The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 118

The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLVI, No. 118 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2019

editorial PAGE 8

news PAGE 7

sports PAGE 11

The NCAA compensation decision was right, but benefits not guaranteed

The Cambridge City Council backed Harvard’s grad union for second time

Harvard’s basketball teams begin their seasons this week

New Group Seeks Overseer Seats By alexandra a. chaidez Crimson Staff Writer

Harvard Forward — a student and alumni group working to bring attention to climate change within Harvard’s governance boards — is backing a slate of candidates for the Board of Overseers on a platform of fossil fuel divestment and ensuring younger alumni are represented on the University’s second highest governing body.

Harvard Forward launched its on-campus campaign Sunday when members sought Undergraduate Council support for its platform. The UC supported the group’s calls to reserve several seats on the Board of Overseers for recent University graduates. The group is backing that platform point by running its own set of candidates who recently graduated from schools across the University.

“We are working to elect 5 candidates to the Board of Overseers to move Harvard toward divesting from fossil fuels, committing more resources to climate-focused initiatives, including recent alumni into our governance, and giving a greater voice to students,” the website reads.

Grad Council Backs Board Bids By luke a. williams

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Crimson Staff Writer ­

Loeb House is located at 17 Quincy Street and was the former home of Harvard Presidents. Today it houses Harvard’s governance boards and their administrative offices. kathryn s. kuhar—Crimson photographer

Specifically, the group is calling to elect alumni who have graduated within the path four academic cycles or are on track to graduate the same year they are elected. The proposal recommends reserving three of six seats for alumni from Harvard’s

graduate schools and the other three for those who attended the College.

“Greater inclusion of alumni who have recently been students themselves will broaden the range of perspectives present during the Board’s dis-

cussions, better informing the Board’s decision-making processes,” the proposal reads.

Harvard Forward declined to comment for this article.

The policy proposal also

See overseers Page 7

The Harvard Graduate Council voted to formally support the Harvard Forward campaign’s proposed amendment to elect more recent alumni to the Board of Overseers at its monthly open meeting Monday.

The HGC also deliberated on crafting a statement of support for Harvard students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status — which allows undocumented youth brought to the United States as children to live and work in the country — ahead of the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments on the Trump administration’s plan to end DACA. Harvard Forward representative Nathan Goldberg ’18 presented the campaign’s platform to the HGC. Harvard Forward is a new campaign staffed by alumni, students, and faculty seeking to push the Board of Overseers — Harvard’s second-highest governing body — to address climate change issues and readjust Harvard’s investment policies.

The Board of Overseers is a 30-person body comprised of

Harvard alumni and advises administrators, approves certain actions by the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — and generally influences the school’s direction. Harvard Forward hopes to elect more recent alumni to the group.

“The average overseer graduated from Harvard 28 years ago. Think about the conversations we’ve had since then,” Goldberg said. “We’re trying to address the symptoms of Harvard’s attitude toward climate change and the causes, so that whatever attitudes are 30 years from now, seats will be built in for recent alumni to represent current concerns.”

The HGC voted unanimously to support Harvard Forward’s proposal, which includes three parts. The first part reserves six of the 30 Overseers seats for alumni who have graduated in the last four years. The second part institutes regular town halls where students can speak directly to the Overseers, and the third part ensures that the HGC and the

See council Page 9

UC Ballot CAMHS Starts WalkWill In Appointments Feature Divest By michelle g. kurilla and tamar sarig Crimson Staff Writers

Harvard’s Counseling and Mental Health Services has started offering same-day appointments for non-urgent cases, according to a social media post made by Student Mental Health Liaisons last week.

Under this initiative — a pilot program — students can book an appointment by calling the front desk beginning at 8:30 a.m. from Monday to Friday. Appointments are made on a first-come, first-served basis.

Unlike traditional CAMHS appointments, the new sameday appointments are set aside for students who are not already seeing a counselor at CAMHS or who would like help solving a problem in the moment, according to the CAMHS website.

Chief of CAMHS Barbara Lewis wrote in an emailed statement that the preparation took place over several months, ­

By kevin r. chen Crimson Staff Writer

T wo referenda reached the requisite number of student signatures to appear on the ballot during the Undergraduate Council’s upcoming presidential election, according to UC Rules Committee Chair Conner P. Williams ’21.

Environmental advocacy group Divest Harvard submitted one referendum, calling on the University to disclose its holdings in the fossil fuels industry, commit to divesting its endowment from fossil fuels, and reinvest more sustainably

by Earth Day 2020. Lucas Chu ’23 submitted the other referendum, which proposes to extend the closing times of breakfast and dinner by half an hour in Harvard University Dining Services facilities.

Referenda can appear on UC ballots through two methods: a vote by the student body or a vote by the council. The two aforementioned referenda qualified for the ballot by receiving signatures from at least 10 percent of the student body.

The council has yet to vote on whether to include other referenda on the ballot as well.

UC referenda are meant to gauge the opinion of the student body on campus issues. If a referendum receives a majority vote on the ballot, the council will write a statement supporting the result of the referendum and outlining the UC’s plan to achieve the desired policy change, according to an email from UC Secretary Cade S. Palmer ’20, a former Crimson Sports Chair.

Students have voted on fossil fuel referenda in the past. Last year, a referendum to divest from the fossil fuel industry won support from 71.5 percent of voters. In 2012, 72 percent of students voted in favor.

“In a time of unprecedented climate emergency, Harvard has a responsibility as a highly privileged institution to model climate leadership through divestment—a baseline step ­

See UC Page 7 Inside this issue

Harvard Today 2

and CAMHS is “thrilled” to offer same-day appointments.

“As demand substantially increases, we continually look for new, innovative ways to deliver quality services to our students,” Lewis wrote. “We recognize that many students want more direct engagement with counselors, oftentimes as a thought partner in problem-solving more immediate issues.”

The new program comes after criticism from students who have alleged that the mental health service imposed unreasonable wait times on Harvard affiliates who tried to see counselors. Before launching sameday appointments, CAMHS had tried to respond to these criticisms by creating Let’s Talk — an informal drop-in program with counselors around campus — and using iHope, an online therapy program.

CAMHS has also faced

See CAMHS Page 7

Deciduous trees around campus are shedding their colorful leaves, marking the advent of colder temperatures. kathryn s. kuhar—Crimson photographer

Stubbs Aims to Support Gen Ed Improvement

By Juliet e. isselbacher Crimson Staff Writer

Dean of Science Christopher W. Stubbs said in an interview on Friday that he hopes to help members of his division develop and improve their General Education offerings in the coming year.

The revamped Gen Ed program premiered this fall with dozens of new and adapted courses designed to transcend both disciplinary divisions and the bounds of the classroom, per its website. Despite delays in its rollout, many of the courses offered this fall proved immensely popular even though the Faculty of Arts and Sciences placed enrollment caps on many.

“Focusing on urgent problems and enduring questions, Gen Ed courses are unusually explicit in connecting the subjects you study to the people you will become and the world beyond the classroom,” the program’s site reads. ­

Christopher W. Stubbs, who serves as the Dean of Science at FAS, teaches in the physics and astronomy departments. myeongseo kim—Crimson photographer

News 7

Editorial 8

Sports 11

Today’s Forecast

rainy High: 59 Low: 41

Stubbs said that members of the Sciences Division have work left to do in developing Gen Ed offerings that fully embrace the mission of the new program.

“The challenge that I hope to address for Gen Ed offerings from Science faculty is that the liberal arts educational objective of Gen Ed courses is much broader than just some introductory course in chemistry,” he said. “And I think scientists in particular are often uneasy dealing with syllabus and curricular things that are not directly in their lane.”

