The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 125

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 | VOLUME CXLVI NO. 125 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2019

EDITORIAL PAGE 4

NEWS PAGE 3

SPORTS PAGE 4

The Dominiguez review must demonstrate credibility.

Physicist Lee Smolin discusses the unfinished work of quantum theory.

Women’s rugby defeats Darmouth in stunning victory.

Letter Decries Asian Groups

By AMANDA Y. SU and AMY Y. LI CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Roughly 400 people across the country have signed an open letter dated Nov. 11 condemning Asian American organizations at the College for failing to co-sponsor a walk-out in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status earlier this week.

The letter — titled “An Open Letter to the Asian American Community” — referenced a demonstration held Monday that was co-organized by student-led immigration advocacy group Act on a Dream and Harvard Asian American Womxn’s Association, among several other organizations. Organizers timed the walk-out ahead of Tuesday’s Supreme Court hearing on DACA, an Obama-era program that allowed children brought to the United States by their parents to live and work in the country.

Twenty-one campus organizations, including the Harvard Black Students Association and Native Americans at Harvard College, co-sponsored the walk-out. The only Asian Amer-

ican groups to co-sponsor the event were Harvard Task Force on Asian and Pacific American Studies, Harvard Philippine Forum, and the Khmer Student Association.

Despite AAWA’s “active efforts” to involve Asian American organizations, most did not respond to invitations to co-sponsor and those that did declined due to a lack of support on their boards, according to the letter. Those groups include the Asian American Association, Chinese Students Association, Harvard Korean Association, South Asian Association, South Asian Women’s Collective, South Asian Men’s Collective, Harvard Vietnamese Association, and Asian American Brotherhood.

“This is not without consequence. In doing so, you have outed yourselves as nonsafe spaces for undocu+ people within the Asian American community,” the letter reads.

“Many of your Asian American peers, staff, co-workers, tutors, professors, and friends on campus are among those impacted, as well as our friends and families beyond these gates.”

SEE LETTER PAGE 3

Data Project Predicts UC Election

By KEVIN R. CHEN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Harvard College Open Data Project predicted that Sanika S. Mahajan ’21 and Rushi A. Patel ’21 will win the Undergraduate Council presidential election based on the results of the survey it sent out to students. Official voting ends Thursday, Nov. 14 at noon.

HODP — a student-faculty group that conducts statistical analyses of campus-related data sets — has correctly predicted the results of the past three UC presidential elections.Five tickets are vying to lead the next session of the UC: Aditya A. Dhar ’21 and Andrew W. Liang ’21, Prashanth “PK” Kumar ’21 and Michael O. Raji ’22, M. Thorwald “Thor” Larson ’21 and Case McKinley ’21, Mahajan and Patel, and James A. Mathew ’21 and Ifeoma “Ify” E. White-Thorpe ’21.

HODP predicted the election results by running a simulation based on the 237 survey responses it received. Assuming that its survey responses are representative of the voting population, the group predicted Mahajan and Patel have a 98 percent chance of winning the UC election. Additionally, HODP predicted that Dhar and Liang — a Crimson business associate — will come in second place with ­

Sanika S. Mahajan ‘21 and Rushi A. Patel ‘21 spoke at a debate between the five tickets running for President and Vice President of the Undergraduate Council on Saturday evening. AMANDA Y. SU—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

an 89 percent chance, followed

by Mathew and White-Thorpe in third, Larson and McKinley in fourth, and Kumar and Raji in fifth. Charles G. Onesti ’23, Lucy Li ’21, Seth D. Billiau ’21, and Kevin L. Bi ’21 analyzed the data to make HODP’s UC election predictions this year. Bi said that Dhar and Liang’s ticket made this year’s UC campaign season

distinct from those in previous years.

“Normally we assume that the types of people who are likely to vote are also likely to fill out our survey,” Bi wrote in an emailed statement. “However, this year, we believe that there is a good chance that many of the students who would vote for Aditya and Andrew may be less

likely to vote in our survey due to the unusual nature of their campaign.”

Dhar and Liang are running on a campaign to abolish the UC under the slogan “a campaign to end campaigns.”

“Nice,” Dhar and Liang wrote in an emailed statement

SEE OPEN DATA PAGE 5

HLS Drops Fees for Ed School Junior Deferral App Hosts Student Leaders

By MICHELLE G. KURILLA CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Harvard Law School on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon. Now, college juniors do not pay an application fee when applying to Harvard Law School through the Junior Deferral Program. SARA KOMASTU—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

­ arvard Law School is elimiH nating the application fee for college juniors applying to the Law School through its Junior Deferral Program, the school announced Wednesday.

The JDP allows college juniors to apply to Harvard Law School under the condition that, if accepted, they defer their admission for at least two years and pursue meaningful work or study in the interim. Students who are rejected from the program may speak with a Law School admissions officer about their application to receive feedback.

Law School Assistant Dean for Admissions Kristi L. Jobson ’06 said the Law School’s JDP program will streamline its application by dropping the $85 application fee and hosting its own application outside of the Law School Admission Council’s website.

“We’re constantly innovating in our office and trying to think about how to improve access to this program as well as to legal education as a whole,” Jobson, a former Crimson editor, said. “One thing we’ve been thinking about is Junior Deferral Program applicants are applying to one school. We’re currently the only law school that offers a program of this type, and we’re thinking a lot about the startup costs involved in the application process.”

The LSAC offers the Credential Assembly Service that hosts many schools’ application portals, according to their website.

