THE HARVARD CRIMSON THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
| VOLUME CL, NO. 3 |
CAMPUS GROUPS
LABOR
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
OPINION
SPORTS
Sayed Faisal Should Have Received Help, Not a Bullet
Harvard Beats Boston College 4-3 in Beanpot Semifinal
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| FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2023
Student Orgs Raise $30,000+ for Turkey, Syria EARTHQUAKE RELIEF. On campus, affinity groups have organized fundraisers to raise money for victims of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. SEE PAGE 7
The Push to Unionize
GOVERNMENT
Skepticism over Wu’s BPDA Reforms BPDA CONTROVERSY. Allston residents expressed skepticism over proposed changes to the Boston Planning and Development Agency, whose powers bypass public accountability, critics say. SEE PAGE 10
UNION DRIVES LAUNCHED. This week, two unionization campaigns hit Harvard’s campus — one for non-tenure-track faculty members and one for undergraduate student employeees. Harvard Academic Workers-United Automobile Workers formally launched a card authorization drive Monday, while Harvard Undergraduate Workers Union is seeking supporters. SEE PAGE 5
SAMI E. TURNER—CRIMSON DESIGNER, JOEY HUANG—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
Harvard Law Student Charged With Assaulting Student In Homophobic Attack BY JO B. LEMANN, YUSUF S. MIAN,
THEATER
AND NEIL H. SHAH CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
A Hasty Pudding Honors Bob Odenkirk MAN OF THE YEAR. Bob Odenkirk was honored by the centuries-old theater troupe on Feb. 2 in a night of festivities complete with wacky outfits and comedic jabs. SEE PAGE 11
Harvard Law School student was arrested after allegedly assaulting a fellow HLS student in a homophobic attack last month, according to a Harvard University Police report. According to the report, HLS student Naod N. Nega approached another student outside Langdell Hall on the afternoon of Jan. 23 and repeatedly punched the student, calling him a homophobic slur. Nega has been charged with assault and battery for the purpose of intimidation — a hate crime under Massachusetts state law. He pleaded not guilty to the
SEE PAGE 4
Search For New FAS Dean Begins
More than 100 Petition HKS Dean to Resign
CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
EDUCATION
SEE PAGE 4
ment. Monica E. Monroe, HLS assistant dean for community engagement, equity, and belonging, and Stephen L. Ball, HLS assistant dean and dean of students, wrote in an email sent to HLS students roughly nine hours after the attack that HUPD found no “immediate threat” to campus. “We condemn unconditionally all violence, hatred, and homophobia, and will continue to work to foster a campus in which members of our Law School and University community feel welcome, safe, and included,” they wrote in the email. The deans’ email referred to Nega as “an individual affiliated with HLS,” though some students said they were upset with what they viewed as a lack of specificity in the statement.
HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
AND ELIAS J. SCHISGALL
CURRICULUM BAN. Harvard faculty and Cambridge Rindge and Latin School affiliates criticized the Florida governor’s decision to ban Advanced Placement course “African American Studies.”
the initial assault. A press release issued by CPD last week said a Cambridge male assaulted at least five staff members while at a local hospital. Warnick confirmed in an email that the press release referenced Nega. “The male was initially sectioned to a local hospital on Monday, January 23rd after he was threatening students on campus with a baseball bat, used racial slurs, punched a college student in an unprovoked attack, and intimidated them due their sexual orientation,” the CPD press release reads. At his arraignment, Nega was ordered to undergo treatment and evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital and will return to court for a status hearing on Feb. 16. The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office did not respond to requests for com-
FAS
BY RAHEM D. HAMID
Affiliates Criticize AP Course Ban
charge at a Jan. 27 arraignment. Nega’s attorney, Alice L. Purple, declined a request for comment. According to the police report, a witness believed Nega to be either under the influence of narcotics or off medication and reported Nega was in possession of a baseball bat. The police report also states that Nega, who is currently on a leave of absence from HLS, was previously involved in multiple incidents involving “aggressive and violent behavior.” HLS spokesperson Jeff Neal declined to comment on Nega’s current status at the school, citing privacy laws. Cambridge Police Department spokesperson Jeremy C. Warnick wrote in an email that CPD officers served a warrant for Nega’s arrest at a local hospital, where Nega was involuntarily transported after
The search for Harvard’s next dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest academic school, launched Tuesday afternoon, FAS Dean and University President-elect Claudine Gay announced in an email to FAS affiliates. Gay and University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 will lead the search, with assistance from a 14-person advisory committee composed of 12 FAS professors, Dean of Harvard Law School John F. Manning ’82, and Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley. The FAS professors come from all three academic divisions and span more than a dozen academic departments. Gay said selecting a candidate to succeed her at the helm of Harvard’s biggest school will be one of her “first and most important tasks as president-elect.”
“We hope to benefit from views from across the FAS community and beyond as we seek to identify an outstanding new leader of the FAS,” Gay wrote. Gay’s email did not provide a timeline for the search or specify to what extent Harvard’s current president, Lawrence S. Bacow, will be involved. Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment on a timeline or Bacow’s involvement. In recent decades, FAS deans have stepped down at around the same time as the University president. Gay’s search for her successor will be the fourth consecutive time a president-elect or first-year president has appointed a new FAS dean. In her email, Gay invited FAS faculty, students, and staff to provide insights on the future of the FAS or nominate potential candidates via a survey or a dedicated email for the search. “We particularly invite your thoughts
SEE PAGE 7
BY MILES J. HERSZENHORN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
More than 100 people signed a petition calling on Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf to resign after The Crimson reported he is forcing out online misinformation expert Joan M. Donovan from her role at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and ending her research project. The petition — which passed 100 signatures Wednesday afternoon — demands Elmendorf’s resignation, the continuation of Donovan’s Technology and Social Change project, and the hiring of Donovan as a full faculty member at HKS. It also requests the reversal of the Harvard policy that stipulates research projects must be led by tenured faculty members. “Donovan is tirelessly dedicated to uncovering bad actors online, teaching her students how to do the same, and promoting social justice throughout her work,”
the petition stated. “Defunding and stripping her of a position at HKS will only hurt the institution and prevent students from becoming effective beacons of truth, justice, and power.” This petition is the second in the span of one month to call for Elmendorf’s resignation. More than one thousand Harvard affiliates signed a similar petition in January after he blocked former Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth from a fellowship at the school’s Carr Center for Human Rights. Amid backlash, Elmendorf reversed course and offered Roth the fellowship. The Crimson reported last week that the Kennedy School is shutting down the Technology and Social Change project, which has been led by Donovan at the Shorenstein Center since 2019. The project is set to end by June 2024. Devika Balachandran, who authored the petition calling for Donovan to be
SEE PAGE 7