The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 103

The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLVI, No. 103 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | tuesday, october 15, 2019

editorial PAGE 4

news PAGE 5

sports PAGE 6

Your thesis might be more important than you think. Teddy Roosevelt’s was.

Rachel Bloom honored as IGP’s 2019 Player of the Year

Harvard football defeats rival Cornell 35-22

Grad Students City Celebrates Indigenous History to Vote on Strike By benjamin l. fu and fiona k. brennan

By james s. bikales Crimson Staff Writer

Graduate students across the University will begin voting Tuesday whether to authorize a student worker strike, marking an escalation in the negotiation process that began exactly one year ago.

Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers’ bargaining committee announced their plans to hold a strike authorization vote Oct. 8 as major contractual issues — including compensation, healthcare, and harassment and discrimination protections — remain unresolved.

“This is our chance to make our voices heard loud and clear to the administration, and to declare forcefully that the Administration must move on our key issues we care most about and negotiate the contract we deserve,” the bargaining committee wrote in an email to its members Friday.

Successful strike authorization would not immediately trigger a strike, but rather would permit the bargaining committee to call for a strike when it sees fit. Voting will begin Tuesday at 8 a.m. in Wasserstein Hall at the Law School.

It will continue throughout the week in 21 locations across Har­

UC Backs Union Strike Vote

vard’s Cambridge and Longwood campuses, as well as the Broad and Ragon Institutes on MIT’s campus, according to the union’s email. Voters will fill out a secret paper ballot.

The email lists voting times through Friday, but more times may be announced as voting proceeds, according to bargaining committee member Ege Yumusak ’16. All student workers who have signed a union card will be eligible to vote, and union cards will be available to sign at the polls, the email said.

Student workers include former and current workers, as well as those who “expect to be employed by the university.” University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain reiterated the University’s position that the strike authorization is “unwarranted” in an emailed statement Tuesday.

“The University continues to approach these negotiations in good faith and has offered substantive proposals that address the concerns raised by HGSU-UAW throughout these negotiations,” Swain wrote.

In order to pass, the vote needs affirmation from a twothirds majority of those voting — not the entire bargaining unit — based on rules set out in the UAW Constitution.

See strike Page 3

contributing writers

Undergraduate group Native Americans at Harvard College hosted an Indigenous Peoples’ Day event Monday, celebrating native cultures and petitioning Harvard administrators to solely accept Indigenous Peoples’ Day as the official University holiday and cease recognition of Columbus Day. Monday’s event, held in front of Matthews Hall in Harvard Yard, featured songs, dances, and narrative performances by Native American Harvard affiliates. Cambridge Mayor Marc C. McGovern and Joseph P. Gone, faculty director of the Harvard University Native American Program, also delivered speeches. Both speakers discussed the importance of working with Native Americans to properly recognize indigenous history and culture at Harvard and in the greater Boston area.

McGovern said the Cambridge City Council’s 2016 decision to recognize the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day was partially motivated by attempts to address past injustice.

“Cambridge’s history, however, like the rest of the country, is stained by the actions of our ancestors,” he said. “It’s

Cambridge Mayor Marc C. McGovern spoke at Harvard’s Indigenous People’s Day event Monday, honoring native peoples around the world. joshua a. ng—Crimson photographer

up to us to right those wrongs on our journey to building an inclusive and equitable city, and that includes shelving Columbus Day to allow other perspectives and stories to come forward.”

In his comments, McGovern said there was a need for the city and University to consider historical context as it pertains to indigenous people when reflecting on their own histories.

“Any history that we tell about ourselves, this University, or this city, must rightly begin with [the Massachusett

See holiday Page 3

Med School Receives Autism Center Gift

SEE PAGE 5

By alexis k. bolner Crimson Staff Writer

By kevin r. chen

­

See UC Page 3 Inside this issue

Harvard Today 2

Harvard Medical School received a $20 million donation from philanthropists Hock E. Tan and K. Lisa Yang to create a Center for Autism Research, which will study the biological factors behind autism, the University announced Thursday.

Michael E. Greenberg — chair of the neurobiology department at the Medical School — will be the faculty leader of the new center, which is named after Tan and Yang.

The Center will be a part of the Harvard Brain Science Initiative, which seeks to “unite and inspire” brain scientists across the University, according to its website.

Greenberg said the Center will bring together various experts in schools including the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Medical School, the Har­

Crimson Staff Writer

The Undergraduate Council endorsed the graduate student union’s strike authorization vote and other initiatives at its Monday afternoon meeting.

The Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Automobile Workers announced last week that it would hold a strike authorization vote. If two-thirds of voting members approve the use of a strike, the union’s bargaining committee would have the power to call for a strike whenever it deemed necessary.

Voting for the strike authorization begins Tuesday, Oct. 15, which marks the one-year anniversary of the first bargaining session between Harvard and the union.

HGSU is calling for the vote to win favorable pay, healthcare, and discrimination and sexual harrassment protections in its contract, according to Ria Modak ’22, an organizer for HGSU who spoke at the council’s meeting. In the event of a strike, participating student workers would not grade assignments or hold sections and office hours, Modak said.

UC Vice President Julia M. Huesa ’20 and Kirkland House representative Ajay V. Singh ’21 sponsored the legislation to support the strike authorization vote. “The Undergraduate Council is endorsing HGSU-UAW’s strike authorization vote because we know that student workers make this university work,” the council’s statement reads.

The University has advised faculty members to prepare for a potential strike. Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote that the University does not believe the union’s calls for a strike have merit.

“The University believes that calls for a strike are unwarranted,” he wrote. “The

Harvard affiliates and members of the general public gathered to commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. joshua a. ng—Crimson photographer

Archie Cubarrubia, Bridget Long, and James Honan, Ed.M. ’85, Ed.D ’89 spoke at the Graduate School of Education’s Leadership for Student Success Event, held Friday evening.. myeongSeo kim—Crimson photographer

vard School of Public Health, and Harvard’s affiliated hospitals.

“One of my goals is to bring the faculty in neuroscience across Harvard together to pursue various activities and research problems that are of interest and often involve disorders of the nervous system,” Greenberg said.

“One of the challenges that face us now is trying to understand autism because it can affect as many as one in 10 individuals.”