The service — which is required to apply to many law schools — costs $195 to register and then $45 for each individual Law School Admissions Test score report, on top of an application fee. Harvard Law School’s application costs $85. In total, applicants would spend more

SEE JDP PAGE 3

Ryan to Lead The Crimson’s 147th Guard

By CRIMSON NEWS STAFF

A idan F. Ryan ’21 will lead the newly elected 147th Guard of The Harvard Crimson, the newspaper’s President announced on Monday.

Ryan, a Social Studies concentrator from Hooksett, N.H., is currently one of two Central Administration reporters.

In that capacity, he has covered controversial donations to Harvard and the leadership of University President Lawrence S. Bacow. He also serves as a social media manager for The Crimson, overseeing the paper’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

He was one of two reporters who worked on an investigation uncovering a hostile work environment in Winthrop House in spring 2019.

The day after The Crimson published the piece, the College announced it would not renew ­

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Harvard Today 2

Winthrop Faculty Deans Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Stephanie R. Robinson. Ryan , who is a Mather House resident, will begin as Crimson President on Jan. 1, 2020.

“The 147th Guard is an incredibly committed, talented, and driven group of leaders who will — with no doubt — continue to carry out The Crimson’s proud mission of covering and informing our readers,” current Crimson President Kristine E. Guillaume ’20 said. “I am excited to see the next President, Managing Editor, and Business Manager take The Crimson to new heights next year.”

News writer and multimedia editor Shera S. Avi-Yonah ’21 will serve as Managing Editor, overseeing the production of The Crimson’s daily newspaper, magazine, arts and sports sections, and blog

SEE 147 PAGE 5

News 3

Editorial 4

Aidan F. Ryan ‘21 has been named the President of the 147th Guard of The Harvard Crimson. KATHRYN S. KUHAR— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Sports 6

TODAY’S FORECAST

CLOUDY High: 41 Low: 32

By DAVIT ANTONYAN and ARVIN HARIRI CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Student founders from the We Are America Project shared their stories of navigating issues of diversity in the United States in a workshop at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Gutnam Gallery Wednesday night.

Lowell High School teacher Jessica A. A. D. Lander and students in her course on diversity in America launched the project last year.

The program seeks to promote conversations about what it means to be an American within today’s political and social context. Since it began, 1300 students from 23 states have participated.

Lander said she started the project to show her students that their experiences form a part of American history.

“I wanted my kids to see that their stories were just as much a part of American history, and that the real American history is made up of all those individual stories—all those individual strands—and we can really only fully understand American history, American diversity by understanding each of those strands,” she said.

Adam Strom, director of the education initiative Re-Imagining Migration, moderated the event.

The group aims to educate young people on topics related to migration.

“We’re talking about ideas about America that are not very inclusive. There’s an urgency to these conversations because we’ve been having this conversation about who is an American and what is America since before the United States was born,” Strom said in his opening remarks. “These are ongoing debates. It’s particularly heated around schools.”

Lander said she and her students began the project by

SEE AMERICA PAGE 5

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son, daughters

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

PAGE 2

HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Pepperoni Pizza Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry Egg Fried Rice

For Dinner Chipotle Chicken Mussels in White Wine Garlic Rice Pilaf

TODAY’S EVENTS Defining Genre: A Conversation on Creative Writing The Harvard Advocate, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

IN THE REAL WORLD

Join the Harvard Advocate as they host a conversation with Harvard creative writing professors Louis Menand, Laura van der Berg, Musa Syeed, Sam Marks, and Josh Bell about different genres of writing and what they mean.

Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts from 2007-2015, is reportedly planning to join the already crowded field of Democrats running for president in 2020. The filing deadline to be included in the upcoming New Hampshire primary is this Friday, and his official announcement is expected to take place before then.

Deval Patrick to Enter 2020 Presidential Race

Everyday Environmentalism JFK Jr. Forum, 6-7:15 p.m.

Head over the IOP for a discussion with journalist and author Tatiana Schlossberg and IOP Resident Fellow Bob Cohn that will tackle consumer demand for convenience and its effect on climate change.

Turbulent Tremors: HCO-Radcliffe Recital Byerly Library, 5-6 p.m.

The Harvard College Opera will be hosting a recital of 19th century romantic songs about the heart, emotions, and the sea as part of Dario Robleto’s exhibition for the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study.

Wild Turkeys Terrorize New Jersey Town

Chairs in the Science Center plaza sit empty on freezing Wednesday afternoon. KATHRYN S. KUHAR—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

DAILY BRIEFING Roughly 400 people across the country have signed an open letter dated Nov. 11 condemning Asian American organizations at the College for failing to cosponsor a walk-out in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status earlier this week. The letter — titled “An Open Letter to the Asian American Community” — referenced a demonstration held Monday that was co-organized by student-led immigration advocacy group Act on a Dream and Harvard Asian American Womxn’s Association, among several other organizations. In other news, the Harvard College Open Data Project predicted that Sanika S. Mahajan ’21 and Rushi A. Patel ’21 will win the Undergraduate Council presidential election.

If you thought the turkeys around campus are bad, consider us lucky that they’re nothing like the flocks of wild turkeys currently affecting a town in New Jersey. A gaggle of nearly 60 turkeys has been wreaking havoc on an Ocean County adult community, flocking in front of doorways, damaging property, climbing on cars, and even attacking those who try to shoo them away.

AROUND THE IVIES UNIVERSITY OF PENNSLYVANIA The University of Pennsylvania women’s volleyball team has been canceled for the remainder of the season, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian.

Penn Athletics wrote in a Wednesday statement the remainder of the season was cancelled after “vulgar, offensive, and disrespectful posters” were found in the team’s locker room. There were two games remaining in the season; the team’s final record will stand at 11-10, and 4-8 in the Ivy League.

