as it is,” said Blanks about his

coach’s advice going into the meet. “Hard to tell how a race is going to play out beforehand, whether it’s fast or slow, so just to stay in the moment, react to what happens, and maybe make a move towards the end of all is feeling good, and that was the case for the strategy of both of the races.”

Blanks and Iverson started off in the men’s 10K run. Blanks finished in sixth place with a time of 28:15.90 seconds after a 400 m sprint at the end of his race. Iverson finished in 23rd place, with a time of 30:35.64 seconds.

The next day, Blanks returned to the track, racing under the lights in the men’s 5000 m championship. After sitting in the middle of the pack for the first two miles, Blanks made a push early in the final mile to move up to the front pack led by Northern Arizona University’s Nico Young. Sitting in fourth entering the bell lap, Blanks dropped a 55-second final 400 m to move up to second place and claim a podium spot in 14:06.53 behind Stanford’s Ky Robinson.

“[I] definitely went in wanting to win,” said Blanks about his expectations going into the 5K. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel having it after the 10K, but I thought I could win the race. I wouldn’t say I was super surprised, but I was ecstatic to be able to finish that high up.”

“My best finish yet at an NCAA meet,” he continued. “So if anything it was just a really big confidence booster for the years to come.”

Following Blank’s performance the next day, Ramsden closed out Harvard’s hardware collection by claiming the Crimson’s third national title and breaking the school record in the women’s 1500m final.

During the preliminaries, Ramsden set both a personal best and school record in the event to qualify her for the final. Ramsden not only showed up but showed, running a strategic race to secure her first-place finish in 4:08.60 seconds, which kicked during the last 400 m of her race. She returned to the track just over an hour later that same day to compete in the women’s 5K, running a time of 16:12.95 seconds to finish eighteenth place overall.

“It was unreal,” Blanks reflected. “That might not be the right word to use though, because I wasn’t entirely sur -

prised. I was pretty confident that Kenny and Steph going in were going to win their events. Just to see it happen is pretty unbelievable and extremely exciting, especially at these types of meets.”

“It’s really, really hard to do, and a lot of great competitors have really bad days, just because the time is in the year,” he continued. “I also thought Maia could win as well — but that one was more of a surprise to me than the other two, just because of how difficult it is to win a 1500 [meter race], especially against some of her competitors who are world-class.”

At the conclusion of the NCAA meet, the men’s team finished in eleventh place with 64 points — the team’s best finish since 1964. The women’s team finished in ninth place, tying its best team finish from 1989.

The team also earned several accolades from the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association. The Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year award was given to Harvard’s head coach Jason Saretsky, while the Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year title was awarded to Coach Alex Gibby.

Men’s Field Athlete of the Year was awarded to Ikeji, and the Women’s Field Athlete of the Year was awarded to Ratcliffe. The Men’s Track Athlete of the Year was awarded to Blanks, and the Women’s Track Athlete of the Year was given to Ramsden.

“It’s good for the team as a whole,” said Blanks about the results of the NCAA meet. “As our throws program likes to say: set the tone. It’s a good way to set the tone for our team.”

“You know, we won Heps, and now maybe we can set our sights on bigger goals, which is competing at the national level,” he continued. “It’s also exciting for cross country, like I said, just trying to set the tone for the squad and let [it] understand [that] we’re not just here to collect Ivy League titles, but we’re here to run on the national stage.”

The NCAA meet wasn’t the end of the team’s season, as they will travel to the United Kingdom to compete against the University of Birmingham as well as against Oxford and Cambridge at another HYOC meet.

SOFTBALL BY MAIREAD B. BAKER AND AARON B. SHUCHMAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Softball’s Jenny Allard Leaves for Pittsburgh

Jenny Allard, a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame, departed Harvard after a nearly three-decade tenure to become the new head softball coach at the University of Pittsburgh.

Before she joined the college coaching ranks, Allard was a star player for the University of Michigan, beginning her career at third base before transitioning to pitcher midway through her time with the Wolverines. She was a four-time selection to the All-Big Ten Team, and in 1989, she won the Big Ten Player of the Year after posting a 0.75 ERA as a pitcher while notching a .351 batting average from the plate. Harvard hired Allard as head coach in 1995 after she spent two years as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa. With the Hawkeyes, Allard worked under head coach Gayle Blevins, who ranks second in Division I softball history with 1,245 career victories, and Iowa recorded two 30-win campaigns and an NCAA tournament appearance during Allard’s tenure. Allard’s impact on the field in Cambridge was immediate. In her first season in 1995, the rookie head coach led the Crimson to a 10-win improvement over the previous season and a second-place finish in the Ivy League. Harvard finished in second place for another two seasons before breaking through for an Ivy League title and NCAA tournament bid in

1998. The Crimson won another two Ivy League titles in 2000 and 2001, and Allard finished the first ten years of her Harvard career with 244 wins, dwarfing the Crimson’s total during its first 14 years of play.

In Allard’s second decade in the Harvard dugout, the Crimson posted eight seasons with winning records, including three seasons with 30 or more victories that culminated in Ivy League titles and trips to the NCAA tournament. Harvard’s 2011 team set a program record with 36 wins, and the 2012 squad nearly matched that total while advancing to the NCAA regional finals for the first time in school history.

Since 2015, the Crimson has posted a winning record in every season (excluding the 2020 season that was canceled before completion), while winning Ivy League regular season and postseason titles in 2019 and 2023.

During her nearly 30 years in the dugout at Soldiers’ Field, Allard coached over 200 All-Ivy team selections, seven Ivy League Players of the Year, eight Ivy League Pitchers of the Year, seven Ivy Rookies of the Year, and three All-Americans.

“It was definitely a surprise for us,” noted rising sophomore Riley Flynn of Harvard softball regarding Allard’s departure from Cambridge. “Everybody who has played for Harvard softball or is playing right now just loves Coach [Allard].”

Allard’s time as a pitcher for Michigan served as an important part of her campaign as coach.

For Flynn — the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and the Most Out-

standing Player in the Ivy League Tournament — Allard’s experience in collegiate softball has made for an integral part of her Harvard career on the mound thus far.

Flynn noted that Coach Allard, “facilitated our softball skills and helped us on the field,” but also “just made us better people.”

“I think anybody that has played for her at Harvard softball, going back decades, I think they’ll say the same thing,” she added. Her coach’s move to the Keystone State leaves a void in the Harvard softball program, which Allard has been with for 28 seasons. Though still in the question is who will be at the helm of the Crimson next season, the team will look for another Ivy League Tournament title. On May 13, then-No. 2 Harvard captured the sought-after championship over its rival Princeton in a gritty 3-2 game shortly after a 6-0 loss to the Tigers.

However, more important to the Crimson is finding a coach who will form wholesome players — both on the field and in the classroom.

“In a coach, we’re just looking for someone that has the same values as we do,” Flynn reflected. “I think the Ivy League is a different league than some of the other ones where we have to put more focus on academics and which coach did so well.”

“We’re looking for a coach that’s going to really help us grow as people and players and leaders,” Flynn said.

Outgoing head softball coach Jenny Allard prepares for a game against Yale this season. Allard, who is leaving Harvard after 28 seasons, will be the softball head coach at the University of Pittsburgh.

Senior Stephanie Ratcliffe competes at the 2023 NCAA tournament for outdoor track and field.

COURTESY OF LEXIE MEHALLIS/HARVARD ATHLETICS

Sophomore thrower Kenneth Ikeji throws at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship. COURTESY OF LEXIE MEHALLIS/HARVARD ATHLETICS