Greenberg said that Harvard’s neuroscientists are still determining their research focuses, but will keep an “open mind” as they do so. One area of research that still requires more work is understanding genetic mutations and how they might affect brain development, according to Greenberg.

See gift Page 3

Harvard Celebrates Natl. Coming Out Day

By Zachary S. Moore and Matthew J. Tyler CONTRIBUTING Writers

­ tudent organizations, College S offices, and House staff organized several events around campus this weekend to celebrate National Coming Out Day on Friday.

The Office of BGLTQ Student Life and Harvard College Speak Out Loud — a student group that aims to promote spoken word poetry — partnered to host “OUTspoken,” an open mic and social event, held at the Barker Center cafe Friday night.

In front of a backdrop of rainbow-colored pride flags, students put on musical and spoken word performances about issues of identity and belonging, specifically regarding coming out.

Sarika Chawla ’23 shared two of her original poems; her first poem discussed others’

News 3

Editorial 4

perceptions of her as “the girl in the wheelchair.”

“It’s about my disability, my identity and sexuality — all those things — but it revolves around my disability,” she said.

“This day is important to my identity and the identity of many of my friends and classmates because it’s a day of just really celebrating who you are and how you identify, whether you choose just to come out to yourself or to other people,” she added.

Many Houses also organized celebratory events. Eliot House held its fifth annual National Coming Out Day stein — a regular house-wide social gathering — on Thursday in the Eliot Grille.

Life-size cardboard cut-outs of celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Jonathan Van Ness served as decorations and props

See COMinG OUT Page 5

Sports 6

BGLTQ students and allies celebrated National Coming Out Day at OUTspoken, an open mic and social event Friday. naomi s. castellon-perez—Crimson photographer

Today’s Forecast

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

OCTOBER 15, 2019

PAGE 2

HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Coconut Curry Chicken Philly Cheeese Steak Sub Curried Chickpeas

For Dinner Chicken Mole Creamy Chilaquile Casserole BBQ Korean Tofu

TODAY’S EVENTS Glass Fruits on Display 26 Oxford St., ongoing

IN THE REAL WORLD

Have you ever been up to the Harvard Museum of Natural History to see the iconic Glass Flowers gallery? Well if glass flowers weren’t enough, there are now glass fruits on display! That are depicted in stages of decay!

Typhoon Hagibis Devestates Japan

The death toll has climbed to over 50 following the landfall of Typhoon Hagibis in Tokyo this past weekend. The region around Tokyo has experienced more than 3 feet of rain and serious flooding as a result of the typhoon. There has not been a typhoon this powerful in Japan for over fifty years.

Boston Asian American Film Festival 559 Washington St., Boston, 7-9p.m.

Looking to enrich your day with a film? Head into Boston to see “The Farewell.” The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, and is free and open to the public. No RSVP, just show up and grab a seat!

Debate Watch Party 79 JFK St., 8-9:15p.m.

Head over to the IOP JFK Jr. Forum to watch the next Democratic primary debate on the big screen and converse with other politically-minded folk.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Atatiana Jefferson Killed in Her Home by Fort Worth Police Officer Preparations are underway for the Head of the Charles Regatta, an annual two-day rowing competition to be held next weekend. NAOMI S. CASTELLON-PEREZ —CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

DAILY BRIEFING Graduate students across the University will begin voting Tuesday whether to authorize a student worker strike, marking an escalation in the negotiation process that began exactly one year ago. Harvard Graduate Students UnionUnited Automobile Workers’ bargaining committee announced their plans to hold a strike authorization vote Oct. 8 as major contractual issues — including compensation, healthcare, and harassment and discrimination protections — remain unresolved. In other news, undergraduate group Native Americans at Harvard College hosted an Indigenous Peoples’ Day event Monday, celebrating native cultures and petitioning Harvard administrators to solely accept Indigenous Peoples’ Day as the official University holiday and cease recognition of Columbus Day.

Jefferson, 28, was shot and killed by a police officer on Sunday inside her Fort Worth home. She had been playing video games with her young nephew when the police officer, named to the media as Aaron Dean, saw Jefferson through her window and shot her through the glass. The officer had been called to the house by a neighbor. Dean resigned on Monday.

“Robocop” Kais Saied Wins Tunisian Presidential Election

Law professor Kais Saied, dubbed “Robocop” for his stern demeanor, was elected Tunisia’s next president on Sunday, winning over 70 percent of the vote. Notably, 90 percent of the youth vote went to Saied, with many of them hoping he will put an end to corruption in Tunisia’s political establishment.

AROUND THE IVIES COLUMBIA Columbia reported the smallest percent return on their 2018-19 fiscal year endowment of the Ivy League schools, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator. Their 3.8 percent returns mark the second consecutive year that Columbia showed the lowest return on investment of its peer institutions, also marking a significant drop from its 9 percent return last year. According to a spokesperson for Columbia, Columbia’s trailing 10-year returns still remains in the top quartile of its peer institutions.

PRINCETON

The Princeton Town Council passed a resolution supporting the establishment of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in lieu of the Columbus Day federal holiday, according to the Daily Princetonian. This Monday was the first time the municipality of Princeton celebrated the holiday as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert said the change aimed to spark more “community engagement” around issues facing indigenous communities. Princeton is the second city in New Jersey to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day, after Newark did so in 2017.

DARTMOUTH

Dartmouth’s annual report on campus safety showed an increase in reported rapes, statutory rape, and dating violence, according to the Dartmouth. Thirty-four rapes were reported in 2018 compared to 24 in 2017, along with smaller increases in fondling and dating violence.

Dartmouth’s Title IX office coordinator Kristi Clemens said she believes the rise can be explained by more people actually reporting incidents. The report also found that liquor law violations, hate crimes, and aggravated assaults decreased over the last year.

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

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Copyright 2019, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.

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CORRECTIONS The Harvard Crimson is committed to accuracy in its reporting. Factual errors are corrected promptly on this page. Readers with information about errors are asked to e-mail the managing editor at managingeditor@thecrimson.com.

