The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 127

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 | VOLUME CXLVI, NO. 127 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019

EDITORIAL PAGE 4

NEWS PAGE 3

SPORTS PAGE 5

Harvard should reframe the Celebration of Scholars dinner.

Students participate in first annual Social Justice Hackathon.

Women’s rugby beats Army West Point to take national championship.

Temp Policy Divest Harvard Stages ‘Oil Spill’ Event Brings Changes

By JASPER G. GOODMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

By JAMIE S. BIKALES CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

A s more than 150 temporary and less-than-half-time employees transition into permanent staff positions following a policy change that went into effect in March, the shift has brought “extraordinary” opportunities for some, but unintended challenges for others.

Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers Executive Director Bill Jaeger called the numbers of contingent workers a “significant reduction” during an interview last month, noting that overall use of temporary workers and lessthan-half-time workers is down 15 to 20 percent compared to a year ago. HUCTW pushed for new contingent worker rules after internal research last year revealed that roughly 300 temporary and part-time workers at Harvard worked “excessive” hours without overtime pay.

The union contended that temporary workers and less-thanhalf-time workers enjoyed fewer benefits than regular Harvard staff members, despite the similarity of their work to permanent staff. The new contingent worker policy requires the University to provide full staff-level compensation and benefits for contingent workers if they are employed for more than three months or 14 hours per week. The rule also bans University departments from cycling workers between temporary status and less-than­

half-time more than once.

“We’re ensuring that people… in regular roles here are getting the regular positions with benefits that they deserve,” Jaeger said.

Forty-two of those workers transitioned in the first two months after March 3, when the policy went into effect. The policy was crafted as part of HUCTW’s new contract, which was agreed upon in October 2018 after months of delays.

Director of Labor and Employee Relations Paul R. Curran wrote in an emailed statement that the new policy addresses the union’s concerns about the use of contingent workers while giving individual departments the “flexibility to manage their work and resources.”

“As with requirements of any labor agreement or employment law, decisions on resource allocation and workload management, in compliance with any such requirements, rest with leadership at the local level across University departments and units,” Curran wrote.

The University has employed 3,331 temporary and less-than-half-time workers since March 3, according to University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain. On a day-to-day basis, however, that number is typically much fewer. On Nov. 14, for example, 1,684 contingent employees were at work across campus. Sara M. Alfaro-Franco, a videographer in

SEE TEMPS PAGE 3

Organizers of Divest Harvard — a student group calling on the University to divest its endowment from fossil fuels — poured liquid meant to represent oil over their members’ heads during a demonstration at the Smith Campus Center Friday.

More than 20 protestors from Divest Harvard and climate advocacy group Extinction Rebellion marched from the John Harvard Statue in Harvard Yard to the Smith Center to watch Claire Pryor ’22, Joseph “JD” D. Deal ’23, and Owen Torrey ’21 carry out the demonstration. The trio sat on white ­

sheets while three other Divest Harvard members, wearing placards bearing the names of oil companies, drenched them with a thick, brown liquid meant to symbolize oil.

Protest attendee Miles A. Mcallister ’21 said the demonstration was “amazing.”

“My congratulations and gratitude to the performers,” Mcallister said. “That was really cool and special and powerful. I wish there were more people here to see what went on today.”

The demonstration came just one day after an Undergraduate Council ballot

SEE DIVEST PAGE 3

A crowd of protestors converged on Friday to urge Harvard to divest its investments. SUUBA M. DEMBY—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Activists withDivest Harvard staged a protest, during which they poured molasses — meant to represent oil — on members in front of the Smith Campus Center on Friday. SUUBA M. DEMBY—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Former French Amb. Talks European Diplomacy

By ARVIN HARIRI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Former French Ambassador to the United States Pierre N. Vimont discussed the future of European foriegn policy with diplomats and Harvard affiliates in a conversation hosted by Harvard’s Center for European Studies Friday.

Though he no longer works as an ambassador, Vimont holds the uncommon honorific title of “Ambassador of France” because of his lifelong service as a diplomat.

Moderators Boston University professor Vivien A. Schmidt and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs senior associate Karl Kaiser introduced Vimont, who spoke on topics ranging from the changing role of China in Europe to the uncertain future of Brexit.

Regarding the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union, Vimont said many ­

Pierre Vimont, former Executive Secretary-General of the European External Action Service, spoke at the Future of Europe Foreign Policy event on Friday. SUUBA M. DEMBY—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Europeans oppose a solution that leaves Britain a seat at the table as a nonmember of the EU, as it would set a bad precedent for other nations.

He said he hopes Europeans find a creative way to address this concern.

“I personally think that we should start thinking out of the box maybe to find something interesting because, after all, Britain will be a former member — we’ve never had that — and therefore why not try to invent and be creative?” he said.

Vimont also discussed China, claiming that the nation has begun to cooperate more with the European Union. Vimot, however, admitted he was cautious about assuming diplomatic relations are improving, adding that Europeans must simply wait and see.

Ultimately, Vimont said European nations could overcome

SEE EUROPE PAGE 3

Students Protest Crimson Celebration

By RUOQI ZHANG CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Roughly 50 students demonstrated outside of The Harvard Crimson’s building Friday to protest the publication’s coverage of a Sept. 12 rally calling for the abolition of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Current and former Crimson editors organized the protest to support a petition demanding that The Crimson apologize for its coverage, cease requesting comment from ICE, and commit to “protecting undocumented students,” according to a Medium post by co-organizer Danu A. K. Mudannayake ’20.

