THE HARVARD CRIMSON THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
| VOLUME CL, NO. 30
EDITORIAL
FAS
Harvard Should Be Bigger BIGGER IS BETTER. From social mobility, to pioneering research, to field-leading alumni, we believe Harvard does good. Expansion, physical and digital, would only increase these benefits. A bigger Harvard is a better Harvard.
| CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
MUSIC
SPORTS
In The Gallery of Rhythms: Unveiling 50 Years of Hip-Hop
Graham Blanks Wins NCAA Divsion I Cross Country Nationals
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2023
Admin Toxicity Complaints Left Unaddressed ‘BULLIED INTO LEAVING.’ Top Harvard officials repeatedly failed to address complaints against Associate Dean for Research Administration Services Lauren Ferrell that accused her of creating a toxic work environment, according to 10 current and former University administrators. In just under two and a half years, the department has shrunk from 26 to 10 staffers. SEE PAGE 6
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COMPLAINT
Dept. of Education Investigating Harvard INVESTIGATION. The U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into Harvard on Tuesday over the University’s response to allegations of antisemitism. SEE PAGE 7
TOBY R. MA — CRIMSON DESIGNER
DONORS
Gift Officers Wary About Israel-Hamas Backlash BY EMMA H. HAIDAR
GAY
MILES J. HERSZENHORN AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Gay Will Testify in Congress on Dec. 5 BY MILES J. HERSZENHORN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Harvard President Claudine Gay will testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce about antisemitism on college and university campuses, the committee announced in a press release Tuesday morning. Gay will testify during a hearing on Dec. 5 alongside MIT President Sally A. Kornbluth and University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill. Harvard, MIT, and UPenn have all faced calls to do more to combat antisemitism after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel revealed bitter tensions on college campuses across the country. Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton confirmed in a statement that Gay accepted the committee’s invitation to testify. “President Gay looks forward to sharing updates and information on the university’s work to support the Harvard community and combat antisemitism,” Newton wrote. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), who chairs the Education and Workforce Committee, said in the press release that by holding the hearing, the committee is “shining the spotlight on these campus leaders and demanding they take the appropriate action to stand strong against antisemitism.” “College and university presidents have a responsibility to foster and uphold a safe learning
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arvard gift officers are privately worried that some longtime donors will stop giving as a result of the controversy over the University’s response to the Israel-Hamas war and concerns about antisemitism on campus, five Harvard donors said in interviews over the past month. A few of the donors also said they have personally faced pressure to stop donating to Harvard. The donor backlash has put an additional strain on Harvard administrators, who have also worked overtime to ease tensions on campus over Israel and Palestine. “I have talked to people in the administration of the University and I know they’re concerned. Everyone’s concerned about it,” said Kenneth G. Lipper, a former member of the Executive Committee of the Committee of University Resources — a group consisting of people who have
donated at least $1 million to Harvard. “It’s a difficult time for the president and it’s a difficult time for the University,” Lipper added. After initially declining to comment for this article, Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement after publication Wednesday that the University “has been in conversation with alumni and supporters, and will continue to engage closely with them.” “They are a vital part of our community,” Newton added. Harvard faced fierce criticism from a slew of prominent affiliates — including major donors and former University President Lawrence H. Summers — after it released an initial statement about Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that did not address a controversial student statement and failed to directly condemn Hamas. Over the weeks since, University officials have made several efforts to contain the backlash. Harvard administrators released eight additional “messages to the community” related to the Israel-Hamas war, and
President Claudine Gay established an advisory group to combat antisemitism on campus. Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 also acknowledged the first statement’s shortcomings in an interview with The Crimson, saying he “has regrets” over it. But the damage inflicted by Harvard’s initial statement has been difficult to reverse — and it could prove very costly for the University. A Growing Donor Exodus Several major Harvard donors have opted to publicly withdraw their support for the University over the weeks since Oct. 7. The Wexner Foundation, chaired by billionaire Leslie H. Wexner, cut ties with Harvard and the Harvard Kennedy School after it described the University’s response to Hamas’ attack on Israel as a “dismal failure.” Idan Ofer, an Israeli billionaire and businessman, quit the Kennedy School’s executive board in protest of the University’s handling of the situation. Bill A. Ackman ’88, a billionaire hedge fund manager who donated $26 million
to the University in 2014, has emerged as one of President Claudine Gay’s most vocal critics since Oct. 7. Ackman repeatedly slammed the University in posts on X and called on Harvard to publicly list students who were members of the student groups that signed onto the controversial statement that held Israel “entirely responsible” for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. But billionaires are not the only donors who are threatening to suspend their charitable contributions to Harvard. In an open letter by the Harvard College Jewish Alumni Association, more than 200 donors have pledged to stop giving to the University until a series of demands are met, including the development of a plan to combat antisemitism on campus. “It should not require three statements (the latter two following a faculty protest) for this University and its leadership to condemn these evils,” the group wrote in the letter, addressed to the Harvard Corporation. More than 1,800 alumni signed an
SEE PAGE 5
KISSINGER
Ex-Secretary of State Kissinger ’50 Dies At 100 BY RAHEM D. HAMID AND ELIAS J. SCHISGALL CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Henry A. Kissinger ’50, a former Secretary of State and faculty member in the Government Department, died in his home in Connecticut at 100, according to a statement on his website Wednesday evening. Kissinger, who served as Secretary of State under Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford, exerted a lasting influence on American foreign policy and was among the most controversial figures in American politics. As a diplomat, Kissinger was instrumental in advocating for a policy of detente with the Soviet Union and China, helping organize Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, where he met with Chairman of the
Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong. The trip ended nearly a quarter-century of diplomatic isolation between the U.S. and China. Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy” during the 1973 Yom Kippur War — in which Egypt and Syria invaded Israel — led to disengagement agreements ending the conflict. But Kissinger’s diplomatic legacy is mired in controversy. He was intimately involved in the bombing of Cambodia between 1969 and 1973, which resulted in the deaths of at least 50,000 civilians and contributed to the rise of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. He also faced criticism for supporting authoritarian regimes in Pakistan, Chile, Argentina, and Indonesia. In 1973, Kissinger was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside North Vietnamese diplomat Lê Đức Thọ, for the
negotiation of the Paris Peace Accords to end the Vietnam War — prompting two members of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to resign in protest. Thọ turned down the Prize and accused the U.S. and South Vietnam of violating the agreement, leading to the continuation of the war in Vietnam until 1975. Born into a Jewish family in Bavaria in 1923, Kissinger fled Nazi persecution as a teenager and arrived in New York in 1938. He served in the army toward the end of World War II and enrolled at Harvard in 1947 on the G.I. Bill. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1950, the former Adams House resident returned for his master’s degree in 1952 and a Ph.D. just two years later, in 1954. At Harvard, his undergraduate thesis ran for nearly 400 pages, resulting in the imposition of 150-page limit for future govern-
ment theses. Prior to his political career, Kissinger taught at his alma mater from 1954 to 1969 as a professor in the Government Department. There, he overlapped as a faculty member with Zbigniew K. Brzezinski, who would later serve as National Security Advisor under President Jimmy Carter, Samuel P. Huntington, a future Carter administration official who co-founded Foreign Policy magazine, and then-Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean McGeorge Bundy. Bundy was an architect of the Vietnam War who would himself leave Harvard in 1961 to serve as National Security Advisor to President John F. Kennedy ’40. Peter L. Malkin ’55, who interacted with Kissinger as an undergraduate, said that he was “moved by the fact that he has
SEE PAGE 4