PAGE 3

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | OCTOBER 15, 2019

Graduate Student Union To Hold Strike Vote Beverley Brakeman, director of UAW Region 9A, which includes most of the Northeast, wrote in an email that this rule sets a higher standard for passage of a strike authorization than most other union decisions.

“Unlike other internal votes in the UAW, which are decided by a simple majority of those voting, strike votes have a higher bar,” she wrote.

The vote will be overseen

by HGSU’s elections committee, which previously ran the union’s bargaining committee election in June 2018, and last month appointed two new bargaining committee members by acclamation.

Ahead of the vote, the bargaining committee emailed union members imploring its general membership to authorize a strike, but acknowledged that it was each worker’s own choice.

“How to vote is an individual choice for each member,” the bargaining committee wrote in its email. “We, your bargaining committee, recommend voting in favor of a strike authorization.”

Brakeman wrote that while UAW will provide assistance running the vote, the HGSU-UAW elections committee will be in charge of the “process

and final ballot count.”

“As with all other phases of the organizing and bargaining campaign, experienced UAW representatives will provide support, guidance and coordination to help ensure the process goes smoothly,” she wrote.

Several organizations across campus offered their support to the strike authorization effort ahead of polls opening Tuesday.

Our Harvard Can Do Better, an undergraduate anti-sexual assault advocacy organization, issued a statement Oct. 9 calling on eligible students to affirm the strike authorization.

“A strike shouldn’t be necessary for students to have the power and care they deserve,” the statement reads. “But we need what our union can give us, and we are willing to fight for it.”

On Friday, the Harvard Law School Student Government also passed a resolution that “encourages HLS student workers to vote YES in the Harvard Graduate Students Union Strike Authorization Vote.”

In 23 bargaining sessions since last October, the union and the University have tentatively agreed to eight contract provisions.The union’s proposal that its members should be able to pursue sexual harassment and discrimination com-

plaints through a third-party grievance procedure, however, has emerged as a sticking point.

The University has rejected the union’s proposal, maintaining that student workers should pursue complaints through the University’s internal procedures.

This dispute has prompted a protest, a sit-in at University Hall by union members, and an advertising campaign on prime-time national television.

In addition, provisions on wages and healthcare benefits remain on the table. The union’s initial economic proposals would have doubled expenditures for each graduate student, University Provost Alan M. Garber ‘76 wrote in an email to Harvard affiliates in April. The union, however, has disputed that characterization, and called the University’s proposed economic package a “net loss for student workers.”

HGSU first threatened to organize for a strike authorization vote in an open letter addressed to University President Lawrence S. Bacow in July.

The next bargaining session is scheduled for Oct. 17, bargaining committee member Lee Kennedy-Shaffer wrote in an email last week. james.bikales@thecrimson.com

GIFT FROM PAGE 1

Harvard Receives Gift to Fund Autism Studies “Autism is an example of a difference that can give great insight into how the brain works, how it develops, and how it functions,” Greenberg said.

“Since it’s been shown to be due to specific mutations, and that can be modeled in a mouse for example, where you make the mutation and then study brain development, we think that there’s promise towards really understanding both how

the brain develops through studying these mutations and also making a contribution to the human condition.”

Tan — a graduate of Harvard Business School — and Yang have two children with autism.

They previously launched a similar research center at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research in 2017; the new Harvard center will collaborate with MIT’s researchers.

Tan and Yang’s contribution to Harvard brings their total autism research donations to $70 million.

Greenberg said he believes the center will have the potential to improve biological understandings of autism. “We are very excited about the Center and hoping for great progress in the next few years,” he said. alexis.bolner@thecrimson.com

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If you’ve been told that you must use animals to obtain your graduate degree but feel there should be a better way, we can help.

Please contact us at GradStudent@peta.org.

UC FROM PAGE 1

University Council Votes to Back Grad Union Strike Vote University continues to approach these negotiations in good faith and has offered substantive proposals that address the concerns raised by HGSU-UAW throughout these negotiations.”

The union first threatened to call a strike authorization vote in a letter to University President Lawrence S. Bacow in July.

The letter cited stalemates in issues like sexual harassment and nondiscrimination, and healthcare. Since the union first started bargaining with Harvard in October 2018, the two parties have reached eight tentative agreements.

Some council representatives said they support the strike authorization vote because the issue involves their constituents; roughly 400 undergraduates are employed as course assistants by the University and are therefore represented by HGSU. “I think it’s important that we take a stand for the people that teach us and also for

our fellow students,” Kirkland House representative Madison A. Trice ’21 said.

Others disagreed with endorsing the vote and argued that a strike by teaching staff would be detrimental to the learning of undergraduates, the majority of whom do not serve as course assistants.

“What about the 6,500 Harvard students who are not going to have their section this week and not have their office hours should the strike take place?”

Adams House representative A. Blake Barclay ’22 said. “Our job is to represent the majority interest of our student body as College students.”

The UC also voted to fund other initiatives at its meeting.

The UC officially established a Public Service Travel Grant, an initiative that Huesa and UC President Sruthi Palaniappan ’20 planned over the summer; the program will provide money for seniors to travel to interviews for careers in public service.

The Crimson

The Center for Public Interest Careers, the Institute of Politics, and the Office of Career Services — which will administer the grant — will contribute a combined $20,000 in funding.

The UC will contribute an additional $2,000.

The UC also discussed partnerships with two external companies during its Monday meeting. The council formally decided to partner with UmbraCity to pilot an umbrella sharing service on campus for a semester, and they signed a non-binding letter of intent to pursue a partnership with Starship Technologies to bring automated food delivery robots to campus.

The UC also funded “office hours” for freshmen to meet with their UC representative, along with a challenge at HackHarvard, an event for programmers to create projects in teams, to create a platform that helps students form study groups. kevin.chen@thecrimson.com

HOLIDAY FROM PAGE 1

Cambridge Holds Festivities for Indigenous Peoples’ Day people],” he said.

“A blind celebration of Columbus, without any deeper analysis or critique, is really not appropriate,” Gone added.

NAHC also circulated a petition requesting that Harvard’s administration solely recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day rather than jointly recognizing it with Columbus Day. The petition had garnered more 1,200 signatures as of Monday evening. University spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment on the petition.