The petition — started by student-led immigration advo­

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Harvard Today 2

cacy group Act on a Dream last month — criticizes The Crimson for requesting comment from an ICE spokesperson for its Sept. 13 article, “Harvard Affiliates Rally for Abolish ICE Movement.”

The article covers a protest hosted by Act on a Dream and quotes several students’ criticisms of ICE, including calls for its dissolution. The story notes that ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Friday protest coincided with Champagne Showers, The Crimson’s annual celebration of its incoming leadership. Several protesters entered the building chanting “New guard, don’t let us down” and “Champagne won’t wash away undocu voices.”

SEE PROTEST PAGE 3

News 3

Editorial 4

FOOT OF THE CHARLES

Sports 6

The Foot of the Charles took place this past weekend at the Charles River. The race marked the end Harvard’s fall crew season. KENDRA N. WILKINSON—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

TODAY’S FORECAST

RAINY High: 40 Low: 37

UC Funds Laundry, Printing for Some

By KEVIN R. CHEN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

T­ he Undergraduate Council voted to allocate $10,000 to fund printing and laundry for Student Events Fund-eligible students and another $10,000 to fund Wintersession grants at its general meeting Sunday.

The UC will provide $20 in Crimson Cash at the beginning of the spring semester to a total of 500 SEF-eligible students: 200 freshmen, 100 sophomores, 100 juniors, and 100 seniors. SEF is a College program that covers the costs of some event tickets for students who receive a certain amount of financial aid. The council will decide the students who receive the stipend by a random lottery that SEF-eligible students will be able to opt into, according to the legislation.

Crimson Cash may be used for laundry, printing, and at various restaurants and stores both on and off campus. Representatives at the meeting said that while they acknowledge the $20 may be used for purposes other than printing and laundry, they intend to use the program to study how participants spent the money.

The UC will send a feedback form to participating students at the end of the spring semester. They will then gauge the program’s potential for expansion. Freshman Yard representatives Yousuf Bakshi ’23, Esther J. Xiang ’23, Nicholas J. Brennan ’23, Janna E. Ramadan ’23, David Y. Zhang ’23, and Phillip Meng ’23, as well as Quincy House Representative Phiroze K. Parasnis ’21 and and Leverett House Representative

SEE UC PAGE 3

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

PAGE 2

HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Popcorn Chicken Shrimp Pad Thai Tofu Fajitas

For Dinner Baked Salmon Roasted Beef with Peppercorn Portobello Lentil Patty

TODAY’S EVENTS Protecting Animals Within and Across Borders Pound Hall, 12-1 p.m.

IN THE REAL WORLD Violence Erupts in Hong Kong between Police and Protestors on University Campus

Charlotte Blattner discusses her book on protecting animals in a globalized world. Make sure to head to Pound Hall 102 today for an interesting and lively conversation!

In one of the most disruptive and violent weeks of the protests in Hong Kong, police and protestors met in a violent stand-off at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Hong Kong is currently scheduled to hold elections for its district council this coming Sunday.

Europe Was Not Always Free and United: Celebrating 30 Years Since the End of Communism JFK Jr. Forum, 6 p.m.

Come listen to an address by Nobel Laureate and former President of Poland Lech Wałęsa on the history and transformation of European politics.

Stop by the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum tonight!

Chemistry Professors at Kansas University Arrested for Alleged Methamphetamine Manufacturing Cars drive along Memorial Drive as crew teams row on the Charles River Friday as the sun drops low in the sky. KATHRYN S. KUHAR—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

DAILY BRIEFING As more than 150 temporary and less-than-half-time Harvard employees transition into permanent, benefited staff positions following a policy change that went into effect in March, the shift has brought “extraordinary” opportunities for some, but unintended challenges for others. HUCTW pushed for new contingent worker rules after internal research last year revealed that roughly 300 temporary and part-time workers at Harvard worked “excessive” hours without overtime pay. In other news, protesters from Divest Harvard staged a mock “oil spill” demonstration Friday, using molasses to represent oil.

According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, two associate chemistry professors at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark. were arrested on charges of manufacture of methamphetamine and use of drug paraphernalia. Both men were placed on leave by the university.

Shooting at High School in California Kills 3, Wounds 3

Yet another school shooting occurred on Friday when a 16 year-old male shot at his classmates, and then shot himself. The incident has resulted in the deaths of the shooter and two of his classmates and the wounding of three others.

AROUND THE IVIES YALE The Yale Police Department is pursuing a spate of community outreach initiatives following widespread protests of their conduct, the Yale Daily News reported. The department recently hired two “community engagement officers” to run programming ranging from celebrating Halloween with trick-or-treating to running a Thanksgiving charity drive. The department has conducted some of its outreach in Newhallville, the New Haven neighborhood where a YPD officer and a Hamden police officer fired at two unarmed residents.

Since the shooting, protesters have demanded the firing of the involved officers and increased accountability.

PENN

The University of Pennsylvania’s Undergraduate Assembly softened a prior resolution condemning law professor Amy Wax, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. Five weeks ago, the Assembly voted to call on administrators to fire Wax, who has become the subject of protests following comments she made suggesting that the United States would be “better off with more whites and fewer nonwhites.”

The new resolution proposes that administrators bar Wax from teaching rather than firing her.