YALE

The Yale history department will begin offering an updated selection of undergraduate seminars next semester, according to the Yale Daily News.

History professor Bonnie Weir is reviving her course on the Troubles – the late 20th-century conflict for Irish independence from the United Kingdom — after restructuring the course and situating it within the context of Brexit. Other seminar offerings will include courses on the history of the U.S.-Mexico border and the history of Cuba.

BROWN

Brown students are protesting their University’s potential divestment from businesses purportedly complicit in human rights abuses in Palestine, according to the Brown Daily Herald. At a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility and Investment Policies on Tuesday, Brown Students for Israel argued bilateral negotiations, not just financial divestment, are required to alleviate the Israel-Palestine conflict.

BSI also argued the undergraduate referendum on the divestment, affirmed by 69 percent of voters last spring, does not represent true student body opinion: only 27.5 percent of all undergraduates voted in support.

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

The Harvard Crimson Kristine E. Guillaume President Angela N. Fu Managing Editor Charlie B. Zhu Business Manager

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE

Associate Managing Editor Jamie D. Halper ’20

Arts Chairs Kaylee S. Kim ’20 Caroline A. Tsai ’20

Design Chairs Elena M. Ramos ’20 Akhil S. Waghmare ’20

Associate Business Manager Amy E. Zhou ’20

FM Chairs Norah M. Murphy ’20 Abigail L. Simon ’20

Multimedia Chairs Kathryn S. Kuhar ’20 Kai R. McNamee ’21

Editorial Chairs Jessenia N. Class ’20 Robert Miranda ’20

Blog Chairs Lorenzo F. Manuali ’21 Trula J. Rael ’21

Technology Chairs Nenya A. Edjah ’20 Theodore T. Liu ’20

Sports Chairs Joseph W. Minatel ’21 Henry Zhu ’20

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.

Night Editor Jordan E. Virtue ’20

Design Editor Camille G. Caldera ’22

Assistant Night Editors Alexandra A. Chaidez ’21 Juliet E. Isselbacher ’22

Photo Editors Jonathan G. Yuan ’22 Jocelyn Wang ’22

Story Editors Shera S. Avi-Yonah ’21 Angela N. Fu ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Molly C. McCafferty ’21

Editorial Editor Daniel Kim ’21 Sports Editors Joseph W. Minatel ‘21 Ben Stern ’22

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 | NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Physicist Talks on ‘Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution’

By STEPHANIE H. ASHKAR and TAYLOR C. PETERMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Theoretical physicist Lee Smolin explained the incomplete nature of quantum theory before a packed lecture hall in the Science Center on Wednesday evening, discussing his newest book, “Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution: The Search for What Lies Beyond the Quantum.”

Smolin is a faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, adjunct physics professor at the University of Waterloo, and a member of the graduate faculty of philosophy at the University of Toronto. His presentation was the latest in a series of book talks hosted by the Harvard Book Store.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, assistant professor of physics and astronomy and core faculty member in women’s studies from the University of New Hampshire, introduced the talk. Smolin served as her Ph.D. adviser, and she began by recounting the time she first met Smolin.

“Lee encouraged me to understand that becoming a phys­

icist means growing into a whole person with broad interests,” Prescod-Weinstein said.

Smolin began the talk with a basic introduction to quantum mechanics and the idea of scientific realism, providing a foundational understanding of his book’s subject matter for audience members without a physics background.

“This talk is multi-level,” he said. “It’s to the non-scientists who are here for curiosity, and it’s to the colleagues and friends who are scientists.”

“You’re a realist if you believe that nature exists independent of our perception,” he added.

Smolin went on to explain how the past century’s theories of quantum mechanics are incomplete, adding that he has sought to fulfill Albert Einstein’s mission to develop a complete, realist theory that describes nature.

“The conclusion that I come to is that they’re all near misses.

And nobody anticipated that,” Smolin said. “We thought, ‘We’re going to quantize gravity. How hard could it be?’ And we did.”

“We want to find the theory that tells the whole story,” he

added.

Scientists and amateur enthusiasts alike said they enjoyed the talk. Asem H. Hassan, a physics graduate student at Northeastern University, called the talk “really awesome,” adding that he read and enjoyed Smolin’s previous book and enjoys his “critical” approach to physics.

“The biggest takeaway — maybe seeing him,” Hassan said. “I’m coming from a physics background, so maybe the first 45 minutes of the lecture, there was nothing new in it for me, but maybe the last couple of slides were really very interesting.”

Edwin Chng, a graduate student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said Smolin succeeded at making the talk accessible to all audiences, adding that it wasn’t “peppered too much with a lot of equations and theorems.”

“I did physics as an undergrad, so this was a great talk because I kind of revised and reviewed some of the knowledge that I had and also that he kind of is pushing on the frontiers of physics trying to get out Einstein’s unfinished theory,” Chng said.

Lee Smolin, author of the recently published book “Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution,” gives a talk in the Science Center Wednesday evening. MYEONGSEO KIM—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

JDP FROM PAGE 1

LETTER FROM PAGE 1

HLS Removes Barriers to Junior Deferral Program

Open Letter Condemns Harvard College Asian Groups

than $300 for a JDP application, according to Jobson.

When the JDP first launched in 2014, the program was only open to Harvard undergraduates. Since 2017, the program has been expanded to allow applications from all undergraduate institutions. Two admissions cycles after the program

We’re constantly innovating in our office and trying to think about how to improve access to this program as well as to legal education as a whole.