Following McGovern and Gone’s remarks, organizers exhibited Native American students’ culture and tribe-specific identity. The outdoor event concluded with a group dance.

Attendees then moved indoors to Ticknor Lounge in Boylston Hall for traditional indigenous food.

Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana, who attended Monday’s event, said that it was the role of the College to “honor the history of voices that have often been forgotten or intentionally

The T closes. We don’t.

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STRIKE FROM PAGE 1

erased.”

Members of NAHC further acknowledged recent, tangible changes in the attention that they have received from the administration. According to NAHC Treasurer Kenard G. Dillon ’17-20, the administration has been more receptive to the group.

“The administration has been cooperative,” Dillon said.

“They’ve been responding to our messages and emails, which they hadn’t done in years previous.”

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | OCTOBER 15, 2019

PAGE 4

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

COLUMN

To Strike or Not to Strike?

Your Thesis Might Just Change the World

L

ast week, members of the graduate student union, Harvard Graduate Students-United Automobile Workers, announced intentions to hold a strike authorization vote in which a strike could be approved with a twothirds majority of voting members.

The vote will be held today, one year after the union began its laborious negotiations with the University administration — a loud and potentially powerful demonstration of the union’s frustration with the pace of that process.

The call to vote not only heightens the intensity of the negotiations, which have already sparked protest, but also threatens a major disruption of Harvard academic life.

The continued bargaining sessions between the union and the administration reflect serious negotiations.

A contract would contain terms that will last for years, and the sluggish pace of tentative agreements — at present, only eight with nearly 80 proposed topics including some weightier matters still on the table — demonstrates the degree to which both parties recognize the significance of their work.

As we have opined before, we support graduate students in standing behind their ideals and sense of justice in this unionization process.

Their ability to convene a vote and come to a consensus as a reflection of their collective goals and values is admirable.

We support the union’s right to decide what is best for itself and to leverage its power as an invaluable source of labor at the University in this negotiation.

To be sure, we have some reservations

about the authorization vote as an effective strategy, given variable and sometimes low turnout for favorable union votes.

The vote presents a serious risk: If the vote fails and the strike does not move forward, the union faces the possibility of losing considerable steam and signaling to the administration that its membership does not necessarily agree on some of the issues — not least, neutral arbitration for cases of sexual misconduct and discrimination, a provision we have supported — that its leadership has presented as top priorities.

Despite these concerns, we stand behind the membership and leadership to

As HGSU-UAW gears up to hold their strike authorization vote on the one-year anniversary of their beginning of negotiations with Harvard, we must consider the reverberations of this decision for both the union and students.

of a strike should stand as a powerful reminder of the importance of graduate student workers in our community.

Their labor cannot not be taken for granted. Harvard students cherish the work that teaching fellows and course assistants do. They are essential to our academic experience, and we hope that they achieve a fair package with minimal disruption to the academic experience.

In recognizing the risks to the educational experience here associated with a potential HGSU-UAW strike, however, we hope that the University takes these intentions seriously and prepares to cope with and minimize academic disruptions that could befall students. It goes almost without saying that instructors must heed the University’s counsel and develop comprehensive contingency plans that do not compromise the quality of education provided on our campus in case of a strike.

As HGSU-UAW gears up to hold their strike authorization vote on the one-year anniversary of their beginning of negotiations with Harvard, we must consider the reverberations of this decision for both the union and students.

We will continue to stand behind student workers. Hopefully, our peers will do the same.

Vietnamese, and all other Asian voices, would greatly benefit Asian Americans in becoming a more visible political group.

Now is also the time to expand on the black-Asian intercultural alliance. It is not possible to discuss affirmative action without understanding the history of slavery.

Likewise, it is also important to understand the unique immigration history of Asian Americans through waves of exclusion from the American cultural mainstream.

In December 2018, Harvard Kennedy School’s 2018 Bipartisan Program on Newly Elected Members of Congress hosted a “Breakfast with New Congress Members” event that brought together the Harvard Black Graduate Student Alliance, the Harvard Kennedy School Black Student Union, Latinx Caucus, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus to discuss priority policies in communities of color. Meaningful dialogue like this among student groups should become a much more common occurrence on campus. This lawsuit has brought a much-needed spotlight to existing Asian American activism that has been ongoing for decades. In some ways, the lawsuit offers a window to reveal the various Asian political groups’ ideologies, economic disparities among the subgroups, and how the Asian American identity must extend beyond the Chinese-Japanese-Korean subgroups. However, the Asian conundrum does not stop with this verdict or its subsequent appeal. How do we best understand this highly educated racial group in the country? Existing research such as The Asian American Achievement Paradox by Min Zhou already explains how immigration laws have largely shaped the makeup of today’s Asian Ameican population.

Now, we must popularize these scholarly works so that the general public can better acknowledge and sympathize with the adversity and oppression that Asian Americans face, stemming from the history of indentured labor, racial harassment, and perceived image as a model minority.

—Menglin Maria Guo is a non-resident fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.

—Nick J. Danby ’20 is a History concentrator in Kirkland House. His column appears on alternate Tuesdays.

make the decisions that it sees as best representing and serving its collective needs. Of course, another concern is the effect a strike would have on the academic life of undergraduates and other graduate students at Harvard, as well as the efficient pedagogy of instructors. The fear faculty, administrators, and students may likely have about the impact

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

The Crimson

op-eds@thecrimson.com OP-ED

The Asian American Dilemma

O

n October 1, federal judge Allison D. Burroughs ruled in the case of Students for Fair Admissions v.

Harvard that Harvard does not discriminate against Asian American applicants in its race-conscious admissions process.

In a nutshell, this lawsuit reflects the core of “the Asian American dilemma”: Do Asian American students with high academic achievement levels belong to a racial minority?

Asian Americans are a racial minority, composing an estimated 6 percent of the U.S. population, yet often feel themselves being pushed into the social category of “honorary white” people.

The diversity of Asian American experiences reflected through this lawsuit reveals just how complex the history and struggles are for a racial group that happens to be growing faster than any other in the U.S. While this decision should be celebrated for now, I hope the verdict is the beginning of a much-needed conversation surrounding Asian American identity taking place locally and globally.