Stubbs said that many of his colleagues have “a firm comfort zone,” so when it comes to teaching about the “broader social elements” of their work, “a lot of scientists are reluctant to go there intellectually.” He said he hopes to encourage more Sciences faculty to adopt the liberal arts mindset required for Gen Ed courses.

See stubbs Page 9

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the goop

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

November 5, 2019

Page 2

Harvard Today

For Lunch Butter Chicken Pepperoni Pizza Multigrain Rotini Primavera

For Dinner Beef Meatballs Marsala Chicken Pot Pie Spicy Potato Curry

Today’s Events The Birds and Bees: What You Never Learned in Sex Ed Emerson 305, 4-5:30 p.m.

in The Real World Airbnb No Longer Permitting Party Houses Following Death of Five at California Rental

Let’s face it, sex education before college was probably awkward for most of us. Swing by Emerson 305 to fill in the gaps! As always, safe sex supplies are free to take.

Airbnb CEO Brian J. Chesky has stated the company will be ban unapproved parties after a recent shooting in a Bay Area rental home during a Halloween party. According to police, the event was attended by at least 100 guests after being heavily publicized through social media.

JFK Jr. Forum: A Conversation with Tara Westover Harvard Kennedy School, 8-9:15 p.m.

The Institute of Politics is hosting a discussion with American memoirist and historian Tara Westover at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her 2018 memoir “Educated” is on The New York Times bestseller list.

Conversation with Novel Laureate Michael Kremer Smith Center, 5:15-6:30 p.m.

Michael R. Kremer, Nobel laureate and Harvard professor, will talk about addressing global poverty using the approach he developed with Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo.

Seven-Year-Old Girl Recovers From Trickor-Treat Shooting

Trees shed leaves outside of the Barker Center, which houses the English department. kathryn s. kuhar—Crimson photographer

Daily Briefing

While out trick-or-treating in a Chicago neighborhood with her father and three brothers, a 7-year-old girl was shot in her neck and chest. Later, Chicago police arrested and charged a 15-year-old-boy with attempted firstdegree murder in relation to the incident. After undergoing two surgeries, the girl is recovering.

Harvard Forward — a student and alumni group working to bring attention to climate change within Harvard’s governance boards — is backing a slate of candidates for the Board of Overseers on a platform of fossil fuel divestment and ensuring younger alumni are represented on the University’s second highest governing body. Harvard Forward launched its on-campus campaign Sunday when members sought Undergraduate Council support for its platform. In other news, the Cambridge City Council unanimously voted — for the second time — to support Harvard’s graduate student union in its efforts to reach an agreement with Harvard, this time making its demands more urgent.

Around the Ivies princeton A federal court of appeals upheld a previous district court ruling that Princeton University did not violate Title IX, the Daily Princetonian reported Monday. Anonymous plaintiff “John Doe” sued Princeton for violating the federal law banning sex discrimination on several charges — including finding a student Doe accused of sexual misconduct in Oct. 2014 not guilty, and dismissing Doe from the University although he disclosed a suicide attempt. In February 2018, U.S. District Court for Massachusetts upheld Princeton’s motion to dismiss the suit.

yale

The Graduate Student Assembly and the Office of Graduate Student Development and Diversity will be collaborating to initiate a listening campaign in the coming months, the Yale Daily News reported Sunday. GSA president Lucylle Armentano said the campaign seeks to assemble feedback from graduate students on how to define and achieve diversity. In addition to publicizing the listening campaign across graduate departments, the GSA and OGSDD also plan to host a town hall with the OGSDD director and the graduate school dean, according to Armentano.

brown

A team of researchers at Brown University may have discovered a method that can help halt the growth of cancerous cells, according to the Brown Daily Herald. The study, conducted by Brown’s Wong Lab, discovered that cancer cells can be prevented from entering the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body if they are deprived of a growth factor. The discovery may have broader applications in cancer treatment, and the lab intends to use 3D digital modeling to further analyze its results.

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 Andrew J. Zucker ’20

Design Editor Margot E. Shang ’21

Assistant Night Editors Sanjana L. Narayanan ’21 Tamar Sarig ’22

Photo Editor Naomi S. Castellon-Perez ’21

Story Editors Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Angela N. Fu ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Devin B. Srivastava ’21

Editorial Editor Anna M. Kuritzkes ’20 Sports Editor William C. Boggs ’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.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2019 | PAGE 3

ARTS CAMPUS

‘Witches’ Gallery Talk Kicks Off Halloween at the Harvard Art Museums

THE WEEK IN ARTS

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06 07 08 COURTESY OF HARVARD ART MUSEUMS

Author Lawrence Lessig will be speaking on the crisis faced by American democracy.

The Harvard Bookstore. 6 p.m. $6.

WEDNESDAY RESISTANCE MIC!

A collaboration between A.R.T. and Harvard Kennedy’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Resistance Mic! will welcome Sue Katz, Anne Stott, and more.

The Oberon. 8 p.m. $10.

THURSDAY

DEATH DO US PART MUSICAL An original student production, “Death Do Us Part” is a musical comedy that follows the adventures of a personified Death.

Loeb Drama Center. 7:30 p.m. $8-$12.

FRIDAY H.M.S. PINAFORE; OR, THE LASS THAT LOVED A SAILOR MUSICAL Engagements, elopements, and England are entangled in the shenanigans aboard H.M.S. Pinafore in this hilarious musical.

Agassiz Theatre. 8 p.m. $10-$15.

HANNAH T. CHEW CONTRIBUTING WRITER To celebrate Halloween, the Harvard Art Museums got into the festive spirit on Oct. 30 with its first of three Halloween Gallery Talks, “Witches.” Led by four curatorial fellows, the tour focused on the depiction of powerful women throughout the Museums’ collection.

The free one-hour talk took 20 guests through a selection of works on the second and third floor galleries. Each of the four curatorial fellows, Joanna Sheers Seidenstein, Sophie Lynford, Natalia Ángeles Vieyra, and Frances Gallart Marques, spent 15 minutes introducing their selected works relating to depictions of “witches.” Rather than focusing on the traditional definition of witches, the featured pieces showcased the variety in depictions of powerful women in the collection.

“We’ve been trying to collaborate, and we think that makes it more interesting for guests to see not just one perspective, but perhaps different perspectives all at once,” Marques said.

Working backward chronologically, Lynford began the talk with Gustave Moreau’s painting “The Apparition,” discussing the various theories surrounding the bloody floating head of John the Baptist. Lynford contextualized the depiction of biblical Salome, presenting the work through art historical interpretations including the Symbolist, mystical, and theological lenses.

Following a brief question-and-answer with Lynford, Seidenstein led the group to Paolo Finoglia’s painting “Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife.” Seidenstein began by telling the biblical story of Joseph, then discussed alternative interpretations and characterizations of Potiphar’s wife in the Quran and contemporary texts. Her presentation involved audience engagement, and she questioned the tour group about their reactions and impressions of the image.

Vieyra then introduced the painting “Saint Rose of Lima,” the first Latin American painting to be displayed in the Fogg Museum. Vieyra focused on the story of Saint Rose as well as the symbols in the painting, from the inclusion of oversized parrots as an aesthetic preference

TUESDAY

TALK AND BOOK SIGNING WITH LAWRENCE LESSIG

to the inclusion of “memento mori,” or symbols of death.

To conclude the tour, Marques led the group to the third floor stairwell to see the Etruscan sculpture “Sphinx.” Marques detailed the historical significance of the sculpture as a symbol of protection, and discussed the myth of the Sphinx. Her modern interpretation of the myth highlighted the intersection between race and gender in ancient cultures. Unlike the other presentations, Marques then moved the group to two additional pieces in the Ancient Art wing to further her discussion of monstrous qualities attributed to powerful women. Referring to two Greek vessels, Marques gave an animated telling of the myth of Medusa and the myth of the Sirens, weaving contemporary retellings of the tales into her analysis.