DARTMOUTH

Dartmouth administrator Katharine Strong said three campus Greek organizations are under suspension this semester, the Dartmouth reported.

Administrators suspended Zeta Psi for possession of hard alcohol and Alpha Phi for violating hazing and alcohol policies. They are still reviewing a third case — Chi Heorot — for health and safety violations. The college has revoked several Dartmouth Greek organizations’ charters and suspended others in recent years. Disciplined organizations must undergo alcohol use and management trainings.

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

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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.

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Story Editors Angela N. Fu ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Molly C. McCafferty ’21 Sanjana L. Narayanan ’21

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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 | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Hackathon Highlights Activism Harvard Kennedy School Professor Cornell W. Brooks and Boston activist and organizer Monica Cannon-Grant spoke about how to fight for social justice in the United States at the William Monroe Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice’s inaugural Social Justice Hackathon Friday.

The hackathon, which was held in Gutman Library, featured both presentations and group work time and began with a discussion between Brooks — former president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — and Cannon-Grant — who helped organize a 2017 march against white supremacy and a counter-protest during the 2019 “straight pride” parade in Boston. The two discussed Cannon-Grant’s experience with activism, which she said began during a summer in which her neighborhood saw 15 separate shootings. Cannon-Grant said she started throwing block parties in order to unify her neighborhood and combat violence.

Several years after starting her block party initiative, however,

a young man nearly shot Cannon-Grant’s son in the head, and her son only survived because the trigger jammed. That incident launched Cannon-Grant’s career advocating for young black people in Boston.

Cannon-Grant concluded that victims and killers deal with similar stressors and decided to commit herself to helping and advocating for the “shooters.”

She started a non-profit organization called Violence in Boston to address these issues locally. Cannon-Grant said that federal funding often goes to state police to prevent crime, but it should go to activists on the ground working to rehabilitate people.

“We are not going to arrest our way out of any problem,” Cannon-Grant said.

After Cannon-Grant’s talk, the audience broke out into several groups. Each group discussed possible solutions to several issues including immigration, voter suppression, bail fines and fees, and reparations.

The immigration team discussed the Liberian immigration crisis and finding long-term stability for immigrants to the United States, and the voter suppression group brainstormed

DIVEST FROM PAGE 1

UC FROM PAGE 1

By MARGARET M. HYLTON CONTRIBUTING WRITER ­

strategies for making voters feel like their ballots matter and increasing general civic engagement. Members of the bail bonds and fines team examined bail bonds in Louisiana and discussed strategies for resolving black-white disparities in court fees. At the same time, the reparations group considered how to best repair the damages of historical institutions like slavery and undo institutional racism.

After the small group session, Brooks and Cannon-Grant again spoke to the audience about strategies for creating and operating advocacy organizations. Cannon-Grant urged students to consider what intellectual or financial resources they have and can give to movements for social justice.

“Everybody’s activism is different,” Cannon-Grant said.

“Show up in whatever way is comfortable for you.”

After Brooks and Cannon-Grant spoke, local activists Renée Omolade, Segun Idowu, and Atara Rich-Shea spoke on a panel about their own distinct social advocacy. Omolade — who started youth engagement and community development organization We Are The Ones after her friend was shot

in 2014 — said that she felt she had a moral obligation to become an activist because she is from Dorchester, Mass. where less than 10 percent of residents have college degrees. From the time she was 14 years old, she was involved in Boston violence prevention programs. She said that, through her experiences, she discovered that activism can happen at any time and place.

Idowu said his social justice career began in 2011 when he protested the execution of Troy A. Davis — who was convicted for the murder of a police officer though he maintained his innocence until his death — in Georgia with a group of Morehouse College students. He said he is currently working to fund local black businesses to build wealth in black communities in Boston.

Massachusetts Bail Fund Executive Director Rich-Shea said her work as a public defender representing marginalized people led her to believe that prisons do not do a service for society.

Friday’s event ended with a poetry reading from National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda S.C. Gorman ’20 and a performance from Harvard’s Kuumba singers.

Divest UC to Fund Printing, Laundry Stages for Some SEF-Eligible Students Mock Oil Spill referenda showed that 69.3 percent of undergraduate voters believe Harvard should commit — by Earth Day 2020 — to complete divestment “as soon as possible” and produce a plan for doing so. Last year, 71.5 percent of UC referenda voters supported divestment. Mcallister, who carried a sign at the protest that read “Harvard profits from climate change,” said that he voted to support divestment.

“If the University is going to broadly act that they’re leaders in the fight against climate change and sponsor research into it and things of that nature, their investment holdings need to also represent that,” he said.

Joseph Winters ’21, a Divest organizer who spoke at the event, told attendees that Harvard’s continued fossil fuel investment makes the school “complicit in the degradation of our collective future.”

“We — students, alumni, faculty, and community members — demand the divestment of Harvard’s over $40 billion endowment from the fossil fuel industry,” Winters said.

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain referred The Crimson to previous statements regarding divestment.

“While we agree on the urgency of this global challenge, we respectfully disagree with divestment activists on the means by which a university should confront it,” Swain wrote in an emailed statement.

“Universities like Harvard have a crucial role to play in tackling climate change and Harvard is fully committed to leadership in this area through research, education, community engagement, dramatically reducing its own carbon footprint, and using our campus as a test bed for piloting and proving solutions.”

