THE HARVARD CRIMSON THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
| VOLUME CLI, NO. 4
| CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
CORPORATION
LEADERSHIP CRISIS
OPINION
SPORTS
Garber Should Resign From Vertex for Harvard’s Sake
Harvard Football Represented on Both Super Bowl Teams
PAGE 9
|
PAGE 16
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024
Frazier, Bae Join the Harvard Corporation APPOINTMENTS. CEO and chairman of pharmaceutical giant Merck Kenneth C. Frazier and private equity billionaire Joseph Y. Bae ’94 will join the Harvard Corporation, the University announced. SEE PAGE 4
Harvard’s Path Forward
INVESTIGATION
Dept. of Ed. Investigates Harvard for Alleged Bias COMPLAINT. The U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into Harvard following a complaint alleging the University failed to protect students from anti-Palestian discrimination. SEE PAGE 5
GARBER’S TASK. As the University continues to grapple with its leadership crisis and prepares for an impending presidential search, interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 faces a rocky path ahead. SEE PAGE 6 SAMI E. TURNER — CRIMSON DESIGNER
PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH
10 Potential Contenders for Harvard’s Presidency BY EMMA H. HAIDAR AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
FOOTBALL
Aurich to Be Harvard Football Head Coach SELECTION. Andrew Aurich, a tight ends coach at Rutgers University, will serve as the next head coach of Harvard’s football team, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. SEE PAGE 5
F
or the second time in two years, Harvard is searching for a new president. Claudine Gay, Harvard’s 30th president, was expected to lead the University for much of the next decade. Instead, she resigned just six months and two days into her tenure, becoming the shortest serving president in Harvard’s history. Now, Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 and the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — must find someone to lead Harvard out of its leadership crisis. After appointing two new members to the board on Sunday, the Corporation is primed to announce a presidential search committee and formally begin the process of selecting Harvard’s 31st president.
SEE PAGE 8
Foxx Issues Final Warning to Harvard
Crisis of Transparency in Schools, Parents Say
CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
ENDOWMENT
SEE PAGE 12
Alan M. Garber ’76, Interim Harvard President
Garber is one of the most obvious options to serve as Harvard’s 31st president. In an interview with The Crimson late last month, Garber, 68, did not remove himself from the running to become Harvard’s next permanent leader. Garber, who has served as the University’s provost for 12 years, has more experience in senior administration at Harvard than any other contender. Garber, who received a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard and an M.D. from Stanford, serves on the faculty of four Harvard schools. HMS professor Maryam M. Asgari wrote in a statement to The Crimson that Garber “would be my first pick for the next President.” “He has the requisite institutional knowledge and a proven track-record of effectively managing a diversity of ideas and deftly navigating both internal and
SCHOOLS
AND CAM E. KETTLES
FINANCE. Two Massachusetts lawmakers proposed a bill that would impose an annual tax of 2.5 percent on Harvard’s endowment. The bill affects private education endowments greater than $1 billion.
one year. While there are no official restrictions on the position, the last four presidents have graduated from Harvard. Harvard professor and education governance expert Richard P. Chait also told The Crimson in September 2022 that being eligible for tenure at Harvard “has the greatest effect” on the search. While former U.S. President Barack Obama, a graduate of Harvard Law School, was rumored to be a potential contender for the Harvard presidency, a person directly familiar with the matter told The Crimson that Obama is not in the running. The Crimson spoke with Harvard alumni, professors, and donors to determine a list of 10 possible candidates for the University’s top job.
CONGRESS
BY EMMA H. HAIDAR
Proposed Endowment Tax Bill
Harvard doesn’t use an external search firm, instead relying on a committee that typically includes all 12 Fellows of the Corporation — as the board’s members are formally known — and three members of the Board of Overseers, the University’s second-highest governing body. After a search committee is named, they typically conduct broad outreach among students, faculty, alumni, donors, and higher education experts to create a candidate pool. Months before selecting Gay, Pritzker solicited advice and nominations from affiliates via email. The Corporation wrote in a Jan. 2 email announcing Gay’s resignation that the search for her successor will include “consultation with the Harvard community.” Later in the process, the search committee will develop a short list of candidates. While Gay’s selection was the shortest in 70 years — lasting just five months — the process typically takes just less than
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce issued a final warning on Wednesday for Harvard to fully comply with its request for documents and communications related to its investigation into antisemitism on campus. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chairwoman of the committee, wrote in a Wednesday letter to interim President Alan M. Garber ’76 and Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 that “the Committee is prepared to issue a subpoena” if the University does not fully comply with the request. Foxx accused Harvard of “obstructing” the committee’s investigation into campus antisemitism in the letter and warned the University that if it does not provide the committee with the requested documents and communications — including emails
and text messages between members of the Corporation relating to antisemitism — within a week, the committee will issue a subpoena. The committee requested a lengthy list of formal documents and informal communications from the University in a Jan. 9 letter, although it initially announced an investigation into antisemitism at Harvard on Dec. 7, two days after former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s controversial testimony in Congress. Harvard responded by providing more than a thousand pages of publicly available documents on University statements, court cases, and letters from nonprofit organizations, which Foxx previously said was “woefully inadequate.” Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement Wednesday evening that Harvard was “cooperating with the Committee’s inquiry and has provided extensive information.”
SEE PAGE 4
BY DARCY G LIN AND EMILY T. SCHWARTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Anna B. Shin, whose second-grader attends Graham & Parks School, attended last month’s school council meeting for an “open discussion” about her child’s education. But instead of active dialogue, Shin was met with Principal Kathleen M. Smith and other school administrators rotely writing down parents’ questions and concerns, pledging to return with answers. The responses, Shin said, never came. In interviews, eight parents of Graham & Parks students said they had deep concerns about a lack of transparency from Smith. They said they were confused about the future of Graham and Park’s project-based learning approach, upset by rearrangements of assistant teachers in classrooms, and put off by the police presence outside of school.
But as Cambridge Public Schools has engaged a law firm to investigate allegations of toxicity against Smith, parents who support Smith praised her for advancing systemic changes that aim to improve student performance and reduce inequality at the school. Graham & Parks’ School Council parent representatives wrote in an emailed statement to The Crimson that “Smith has shown immense fortitude by refusing to let us look away from the stark reality we face as a school.” ‘A Crisis That Requires Immediate Action’ Anger against Smith has been brewing for months. Since her arrival to Graham & Parks in July 2022, parents have harbored concerns about Smith’s leadership. Parents claimed she is uncommunicative
SEE PAGE 11