The curatorial fellows encouraged visitors on the tour to continue engaging with the featured artworks depicting powerful women and beyond. The focus on the Museums’ less famous works through this particular lens provided a new experience for all the visitors on the tour, and persuaded some visitors to explore more.

“The blurbs tend to be purely technical and without much context, so I find the tours essential to appreciating the art more. I thought what surprised me the most was the Sphinx, because I feel in particular the statue exhibits are really bereft of descriptions,” said Drey Cardinal, a visitor on the tour.

The tour’s discussion of the intersections of race, culture, history, and gender also surprised many visitors.

“Personally I found most interesting the two new Latin American pieces, and talking about the cultural exchanges there. It made me want to learn more,” said Travis Wolven, another visitor on the tour.

Both Cardinal and Wolven expressed an interest in returning to the museum over the next two days to participate in the following two gallery talks in the series, “Haunted Museums” and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”

The Museums will continue to plan Gallery Talks over the coming months, encouraging visitors to return and experience new perspectives on their collection.

09 10 11

SATURDAY E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL SCREENING The classic Steven Spielberg film E.T. follows a boy who encounters a friendly stranded alien being who searches for a way to return home.

The Brattle Theatre. 1 p.m. $9-$13.

SUNDAY

GALLERY TALK: LUZ ZAMBRANO ON ALIZA NISENBAUM A local community organizer working on refugee rights, Luz Zambrano, will speak on artist Aliza Nisenbaum’s works as they relate to home and belonging.

ICA Boston, 2 p.m. Free.

MONDAY

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME SPECIAL SCREENING WITH AUTHOR Call Me By Your Name will be screened at Brattle with a special introduction by author, Andre Aciman, of the novel of the same name.

The Brattle Theatre. 8:30 p.m. $9-$12.

5 november 2019 | Vol CXLVI, ISSUE XVI Arts Chairs Kaylee S. Kim ‘20 Caroline A. Tsai ’20

Editor Associates Joy C. Ashford ‘22 Kalos K. Chu ‘22 Aline G. Damas ’20

Iris M. Lewis ‘21 Claire N. Park ‘20 Isabel C. Ruehl ‘20 Allison J. Scharmann ‘21 Caroline E. Tew ’20 Shruthi Venkata ‘22 Lucy Wang ’20

Executive Designer Mireya C. Arango ‘20 Ashley E. Bryant ‘22

Design Associates Amanda R. Stetz ‘22 Maia R. Zonis ‘22

Executive Photographers Kathryn S. Kuhar ‘20 Zennie L. Wey ‘20

ARTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2019 | PAGE 4

FILM

Take a Stab at ‘Knives Out’ CLIFFORD COURVOISIER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OFCLAIRE FOLGER/MRC II DISTRIBUTION COMPANY L.P.

Two years ago, writer-director Rian Johnson took a shot at the next installation of everyone’s favorite space epic with “Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi.” His highly controversial film had audience members in fits, asking questions like, “What is happening?” and “Why is this happening?” and “Who’s to blame for this mess?”

And now, with his latest film “Knives Out,” he has audience members asking those same questions again, but this time for all the right reasons. His Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery is a unique blend of humor, mystery, and intrigue that keeps viewers guessing until the end, and it almost lives up to the lofty expectations that it sets for itself.

The morning following his 85th birthday, successful author and multimillionaire Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in his study, the victim of an apparent suicide. Following his funeral, gathered in their luxurious home, Harlan’s family is interviewed and scrutinized by a team headed by renowned detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). As the family members’ quirks come to light, the façade of the “happy family” starts to crumble, and motives begin to appear; it looks as though Harlan’s death may not have been a suicide after all. And as Detective Blanc says, reclining in an armchair in front of a blazing fire, “I suspect foul play.”

The first half of the film is absolutely phenomenal, bolstered by brilliant character

performances, fascinating buildup, and stellar writing. The family dynamic is, by and large, what holds the entire piece together and makes the mystery worth caring about. Each one of the Thrombey family members is clearly defined and unique, and their exaggerated personalities are entertaining. Toni Collette shines as Joni Thrombey, Harlan’s widowed daughter-in-law.

Through such roles as Annie in “Hereditary,” Collette has demonstrated her incredible acting skills. It is remarkable to watch her portray the spoiled and conniving Joni with such believability.

Chris Evans’s performance as Ransom Drysdale, Harlon’s grandson, is also commendable. Coming off of his eight-year portrayal of Steve Rogers/Captain America, it’s refreshing to see him committing wholeheartedly to a new role, and to see how easy it is for both actor and viewer to cast off his Marvel shadow and move on to very different roles. The star of the show, however, is Craig.

Sporting an uncharacteristic Southern drawl, he is both hilarious and captivating, perfectly encapsulating the character of a quirky, worldclass detective and it is fascinating to watch his deductions play out throughout the film.

Rian Johnson expertly crafts the narrative, particularly in the first half. Within the first half an hour, while Detective Blanc is beginning his investigation, Johnson dumps a load of evidence, motives, and potential suspects on the

viewer through a series of character interviews.

This scene, in which most of the characters are introduced, is by far the most engrossing part of the film. The film demands the viewer’s attention as it begins to lay out the mystery’s puzzle pieces.

It is up to the viewer to collect and interpret these pieces and to form their own theories about what could be going on in the family and who may have murdered Harlan Thrombey. Despite the presentation of a substantial amount of evidence, it never feels overwhelming. Within a short period of time, we get an extended look at the characters’ motivations and quirks, and the beginnings of what will ultimately lead up to the climactic reveal. Such scenes, where the murder mystery itself is at the forefront of the narrative, are where the film really excels.

Unfortunately, by the second half, the mystery seems to slip into the background. The characters have all been introduced, and the narrative extends beyond the home and the family itself to the greater world. At this point, the rate of revelation decreases dramatically.

Breakthroughs become much less common and the story experiences an overall tonal shift. To go into more detail would reveal too much about the mystery itself, but it suffices to say that the viewer becomes much more a passive observer than they were in the first half, where intense thought and theory formulation felt actively encouraged.

Yet another of the film’s fatal flaws is that the Thrombey family feels underused in the second

half of the film. The family dynamic, which is one of the most compelling features of the narrative, unfortunately takes a backseat later in the film. There are some brilliant actors (Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson) whose performances feel undercut by a lack of screen time.

As far as the ending is concerned, the crux of a mystery is the “Aha!” moment that comes at the conclusion, when every piece of the mystery is wrapped up. In this case, parts of the reveal felt a bit underwhelming. Some pieces of it seem far too obvious and some of the plot revelations feel a bit forced, cringeworthy, and so unrealistic as to be almost comical. Despite these snags, however, the payoff is deserved, well-crafted, and overall effective.

Despite some narrative hiccups and a faltering second half, there is no denying that this film is just plain fun. It is enjoyable to watch the characters interact with and play off each other.

The narrative is finely crafted and engaging from start to finish. When the mystery elements work, they work incredibly well. As a viewer, it is remarkably entertaining to formulate theories and watch as they are proved and disproved throughout the natural progression of the story.

So grab your notebooks and go see “Knives Out.” It is definitely a mystery worth solving.

Staff writer Scotty Courvoisier can be reached at clifford.courvoisier@thecrimson.com.