“As it has done for well over a decade, the University will continue to support its faculty, students and staff as they pursue a range of innovative and ambitious efforts to accelerate the world’s transition to renewable sources of energy and to help mitigate the catastrophic consequences of climate change that are already being realized,” he added.

Swain also pointed to Harvard’s climate action plan, which was introduced by former University President Drew G. Faust, which commits the University to ridding its operations of fossil fuels by 2050.

Winters closed his remarks to the crowd saying that the demonstration was meant to symbolize Harvard and the fossil fuel industry’s “extraordinary indifference” to fossil fuels’ impacts on humans.

“We call out these bad actors and demand that Harvard take responsibility for its role in perpetuating the climate crisis and global climate injustice,” Winters said.

Jenny Y. Gan ’22, sponsored the legislation.

Some representatives said they are concerned the UC will have to continue bearing the expenses of the program if the University does not institutionalize the initiative.

UC Treasurer Jack M. Swanson ’22 also raised concerns over whether the Council will be able to gather information on the program. He said he does not think giving each student $20 in Crimson Cash would provide the Council with much new information because $20 is not enough to cover the costs of printing and laundry.

Gan said she acknowledges the other representatives’ concerns and intends for the program to be a “first step in the

right direction” to improving financial accessibility on campus rather than a long-term solution.

Dunster House Representative Noah Harris ’22 sponsored the legislation to fund Wintersession grants for individual students.

While student organizations recognized by the College are eligible to apply for Wintersession funding, individual students are not, according to the legislation.

Representatives at the meeting said students may apply for UC funding to perform thesis research or hold events, among other possibilities.

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

The Council allocated $500 to the Woodbridge Society of International Students — an international student organization — to fund outings to Taza Chocolate Factory over Thanksgiving break. Attendees will receive a factory tour and participate in a chocolate tasting.

“For students who stay [on campus], breaks can often be less fulfilling and lonely as is empty,” Woodbridge’s grant proposal reads. “[W]e want to give students who stay on-campus the ability to go do something fun and out-of-the-ordinary during break so they have a break that is as fulfilling as those of students who get to go home.” kevin.chen@thecrimson.com

EUROPE FROM PAGE 1

Ambassador of France Dicusses Future of European Foreign Policy many hurdles by finding a way to cooperate among themselves.

“The main takeaway is that European foreign policy is a sort of work in progress: There’s still a lot more to be done,” Vimont said in an interview following the event. “One of the main difficulties at the moment is getting the member states to accept and to buy into this idea

of having a common foreign policy.”

“This is where we need to get more commitment and a greater sense of ownership on behalf of all those member states with regard to the foreign policy that they are trying to build,” he added.

Adrien Abecassis, a French diplomat who attended the event, said this idea was his

main takeaway from Vimont’s talk.

“What he’s traced very wisely was the need for Europeans to have a deeper talk between themselves on what they want to do in the world — what kind of power they want to be,” Abecassis said. “Then the discussion on the tools, the structure, and the means will follow, but not the other way around.”

Transformative coverage.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

TEMPS FROM PAGE 1

Temp Rule Brings Hirings, Firings the Division of Continuing Education, worked as a contingent worker for five years before this July, when she was hired into a new permanent part-time position. She said the transition allowed her to access an “extraordinary” range of benefits, from health care to access to classes.

“It has really opened my doors and it’s been a world of possibilities for me,” she said.

She said transitioning into a permanent staff role changed the way she views her job.

“I feel a deep investment in the University that I never felt before,” she said. “They’re taking care of me and I want to take care of them in whatever way I can, which is working hard and doing my job.”

Though her hourly pay has remained the same, Alfaro-Franco said she is now working around 30 hours a week.

Jeffrey Czekaj, who works as an exhibition installer in the Graduate School of Design, said he was employed off-andon for more than 10 years until he was hired as a staff member this year. Czekaj said he felt like an “outsider” even though he worked alongside staff.

“Nobody here, like, knew our names, we weren’t invited to the meetings,” he said.

He said he ran into difficulties applying for the Massachusetts Health Connector because the agency said Harvard should be giving him insurance, but his position did not previously afford those benefits.

“I have a six-year-old kid, so my partner and I would have to figure out… whose insurance he was going to be on and now it’s easy, like, I just have insurance

for my whole family,” he said.

While Czekaj and five others were hired as permanent employees, now only six employees install exhibits compared with the eight or nine contingent workers who used to construct each one.

“This last install we definitely could have used more people,” he said. “That’s going to be a challenge going forward.”

Jaeger and Graduate School of Design spokesperson Travis Dagenais declined to comment.

William S. Davidson, another DCE videographer who switched to a permanent role, said he was initially “angry” about the policy because it came with a cap of 14 hours for lessthan-half time workers and he was not immediately hired full time. He said that due to the lengths of the classes he was assigned to film, he was only able to work 11 hours to stay under the cap and considered leaving.

DCE spokesperson Harry Pierre declined to comment.

Even with the videographers hired part time, Davidson said it has been a “challenge filling all the hours” because the remaining contingent workers are capped at 11 hours.

“The full time people in the department have had to pick up the slack. They’re doing more shoots than they did in the past, which was another thing I think that the union didn’t foresee happening,” Davidson said.

“The idea of the contract was to encourage Harvard to create more union positions, but I don’t know if the money is there to do a lot of that.” james.bikales@thecrimson.com

PROTEST FROM PAGE 1

Event Brings Protest of Crimson Coverage Mudannayake declined to comment for this story. Act on a Dream Co-Directors and former Crimson editorial editors Emily A. Romero ‘21 and Diego Navarrete ‘21 — who were also present at the protest, along with other members of their organization — also declined to comment.