Kristi L. Jobson ‘06 HLS Assistant Dean for Admissions

expanded to non-Harvard students, the Law School is still looking to increase represen-

tation from public colleges and universities. Of the 42 undergraduate institutions currently represented in the expanded JDP program’s cohort, only seven are public, including Arizona State University; the University of California, Berkeley; McGill University; University of Georgia; University of Idaho; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and the University of Texas, Austin.

Jobson said dropping the application fee is aligned with Law School administrators’ current goal to get students from across the country to apply.

“Part of this is our overall strategy of increasing access to the Junior Deferral Program for students at a variety of undergraduate institutions, including those that we’re not currently seeing in the application pool,” she said.

Still considered a “pilot program,” Jobson said in a Sept. 30 interview that the Law School will not release the individual admissions data for the pro-

gram at this time.

She said in September the

Part of this is our overall strategy of increasing access to the Junior Deferral Program for students at a variety of undergraduate institutions, including those that we’re not currently seeing.

Kristi L. Jobson ‘06 HLS Assistant Dean for Admissions

program’s admissions data is consistent with the regular admission JD class for the year they applied — including grade point averages, GRE scores, and LSAT scores. michelle.kurilla@thecrimson.com

AAA, CSA, SAA, SAWC, AAB, and SAMC leadership did not respond to multiple requests for comment. HVA President Catherine H. Ho ’21 and KA Co-Presidents Joyce Kang ’21 and Joon Y. Kim ’21 declined to comment.

The letter argues that immigration is an issue of “high importance” to Asian Americans.

In 2017, there were approximately 1.5 million Asian undocumented immigrants in the United States, according to Pew Research Center.

The letter has garnered signatures from not only Harvard affiliates, but also students from other universities, including Stanford University, Yale University, Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of São Paulo.

Larry Liang ’20 said he signed the letter to signal support for groups to “shift” their own politics. He said he believes in the importance of supporting other minority groups.

“I think Asian Americans should stand in solidarity with

Transformative coverage.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

all immigrants because the majority of ourselves, we were all immigrants at one point,” he said.

Though several Asian cultural organizations have attempted to remain apolitical so as not to alienate members with different political views, the letter contends that an “apolitical cultural community is a pernicious lie.”

“It is literally impossible to live as a person of color on the stolen land that is the United States without either being political or being politically instrumentalized by oppressive structures,” the letter reads.

“Therefore, the choice to disengage is indeed a political choice, and an extremely dangerous one at that.”

Several signatories said they support the letter because they believe they have an obligation to do so.

“I signed the open letter because I believe Asian-American is a political term and Asian-American cultural organizations have a responsibility to engage politically,” wrote

David J. Moon ’21, a member of TAPAS and KA, in a text.

The sentiments included in the letter are not new to Harvard. Last semester, a series of posts on the Harvard Confessions Facebook page sparked a contentious two-hour long forum in Winthrop Senior Common Room about the role of Asian cultural organizations.

Students from several Asian affinity groups convened to discuss topics including exclusive membership policies, underrepresentation of Southeast Asians and South Asians, and the lack of political advocacy among cultural groups.

Liang said he is encouraged by the letter and the support it has received; he believes it will start conversations about the role of Asian affinity groups on campus.

“I’m hopeful that this letter will move things in the right direction or move the conversation in the right direction,” he said. amanda.su@thecrimson.com amy.li@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | november 14, 2019

Page 4

Editorial The Crimson Editorial board

op-ed

Dominguez Review Must Demonstrate Crediblity

Abstaining From the UC

S

ince allegations concerning former Government professor Jorge I. Dominguez came to light in February of 2018, the University has taken a number of administrative steps with regards to Dominguez’s case, culminating in the revocation of his emeritus status in May. Since then, the University has convened an external review committee to try to understand how the institutional context of the Government department and the University protected Dominguez for decades.

But one of the women who raised allegations against Dominguez now says that she and three other accusers are “concerned” by the University’s seeming lack of concern for their stories.

In regards to the entire Dominguez affair, it has become increasingly clear that Harvard has failed. It has failed to protect its students and employees from sexual harassment, it has failed by allowing for a culture where a professor alleged to be a harasser went unchecked, and now, it is failing in its ability to hold itself accountable for its errors.

The University has made it a practice to convene committees and to study problems at length, but this reaction in and of itself is not a response.

Actions speak louder than words, and though the external review once seemed like a promising avenue for a constructive review of the climate surrounding this incident, these women’s concerns highlight the disturbing possibility that it will be woefully inadequate for the se-

riousness of the problem it seeks to study.

It’s time for the University to respond with more than just another committee.

Those bringing these claims to light are courageous. Having experienced difficult and deeply uncomfortable interactions, these individuals have stood up and continue to stand up to make their voices heard. We applaud them and call on the University to treat these claims with the gravity that they deserve.

These four women have gone through presumably traumatic incidents. We are incredibly grateful that they remain per-

In regards to the entire Dominguez affair, it has become increasingly clear that Harvard has failed. sistent in ensuring that the Government department and the University at large learn from these egregious incidents, and that meaningful steps are taken to ensure community members’ safety in the future.

Looking at the composition of the supposedly external review committee, we are suspicious that two thirds of its members have ties to Harvard.

In light of Harvard’s poor handling of the situation in the first place, these connections could conceivably serve as reasons for the committee to protect Harvard’s reputation even when serious

mistakes were made. The lack of transparency surrounding the entire investigation over the last two years means that it is incumbent on the University to take concrete steps to demonstrate that the present external review is actually committed to understanding what really went wrong and enacting meaningful change to prevent such harassment in the future.

Moving forward, we call on the reviewers to be transparent about their approach and to be clear with students and faculty about what is and isn’t being looked into.

The reviewers should work to coordinate additional on-campus visits and should open written input pathways to those with meaningful testimony to offer.