TV

‘Dickinson’: An Experimental Take On the Life of the American Poet ALINE G. DAMAS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER COURTESY OF APPLE TV+

In the vein of TNT’s “Will” and The CW’s “Reign,” Apple TV+’s new series “Dickinson” attempts to portray the life of a famous historical figure in a fresh and modern way. This “modern” take, however, feels a little less “new” and a little more mismatched. The show is also meant to be shocking, but it falls flat because of this more experimental take. This is not to say that “Dickinson” is unentertaining, but it feels uneven as the blend of contemporary elements with the historical narrative is unbalanced.

“Dickinson” focuses on the poet Emily Dickinson’s life in the 1850s: A frustrated, 20-something year-old Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) spends her days doing house chores and being paraded by her mother Mrs. Dickinson (Jane Krakowski) before potential suitors in her large ancestral home in Amherst, Mass. Her nights are spent frantically writing and delving into extraordinary fantasies.

Emily does not wish to get married, because she believes it will prevent her from becoming a great writer. Her father Edward (Toby Huss) actively discourages her career, believing it will bring shame to their good family name.

Emily simultaneously struggles with curbing the affections of her brother’s best friend, George Gould (Samuel Farnsworth), a local literary magazine editor who wants to marry her, and balancing her own romantic feelings for her best friend, Sue Gilbert (Ella Hunt), who gets engaged to Austin (Adrian Blake Enscoe) for financial security in spite of her feelings for Emily.

The pilot clearly lays out the conflicts that the rest of the series will address, namely Emily’s desire to write against her father’s wishes and a love triangle between Austin, Sue, and Emily, as well as Edward’s decision to run for Congress. Looming behind all these plotlines is the shadow of the Civil War, which is frequently foreshadowed by various characters.

Though the setting and costumes are period-appropriate, the show’s dialogue and music is contemporary. The choice to make the characters speak colloquially is original, but ultimately strange. While riding by on horseback, Austin greets his sister with a quick “What up, sis?” To which she breezily replies, “Nothin’, bro. Just chillin’.” All the while, A$AP Rocky’s “Praise the Lord (Da Shine)” plays in the background. The whole exchange tries too hard to feel natural and cool. It’s incorporation of contemporary rap music perhaps a poor attempt to borrow from HBO’s more stylistic “Euphoria,” which was praised by critics for its use of soundtrack. “Dickinson” can’t replicate the same sleek vision as “Euphoria” because it isn’t aware of what it wants to be exactly: A fresh, hip feminist critique or sophisticated historical period drama?

Portraying the life of Emily Dickinson means taking a lot of creative liberties, because not all that much is known about the poet whose work was only discovered posthumously. Still, it is hard

to imagine the notoriously secluded Dickinson ever going into an orchard to violently embrace her best friend after she gets engaged to Emily’s brother Austin. Paradoxically, when Steinfeld speaks like a modern girl about her problems, it becomes easy to forget that she is Emily Dickinson and just how transgressive her romantic relationship would have been to those in Dickinson’s circles.

Though she plays the role with spunk and humor, Steinfeld is so rebellious and stubborn that she appears a little bit more like her character in “The Edge of Seventeen” than the genius poet. She does, however, capture her eccentricity both hilariously and sensitively.

Overall, the show’s humor feels mismatched to the tone of the period. There is a strange moment, for example, when Austin tell Emily that Sue’s sister Mary died and Emily deadpans, “What? She was the healthy one!” Other moments are much more successful. All the comments about her various suitors from Emily to her mother are quite funny, as is the instant when Austin announces to his sister that Sue has accepted his proposal: A flashback unexpectedly reveals that Sue only agrees to his proposal after Austin goes down on her.

The first episode takes place on the day that Emily writes her famous poem, “Because I could not stop for death (479),” which means that the episode also focuses on her writing process of this work. The inspiration of this poem, according to the TV show that is, is a recurring dream of Death, surprisingly played by rapper Wiz Khalifa, who arrives in a black carriage. In a rather CW-esque scene, Emily emerges out of her home wearing a gorgeous, red satin gown to meet him — with Billie Eilish’s “bury a friend” ominously playing in the background, of course.

Though bizarre and comic, Emily’s exchange with Death is one of the best parts of the episode, because it allows the audience to finally see the more pensive and cerebral side of her, the side that readers of her work have come to know: her preoccupation with fame, death, and immortality. The moment contrasts rather starkly with her actual writing of the poem. When she finally champions her writer’s block and comes up with the second line of the poem, she confidently whispers, “Nailed it!”

Overall, “Dickinson” should be commended for its bold artistic choices, namely its blend of the modern and historical, but its failure to make these fuse together is ultimately unsurprising. While its experimentation might be an homage to Dickinson’s work, the show fails to be as revolutionary as its subject.

Staff writer Aline G. Damas can be reached at aline.damas@thecrimson.com.

ARTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2019 | PAGE 5

MUSIC

Nirvana’s ‘Unplugged’ is Infinite SOFIA ANDRADE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Nirvana’s landmark album, “MTV Unplugged in New York,” turned 25 this week. The prolific band’s final release, recorded a mere four months before the death of frontman Kurt Cobain, cemented the band’s legacy not just as the pioneers of grunge rock, but also as a cultural phenom that lives on in the hearts of listeners today.

Within the limited scope of Nirvana’s releases, “Unplugged” is a standout. Its acoustic instrumentation reveals Cobain’s piercing vocals, each note cutting through the calm of the intimate performance. Along with the standard lineup of Cobain on rhythm guitar, Krist Novoselic on bass, and Dave Grohl on drums, the album also featured regular Nirvana session guitarist Pat Smear and cellist Lori Goldston. Members of the sludgy alternative rock band, the Meat Puppets, joined in on three of their songs: “Plateau,” “Oh Me,” and “Lake of Fire.”

For me, a decently awkward and overly angsty middle schooler, Nirvana felt like a godsend.

The blistering energy of songs like “Stay Away” and “School,” as well as the existential woe of “Pennyroyal Tea” and “Lithium” spoke directly to the (admittedly superficial) frustrations of my early adolescence. It wasn’t until I found “Unplugged,” however, that I felt like I finally knew Nirvana. In sharp contrast the unbridled rage of “Bleach,” the pseudo-commercial, polished sound of “Nevermind,” and even the sophisticated and tortured themes of “In Utero,” “Unplugged” is strikingly honest. By the time I pressed play, Nirvana had been gone for almost two decades, and yet here they were, right in my face. It felt like Kurt was speaking and singing only to me, just as it had for the millions of others who so cherished this album.

Scathingly personal and heartbreaking in its intimacy, each song off the album is heard for what it is. No distortion pedals or raging drums obscure the meaning in every lyric and riff — even Novoselic’s bass is acoustic. Instead, the music is inescapably present. It’s in your face, not because of its rage or volume, but precisely because of the lack of it. There’s nothing to listen to but music in its purest form. Even “Come As You Are,” the only real mainstream hit to receive the “Unplugged” treatment, cut deeper as Cobain’s vocals broke under the weight of each lyric.

On “Pennyroyal Tea,” Cobain sings about the desire to “distill the life that’s inside of me,” and there is no choice but to believe him. “The finest day that I ever had / Was when I learned to cry on command,” he sings in “On A Plain,” his performance so bare that he has no way to hide.

THEATER

COURTESY OF DCG RECORD

Tragically, with 25 years of “Unplugged” also comes the 25th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. The live performance — its stage draped in heavy fabric, white lillies, and black candles — is a testament to this fact. Those close to the show’s production claimed the funerary style was Cobain’s vision. Though many percieved the performance to be almost like Cobain’s distinct brand of suicide note, it was so much more. It marked the end of Nirvana as an active, recording band but, more than that, it made them immortal. The album speaks to everyone: to those who grew up on Nirvana-soaked airwaves in the ‘90s to those who discovered the band only after the fact. Nirvana, on “Unplugged,” is nothing short of infinite.