Crimson President Kristine E. Guillaume ’20 wrote in an emailed statement that The Crimson welcomes reader feedback.

“We respect the right to protest The Crimson’s policies and welcome free expression of views different from ours,” Guillaume wrote. “In the past few months, we have met with representatives of Act on a Dream to hear their concerns and explain our approach. We always welcome feedback from our readers and from those we cover.”

The Crimson requests comment from all subjects of a sto-

ry in accordance with standard journalistic practices, according to Guillaume.

“This policy demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that the individuals and institutions we write about have an opportunity to respond to criticisms in order to ensure a fair and unbiased story,” she wrote.

Act on a Dream’s petition calling on The Crimson to apologize and change its policies has garnered more than 1,000 signatures as of Sunday night.

Fifteen student organizations including the Phillips Brooks House Association, Harvard College Democrats, and Harvard Graduate Students Union– United Automobile Workers have also signed on. Harvard’s Undergraduate Council also passed a resolution on Nov. 10 in support of Act on a Dream’s concerns about The Crimson’s reporting policies. ruoqi.zhang@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

PAGE 4

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

OP-ED

Celebrating Scholars, Not Scholarships

What Will Become of Us?

S

ince 2006, once every year Annenberg is sumptuously prepared for the collision of two worlds. The “Celebration of Scholarships” brings together Harvard College students with the individual donors who have endowed their scholarships. While the event arguably has a significant effect on the school’s ability to encourage continued donations to financial aid, for many of the students who attend it can be an overwhelming affair that highlights their sense of alienation from the wealth and privilege of the university they attend. Worse, many students feel objectified — put out on display for the oohs and aahs of elite donors who they do not know and cannot identify with, yet to whom they still feel obligated.

A celebration of scholarships fetishizes an abstract exchange of money between a donor and the College.

While we understand the importance of maintaining continued financial aid donations, which currently endow twothirds of all financial aid, we want to challenge the way in which the event is framed and presented.As it stands, what precisely the event intends to celebrate is ambiguous. A celebration of scholarships fetishizes an abstract exchange of mon-

ey between a donor and the College. At best, this fetishization of the scholarship as such just seems sort of bland — trivial in the way that celebrating a purchase might be. At worst, however, it risks making students feel that their presence at the event, not to mention at Harvard more broadly, is in service of that transaction rather than the other way around.

But the idea of creating an institutional context to celebrate the achievement of first-generation and low-income students is worth preserving. The event might best be redeemed by dropping the “-hips” and reconceiving it more as a Celebration of Scholars. Doing so would still allow donors to mingle with and feel a connection to these students that would encourage them to continue donating, but it would also reframe the event as not a celebration of a monetary exchange but the accomplishments of a remarkable group of students. Gaining admission to Harvard despite systemic socioeconomic disadvantage, not to mention excelling here through four whirlwind years, is a major feat that deserves proper celebration.

One model Harvard might consider is restructuring the event to focus on the celebration of soon-to-be-graduates. Instead of focusing on scholarship students generally, the event could be geared toward graduating seniors as a culminating ceremony for their time. Prep for Prep, a New York City nonprofit that helps students of color gain admission

to private schools, provides an example.

Their annual Lilac Ball is fundamentally a fundraising event, but it seeks to celebrate the graduation of high school seniors who completed the program.

Worse, many students feel objectified — put out on display for the oohs and aahs of elite donors who they do not know and cannot identify with, yet to whom they still feel obligated.

In so doing, they not only raise money and offer donors an opportunity to mingle with scholars, but also pay tribute to the hard work of students that makes the whole endeavor worthwhile in the first place. The College might consider restructuring its event in a similar way.

Who knows? Harvard might even end up raising more money.

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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The Crimson @thecrimson Task Force on Student Mental Health Engages Community Perspectives

L

ast winter, University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 asked us to lead a task force on student mental health at Harvard. We readily agreed, as each of us has noticed in our respective roles that many of our students grapple with emotional and psychosocial distress.

According to the most recent National College Health Assessment by the American College Health Association, 45 percent of students reported having felt so depressed within the last 12 months that it was difficult to function, and almost 66 percent reported having felt overwhelming anxiety within the same time period — numbers that have risen steadily over the past decade. It’s also no secret that universities in general, and Harvard in particular, are high-stress environments that attract people who are high-achieving, and who often have become so at great personal sacrifice.

With the 45 undergraduates, graduate students, faculty members, and administrators who constitute the task force, we began in February to examine how Harvard should address the academic, social, and institutional issues that affect student mental health.

Starting last May, we began convening focus groups to hear directly from undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, faculty members across multiple schools, and staff at all levels of the institution.

We asked countless questions about how students and others perceived the scope of the problem, which resources

and policies were effective, which did more harm than good, and how Harvard could do better.

In addition, the task force has been analyzing several surveys fielded across Harvard’s schools. The College has been systematically surveying its incoming freshman students about mental health issues since 2010, and Harvard University Health Services has included questions about student mental health on its biennial health and well-being survey since 2012.

We’ve taken a close look at the results of these surveys, as well as at data from the Graduate Student Mental Health Survey Initiative, led by Harvard University Health Services Director Paul J. Barreira, and other sources of data, to inform our thinking about the state of student mental health at Harvard and what changes might help improve the well-being of our students.