Now is the time to take Asian American histories and struggles seriously, and to include Asian Americans in the national dialogue whenever race relations are discussed. There are also numerous steps within the Harvard community that need to be taken to work towards a more inclusive national dialogue surrounding race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, and more. While Asian Americans are generally academically high achieving and have a large presence on college campuses across the country, there are not enough Asian American centered curricula to acknowledge or appreciate Asian American culture, history, and politics.

Nationally, fewer than 50 of the 5,000 degree-granting universities have Asian American Studies departments.

Data compiled by Cornell University shows only 32 universities offer such a major (most of those schools are located in California). Harvard, along with 17 other colleges, offers some Asian American studies courses. Yet, the University still needs to establish an Asian Americans Studies department. As it is, the call for an ethnic studies program at Harvard

has been ongoing for decades.

Sadly, a couple of renowned Asian American faculty members left Harvard just this past academic year. But there is reason for hope as this fall, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Claudine Gay’s decision to hire a cluster of cross-divisional scholars in the areas of ethnicity, indigeneity, and migration during the upcoming academic year is the first step in the right direction. Asian students and the Asian American community in general need to establish stronger intergroup

I hope the verdict is the beginning of a much-needed conversation surrounding Asian American identity taking place locally and globally. alliances to firmly project the wide range of Asian American identities. Now is the time to take advantage of the spotlight offered by this lawsuit to bring attention to, and expand on, existing Asian American social and political activism.

Starting with the current debate on affirmative action, more academic and community dialogue surrounding the lawsuit can help solidify the existing Asian American political identity established in 1968.

At Harvard, the call to move towards a more inclusive pan-Asian community was discussed in an earlier Crimson article from this May, “A Balancing Act: Asian Affinity Groups Scrutinize Their Role On Campus.” According to Pew Research Center, Asian Americans are on track to become the largest immigrant group in the United States by 2055. The diversity among Asian subgroups, in terms of national and ethnic origin, requires critical examination of disparities in Asian immigrants’ socioeconomic status, language proficiency, and religious affiliations.

While there are many well-established ethnic based communities, primarily Chinese-Japanese-Korean communities, a strong pan-Asian community that deliberately includes the stories and voices of Indian, Filipino, Cambodian,

I

recently visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to conduct thesis research.

After spending a few days requesting folders and files that last saw the light of day four decades ago, this trip helped to not only substantiate my thesis argument, but to also redefine and illuminate my thesis’ importance and impact on U.S. national security strategy.

But at a certain point, when I had requested pulled one too many folders and flipped through one too many files, I had to ask myself, “What is it all for?” I have heard many seniors ask this same question, with perhaps more agony, a week before their thesis was due. But the question does not seem to answer itself even when the thesis is completed. During his 2000 Class Day address at Harvard, comedian Conan O’Brien ’85 mentioned that he had written a thesis but that “no one is ever going to care.” He is probably right.

The only person who will care about a thesis is the person who tirelessly researched, drafted, edited, and reviewed your thesis — but that may be more than enough.

Towards the end of his junior year, Theodore Roosevelt, Class of 1880, was invited to write an honors thesis.

As he perused the Porcellain Club’s library, he came across British historian William James’ “Naval History of Great Britain.” Roosevelt considered the six-volume work “invaluable… written with fullness and care” but also biased with its “succession of acrid soliloquies on the moral defects of the American character.”

James’ pro-British bias was countered by “The History of the Navy of the United States” by James Fenimore Cooper, whose book Roosevelt found “very inexact” because it “pa[id] no attention to the British side of the question.”

Roosevelt was disturbed that “each writer naturally so colored the affair as to have it appear favorable to his own side.” He set out to write a naval history of the War of 1812 that was “full, accurate, and unprejudiced” — and, incidentally, would change the course of world affairs.

Knowing little more about his subject than any other undergraduate at Harvard, Roosevelt poured over primary sources never before accessed, including “official letters, log-books, original contracts, [and] muster-rolls.”

To grasp the precise circumstances of a certain naval engagement, Roosevelt even recreated twoand three-dimensional ships. His close friend, Owen Wister, Class of 1882, recounted numerous instances when Roosevelt was alone in his library, standing with one leg on the bookcase, sketching a diagram for his book in excruciating detail. Upon graduating from Harvard, Roosevelt finished the book’s first two technical-heavy chapters, and then subsequently published “The Naval War of 1812” in 1882 at the age of 23.

The book was not only revered as a definitive operational history of the naval war but also a catalyst for the American Navy’s rapid buildup in the 1890s. Through his historical analysis, Roosevelt crafted a historical justification for a policy of naval expansionism based on preparedness and modernization. Roosevelt hoped the book would, as author William S. Dudley states, draw “attention to the need for a stronger navy, so the nation could play a significant role on the world’s stage.”

If America even wanted to fulfill its dream of becoming a world power, it would have to adopt the principles of naval expansionism. To achieve this aim, Roosevelt followed his thesis’ own recommendations. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy and President, Roosevelt spearheaded efforts to increase the capabilities and capacities of the U.S Navy along with the skill, training, and education of American seamen. He routinely deployed this modernized navy to demonstrate American power and achieve his geopolitical objectives.

These objectives included the decisive domination of Spanish naval forces in the Spanish-American War, the Colombian cession of Panama in order to build the Panama Canal, and the sailing of the Great White Fleet around the world to signal America’s status as a burgeoning superpower.

Sixty years later, another future President, John F. Kennedy ’40, applied “himself feverishly for a couple of months” to writing his magna cum laude thesis, titled “Appeasement at Munich,” or better known under its subsequent book title “Why England Slept.” Kennedy argued that the “Munich Pact should not be the object of criticism.”

Instead, Britain’s inability to prepare for war should be based on the other factors like “the conditions of Britain’s armaments.” In short, Kennedy did not put a lot of stock in Munich analogies and the dangers of appeasement. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, when Kennedy told the Joint Chiefs of Staff that a naval blockade would reduce the risk of nuclear war, Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay said the “blockade and political action… will lead right into war… This is almost as bad as the appeasement at Munich.” Kennedy incredulously asked, “What did you say?” He then quickly left the room “just beside himself,” furious at LeMay’s attempt to compare his blockade to the appeasement of Hitler.

