The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
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VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 47 |
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022
OP-ED PAGE 4
NEWS PAGE 5
SPORTS PAGE 6
Dear Harvard College, I’m resigning as student body president
Experts discuss role of law and health care in Latin America
Baseball took two of three from Brown in a weekend series at home
Cheng Resigns as UC President By J. SELLERS HILL and MERT GEYIKTEPE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Michael Y. Cheng ’22, who successfully led the charge to dissolve Harvard’s Undergraduate Council in favor of a new student government, resigned as president of the UC on Tuesday, leaving the transition to the new system in the hands of others. Cheng’s resignation comes just days after undergraduates fulfilled his defining campaign promise — to abolish the UC in favor of a new system — by voting overwhelmingly to dissolve the 40-year-old body in a school-wide referendum. The surprise move, announced Tuesday afternoon in a Crimson op-ed, adds to the uncertainty of the transition from the UC to the HUA, which will now be led by Cheng’s former vice president, Emmett E. de Kanter ’24. “I was elected on the signature promise of dissolving and replacing the Undergraduate Council,” Cheng wrote. “Since that’s been fulfilled, I must step aside so we can turn
FAS Passes Double Concentrations By ARIEL H. KIM and MEIMEI XU
SEE CHENG PAGE 3
CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Michael Y. Cheng ’22, back, resigned as Undergraduate Council president, leaving Emmett E. de Kanter ’24, front, to oversee the transition to the Harvard Undergraduate Association. J. SELLERS HILL—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Harvard Received $385 Million from Foreign Sources By DEKYI T. TSOTSONG and ERIC YAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
arvard has received almost H $385 million from sources in 46 countries since August 2019, according to United States Department of Education data. Previously, a Crimson analysis of Department of Education data found that the University had received over $1.1 billion in foreign funding between Jan. 1, 2013 and July 31, 2019 – a figure later mirrored by a DOE report in October 2020. DOE officials had been investigating whether Harvard and other universities complied with federal requirements for reporting foreign funding. Following the investigation, Harvard updated its foreign funding reporting to include a “wider range” of contracts such
as “the sale and licensing of academic publications” and “executive education programs.” Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 requires American universities to disclose contracts and gifts from foreign sources of over $250,000 in a year to the DOE. The DOE publishes the data in a regularly-updated online portal. The latest update to the portal revealed an additional $10.9 million in foreign funding received by Harvard prior to Aug. 1, 2019. The University reported these funds in 2020 and 2021 following the expansion of its reporting procedures. Of the foreign funds Harvard received after August 2019, the University accepted $93.8 million through restricted gifts, $99.7 million through restricted contracts, $84.3 million through gifts, and $107 mil-
August 2019 to Present
lion through contracts. Sources from China contributed $69.9 million to Harvard over the same time period, outpacing all other countries. Harvard received 12.9 percent of the total funding given to American universities by Chinese sources — the most of any school. Additionally, 15.2 percent of overall contributions from Hong Kong to American universities since August 2019 went to Harvard, along with 6.8 percent of the total from England. Harvard also received 66 percent, or $32.7 million, of total funding from Egyptian sources since August 2019. Of that sum, $31.8 million came from a single contract. The University did not disclose any funding from Russia during the reporting window.
Source: U.S. Department of Eduation
SEE DONATIONS PAGE 3
ERIC YAN—FLOURISH CHART
By DORCAS GADRI, ANDREW M. LU, and SRIJA VEM
Harvard Today 2
News 3
Editorial 4
Sports 6
City Committee Calls to Scrap Min. Parking By ELIAS J. SCHISGALL
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Washington Post columnist Michele L. Norris was awarded the 2022 Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism Tuesday by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center and the Harvard Institute of Politics. Norris, a former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” discussed her career, the role of race in reporting, and the future of journalism in a conversation with the Shorenstein Center’s director, Nancy R. Gibbs. At the event, the Center also awarded the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting to Washington Post reporters Hannah Dreier and Andrew B. Tran for their coverage of climate refugees and inequity in FEMA’s disaster response. “The process of reporting these stories was often pretty wrenching and pretty lonely,” Dreier said, noting that few journalists had focused their investigative efforts on FEMA’s aid distribution. The pair received $25,000
A Cambridge City Council committee unanimously recommended a policy order eliminating minimum requirements for off-street parking spaces for new developments during a virtual meeting Tuesday. Under Cambridge’s current zoning code, developers must build at least one off-street parking space for each unit in a new residential building, with slightly different requirements for non-residential development. Members of the Transportation and Public Utility Committee voted 5-0 to recommend a policy order authored by Councilors Burhan Azeem, Quinton Y. Zondervan, and Mark C. McGovern to remove this minimum parking space requirement. The order is likely to pass in the full Council, where five votes constitute a majority in the nine-member body. If the order becomes law, Cambridge will join the growing list of major cities that have abolished parking minimums in recent years, including Minneapolis and San Francisco. Many
Nancy Gibbs, Shorenstein Center Director, presents Michele Norris, columnist for the Washington Post, with the 2022 Goldstein Career Award. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
SEE FAS PAGE 5
Donations to Harvard from Foreign Sources
Michele Norris Wins Reporting Award
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted overwhelmingly in favor of a proposal that will allow undergraduate students to pursue double concentrations at its monthly meeting on Tuesday. Around 91 percent of faculty voted in favor of the plan, which will allow College students to study two fields without writing a joint thesis. The policy change will take effect in the fall. Currently, undergraduates who want to study two disciplines must either pursue a joint concentration — which requires an interdisciplinary joint thesis — or add a secondary field of study, which has fewer requirements and less administrative support. The double concentrations proposal allows up to eight credits — generally two courses — to be double counted between the concentrations. The plan, which was first discussed by faculty members
last month, was introduced by Undergraduate Education Dean Amanda J. Claybaugh. Claybaugh said the change will open doors for students who want to pursue two unrelated fields, especially ones who would otherwise concentrate solely in a STEM field but have interest in the arts and humanities or social sciences. But some faculty who opposed the plan said double concentrations could incentivize students to seek out another credential on their degree, limiting room for electives. “What the legislation is changing is the credential that they have on their transcript,” said professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology David A. Haig. The remark drew criticism from some faculty. “With all due respect, I don’t think this is just a dichotomy between credentials and the substance of the student experience,” Arts and Humanities Dean Robin E. Kelsey said. Kelsey added that people
TODAY’S FORECAST
SEE IOP PAGE 3
RAINY High: 46 Low: 42
others have implemented reforms significantly loosening parking requirements. Azeem, the committee’s chair, gave a presentation about the policy order during the meeting, noting that parking minimums overestimate the true demand for parking. “There’s a lot of evidence coming — as cities have started to move away from parking minimums — that parking requirements can be too high and suggests that cities are forcing developers to build parking that people don’t want, at a cost of housing units that people do want,” Azeem said. According to a 2020 report from the Cambridge Community Development Department, the share of both Cambridge residents and non-resident workers who drive to work has fallen significantly since 2000, while the share of people walking, biking, or taking public transportation has risen. Councilor Paul F. Toner, who supported the order, called for “some oversight” to prevent developers from “abusing” the
SEE PARKING PAGE 3
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