We have learned a great deal. For example, many undergraduates feel perpetually overwhelmed, yearn for more meaningful relationships, or find extracurriculars to be yet another source of competition, rather than relief.

Many graduate students feel profound isolation, experience financial hardship, worry about the relationship to their advisers, or remain unsure about their academic and career prospects.

Many students of color, and BGLTQ, international, and low-income students, wonder how much the institution considers their concerns central to its mission. And many students at all levels are not entirely sure how, when, and where to go for help with potential mental health concerns.

W

hen was the last time you seriously thought about what your life would be like 20 to 30 years from now? We rarely think about what would happen to the friendships we are so heavily involved in currently, what it would be like having a family, or whether or not we would be truly happy with the vocation we end up in. We end up focusing on more pressing deadlines that we can take care of right away, choosing to neglect any thoughts about the uncertain future.

Part of the reason why I used to hesitate to think about the future is that I fear my life will not be satisfying.

I sometimes cringe imagining how terrible it might feel to reconnect with my friends a long time after we graduate, watching them have lucrative careers and luxurious lives while my standard of living is nowhere near theirs.

My fear intensified over winter break. I felt conflicted between wanting to rest and feeling

Any sense of bitterness or competitiveness you have towards a friend may become something that both of you can leave behind and laugh at years from now. guilty for not carefully planning my future.

Thankfully, attending the Harvard College alumni reunion in my home country made me feel more reassured about my deeply-rooted doubts.

When I received the invitation to the reunion, I didn’t want to go.

I did not know anyone else who was going, and most of the attendees who RSVP’d to the Facebook event were about the same age as my parents.

I worried the event would be like every other networking session, where the alumni talk about their achievements, and current students hunt for internships.

I worried I would get stuck in uncomfortable conversations I could not contribute to. Nevertheless, a part of me had a glimmer of hope that maybe there would be some genuinely nice people there — after all, not all adults are as cutthroat and serious as a lot of us are.

To my surprise, the alums that came were nothing like I imagined; they somehow reminded me of a much older and slightly more classy version of my friends.

I was most amazed by how the experiences we either had or are having at Harvard brought people of different ages together.

While there were some incongruities, including changes to Harvard Square, there were also some things that stayed the same: memories of grinding through psets, late night conversations with your close friends, and crazy adventures.

I was surprised to hear that when Harvard College hosts alumni reunions on campus, alumni are given the option to stay in their dorms with

While there were some incongruities, including changes to Harvard Square, there were also some things that stayed the same: memories of grinding through psets, late night conversations with your close friends, and crazy adventures.

OP-ED

By EMMA DENCH, MATTHEW K. NOCK, and MARIO L. SMALL

By DANIEL KIM

The task force continues its work. We are conducting additional focus groups, continuing to gather and analyze survey and administrative data, and examining the mental health policies at Harvard and our peer institutions.

We intend to make full use of the range of perspectives and talents represented on the task force, whose diverse membership includes psychologists, sociologists, and psychiatrists, poets and biologists, therapists, deans and administrators, students from across the University, and people of multiple economic, gender, race, national, and ethnic backgrounds.

We aim to draw on our collective experience to cultivate the most supportive environment we can for everyone at Harvard.

For the progress we have made to date, we thank the Harvard community. As our work continues, we ask that you keep sharing your thoughts with us.

If you have comments, questions, concerns, an issue you believe no one has heard, or a perspective on mental health that we should take into account, please be in touch with us.

Your point of view is vital to our work.

—Emma Dench is Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Ancient and Modern History, and of the Classics, and Chair of the Task Force’s Working Group on Graduate and Professional Students. Matthew K. Nock is a Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Task Force’s Working Group on Undergraduate Students. Mario L. Small is a Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Task Force on Managing Student Mental Health.

their roommates.

For those who ended up becoming very close to their roommates, being able to stay in the same dorm (many of which haven’t been renovated since they graduated) would bring back fond memories.

From the three fun hours I spent with these Harvard alumni, I walked away with a sense of reassurance that the friends I have grown to cherish now will stay forever.

One alum told us that what she realized after attending college reunions every 10 years. Ten years after graduating, people are still working hard, eager to network. Twenty years later, people start experiencing the ups and downs of life and become more understanding of each other.

Thirty years later, people have dealt with all sorts of difficult problems in their lives, everyone becomes extremely nice to one another.

This made me smile — time and distance may bring me closer to friends that I never had a chance to get to know well during my time in college.

Any sense of bitterness or competitiveness you have towards a friend may become something that both of you can leave behind and laugh at years from now.

Meeting alums who once were college students anxious about their futures like us and listening to their stories, I felt more confident than ever that my life will actually work out.

Nothing feels better than knowing the friends I have grown to cherish now will stay forever, although we may not be able to see each other as often.

Our shared experiences will help us revisit our past, laugh together, and even sympathize with future generations of Harvard undergraduates.

So why not lay aside our stress and unhealthy desires for success and spend some time checking in with your friends and spend time enjoying each other’s companies?

After all, what remains after we graduate aren’t the negative emotions, but are the small memories that we can revisit with joy.

—Daniel Kim ’21, a Crimson Associate Editorial Editor, is a Government concentrator in Leverett House.