Yet Kennedy’s own thesis about the origins that engender World War II allowed him to realize that if he followed LeMay’s advice and his Munich analogy, “none of us will be alive later to tell them [the military] that they were wrong.” Powerful stuff. So, yes, right now your thesis may seem useless. And it may be, unless you utilize these insights to make decisions and shape your worldview — whether that be creating a naval strategy or averting nuclear war. Just like a thesis, the options are endless.

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By MENGLIN MARIA GUO

Nick J. Danby AMERICA IN THE WORLD

PAGE 5

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | OCTOBER 15, 2019

COMING OUT FROM PAGE 1

Campus Celebrates National Coming Out Day for photos.

James P. Biblarz ’14, Eliot’s resident BGLTQ tutor, said he developed the event to bring more attention to National Coming Out Day at Harvard College.

“I felt that National Coming Out Day was a really important event and something that hadn’t been super widely celebrated in college,” Biblarz said.

“I was sort of looking for something Eliot could do to make a tradition and I had the full support of the Eliot faculty deans and the administration,” he added.

Many students who attended the Eliot event also said they enjoyed the celebration.

“It’s really fantastic. Jimmy Biblarz — the tutor here who organized it — he is just such a great advocate for the community,” Eliot resident Juan M. Molina, Jr. ’22 said.

Despite the bright colors and proud celebrations, the National Coming Out Day events reminded some students there is still progress to be made to better support BGLTQ students at the College.

Alyx J. Britton ’21, who attended “OUTspoken,” said they

hope to see more initiatives that help transgender students in particular.

This day is important to my identity and the identity of many of my friends and classmates because it’s a day of just really celebrating who you are and how you identify, whether you choose just to come out to yourself or to other people.

Sarika Chawla ‘23 College Student

“I think the University lacks some really fundamental resources for queer students — in particular for trans students — such as gender-neutral restrooms [and] making it easy to change your name and pronouns across all levels of documentation in the University,”

Rachel Bloom Performs as IGP’s 2019 Player of the Year

Britton said.

College spokesperson Rachael Dane wrote in an emailed statement Sunday evening that Harvard has already piloted programs for students to be able to choose their “first name, pronouns, and gender marker” on my.harvard — the website that hosts Harvard’s course registration and course offerings.

Dane added that a form from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Registrar’s website already allows students to further change their “primary” or “official” name within the online system.

“If a student ever encounters difficulty or needs particular assistance with identity, the Registrar warmly and confidentially welcomes everyone,” Dane wrote.

Joseph C. Felkers ’22, who attended Eliot’s National Coming Out Day stein, said he recognized that efforts to better support BGLTQ students need to be ongoing.

“I think it’s something that Harvard needs to continually work on,” Felkers said.

“However, the strides like this are very important and very beneficial.”

Graduate School of Education Hosts Leadership Panel

By KAVYA M. SHAH and NATHAN W. ZHAO CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Post-secondary education leaders highlighted the need for universities to adopt student-centered decision making during a panel on increasing student success in college at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Friday evening.

The event was held in conjunction with the Institute for Education Management’s 50th anniversary symposium. IEM is the nation’s longest running professional development program for college leaders, according to its website.

Dean of the Graduate School of Education Bridget T. Long, one of the three panelists, stressed the responsibility of higher education institutions to “meet students where they are,” both academically and mentally.

Long argued that colleges must inform students about expectations when they apply and arrive at their schools, pointing to a lack of clarity in government forms such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. “Some of my work has revolved around the FAFSA,” she said. “And when you’re talking with a lot of families, particularly low income families, first-generation families, they don’t realize that forms like forms like the FAFSA are just for information gathering. They think that they’re committing to

something.”

James P. Honan, a panelist and a senior lecturer at the Graduate School of Education, discussed educational institutions’ allocation of funds.

“Do we have finance data? Do we actually use it in resource allocation conversations around student success?” he asked.

Archie Cubarrubia, a deputy director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, addressed the role of private organizations like the Gates Foundation in increasing accessibility for students to attend college. He noted that, despite these efforts, “we know that barriers that contribute to opportunity gaps in post-secondary education still exist.”

Cubarrubia frequently referenced his field experience, explaining that critically analyzing data can reveal key insights on how to improve student experiences, particularly for first-generation students. The event concluded with a question and answer session from audience members hailing from schools all over the country.

“What I didn’t hear a lot about is it’s pretty well documented that our students are coming to us today with more emotional issues than they have ever had,” Dean of Mississippi State University’s College of Education Richard L. Blackbourn said. “I personally have faculty that are struggling with how to work with these students.”

Cubrrubia responded that it was imporatnt to cultivating a sense of camaraderie at institutions.

“The institutions where we see the student success agenda thriving, there’s this notion that the institutional community is family,” Cubrrubia said.

“It means looking at everybody — faculty, staff, students — as a whole person.”

Wick Sloan, a retired Bunker Hill Community College instructor who now writes columns for Inside Higher Ed, asked about the disproportionate levels of funding that are allotted at different institutions.

He asked about discrepancies in “funding or spending per student” between community colleges, state schools, and elite private institutions.

“I’ve looked at all the finance data, and I don’t think you want a long lecture in that, but it is going to say it’s going to depend,” Long said. “It depends on what’s their field of study, what are they trying to accomplish, what are their goals and so forth.”

“I don’t know what the optimal number is, but I can tell you that we’re very far from it,” she added. “Equality is not what we’re going for, we’re going for equity. And so part of the major problem is the students who need the most in terms of resources and supports to help them navigate complicated lives and challenges are receiving the least.”

Rachel L. Bloom, co-creator and lead of the television show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, entertained at the Student Organization Center at Hilles Penthouse last Friday night. PEI CHAO ZUO —CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

By CALLIA A. CHUANG and ARTEA BRAHAJ CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Emmy Award-winning actor and creator of the television show “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” Rachel L. Bloom performed with improvisational comedy troupe Immediate Gratification Players Friday night in their 2019 Player of the Year show.

In addition to winning the 2019 Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, Bloom was awarded the 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series-Comedy or Musical and the 2016 Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

Bloom said at the beginning of the show that she was especially excited to perform at Harvard, particularly with IGP. “My writing partner, who co-created ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,’ Aline Brosh McKenna, went to Harvard, which is why my character [on the show] did,” Bloom said.

