THE HARVARD CRIMSON THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
| VOLUME CL, NO. 25 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
COLLEGE
KENNEDY SCHOOL
ARTS
SPORTS
Boston Ballet’s 60th Season Show, ‘Fall Experience’
Harvard Football Defeats Howard, Improves to 5-0
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| FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2023
Khurana Discusses ‘Restorative Justice’ COLLEGE DEAN Rakesh Khurana said in an interview that Harvard has integrated “restorative justice” into its disciplinary approach. The move coincides with a downward trend in Ad Board cases. SEE PAGE 5
Finding the Next Kennedy School Dean
LAW SCHOOL
Obama Misses Internet Summit LAB LAUNCH. Former President Barack Obama was slated to speak at a summit on Wednesday to celebrate the launch of a new lab on campus, but he skipped the event due to Covid-like symptoms.
‘THE EYE OF EVERY STORM’: Six weeks after Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf announced he would step down, the search for his successor has begun in earnest. In the months to come, the search committee will have to consider backlash against the University, global conflict, and competing views over what the next dean should prioritize. SEE PAGE 6
TOBY R. MA — CRIMSON DESIGNER
UNIVERSITY FINANCES
SEE PAGE 8
Harvard Endowment Value Falls For Second Consecutive Year, Records Modest 2.9% Return
ARTS
BY KRISHI KISHORE AND ROHAN RAJEEV CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
T Artist Profile: Phil Chan on Storytelling Through Art ‘HUMAN STORY’ The Crimson interviewed choreographer and author Phil Chan, who discussed his artistic journey and his experience as directing a reimagined version of “Madama Butterfly.” SEE PAGE 14
he value of Harvard’s endowment fell for the second consecutive year, despite delivering a 2.9 percent return for fiscal year 2023, as distributions to school operations outpaced investment gains and new contributions. The low investment returns, which generated just $1.3 billion, left the market value of Harvard’s endowment at $50.7 billion — down from $50.9 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year. The decrease comes one year after Harvard reported a $2.3 billion decline in endowment value during fiscal year 2022, representing the first time in two decades that the school
COMAROFF
Housing Policy Passes CITY COUNCIL. The Cambridge City Council voted to pass amendments to the city’s 100%-Affordable Housing Zoning Overlay Monday, setting the stage for taller housing developments in the city. SEE PAGE 11
“generally muted returns for asset classes outside of public equities.” Public equity markets rallied in the second half of fiscal year 2023, which ended in June. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ indices rose by 16.9 and 32.3 percent, respectively, between January and June. Despite the “dramatic equity rally,” Narvekar wrote that the endowment’s performance “does not reflect a significant impact from public equity movements” due to HMC’s “limited long-only public equity exposure.” “This portfolio construction also helps brace against significant swings in either direction, as it did last year when the FY22 return (-1.8%) was not meaningfully impacted by an overall double-digit public equity decline,” he wrote. Harvard’s endowment is heavily al-
located towards alternative investment strategies such as private equity and hedge funds, which respectively accounted for 39 and 31 percent of its assets at the end of fiscal year 2023, according to Narvekar’s note. In contrast, just 11 percent of the endowment is invested in public equities. While Narvekar disclosed the endowment’s asset allocation in his note, he did not provide a breakdown of investment returns by asset class, a longtime practice HMC abandoned last year. Since HMC did not release its asset allocation last year, the updated figures reflect changes in the company’s investments over the past two years. HMC’s private equity portfolio reported “only slightly positive” returns during
SEE PAGE 5
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT
Hoekstra Confirms Gay’s First 100 Days Comaroff Still Sanctioned Marked By Turmoil BY RAHEM D. HAMID
CAMBRIDGE
has experienced two consecutive years of endowment drops. Harvard’s peer institutions also reported lackluster returns. MIT and Duke University saw investment losses of 2.9 and 1 percent, respectively. Stanford University, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania reported respective investment gains of 4.4, 1.8, and 1.3 percent. Harvard disclosed its fiscal year 2023 results on Thursday in its Annual Financial Report, which offers a rare glimpse into the University’s finances and investment strategy each October. In a note included in the financial report, Harvard Management Company CEO N.P. “Narv” Narvekar wrote that the endowment’s low investment returns are consistent with market conditions in fiscal year 2023, which he called a year of
AND ELIAS J. SCHISGALL CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
John L. Comaroff — the Harvard professor accused of sexual harassment and professional retaliation — is still prohibited from teaching required College courses, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra said in an interview last week. “To my knowledge, there are still sanctions in place,” Hoekstra said, specifying that Comaroff is “not permitted to teach required undergraduate courses” and noting that she did not make the decision to continue his sanctions. Besides noting that Comaroff was on leave, Hoekstra did not comment further on the professor. Ruth K. O’Meara-Costello ’02, one of Comaroff’s lawyers, confirmed in an email that he is on medical leave.
In January 2022, Comaroff was sanctioned by then-FAS Dean Claudine Gay — now serving as Harvard’s president — for violating FAS’ sexual harassment and professional conduct policies. Gay announced he would be barred from teaching required courses or taking on new graduate students. Gay wrote then that she would determine at the end of the following academic year on whether or not to lift the sanctions. That decision would have come at the end of the 2022-23 academic year, when Gay was wrapping up her tenure as FAS dean and transitioning to the presidency. In a follow-up email, FAS spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo declined to comment on whether the prohibition on Comaroff taking on new graduate students was also still in effect or how long the sanctions would last. He did not specify
SEE PAGE 8
BY MILES J. HERSZENHORN AND CLAIRE YUAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
As dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Claudine Gay largely managed to avoid national media scrutiny even as several faculty members became the subjects of highly publicized scandals. Now, as the public face of Harvard, that’s no longer possible. As Gay marked her 100th day as president on Oct. 9, tensions flared on campus after 34 student groups signed onto a statement calling Israel “entirely responsible” for a deadly attack by Hamas. Gay’s administration drew intense criticism — including from former University President Lawrence H. Summers — over its slow response to the violence in Israel while allowing the student groups’ statement to grab national headlines.
The messaging stumble on Israel was just part of a 100-day trial by fire: the Supreme Court’s ruling against Harvard on affirmative action, the increased political pressure on the University to abolish legacy admissions preferences, and the need to fill several high-level dean positions. Since assuming office on July 1, Gay has sought to focus on the at-home aspects of her new job, but external events — like political distractions in Washington — have made that difficult. ‘Say Something About the Real World’ Gay largely avoided criticism from Harvard affiliates during her first 100 days in office — a honeymoon that ended last Monday. Slightly more than one week after Summers sat onstage during Gay’s inauguration,
SEE PAGE 4