Anything short of this will exacerbate the distrust that many in the Government department and around the University feel — not only because of Dominguez, but because of the University’s continued inability to make inroads into the problem of campus sexual assault and harassment.

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.

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Our Last Harvard Confessions Jessenia N. Class and Robert Miranda opining from the chair

#2

016. We MADE it! We’re at Harvard, baby, and we have perfect 20/20 vision.

We’ve got goals on goals on goals.

This place is going to be ours. All that hard work has finally paid off, and the next four years are going to be fantastic.

Opening days has prepared us for everything. Do you think we should comp this club?

Wait, really? Is that what you heard from that cultural group? Oh, we don’t know, then. Even still, we might as well give it a try. Who knows? Things could be different!

We’re going to take all these big intro classes this semester: computer science, economics, life sciences, government.

(It’s okay if no one we know has done this before — and it would be nice if we had help — but we’re sure it’ll be okay.) It’s all green here, you know? Ripe for the picking. Our picking. This place is going to be ours. #2017. Things start off confusing.

Somehow, half of our friends from freshman year are now in the Quad, and they’ve disappeared from our lives entirely.

The distance is less than a mile, but it doesn’t seem worth the walk all the way over there for a meal we’ll never get around to scheduling. Besides, there’s more pressing issues: How are we supposed to have already decided what we want to study for the rest of our time here? We’ve just gotten here! Somehow in the span of two weeks, we’ve changed our concentrations (and our life goals) three times. Do we want to go to law school? No, consulting seems really cool… Actually, never mind. Law school it is. Harvard Law School or bust! Or is Yale better? (Can’t believe we’re actually asking this.)

We’re beginning to get leadership positions in some clubs, and let us tell you,

people in these groups get serious about it. Three meetings a week, lots of arguments, lots of writing, homework, the occasional social and red Solo cup here and there. It’s tough to balance, and we’re not sure how much of ourselves to give these groups. But the people are nice and the work is meaningful, so we’re happy for now. \ #2018. Did you do the readings for that class? Oh cool, so we were all just faking it, then. That makes us feel a bit better. What did you say about our blockmates? Oh, they’re great! We get together at night and play Smash for hours, then go to El Jefe’s at 3 a.m. Okay, not every night. Like weekends. By that I mean every other weekend. Sure, we guess you can say we get a little lonely sometimes, but it’s really not that serious (we think).

We didn’t get that summer internship, either. Ah, no it’s okay, we’re fine. We really wanted to take time for ourselves anyway, and figure it all out. But first, Jefe’s.

We’ll have time to solve the career thing later, we promise. #2019. Things aren’t the same as they used to be before. Every semester is always the hardest, but it seems like this year is just so much more work than ever before. We still really like Harvard, but it just seems as if the world has exploded. Everyone seems so angry, depressed, upset, and disillusioned (and with good reason!) But we’re not sure what to make of all of it, and if we really belong here.

This school promises to take care of us and make sure we’re safe, tells us the bad things at this school won’t happen to us too, but it does. And the wait lines for getting help are really long, and even if we go, no one looks like us or believes our story, so it doesn’t feel like they’ll help anyway. Maybe it’s best to just ignore it for now. Then again, we’re starting to notice that lots of our friends are ignoring it too. They’re taking time off, skip-

ping classes, dealing with their own issues and concerns, retreating into their own worlds. The scariest part is, no one’s really talking about any of it. Why are we so afraid of talking to each other? #2020. Overall, in the grand scheme of things, not much has changed. We’re older, grayer, bruised, tired to the bone (and dare we say perhaps even a bit wiser). We gave all of ourselves to this place — to our academics, our clubs, our institutions. Not sure if it was worth it.

Sometimes it felt like no one was listening, that it was all in vain, that we shouted into the void and it turned around and ignored us and our contributions. Maybe we should’ve listened to that group a while back, and not have joined that extracurricular, or taken that class, because it wouldn’t have given us as much as we gave it. But we need to change course — we’re almost about to graduate. And it seems we can’t even spell the word job right now — or fellowships, or grad school, or the future. And it’s frightening, but there’s some promise in that.

What have we learned in the last seven semesters? Life goes on. This is both comforting and terrifying, but there is hope. Even in the darkest, most isolating moments we’ve experienced, when everything is stressful and earth-shattering, it all eventually comes to pass. Let’s just hope that remains true, and that we can hold fast to our friends here, after we’ve lived and grown so much together. But for now, we’ll savor these last few moments and will sign off — until the next confession.

—Jessenia N. Class ’20, a Crimson Editorial Chair, is a Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology concentrator in Quincy House. Robert Miranda ’20, a Crimson Editorial Chair, is an English concentrator in Pforzheimer House. Their column appears on alternate Thursdays.

By Justin Y. C. Wong

A

s a responsible member of the Harvard College student body, I clicked on the link for the Undergraduate Council presidential elections this morning (from one of the countless reminders and petitions that I have been receiving and deleting), intending to vote for the candidates that can best represent my interests and advocate for changes on my behalf (this year, for example, the UC did a fascinating job attempting to introduce food-delivering robots, initially voting down a statement of support for a student, and had a really comprehensive debate on interpretations of the UC constitution).

Until there is a candidate who recognizes these flaws and a UC that is dedicated to fixing them, I would like the right to abstain in a UC election.

And after the arduous tasks of logging onto TheHub and reaching out for my phone to complete two factor authentication, I finally landed at the online voting page: “Please insert your top five picks for President and Vice President of the Undergraduate Council, respectively.”