20 Years Later, ‘Rent’ Extends Its Lease

COURTESY OF [INSERT NAME]

IRIS M. LEWIS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

When “Rent” debuted in 1996, the rock opera grabbed the national imagination and hung on with vengeance. It won a Tony. It won a Pulitzer.

In a crushing case study on irony, its creator passed away the night before the show opened. The New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley wrote that the show’s “spirited score and lyrics” defied death.

And today — 20 years after “Rent” began its first national tour — the show’s anniversary revival tests whether “Rent” itself can defy death, too.

At the Boch Center’s Shubert Theater, where the musical will play through Nov. 10, “Rent” begins its latest bid for relevance on a stage strewn with debris. Milk cartons sit at exacting angles.

The cast wear skinny jeans and beanies. The show’s protagonist steps out on stage amid candles glowing from a prop fire escape. And then, against its backdrop of forced nonchalance, “Rent” retells

the story it’s been championing for 20 years: one of self-identified bohemians who, via the power of friendship, fight rising living costs, AIDS, and the Man. The resulting musical is by turns silly, incoherent, tragic, radical, and insensitive. It still stars a cast that looks like a real New York City street might; it also uses “queer” only as a slur and features an entire song about consumerism in the 1990s. “Rent” has aged in complicated ways since its debut. If the current iteration captures anything of the original, however, it is the original’s offbeat optimism.

The credit for the show’s buoyancy belongs largely to the cast, most of whom are making their national debuts with “Rent” and all of whom embrace their roles with easy energy. Maureen Johnson (Kelsee Sweigard) and Joanne Jefferson

(Samantha Mbolekwa), partners whose mercurial relationship co-opts the plot, stand out among a deep cast: Sweigard is as charismatic, and Mbolekwa as measured, as each needs to be. Their big-hearted warmth makes “Take Me Or Leave Me,” a sonic power struggle between two outsized personalities, the auditory highlight of the show.

Roger Davis (Coleman Cummings) and Mimi Marquez (Aiyana Smash), HIV-positive recovering addicts in an on-again-off-again relationship, glow more gently. Smash sings in a raspy alto, while Cummings’s voice is almost choral — an effect that softens his character’s toughness while equally eroding the grit typical of ‘90s rock. Both singers excel in the second half of the performance, where characters die aching deaths and songwriter Jonathan Larson makes more overt “Rent”’s meditation on time and running out of it. (“Forget regret or life is yours to miss,” he writes in the second part of the finale.)

The show’s second half also soars for its ability to highlight the supporting cast, who stand out at every opportunity. Several of the supporting cast members are dancers in a way that the show’s leads are not, and their athleticism further energizes the whole production. The cast’s depth also grants empathy to the homeless characters the supporting members often play, humanizing the non-bohemian, systemic poverty that “Rent” has been accused of erasing.

In “Seasons of Love,” the musical’s blockbuster number, the chorus provides a metric for evaluating a lifetime. There are 525,600 minutes in a year, the lyrics go, which can be alternately measured in sunsets, midnights, or cups of coffee. By the song’s metric, it has been roughly 2,102,400 minutes since gay marriage became legalized; 17,870,400 minutes since the AIDS epidemic reached its peak; 10,512,000 minutes since “Rent” debuted. But the show itself isn’t counting. Instead, the modern “Rent”’s depth defends the musical’s premise: that situations are temporary, but spirit lasts forever. It is possible to imagine a future world without HIV, rent inflation, or rock operas. With a production as upbeat and generous as the anniversary revival’s, however, it is harder to imagine a world where “Rent”’s 165 minutes are not worth a watch.

Staff Writer Iris M. Lewis can be reached at iris. lewis@thecrimson.com.

ARTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2019 | PAGE 6

BOOKS

In ‘Symphony No. 3,’ SaintSaëns Journeys to the Page With Mixed Results ALEXANDER W. TAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER There is an enigmatic quality to classical composers that seems fodder for storytelling in all its forms: From Mozart’s life sprung Peter Shaffer’s play and film “Amadeus.” From Shostakovich’s grew Julian Barnes’s novel “The Noise of Time.” It is in this tradition that musician-author Chris Eaton takes up the life of Camille Saint-Saëns, the 19th-century French composer of “The Carnival of the Animals” and “Danse Macabre.” His novel, “Symphony No. 3” (named for Saint-Saëns’s work of the same name), is based on Saint-Saëns’s biography, but does not hesitate to venture beyond it. Eaton starts with the historical record, but transposes and alters it with his imagination. What emerges is a narrative that takes Eaton’s voice and moves at his direction.

Through the eyes of Saint-Saëns’s fictional twin brother, Eaton brings the reader on a journey from Saint-Saëns’s childhood to old age. Set in four symphonic “movements,” the story follows a sweeping arc. Saint-Saëns starts as a restless child prodigy and grows into a prolific and cherished composer entrenched in the circles of the French elite. Despite his professional success, Saint-Saëns’s search for love is a tumultuous odyssey. He finds love and then loses it, which opens a consuming and tormenting void. Saint-Saëns’s attempt to fill that void sends him on a wandering, cross-continental voyage.

A novel spanning such spatial and temporal distances, prodding such emotional depths, requires a coherent and compelling narrative to be its backbone. Yet this narrative, while chronologically straight-forward, often struggles to find its way. The plot jumps from place to place and event to event with incredible frequency. Saint-Saëns goes from home to the music conservatory and back, from Paris to Algiers to Spain to Argentina. There are so many fights and deaths that it can become difficult to ascer-

tain what is significant and what is not. In this way, the central arc of Saint-Saëns’s story does not come to the fore, but rather struggles to distinguish itself from the more mundane elements of the novel. By lack of contrast, a potentially stirring storyline where love and loss reign supreme loses its luster.

The multitude of characters does not help the book’s cause.

The focus is intended to be on Saint-Saëns and his emotional journey, but too often the voices of other characters seep through. With Berutti, Franck, “the Heiress,” and more, there are almost too many characters involved. It is difficult for characters to distinguish themselves from others, and Saint-Saëns himself sometimes gets lost amid the many voices.

But in some ways, what is this novel’s shortcoming is also part of its charm. On the page, the great figures of the era come together Saint-Saëns mingles with the French painter Gustave Courbet, or the Argentinian writer Leopoldo Lugones. One can envisage how these artistic giants might have interacted, and here, Eaton’s imagination shines through.

Eaton’s imaginative thinking also emerges through his varied prose. Some parts are rendered as a clear and uncomplicated narration, while others are given in sharp dialogue (“Do you think you knew him? / I did know him. / Perhaps my French is confusing. / It’s not confusing.”). Others still take the form of a stream-of-consciousness monologue. The book opens with the words, “Some creatures don’t deserve to live,” and proceeds to explain this statement in a nearly two-page sentence. Such constructions can be exhausting and are sometimes oddly written (“He wrote a piece that was an asteroid on a collision course…”).

But Eaton’s blending of different forms leads to a diverse palette of colors that communicate with the reader in bold and interest-

COURTESY OF BOOK*HUG PRESS

ing tones.

Eaton also provides wide-ranging commentary throughout the novel. He is fond of communicating this less through the novel’s development and more through conversations between the characters and long monologues. For instance: “What can you learn from happiness? Nothing. It is only through grief and strife that we emerge transformed. It is only through grief and strife that we find life.” As perhaps this example indicates, these broad philosophical statements can feel like platitudes. More intriguing, however, are statements that, were they not set in this novel, would seem to be referencing today. “But to win a crowd is not so great a trick,” Saint-Saëns says. “One only needs a modicum of talent, a certain dose of untruth, and a small acquaintance with human passions.”