“Her boyfriend was one of the founding members of this improv troupe.”­ The IGP members, all dressed in their signature red and yellow-striped ties, inau-

gurated Bloom as an honorary member of the troupe and presented her with a tie of her own, a Harvard sweatshirt, and a plaque.

The group conducted the show in “Armando form,” in which skits are interspersed

She came out just wanting to perform improv with us, which was super cool.

Claire K. Yoo ‘23 IGP Member

with short stories. Bloom improvised two short stories using words volunteered by the audience — including “shofar” and “dragon.”

The students in IGP then performed a series of skits inspired by her stories. At certain points in the performance, Bloom joined the IGP members in their scenes.

“She brought a great energy, I think, to the show,” IGP member Claire K. Yoo ’23 said.

“She came out just wanting to improv with us, which was super cool.”

The sound of laughter and applause filled the room of the

The sights and sounds of Harvard.

The Crimson @crimson_photo

Student Organization Center at Hilles Penthouse throughout the performance. Roughly 150 people attended the event.

Several audience members said they appreciated Bloom’s wit, creativity, and ability to seamlessly enter a scene. Garrett W. Tanzer ’20 said he is a frequent patron of IGP shows and that he enjoyed the fluid structure of the performance.

“It’s always good when the whole performance is cohesive, like the skits connect to each other,” Tanzer said. “They’ve been doing that more recently.”

Past winners of the IGP Player of the Year award include Comedy Central sketch comedian Keegan-Michael Key, “Parks and Recreation” star Nick Offerman, and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” comedy actor Colin A. Mochrie.

Audience member Helen M. Dajer, whose son was a member of IGP, said she enjoyed the fresh perspective provided by having a woman represented as the IGP Player of the Year.

“I thought she was game. I thought she was very adaptable,” Dajer said. “Of course, I was delighted to see a woman be the star guest performer because after three wonderful male comedians, it was lovely to see a woman perform.”

SPORTS

WEEKLY RECAP

SCORES

WOMEN’S RUGBY AT NOTRE DAME COLL. (OHIO) W, 105-0 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S GOLF VS. COLUMBIA W, 11.5-3.5 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S SOCCER AT CORNELL W, 3-0 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S WATER POLO AT MIT W, 18-7 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S SOCCER AT CORNELL L, 6-0 ___________________________________________________________

FIELD HOCKEY VS. BROWN W, 9-1 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL AT CORNELL L, 3-1 ___________________________________________________________

FOOTBALL

Defense Shutters Cornell in Football’s 35-22 Victory

By CADE PALMER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

In a cloudy contest at Harvard Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the Crimson ended Cornell’s two-year streak of late-game comebacks in the series. Flexing its offensive muscles, the home team routed the defensive stalwart, the Big Red, 35-22.

As the fourth quarter began, things were looking eerily similar to last year. Down 28-10, Cornell (1-3, 0-2 Ivy) boldly decided to go for it on 4th-and-16.

As Harvard (3-1, 2-0 Ivy) defensive linemen crashed on Big Red quarterback Richie Kenney, the play-caller tossed a prayer that defensive back Max Jones just missed plucking out of the air, instead, knocking it down.

Flags delayed the change in possession as the refs penalized the Crimson for roughing the passer, resetting the downs. Cornell capitalized, and Kenney tossed a trusting lob to wideout Phazione McClurge, who had Harvard junior defensive back Isaiah Wingfield in his face.

McClurge leapt over Wingfield, pulled the ball into his chest, planted a foot in the endzone, and fell backwards out of bounds. Referees rushed at the duo with their hands in the air — touchdown. The score, coupled with the missed PAT, cut the Crimson’s lead to 28-16.

Harvard followed the Big Red’s touchdown up with a three-and-out, sending the ball back to the visitors having only spent a minute of the fourth quarter.

The past two seasons, on the heels of an 11-game win streak by the Crimson in the series, Cornell has managed consecutive double-digit comebacks.

In 2017, the Big Red erased an early Havard 14-point lead with 17 unanswered points. In 2018, Harvard led by 10 with 10 minutes remaining and Cornell still won.

Now, in 2019, the Crimson led by 12 with 13:06 to play.

“The fourth quarter rolls around and you’re like ‘this is very similar,’” Jones said. “It was just knowing the work we’ve put in, knowing how it went the last two years, and just really willing to make sure that didn’t happen.”

This year would not be the same as last. The Big Red followed Harvard’s three-andout with one of its own, and neither team scored for two more drives.

As Cornell set up to punt the ball to the home team, Crimson sophomore safety James Herring found the body of the ball, cutting its distance trav-

JAKE THE GREAT Junior quarterback Jake Smith threw for 217 yards on 18 attempts and added three touchdowns in Saturday afternoon’s contest. The Crimson also rushed for a combined 119 yards on the day to bring up its total offense to 336 yards. The Big Red managed 287 yards of total offense. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

eled to nine yards. Herring had been close to blocking a punt all night, having tipped one in the second quarter and nearly touching another in the third.

With the ball at the Big Red’s 32-yard line, three plays — two of which solicited Cornell timeouts — set up the scoring toss.

Junior tight end Ryan Reagan planted his foot and flipped his defender around, creating an open pocket for quarterback Jake Smith to thread the ball in.

The score put Harvard up, 3516, with just over five minutes left to play.

The Big Red would score once more, but with only one timeout, the Crimson managed to waste the rest of regulation, securing its first victory against the squad from Ithaca in since 2016.

“History will tell you, alright we’ve got them right where we want them,” Cornell coach David Archer said. “I didn’t think we were out of it. I thought we were going to come back and win the game like we did the last two years but [we] just weren’t able to make enough plays to do it today.”

The contest pitted one of the nation’s best offenses, in Harvard, against one of the nation’s best defenses, in the Big Red. Prior to this week, Cornell led the nation in red zone defense while the Crimson was

second for red zone offense.

Today, Harvard scored in each of its three red zone appearances.

Prior to Saturday’s contest, the Cornell defense had surrendered just five offensive touchdowns across three games. The Crimson doubled that number.