I took a look at the lists of candidates and decided that none of the candidates can represent me in making the necessary changes to the UC. None of the candidates seem to have thought hard about what is wrong with a system that literally inspires less voter turnout than a 9 a.m. section and successfully promises the same changes every year: A muticultural center, reforms to academic curriculum and funding for mental health, sexual assault prevention, race relations, and social spaces, for example.

The list continues, and every time another candidate reiterates the same empty promise, the UC’s credibility suffers yet again.

In fact, even Aditya A. Dhar ’21 and Andrew W. Liang ’21’s promise to dissolve the UC from the inside, as a joking expression of student frustration, is not unprecedented.

Subsequently, I decided to express my frustration by voting to abstain.

I left all the boxes unchecked and clicked “Next.”

Then, out of the blue, a red boxed message popped up: “There was a problem with your submission. There are missing required fields or fields not entered in the correct format.”

After trying to play around the rule — I tried placing all candidates on the fifth place, all as my first choice and many other permutations — I realised that I must vote for a candidate in order to participate in the UC elections at all.

When I exercise my right to vote in this election, I must put my vote behind a candidate and the UC system.

By any measures, not being able to abstain in the Harvard UC election is not a devastating problem.

Afterall, only 2 percent of the student population (about one fifth the size of CS50) voted in the past midterm elections. But more than my right to abstain, this ballot precisely embodies what is wrong with the UC. The UC lives within a fantasy where it is the champion of student clubs, the popular party planning committee, and the generous and welcomed financier of student events (despite the fact that much of that money comes from our own pockets in the form of the Student Activities Fees).

But as great as their plans may be on paper, they are simply out of touch from reality.

Student activism and government can be and have been important forces on campus and broader society. But needless to say, the UC is not doing an acceptable job in either field.

For example, while the initiative “From the UC to U” was cited in the Final End of Year Report as a reform “to update students on Council happenings,” the report fails to mention that the 24 videos posted in 2019 averaged less than 300 views each, which is less than 5 percent of the student body.

The ballot design once again exemplifies their misunderstanding or neglect of student opinion: In an election where one of the submitted referenda was to dissolve the UC and a pair of candidates are running on a platform to dissolve the UC, the UC still does not consider the wild possibility that students who are frustrated by the UC and do not feel represented by any candidate may wish to express their feelings by voting to abstain.

This op-ed is not a denial of student activism or organizing student government.

Student activism and government can be and have been important forces on campus and broader society.

But needless to say, the UC is not doing an acceptable job in either field.

And if they wish to improve the current dysfunctional system, they have much to learn from other student groups on campus and around the country that have made change or organised student movements.

And until there is a candidate who recognizes these flaws and a UC that is dedicated to fixing them, I would like the right to abstain in a UC election.

—Justin Y. C. Wong ’22, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Dunster House.

PAGE 5

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 14, 2019

AMERICA FROM PAGE 1

OPEN DATA FROM PAGE 1

Ed School Hosts Student Leaders

HODP Predicts Election Results

s­tudents began the project by writing “We Are America,” a book that compiled stories from students in her class about their identities.

The book then developed into a nationwide project.

Philly Marte, one of the student founders of the project, said he enjoyed working to redefine American history to be more inclusive and diverse.

“This project and these stories will create a sense of unity within this country, within the people that are writing these stories and reading these stories. Your story matters, your voice matters, and there’s someone else that has gone through

what you have and understands,” he said.

This project and these stories will create a sense of unity within this country.

Philly Marte ”We Are America” Founder

Wednesday’s event opened with a panel, where students answered questions about their personal experiences.

The audience then broke into small groups facilitated

by the student panelists to discuss questions about their own American identities. Finally, attendees rejoined for an audience question and answer session with the students.

Abigail S. Williamson, a Salem public school teacher who attended the panel, said the event inspired her to listen more deeply and ask her students more about their lives.

“I think it reminded me how important listening to students is and the power of students’ stories. As a teacher, it’s so important to know who our students are not just academically, but their life stories and who they are at a deeper level,” she

said.

Lander said she hopes that students across campuses everywhere will engage in more conversations about American identity in the future, especially with regard to diversity.

“I think through hearing these stories and sharing stories on campus, you gain a lot of acceptance of others by finding those connection points,” she said. “I think we do that through storytelling and being willing to share and to be a little bit vulnerable. The work that you guys do in college is building new connections and creating your community. This is the work of your generation.”

in response to HODP’s projection.

HODP estimates that, in order for Dhar and Liang to have greater than a 50 percent chance of winning, the actual distribution of their supporters would have to be about 45 percent higher than those that participated in the survey.

The group estimates that, for Mathew and Ify to do the same, their support would have to be more than doubled. Some candidates, however, were not convinced by HODP’s predictions.

“I disagree,” Kumar wrote in an emailed statement. “I think the polls are wrong and hope to prove so tomorrow.”

Last year, the UC Election Commission adopted a new voting system. Each candidate receives a quantity of points corresponding to their ranking on the ballot — first-choice tickets receive one point, second-choice tickets receive 0.5 points, and third-choice tickets receive 0.33 points. kevin.chen@thecrimson.com

147 FROM PAGE 1

Ryan, Avi-Yonah, and Lu Elected Crimson Leaders ­ vi-Yonah, a History concenA trator and Dunster House resident who hails from Ann Arbor, Mich., currently serves as a College Administration reporter and covers Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana and the administration of Harvard College.

She is also an Associate Multimedia Editor, responsible for the photos and videos in each day’s paper.

Avi-Yonah worked alongside Ryan to report on the controversy surrounding Winthrop House and Sullivan. She was also one of two reporters to break the news that famed Economics professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr. faced multiple investigations into allegations of sexual harassment and faced a threatened lawsuit over the course of her reporting.