“Symphony No. 3” thus emerges with moments dull and dry, as well as moments interesting and imaginative. As purely an exercise in storytelling, the novel is disappointing, leaving one feeling much potential is left untapped. As an art form and a commentary, however, the novel is impressive, filled with diverse, imaginative prose and grounded in a connection to today. For those to whom such writing appeals, perhaps Saint-Saëns may come to life once more.

COLUMN

COURTESY OF MARLENA SKRABAK

Barbecue in the Deep North JESSE BARRERA AND TIMOTHY IM CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

The inspiration to visit Blue Ribbon Barbecue was born about two weeks ago, when Jesse was sitting in Razor’s Barbershop in Somerville, getting the freshest of cuts from Drew, a bona fide magician with clippers. The topic of the local gastronomic scene came up in conversation, specifically the dearth of quality barbecue joints in the Boston-Cambridge area. If you’re a card-carrying carnivore, you’re probably aware of the problem, as a hankering for umami frequently goes unsatisfied in a city better known for calzones and lobster rolls. There’s Redbones in Davis Square, of course, which boasts packed dining rooms and long wait times every Friday and Saturday night, but any local will tell you that Redbones has gone downhill in the last few years. We sadly concur; the brisket is a little too dry, the baked beans a little too sweet, and the atmosphere a little too self-congratulatory, like an exclusive party where everyone is just happy to be there. Drew was aware of Redbones’ decline, and was ready with an alternative: Blue Ribbon in Arlington, just north of Cambridge. How does one get to Blue Ribbon, you may ask?

Simple: Take the 77 bus north along Mass Ave almost to the end of the line. Hop out by the Stop and Shop, and there you are in slow-roasted heaven. Looking on a map, you’re probably further north than you’ve ever been in Boston, but at Blue Ribbon, you’ll feel like you’ve entered a little pocket of the Deep South.

Blue Ribbon first gives the impression that it’s much smaller than it looks from the outside. The vast majority of the space is taken up by a row of gargantuan, hickory-wood meat smokers visible from the dining area, essentially three stools staring bleakly into the street. Customers order from one of those menus on the wall that looks hand-written but probably isn’t, which sits below a tasteful decorative array of license plates from dozens of states, including a few hilarious vanity ones (“SEEYABYE” was a personal favorite of ours, presumably owned by a driver who took speed limits as more of a suggestion). The specials menu nudges you towards the restaurant’s roast turkey offerings, but go for more traditional fare: beef brisket and pulled pork, with rice and beans, collard greens, and spicy black-eyed corn on the side. Cornbread comes with almost every dish. Even though the meat has been smoking all day, the wait is short. Before you can finish reading through the the poster on the wall advertising pee-wee hockey, the food comes out, a heaping mountain of juicy flesh whose drippings are already dissolving the flimsy takeout container unfairly tasked with holding it.

The brisket tastes as though it were injected with all the fat and juice that was missing from Redbones’ brisket. If you can’t stomach straight animal fat, play a little game of find-the-meat with your fork to uncover the luscious fibers of beef hiding beneath the surface. The beef is more than

worth it though, and dissolves in your mouth with just a hint of smokiness. The pork is hearty and glistens with fat, leaving behind the sliminess that haunts pulled pork at places like Redbones. This barbecue is hard-core. It tastes like it should be eaten with the windows rolled down, the rock n’ roll cranked up to 11, and the sheriff on your tail for breaking the local law against being a badass. As is the mark of any reputable barbecue joint, the sides are also excellent, but the black-eyed corn sends you straight to the water cooler.

This corn is like a psychological thriller — on first glance, unassuming, without any visible pepper, it hits you with a mouth-numbing surge of spice. With the meat and sides eaten, all that’s left is a murky juice from the beef and greens.

Once the hefty slice of cornbread absorbs the juices, however, you’re left with a moist, sweet slice that is a perfect capstone to the meal. Shaking off the encroaching fat coma, you thank the cheery meatmen behind the counter, head back to the bus stop, and hop back on the 77 back to Cambridge. The Deep North has done its job.

Contributing Writers Jesse Barrera ‘20 and Timothy Im’s ‘21 column “Striking Gold in Beantown” explores the neighborhoods of Boston through the culture and stories of the city’s restaurants, takeout joints, and food trucks, inspired by the late food critic Jonathan Gold.

PAGE 7

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2019

OVERSEERS FROM PAGE 1

UC FROM PAGE 1

Group Seeks UC Ballot to Feature Two Referenda Representation recommends holding at least three town halls each academic year with members of the Board of Overseers and requiring at least five members of the Board to attend each town hall. It also requests that the Overseers invite members of the Harvard Graduate Council and the UC’s president and vice president to a Board meeting to present on “campus affairs.”

In addition to its governance proposals, the website also urges Harvard to divest completely from fossil fuels, “bolster responsible investment practices,” and dedicate resources to research to fight climate ­

We are working to elect 5 candidates to the Board of Overseers to move Harvard toward divesting.

Harvard Forward Website

change. The UC did not endorse this provision, but supported the town hall platform point.

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote in an emailed statement that the University is “fully committed”

to finding solutions to climate change and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

“As it has done for well over a decade, the University will continue to support its faculty, stu-

towards fixing broken power systems that allow institutions and individuals to profit off the destruction of the planet,” this year’s divestment referendum reads.

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain referred to previous statements in response to divestment.

“While we agree on the urgency of this global challenge,

The University will continue to support its faculty, students and staff.

we respectfully disagree with divestment activists on the means by which a university should confront it,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

University administrators have long argued that the University’s endowment should not be used as a tool to enact social change.

Instead, University President Lawrence S. Bacow has ar-

gued Harvard must work with industry players to combat climate change.

The meal times referendum proposes extending breakfast to 10:45 a.m. and dinner to 7:45 p.m. at all HUDS facilities and increasing the pay of HUDS staff accordingly.

Chu wrote in an emailed statement that he submitted the referendum in response to

concerns he heard from other students about meal times.

“For most houses, dinner closes at 7:15, which is when many, if not most, students would rather begin eating,” Chu wrote.

Students will be able to vote on the referenda from noon on Nov. 11 to noon on Nov. 14. kevin.chen@thecrimson.com

From the Law School to Longwood.

Jonathan L. Swain University Spokesperson

dents 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,” Swain wrote.

Swain also pointed to the University’s Climate Action Plan that committed the school to becoming fossil fuel-neutral by 2026 and fossil fuel-free by 2050. He also noted that Harvard joined Climate Action 100+, a group of investors committed to pushing greenhouse gas emitters to take action on climate change initiatives.

The Crimson

alexandra.chaidez@thecrimson.com

@crimsonflyby

CAMHS FROM PAGE 1

Walk-In CAMHS Appointments Start City Council Reiterates Union Support criticism for the size and makeup of its staff. Some students have lobbied for more counselors of color and providers from more socioeconomically diverse backgrounds. Over the past year, CAMHS has hired eight additional counselors, some of whom specialize in treatment for students from underrepresented backgrounds. Lewis wrote in an email that the new same-day bookings will serve different purposes than existing CAMHS appointments.

“Same day appointments are different from traditional appointments in that they are 30-minute standalone appointments for non-urgent matters,” Lewis wrote. “While there are no follow-up appointments, a student can return for same-day appointments in the future.”

If students are experiencing mental health emergencies, they will be referred to Urgent Care instead, according to the CAMHS website. Student Mental Health Liaison Kathryn S. Boit ’22 said that while SMHLs did not take part in creating this project, it is part of their responsibility as SMHLs to spread awareness for resources. ­

“A lot of us are really happy to see that this is being implemented, but we had no part in creating this or reorganizing their staff for this,” she said. “It’s really just like our purpose as SMHLs is to educate — you know — and spread awareness for resources.”