PAGE 5

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

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SPORTS

WEEKLY RECAP

SCORES

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. BUFFALO L, 88-76 __________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VS. RUTGERS L, 74-46 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S SOCCER VS. PENN L, 2-0 _________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S RUGBY VS. ARMY WEST POINT W, 18-7 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S SQUASH VS. TUFTS W, 9-0 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL VS. COLUMBIA L, 3-2 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY VS. YALE W, 6-1 ___________________________________________________________

FOOTBALL

Football Loses Fourth Straight in 24-20 Fall to Penn

By JAMES JOYCE CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

For the third time this month, it all came down to the final play for Harvard. And for the third time this month, the Crimson failed to deliver. Unfortunately for Harvard, a game that began with a celebration of players in their final year came to an end with a failed last-minute drive in the final quarter. Harvard dropped this Saturday’s home contest to the Pennsylvania Quakers, 24-20.

“Once again, we played really hard,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “Once again, at times, we played really well in all phases. But déjà vu. They just made one more play than we did.”

Both the Crimson (4-5, 2-4 Ivy) and the Quakers (5-4, 3-3) entered Harvard Stadium with a flat record; however, the momentum was on the side of the visitors. While Penn just narrowly cruised to victory over its last two opponents, the Crimson had suffered a pair of disheartening defeats over the course of its most recent two games.

Against Dartmouth, a last-minute Hail Mary warded off the Harvard upset; at Columbia, an overtime interception clinched a Lions victory; and today, a one-handed Quaker snag landed Penn the game-winning touchdown.

“If you look at the Ivy League right now and you look at the scores today, there’s so much parity in the league and there’s so many good players,” Murphy said. “You’ve got to play really well every single week, there’s very little margin for error. And you have to finish. Not the first time I’ve said that, you have to finish. We did a lot of things well today. We’ve just got to finish.”

The last few minutes of Saturday’s contest were a whirlwind for both teams. Down by three with seven minutes to go, the Quakers were just inside the Crimson redzone on fourth down. Having already missed two field goal attempts, the Penn offense elected to go for the conversion, a decision that most certainly paid off for a team whose kickers are an abysmal three-for-nine on field goal attempts this season.

Quarterback Nick Robinson launched the ball just as the pocket collapsed around him, his pass seemingly a few inches too far for a Rory Starkey snag.

However, the Quaker wide receiver extended his arm just far enough to secure the one-handed catch, tipping the ball into his own hands and the lead into Penn’s.

“At the line, it was a runpass-option and at the line [Robinson] chose to go with the pass option,” Starkey said said.

“Initially, when I saw the ball

in the air, I didn’t think I was going to catch it. It was an extremely hard ball to catch, but I just stuck my hand out there and it stuck.”

The game was not yet over.

Just over seven minutes remained in the fourth quarter and Harvard was set to receive the kick. Set to recover the fourpoint deficit, the ball was left in the hands of Crimson junior quarterback Jake Smith. The offense took its time in moving down the field, Smith gaining the first down on every other play.

Upon crossing the fifty-yard line, Harvard freshman running back Aidan Borguet snagged a 26-yard pitch, finding a hole in the Quaker defense before being taken down by four defenders. That left the Crimson 10 yards from the endzone. A series of incomplete passes added up to a Harvard turnover on downs.

“We had some bang-bang plays that now are kind of the story of our life lately,” Murphy said. “Close but no cigar.

Over the next twenty seconds, the Crimson called all three of its timeouts, its defense pushing just hard enough to keep Penn from escaping chain gang territory. The Quakers were forced to punt with just over two minutes left, Harvard’s desire for a winning record once again left to Smith.

The Crimson quarterback tossed an eight-yard pass to receiver Cody Chrest to start the drive. Smith, however, would not get much closer to the endzone. A few short rushes forced a pair of reviews, but both times the referees responded in the negative. After a final run was stuffed for no gain, Harvard was forced to relinquish to Penn both the ball and the victory.

“What was a little strange about it was that the call by the official was that it was right there,” Murphy said. “Everybody agreed that it was clear that he made the first down.

Penn didn’t even challenge it because they thought it was a first down. And the replay official says no, for me looking here from space. Doesn’t look like a first down. But I do digress.”

For the Crimson, this game was truly a back-and-forth affair. The Harvard offense entered the fourth quarter with their heads held high, thanks in no small part to the squad’s mid-game dominance.

On the defensive side, the Crimson’s territory was largely secured by defensive back Max Jones. A second-quarter incompletion forced by Jones on Penn receiver Mac Humble foreshadowed his next few plays, holding the Quakers to minimal yardage and keeping the team’s offense humble. After that pass drop, though Penn was a mere 17 yards from the endzone, Harvard’s defense

ON THE GROUND Running back Devin Darrington is swallowed up at the line of scrimmage on Saturday afternoon. The Crimson net only 62 rushing yards on the afternoon. Timothy R. O’Meara —CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

prevented a number of Quaker pass attempts and held them to a field goal, the red zone truly becoming the Crimson zone.

On the next drive, the Crimson offense failed to match its defensive counterpart: for the third time in the contest, Harvard was ushered off the field after a four-play drive. Penn’s victory, however, was shortlived: a few minutes later, the stadium erupted in cheers and jeers as Jones seized a Robinson lob for the interception, his third straight game with a pick.

Smith then retook the field and, in a series of rapid-fire completions, led his offense on a trek through Quaker territory.

A 28-yard field goal by Harvard senior Jake McIntyre was just enough to tie up the score, creating a detente that would not last for long.