Next year’s Business Manager will be Emily M. Lu ’21, a Statistics concentrator and resident of Kirkland House from Santa Rosa, Calif.

She will take the helm of The Crimson’s finances and operations after serving this year as an Advertising Manager. She also served as one of two summer Business Managers this year.

Founded in 1873, The Crimson is the student newspaper of Harvard University.

It is the oldest continuously published daily college newspaper in the United States and the only breakfast-table daily publication of Cambridge, Mass.

The paper is proud to provide news and analysis to a wide range of Harvard affiliates, Cambridge residents, and readers across the nation.

The Crimson selects its leaers through an election process called the Turkey Shoot, in which all outgoing members of the masthead are invited to participate.

A candidate for a senior leadership position must receive at least 75 percent of the vote to be elected.

Joining Ryan, Avi-Yonah, and Lu on the masthead are:

ARTS

Iris M. Lewis ’21, Arts Chair Allison J. Scharmann ’21, Arts Chair

BLOG

Ariana Chiu ’22, Blog Chair Sahara W. Kirwan ’21, Blog Chair

DESIGN

Margot E. Shang ’21, Design Chair Matthew J. Tyler ’22, Design Chair

MAGAZINE

MULTIMEDIA

Allison G. Lee ’21, Multimedia Chair Ryan N. Gajarawala ’22, Multimedia Chair

BUSINESS

William C. Boggs ’22, Sports Chair Joseph W. Minatel ’21, Sports Chair

EDITORIAL

Alexander K. Chin ’21, Technology Chair William Y. Yao ’21, Technology Chair

Jonathan V. Garzon ’21, Associate Business Manager Andrea M. Lamas-Nino ‘21, Associate Business Manager Ari E. Benkler ‘21, Editorial Chair Isaac O. Longobardi ’21, Editorial Chair

S. KUHAR—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Andrew W. D. Aoyama ’21, Magazine Chair Nina H. Pasquini ‘21, Magazine Chair

NEWS

Alexandra A. Chaidez ‘21, Associate Managing Editor Molly C. McCafferty ‘21, Associate Managing Editor

Shera S. Avi-Yonah ‘21 has been named the Managing Editor of the 147th Guard of The Harvard Crimson. KATHRYN

SPORTS

TECHNOLOGY

Emily M. Lu ‘21 has been named the Business Manager of the 147th Guard of The Harvard Crimson. KATHRYN S. KUHAR—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Never miss a moment.

The Crimson @thecrimson

Sports

Weekly Recap

SCORES

women’s Basketball vs. Siena W, 68-51 ___________________________________________________________

Men’s water Polo vs. Mit W, 14-5 ___________________________________________________________

Men’s basketball Vs. maine w, 67-46 ___________________________________________________________

women’s rugby Vs. dartmouth W, 23-22 ___________________________________________________________

men’s soccer vs. Columbia L, 6-1 ___________________________________________________________

football vs. columbia L, 17-10 ___________________________________________________________

men’s ice hockey vs. no. 15 quinnipiac W, 7-2 ___________________________________________________________

RUGBY

Women’s Rugby Beats Dartmouth, Advances to NIRA By lucy connor Crimson Staff Writer ­

In its third matchup of this season, the Harvard women’s rugby team got its revenge and defeated Dartmouth in a stunning victory, 23-22, this past weekend in the NIRA semifinal game. After defeating the Big Green during the regular season, the Crimson fell to Dart-

mouth last weekend in the Ivy League Championship. Fresh off a devastating loss just weeks before, Harvard was able to top Dartmouth, earning a spot in the NIRA National Championship this coming weekend.

“We went out with the mentality that we know we can beat them,” junior Milan Roberts said. “We beat them earlier in the season and we just felt that

we had nothing to lose. It could have been the last game of our season, so we just really wanted to put everything on the line.”

Both teams realistically entered the game with similar mentalities, and the NIRA semifinal game turned into a nailbiter as expected.

Tries and penalty kicks went back and forth as both teams struggled to completely take

control of the game. The Crimson found the board first with a penalty kick by Roberts, sparking confidence amongst the Harvard team.

However, the Big Green responded shortly after, and extended its lead to 12-3. Unwilling to let their heads down, Harvard maintained its intensity with tries from senior captain Emily Prentice and Sofia

STIFF COMPETITION With a revenge victory over Dartmouth, Harvard advanced to the NIRA Championships to take on Army for the crown. quinn g. perini —Crimson photographer

Fella to regain the lead, 13-12.

“There were definitely moments of frustration,” Roberts said. “But ultimately, we just kept working as a team and driving the ball forward, getting small meters and elevating on small victories we had throughout the game.”

In the second half, the momentum shifted back into Dartmouth’s favor, as they put backto-back tries on the scoreboard, taking back the lead, 22-13.

With 25 minutes left to play and down 9 points, the Crimson managed to ignore the feeling that the game might be slipping away and recollected itself.

“There was definitely a shift from when Dartmouth scored a try with about 25 minutes left in the game,” junior Erin Wright said. “Our headspace really shifted: we started to think, ‘No more. This game is ours and we’re taking control of it now.’ It felt as if we looked at the scoreboard as a team and all believed that there is plenty of time left to complete the job we came here to do.”

After a dominating stiff arm and a determined dive into Dartmouth try zone, Delia Hellander cut the Dartmouth lead to four points with about 17 minutes left. A conversion kick from Roberts made the score 22-20, a score that would not change for the subsequent 15 minutes.

“We just continued to focus on our communication and trusting one another,” Wright said. “We especially focused on being resilient in the face of adversity that we knew we would face going into the game.”