Boit said she is excited to see how walk-in appointments work for students.

“I’m really excited to see how it goes,” Boit said.

“This is being piloted for this semester and next semester so I’m hoping it has a good turnout.”

Lewis wrote that she hopes students can address their concerns during these same-day appointments.

“By the end of their sameday appointment, we hope the student feels they have had the opportunity to share and discuss any concern, acquiresnew problem-solving tools, and deepens their understanding of available resources both inside and outside of CAMHS,” she wrote. michelle.kurilla@thecrimson.com tamar.sarig@thecrimson.com

By DECLAN J. KNIERIEM CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Cambridge City Council unanimously voted — for the second time — to support Harvard’s graduate student union in its efforts to reach an agreement with Harvard, this time making its demands more urgent.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Councilor Sumbul Siddiqui, Cambridge Mayor Marc C. McGovern, Councilor Alanna M. Mallon, and Councilor E. Denise Simmons.

The vote came several weeks after Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers voted to authorize its bargaining committee to call a strike when it sees fit. Though there are no formal plans yet to strike, the union has told members it is likely to happen this semester if a final agreement is not reached.

McGovern said during the meeting that it is a “shame” the issue is still being negotiated, and that Harvard’s current graduate students’ wages are “unconscionable.”

“The city has the resources to pay close to $15 an hour. ­

That’s why we do it,” he said.

“Harvard has the resources to do the same and it’s important that institutions that have the financial capability to pay a living wage do so.”

The council previously passed a similar unanimous resolution in April to support union negotiations.

Councilor Quinton Y. Zondervan also criticized the University’s approach to nego-

The city has the resources to pay close to $15 an hour. That’s why we do it.

Marc C. McGovern Cambridge Mayor

tiations, specifically citing “harassment by faculty.” In recent months, HGSU and the University have been at loggerheads in negotiations over anti-harassment provisions in the contract.

“The students are asking for basic protections of their rights, and it’s absolutely unacceptable for the University to refuse

that,” he said. “So I agree with my colleagues that this has to happen, and we should be doing everything we can to put pressure on the University to make it happen.”

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain could not immediately be reached for comment Monday night.

He has previously told The Crimson that the union’s proposal would place complainants and respondents face-to-face in an “adversarial arbitration.”

Swain has also said in the past that the University’s counterproposal would offer the union members seats on a committee and two working groups to review Harvard’s current policies and procedures on Title IX and “other forms of discrimination and misconduct.”

Rachel J. Sandalow-Ash ’15, a member of Harvard’s graduate student union’s bargaining committee, spoke at the meeting, arguing that the University has not addressed “serious complaints” regarding grievance procedures for misconduct.

“The University has done nothing,” she said. “Nothing to protect student workers civ-

il rights, nothing to protect our rights to study and work in an environment free from harassment and discrimination.”

Union member Matthew R. Volpe also spoke to the council,

I think it’s unfortunately clear that Harvard doesn’t see its graduate students as holding much power.

Matthew R. Volpe Union Member

and said the University’s power is “problematic.”

“I think it’s unfortunately clear that Harvard doesn’t see its graduate students as holding much power to actually influence what goes on at the University,” he said. “We’re really relying on support from outside organizations, like our local government, to support us and make this happen.” declan.knieriem@thecrimson.com

The sights and sounds of Harvard.

The Crimson @crimson_photo

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2019

PAGE 8

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

OP-ED

Exploring the NCAA’s New Compensation Decision

Those Rocks Outside the Science Center

T

he NCAA announced last week it would finally allow athletes to receive compensation for their names, images, and likenesses.

While NCAA member institutions have historically profited enormously from athletic programs, students — whose time and labor lies at the core of any successful program — haven’t made a cent.

Under this new decision, which top officials unanimously agreed on, some student athletes — perhaps five percent of top-tier athletic universities, according to one expert’s estimate — could be-

Profiting from one’s own image seems to us a basic economic right, and status as a student-athlete does not seem sufficient to deny it. gin to profit off their effort.

For us, this move is a no-brainer, and a late one at that. Profiting from one’s own image seems to us a basic economic right, and status as a student-athlete does not seem sufficient to deny it.

This is especially true given how universities have made such enormous profits from their athletics programs; for example, the Texas Longhorn program at Texas A&M University made over $200 million in 2018 alone. Still, we feel it necessary to identify some significant concerns this decision poses, both nationally and at Harvard.

At the national level, the decision’s

rollout, insofar as it might seem to address the broad exploitation of student athletes, seems dubious.

Will students get a cut of university revenues dependent upon their image?

Or will they have to make individual contracts with outside entities and vendors?

What institutional support will be provided to students as they navigate this process?

And how will the new system be regulated and enforced, particularly across divisions and schools?

It also seems as if only a select minority of student athletes will likely benefit. Cases like that of Zion Williamson, a Duke basketball star who in his single year of college play could have stood to make $2.5 million, are not representative of the situation most student athletes will face.

Those who do make anything, mostly hometown stars, could make somewhere in the low five figures. But the reality is that most students, despite their extensive labor, skill, and prowess, don’t stand to make much of anything at all.

But what might concern top-tier athletic institutions across the nation doesn’t really apply to Harvard at all.

Harvard’s athletic program does not necessarily exploit student labor in the same way it seems to at other schools. But as we’ve opined in the past, the athletics program appears to serve to some extent as a backdoor acceptance path for white, wealthy, and legacy applicants. It should not be surprising then that with few exceptions, like that of the great Jeremy Lin, whose brief streak of brilliance on the New York Knicks in 2012 made him

a short-lived but astronomical star, many of Harvard’s homegrown athletic stars have been white men: Bobby Jones, one of the greatest golfers of all time, Ryan Fitzpatrick, a quarterback whose brilliance at Harvard didn’t quite transfer to the NFL, and Matt Birk, a punter who won the NFL Man of the Year award in 2012, just to name a few.

At Harvard, therefore, conceptualizing this new NCAA decision as a move toward social justice is not so simple.

The decision is far from a bad one, but the distribution of its potential benefits on our campus will look different

Harvard’s athletic program does not necessarily exploit student labor in the same way it seems to at other schools. than they will at that other Crimson athletic program: the University of Alabama. While we celebrate this historic move on the NCAA’s part, we do so with the awareness that its positive principle may not necessarily correlate to the most democratic effects.

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.

lems,” failing to recognize that social contexts are where these problems originate and take root. When proposed solutions neglect the social fabric of an institution, they silence the possibility of transformative cultural change.

The second reason bureaucratic changes fail is more practical. When these solutions develop within the existing framework of the university, they almost never cater to student concerns or needs.

Take the Culture Lab Innovation Fund, which imprudently combines the principles of a start-up incubator with the goals of social justice.

The fund asks members of the community to pitch ideas that will improve inclusion and belonging in exchange for the chance to win up to $15,000 for their project. While well-intentioned, most projects that emerge are surface-level bandages that are ill-suited to solve deep-rooted historical problems.

If Harvard is truly dedicated to inclusion and belonging, it needs to radically reorient its approach.

Some reforms will be bureaucratic or procedural, like creating workshops that address racial or intersectional literacy or expanding the First-Year Retreat and Experience pre-orientation program; others require a deeper commitment to inclusion, like the creation of a multicultural center.

These actions, while more difficult, would demonstrate strong commitments to real, substantive methods of inclusion. They would show that Harvard doesn’t want to just fit people into a system built on historical exclusion — rather, they want to build a new system from the ground up. Finally, the Harvard administration cannot begin to understand what it feels like to have to prove that you belong here until they speak to those that have done so — students like the three women of color setting up an art installation for a class on identity.

