THE HARVARD CRIMSON
OPINION
SPORTS
What’s in a Name? Harvard Trademark and Student Groups
Northeastern Beats Harvard 3-2 to Win Beanpot
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
| VOLUME CL, NO. 4 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
|
EDUCATION
HARVARD UNIVERSITY HEALTH SERVICES
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2023
Cambridge to Launch Universal Pre-K PRE-K FOR ALL. The Cambridge School Committee and City Council unveiled the Cambridge Preschool Program at a meeting Tuesday. The program is set to launch in the 2024-2025 school year.
HUHS Fires Doctor Facing Misconduct Allegations
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LIVABILITY
How the Unhoused Endured Record Cold EXTREME COLD. Cambridge’s unhoused residents sought warmth in public transport and local shelters HSHS and Y2Y in record-breaking low temperatures earlier this month. SEE PAGE 4
MISCONDUCT COMPLAINTS. A Harvard University Health Services physician was terminated last year after receiving several complaints from female patients aged 18 to 31 who alleged misconduct and inappropriate behavior during physical examinations. SEE PAGE 5
JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER, SAMI E. TURNER—CRIMSON DESIGNER
GLOBAL HARVARD
Latin American Scholars Program to Shut Down After Harvard Revokes Affiliation BY MILES J. HERSZENHORN AND LEAH J. LOURENCO
ARTS
CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
L Jennifer Coolidge Parades in the Square WOMAN OF THE YEAR. Hasty Pudding Theatricals honored Jennifer Coolidge as their Woman of the Year. On Feb. 4., fans gathered in the cold to see her parade. SEE PAGE 11
ALUMNI
Alumnus Accused of Sexual Assault SEXUAL ASSAULT. Forty women accused James Toback ’66 of sexual assault and the Harvard Club of NYC of negligence. SEE PAGE 4
aspau, a Harvard-affiliated nonprofit that promotes higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean, will shut down after the University decided to revoke its affiliate status. Harvard co-founded Laspau in 1966 as the Latin American Scholarship Program of American Universities to provide undergraduate students from Latin America with grants to study in the United States.
The nonprofit, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016, now provides support to institutions of higher learning in Latin America and the Caribbean through educational programs for students and faculty. In an email obtained by The Crimson, Angélica M. Natera, the executive director of Laspau, wrote in January to the Harvard Office of the Provost that the organization’s board of trustees “determined that without the Harvard affiliation, Laspau will be unable to fulfill its mission and serve its stakeholders.” “On October 1, 2023, Laspau will be-
TURKEY AND SYRIA EARTHQUAKES
gin the process of winding down its operations and concluding its inspirational journey of serving the Americas and representing Harvard,” Natera wrote in the email. Harvard University spokesperson Jason A. Newton confirmed in a statement to The Crimson that the University is revoking Laspau’s status as a Harvard affiliate. “This is the result of a very long and thoughtful process that ultimately ended in the decision that Harvard and Laspau’s missions did not align,” Newton wrote. “However, Harvard continues to
have deep and wide engagement in Latin America.” Natera underscored Laspau’s close collaboration with Harvard in the email to the Provost’s Office. “The close connection with Harvard has been critical to Laspau’s work in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as with U.S. universities,” Natera wrote. “Harvard has been the institutional home for Laspau staff, and the partnership has contributed to Laspau’s success in building institutions and in advancing teaching
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LABOR
Letter Calls for Harvard HAW-UAW Holds First to Aid Turkey and Syria Rallies Since Launch BY LEAH J. LOURENCO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Hundreds of Harvard affiliates signed an open letter asking for the University to raise awareness to earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria last week, killing tens of thousands of people in the regions. The letter, addressed to University President Lawrence S. Bacow, has received more than 650 signatures as of Monday night. Written by a group of Turkish Harvard students, alumni, and faculty, the letter calls on the University to raise awareness to the crisis through the Harvard Alumni Association and through social media and publications. More than 36,000 people have died after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, and tens of thousands are injured. In the days following the earthquakes, undergraduates from the Harvard College Turkish Student Association and Harvard Society of Arab Students raised more than $30,000 in donations for earthquake relief efforts. The letter called attention to freezing temperatures and damaged infrastructure, which have stalled aid efforts amid the crisis.
“Many are struggling to find safe shelter, water, food, and medication,” the letter reads. “Several rescue organizations and nonprofits have deployed volunteers to the area and are working tirelessly around the clock, but they need all the support they can get.” The open letter asked the administration to highlight emergency relief nonprofits including the Turkish Philanthropy Funds, the Turkey Mozaik Foundation, the Ahbap Association, and Syria Relief. Harvard professor of Turkish Studies Cemal Kafadar, who helped to edit the letter, said he hopes for a personal statement from Bacow as well as institutional support from Harvard. “What they expect is that the University will help through alumni associations, through its media, positions, or connections — help us disseminate the message and somehow indicate that there is an institutional support behind it,” Kafadar said. Kafadar also noted that Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger offered condolences in a statement last week, while Bacow has remained silent following the earthquakes.
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BY CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
After launching a public card campaign to unionize Harvard’s non-tenure-track faculty on Feb. 6, Harvard Academic Workers-United Automobile Workers held their first public rallies Tuesday. More than 100 students, faculty, and public officials attended rallies in Harvard Yard and at the Longwood campus, where HAW-UAW organizers urged attendees to sign union authorization cards. “Harvard has the capacity to treat us fairly and it chooses not to,” Harvard Extension School instructor Michaela J. Thompson said in a speech in Harvard Yard. “At every turn, we have been shown time and time again that they do not care if we are underpaid, undersupported, and overworked.” HAW-UAW is demanding a contract with the University that ensures higher compensation, job security, and broader workplace protections. Many non-tenure-track faculty — a group which includes lecturers, postdoctoral fellows, preceptors, and adjunct faculty — face “time caps” on their employment, limiting them to a certain number
of years at Harvard depending on their position. Thompson, who timed out of her role as a preceptor in June 2022, said in a speech that time caps are arbitrary limits not based on job performance. “Timing out means that I was fired,” she said. Yiddish preceptor and rally organizer Sara M. Feldman said that organizers were told before and during the Covid-19 pandemic that the time cap system is a way to keep the curriculum and teaching fresh. “We were told that it was necessary for nimbleness — that we are expected to burn out and need replacing because we will be so exhausted at our jobs,” she said. Non-tenure-track faculty also spoke about being unable to afford adequate child care or rent without having roommates, adding that they are not provided with dental insurance. “$50 billion endowment and you can’t give us dental, Harvard?” Thompson said. University spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment. In addition to members of Harvard’s unions, organizers from other
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