The team remained resilient throughout the second half, maintaining constant pressure and attacking the Big Green de-

fense. With about a minute left and still down two points, Harvard had the opportunity to take the lead with a penalty kick from Roberts.

“Just do not miss it,” said Roberts when asked about what was going through her mind before the kick. “It was right down the middle, so I really had no excuse to miss. I was just thinking, ‘Do not do something stupid like trip. Just make it through.’”

Cool under pressure, Roberts kicked the ball straight through, giving Harvard a one point lead with 1:15 to go. The Crimson regained possession and kept control until the time ran out.

“Winning by one point with one minute left was definitely shocking and such an exciting way to win the game,” Roberts said. “It was just a feeling of absolute relief. There was so much excitement and happiness throughout our entire team.”

Harvard played a great team game. The team chemistry and trust within one another was apparent and absolutely a factor in this huge win.

“The entire team stayed connected, upbeat and confident even through the rough moments,” Wright said. “We never got down ourselves. We played for each other and we played as a team.”

The Crimson will host Army West Point in the NIRA National Championships this weekend, Sunday, November 17.

“We will just be focusing on playing from the heart once again and giving it our all,” Wright said. “We are going to play some really great and some really fun rugby this weekend.” lucy.connor@thecrimson.com

football

Around the Ivies: Home Teams in the Home Stretch By joseph w. minatel Crimson Staff Writer ­

As a native of Louisville, Kentucky, there are a few things in life that cannot be replaced. The sweet, sweet smell of lost bets at Churchill Downs on Derby day. The deafening sound of fireworks at Thunder Over Louisville until you’re finally over 15 years old. The recognizable rushing of brown water as guck runs down the Ohio River. The bright, gleaning orange barrels dotting the shoulder of Spaghetti Junction. The warm summer day that Dairy Kastle finally opens. Above all of these, however? Hearing that the University of Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team has been upset in Rupp Arena by the mighty Evansville Purple Aces.

Music to the ears of every Louisvillian.

I will admit, I just wanted to mention this loss so that it is forever on the internet in yet another spot. However, I feel that my incoherent ramblings to start these columns are becoming more and more of a stretch, and they may take away my pen soon if I don’t relate it to Ivy League football in some fashion. While Evansville did pull off what Cornell will be trying this week in the form of an impossible upset, my musings of the Derby City came to mind in the week of Harvard’s final home game. For the last time, seniors will suit up and take the field at Harvard Stadium, the place they have called home for years. Before making the trek to that godforsaken, rundown city in Connecticut that does not deserve the admittedly great pizza it calls home in the season’s final week, Crimson seniors have one last go in Cambridge.

At home. So as I sing one song for my Old Kentucky Home far away, half of the Ancient Eight’s seniors will sing one final song at their football homes. For this reason, and possibly having to do with the multiple lopsided matchups, I will be picking every single home team this week.

YALE VS. PRINCETON

Princeton is no longer the top dog. Finally, for the first time since 2017, the Tigers have fallen. But Princeton lost this game in the neutral site of Yankee Stadium, not on their own field.

While the westward crossing through the Holland Tunnel usually means disappointment for many, it will mean home for the Tigers. This week, the game will be played on the wrong side of the Hudson, in the friendly confines of New Jersey. The last time Princeton lost at home? At the hands of the visiting Yale, November 2017.

While slightly exciting, do not let this stuff spook you. The Bulldogs still have to play a very good team, and we no longer have time for this spookiness.

The temperature has dropped too much, Christmas music is already coming out of my roommate’s speaker, and Waverly Sanitorium is closed. Like I said, this week is about home.

Princeton by 7.

BROWN VS. COLUMBIA

When I moved from Kentucky to Cambridge for college, I did not know what to expect. I did know one thing, however: it was going to be cold as hell. I packed up winter clothing in the blistering heat of August and set off for my new home. For some, this cold would be the most foreign of concepts. My roommate from Tunisia can definitely be counted among this group. When he left his original home in North Africa for Massachusetts, he buckled down for his first New England winter. I will never forget my fellow roommates and I bundling him up like Randy from A Christmas Story as we all embraced our new home.

In Columbia’s version of the Crimson, a reporter detailed how to survive the impending New York winter for those who never have. I commend that, and it really emphasizes the feeling of home. Plus, it was first on the website when I went digging for embarrassing stuff and it directly aligned with my an-

WAIT FOR THE KICKER For seniors such as kicker Jake McIntyre, this week’s game in Harvard Stadium will be one final homecoming. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer

ecdote and column theme, so I’ll throw them a bone against the Ivy League’s worst team.

Columbia by 14.

CORNELL VS. DARTMOUTH

I traveled a long way from Louisville to Cambridge. Both are still home. If I had to travel to Ithaca, however, I’m not sure if I could say the same. Traversing

upstate New York and landing somewhere I’m assuming is just north of Greenland, it would be hard not to feel a little homesick.

This week, a writer from Cornell’s version of the Crimson wrote an opinion with the title, “Going to Cornell Doesn’t Make You a Better Person.” I don’t have to read that article to believe the headline. Hope the

Big Red aren’t too homesick in Hanover, the second-most desolate city in the Ivy League.

Dartmouth by 31.

PENN VS. HARVARD

Penn recently caught some backlash for renaming its law school, as reported by Penn’s version of the Crimson. When the university received a record $125 million dollar donation, it

renamed the law school after a donor. The students aren’t happy, and they have reason to be if they read my article. Fancy donor names betray tradition and homeliness. And that’s what this week is all about. Home.

Sorry Coach Cal, better luck next time away from Rupp.

Harvard by 14. joseph.minatel@thecrimson.com