Robinson’s subsequent crusade through Crimson country was not nearly as successful.

Two penalties on Penn served as precursors to a Harvard punt block, the pigskin clobbering a Quaker on the helmet for the second time in the half.

The Harvard special teams unit leads the country in blocked kicks, coming up big once again.

Smith, however, a mere 25 yards away from his second endzone toss, was unable to bring it home for the Crimson.

After a series of incompletions, McIntyre was summoned onto

the field once again, propelling the ball through the goalposts from 42 yards, tying a career-long mark for Harvard’s all-time leader in field goals as the half came to an end.

“Coming out of halftime, I wanted to be first on the field,” Penn coach Ray Priore said said. “I wanted them to see us as they come out of the tunnel. I wanted our guys to look at them as they were coming out after.

That was really important for us: to take that field, to play fast, and to finish.”

If the Quakers left the field disheartened after their second-half slip-up, they certainly returned reinvigorated. Within less than a minute, Robinson launched a 70-yard touchdown pass to Starkey, the teams trading the lead once again.

However, that Starkey bang was followed by an offensive whisper — both Harvard and Penn were forced to punt on fourth-and-many over the next two drives.

That offensive inaction didn’t last for long. Repetition quickly turned to redemption for the Crimson as receiver Cody Chrest traded his E for an I, taking his spot as savior of the Harvard lead.

Smith completions to three different Crimson receivers, along with a rush of his own, left Harvard eighteen yards away from retaking scoreboard dom-

MUFFED Harvard added another blocked kick to its nation-leading resume as sophomore tight end Adam Shepherd broke through the line for the Crimson. Timothy R. O’Meara —CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

inance. That’s where Chrest came in: a breakaway rush was capped off by a clean juke and the Crimson touchdown.

Penn failed to find a savior of its own on the next drive; a series of short passes was not enough to carry the Quakers to the redzone. For the third time, Penn kicker Daniel Karrash was summoned onto the field to attempt a field goal, and for the second time, the threepoint kick was no good. However, Karrash was not alone in his failure to find the goalposts.

Though the Harvard offense was able to get within Penn’s 20-yard line on the next drive, a McIntyre field goal attempt was also wide, keeping the score 2017 as the third quarter wound to a close.

The game started with just as many slips of the Penn. Saturday afternoon may have began as senior-centric as Harvard’s veterans took to the field in celebration of their last home game, but it was the Crimson juniors that were employed in Harvard’s short first possession.

After being forced to receive, running back BJ Watson brought the Crimson offense to the 20-yard line, setting up what would be a short first drive. A few short runs by Watson and roommate Devin Darrington were not enough to secure a Harvard first down, and the Adams House residents were replaced by the Crimson punting squad.

For Harvard, the next play would be indicative of the game as a whole: though a Jon Sot punt came down directly on the noggin of a Penn receiver, the Crimson was unable to take possession even after a midfield scramble. Instead, a Quaker recovery and scramble started the visitors a mere 40 yards from the endzone.

After Penn gained a quick first down, the Crimson defense began to show its true colors, putting pressure on Robinson for the first time of many.

However, a snap toss by Robinson paved the way for a 35-yard pass-rush by Penn running back Karekin Brooks, bringing the offense to the red zone less than two minutes after taking the field. One play later, Robinson found a hole in the defensive line, running the pigskin to the endzone for the first touchdown of the contest.

“We had some big third down conversions,” Robinson said. “That’s what builds momentum. Big plays like that motivate you to keep going. You build some momentum and I think we did that pretty well.”

Once again, the Quaker kickoff sent Harvard to the back of the field and, once again, the Crimson offense was forced off the green after a single drive.

A fourth-down punt attempt by Harvard’s Sean McKeogh was foiled by Penn’s Hunter Hayes in a move more melodic than any of his namesake’s country ballads, pouncing on the punter as he dropped the snap.

However, eight yards away from doubling their score, the Quakers were unable to find the endzone or the goalposts, as a short field goal attempt by Karrash was no good.

In a drive that started out mirroring the Crimson’s last two, the Harvard offense retook the field, struggling to reach first-and-10. However, a late-quarter snatch by Watson bookended his early-game reception, leading to a 47-yard catch-and-run for a Crimson touchdown.

The score tied and quarter nearly over, the Quaker offense stalled upon taking possession, punting after only a few playcalls. The Crimson matched with a four-play drive of its own, the Darrington-Watson duo unable to break a carry over five yards.

Over the course of the next minute, the two teams racked up a penalty apiece. The Quakers, having been pushed back five yards for delay of game, were forced to punt, however, a roughing-the-kicker call on tight end Adam Shepard led to a flurry of flags and resuscitated any chance Penn had of scoring on that possession.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Quaker defense began to stir. Penn’s defensive line pushed the Harvard offense down the field on the team’s first drive of the quarter, resulting in a loss of yardage and a punt by Sot. Robinson took to the field at Harvard’s eighteen-yard line, a false start pushing his squad back even further. The quarterback, not to be outdone by the Penn defense, scrambled for a twelve-yard run on thirdand-ten, lighting anew Quaker hopes of victory.

A series of plays for over twenty yards propelled Penn into enemy territory, the air battle becoming a fight on the ground as Brooks ran for four consecutive gains. As time would tell, the Quaker’s lategame offensive dominance would only continue, leading to a one-handed catch, a conversion, and a win. james.joyce@thecrimson.com