Both the Big Red and Harvard ranked nationally in rushing defense with the former placing 10th and the home team sixth. Cornell ranked sixth nationally in overall defense.

Only the Crimson’s defense played the part, limiting the Big Red’s running back, Harold Coles, to just 34 yards.

Coles entered the game second in the Ancient Eight and sixth in the nation in rushing yards per game, averaging 111.

That’s 77 more yards than he earned Saturday afternoon.

“Harvard, this year and part of their identity over the years, they’ll play like 90 linemen,” Archer said. “Being a former offensive lineman myself it’s always like a hockey game to the D-line. It’s like a line shift. You get a whole fresh new set of guys. That makes it difficult [for the offensive linemen].”

Aiding that performance, in part, was the return of Crimson senior defensive lineman Brogan McPartland. The senior tallied two of the team’s six sacks, for 14 yards lost.

“He was our top veteran defensive linemen coming into the season,” Murphy said. “We’ve been playing four sophomores on the defensive line pretty much as starters. To have Brogan, it just takes a lot of pressure off the young guys. You know you’re going to get some pass rush production.”

Leading the defense was junior linebacker Jordan Hill with 10 tackles. Harvard led the nation in average team sacks per game prior to Saturday with 4.67 per game.

The team will likely maintain its spot on the leaderboard after the six-sack performance against Cornell.

The beginning of the game didn’t look so promising for the Crimson as the Big Red took the early lead in the first drive of the contest. Cornell’s first drive didn’t look like it was going to be a scoring drive. The team ran six plays for only 12 yards and a single first down before punter Nickolas Null entered play.

Null’s punt spiraled downfield before bouncing off a Harvard player’s arm and onto the turf.

The Big Red’s Demetrius Harris dove on the bouncing ball and Cornell resumed possession at the Crimson 17-yard line.

From there, a drive marked by a successful fourth-down conversion and several Harold Coles runs was capped off by a

ONE SOT Sophomore punter Jon Sot booted three booming punts against Cornell, averaging 56.3 yards per punt. Junior Sean McKeogh also took on punting duties in the game, rounding out Harvard’s dual-threat in the field position battle. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

pass rocketed from quarterback Kenney to Eric Gallman on a drag route across the middle of the Harvard end zone. Gallman cradled the pass in his chest as he fell onto the turf for six.

The Crimson would equalize the score, but the 7-7 tie didn’t last long.

As his pocket collapsed, Harvard’s Smith tried to escape the mounting pressure by stepping up. As he tried to get the ball off, his arm was hit by the Big Red’s defensive lineman Mo Bradford. The ball sputtered down the Crimson 30-yard line and was jumped on by Cornell linebacker Lance Blass.

With only 28-yards to score, the Big Red’s offense couldn’t get anything going.

An incomplete pass from Kenney, a three-yard rush from Coles, and a sack by Harvard’s senior linebacker Cameron Kline forced the special teams unit onto the turf. Instead of punting, Cornell entered its field goal unit. Punter, and now also placekicker, Null converted on his career-long boot from 49 yards to return the lead to the Big Red for the second, and last time, of the game.

The field goal was the first of a 24-point second quarter.

From there, three straight, unanswered touchdowns not only flipped the advantage to the Crimson but granted the team an 18-point lead heading into the locker room at the half.

It began immediately after the field goal.

Four plays, 75 yards, and just under two minutes were all Harvard needed for the score. Smith hit junior B.J. Watson on his back shoulder as the quarterback sprinted out of the pocket to the right. That went for 21 yards. Smith then found senior tight end John Stivers in the middle of the field, who carried several defenders for 25 more.

Junior running back Devin Darrington capped things off.

Dished the ball on what looked to be a broken play, Darrington bounced off a friendly lineman before finding an open lane and sprinting up the visiting sideline for six.

The lead, achieved with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half, was the Crimson’s first of the contest.

Junior linebacker Jack McGowan cut the following Cornell drive short. As Kenney took a look over the middle of the field, he tried to thread his pass over the head of McGowan.

Harvard took over on its opponent’s 33-yard line.

On 3rd-and-9, the Big Red defense feigned blitz before dropping back into a three-high zone. Senior wide receiver Cody Chrest planted at the 10-yard line, drawing the deepest defender before slipping bind him.

With no one within 10 yards of his target, Smith tossed a high 32-yard lob which Chrest secured before walking into the endzone. The drive took three plays and a minute and a half.

“Cornell statistically is one of the best defenses in the Ivy League, before this game,” Smith said. “Really what it was was just game planning. We saw what their defense was doing on film and our coaches went to work and put us in a good game plan and good situations out there on the field today.”

The Crimson’s next drive took a bit longer but achieved the same result. As Harvard knocked on the door of the endzone, it faced a third-and-four.

Smith went for six, attempting to hit Reagan on the slant.

The pass was knocked down by safety Jelani Taylor, who jumped up excited, only to see several flags littering the field.

The ensuing pass interference call moved the Crimson to the three-yard line and reset the downs. A quick jet sweep to Watson with only 16 seconds remaining in the half iced the drive and sent the teams to the locker room.

Following the gunslinging second quarter was a scoreless third. A dominant second quarter is usual for the Harvard team. The squad has dominated opponents over the last three games in the second stanza, outscoring them 69-3.

Helping the Crimson defensively was Cornell’s loss of senior quarterback Mike Catanese to injury. The veteran has led offensive production for the team and his season-ending injury forced the Big Red to rely exclusively on Kenney.

Smith had himself a solid day, throwing for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Darrington ran for 94 yards and one touchdown.

Hard to see on the stat sheet but visible during play was the impact of Harvard’s punting unit.

The Crimson used two punters on the afternoon, sophomore Jon Sot and junior Sean McKeogh. Sot’s three punts averaged 56.3 yards. McKeogh punted four times.

“Suffice it to say, 33 years as a head coach, this is the first time I’ve ever invited two punters to the press conference,” Murphy said. “Today was probably as good a day kicking the football and putting teams in bad field position as we’ve had in a long, long time.”

The victory for the Crimson means Cornell still hasn’t won at Harvard Stadium since 2000.

Murphy is now just two wins shy of the all-time Ivy League record for most wins as a head coach. cade.palmer@thecrimson.com