Only through earnest conversations like these can we truly “create” a culture that includes everyone at Harvard.

are a testament to the trials and tribulations of the first settlers to New England. Tanner’s design is a technical innovation because it is a fountain without a basin — it relies on natural gradation to allow water drainage and thus minimizes maintenance hassles, a problem Bok had found with other campus fountains.

It appears many people love that Tanner was “designed to be inhabited” and to “invit[e] human participation,” as its creators intended. The emanating water creates a “seasonal contemplative landscape,” according to the Cultural Landscape Foundation. Its simplicity “draw[s] passerby into its inner circle,” according to Garden Design magazine.

The American Society of Landscape Architect’s guide to Boston argues that it may appear “enigmatic among these dignified landmarks” at first, but is then recognized as what it really is, a “relaxed oasis in the midst of august historic surroundings.”

The sculpture may have even more symbolic meaning at Harvard. Tanner’s designer argued, “The fountain is a minimal piece full of contradictions…the materials, their perception and their various meanings are brought into conflict and into question.

This artistic statement may be apropos to the questioning stance of students and the intellectual inquiry of the university.”

Why am I writing about this? When I first headed down the rabbit hole, I thought I’d find a funny story about yet another example of Harvard eccentricity and mild ineptitude.

I knew those rocks had to be put there by someone, and it felt reasonable enough that Harvard would have done the unreasonable thing of dumping some rocks there for some sort of decoration.

On one hand, my confusion and fascination have only grown. I barely recognized the sculpture as art, and I have never felt the slightest inclination to “participate” in it (despite the many provided examples of student activities, which range from the banal, like reading and conversing, to the less plausible, at least for me, including meditating and flirting).

But my overwhelming feeling is one of regret: For all the disproportionate amount of time I’ve spent thinking and talking about these rocks, why didn’t I look up their origin earlier?

I suppose I didn’t think I’d find an answer, but I’m disappointed for letting that discourage me for two years. We schedule a lot of our learning in weekly blocks. Going to my scheduled learning is the main reason I’ve found myself walking past the rocks to begin with. Despite all that scheduled time, however, it feels like a shame to miss out on learning for learning’s sake. This feeling of time being divided into before and after you learned something, of you being divided in the person before and after you learned that thing — it’s all too easy to wax poetic about this feeling in interviews on demand.

An unfortunately important thing one happens to learn in college, though not in those scheduled learning blocks, is to craft neat narratives about the project, the class, the job that creates a eureka moment, suddenly making clear one’s future calling. And so I appreciated the inadvertent reminder I gave myself that this type of eureka moment is much more satisfying when it comes from silly little personal quests. I do not know if anyone else cares about these rocks in the slightest, nor will I do anything useful in a concrete sense with the information I’ve learned, but that is both irrelevant and the entire point.

—Ajay V. Singh ’21 is a Social Studies concentrator in Kirkland House. His column appears on alternate Tuesdays.

—Michelle I. Gao ’21, an Crimson Associate Editorial editor, is a Government concentrator in Adams House.

The Crimson @thecrimson COLUMN

‘Inclusion and Belonging’ Has Failed Ajay V. Singh LITTLE NUANCES

O

stood this, which is why the report recommended Harvard review its policy on how operations and security personnel interact with students.

This incident arrives on the heels of the Pilot Pulse Survey, which shows that 23 percent of community members feel as though they don’t belong at Harvard; most are students who have been pushed to the margins. In light of all this, it’s clear that Harvard’s approach to “inclusion and belonging” simply isn’t working.

This isn’t to say that Harvard’s community hasn’t improved in the last five or so decades. Efforts to include students of diverse backgrounds, as well as the belated merger of Radcliffe with Harvard College in 1999 and the founding of the BGLTQ Office in 2012, have helped lower historical barriers against minority groups.

These changes are a result of years of advocacy and activism on the part of students and faculty who demanded space for themselves on campus, who asserted that they belong here too. Harvard often responds to concerns like these with bureaucratic buzzwords: initiatives, workshops, task forces.

Sometimes, these work. But other times, formal apparatuses only go so far.

Harvard’s failed attempts to reduce sexual harassment and assault on campus over the past four years are a clear example of why the current framework, and the bureaucracy that sustains it, aren’t enough. Bureaucratic changes fail for two reasons.

The first is abstract — these changes aim for integration into an abstract “Harvard community” rather than reimagining what that community is. Integration doesn’t create something new.

More often than not, it attempts to fit people into a broken system.

The reforms pursued under this idea of inclusion and belonging requires students of marginalized backgrounds to assimilate to the culture that Harvard has always had: one that has historically excluded those same groups through the same cultures of belonging.

Harvard has also stated that change should focus primarily on academic and professional instead of “social prob-

L

ast week I finally got around to finding the answer to a question I’ve been asking of Harvard since freshman year. What are those rocks outside the Science Center and why are they always being watered?

I’ve long found them completely ridiculous.

Isn’t this a waste of water? Do other people find these mossy rocks pleasant to look at? And most of all: Why do they smell so bad?

I can’t pinpoint exactly why I decided to look them up last week, as opposed to any day in the past two years, but it was a pivotal moment. When I found the answer, which was not at all what I’d expected, I ran around telling all my blockmates and still had so much leftover feeling that I sat down to write an op-ed.

By starting on Google, naturally, I learned that those smelly wet rocks in between the Science Center building and plaza actually comprise a sculpture called Tanner Fountain.

Tanner Fountain is no ordinary fountain — it is an award-winning, innovative pioneer of the “Landscape as Art” movement. When it won the 2008 Landmark Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the jury described the fountain as: “Transformational. It lives in your memory.”

Commissioned in the 1980s by then University President Derek C. Bok, Tanner Fountain sprays mist for three seasons of the year and emits steam in the winter.

It consists of 32 nozzles surrounded by 159 boulders arranged in concentric but irregular rings.

These boulders, cleared from regional farms,

These boulders, cleared from regional farms, are a testament to the trials and tribulations of the first settlers to New England.

Submit an Op-Ed Today!

ne night in the late 1960s, perhaps around this time of year, a group of black male Harvard students left a Radcliffe College dormitory blanketed by the purple haze of an early night. As they headed back to their dorms, their walk was stopped short.

A Harvard security officer asked for their IDs; in doing so, he was demanding they prove their right to exist freely on College property.

But as the students began to reach for their wallets, they noticed that a group of white males had not been similarly stopped. The black students refused to show their wallets in defiance.

When I read stories like these from Martha Biondi’s “Black Revolution on Campus,” I want to believe that Harvard has outgrown the idea that belonging here requires that we look a certain way or come from a certain background.

But then, I am forced to face reality.

Last Thursday, I read an open letter to the Harvard community from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Latinx Student Association. It detailed an incident on Oct. 24 in which three women of color were setting up an art installation for a class called SPANSH 126: “Performing Latinidad” — an installation approved by the Harvard Yard Operations Office. The letter alleged it wasn’t long before the Harvard University Police Department was called; the police “approached the students with hostility” and “operated under the assumption that these were not Harvard students, and therefore subject to removal.” The students were repeatedly questioned for some time before they called on their professor to intervene, to no avail and their professor, also a woman of color, was treated as though she didn’t belong either, the letter alleges.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Claudine Gay commissioned a report after this event; it declared that there was no evidence of “malicious intent” on the part of the Harvard police — but this is irrelevant. What matters is how clearly the narration of the interaction, in both the police and the students’ accounts, can be situated within the history of racial profiling on college campuses. Perhaps those writing the report under-

By MICHELLE I. GAO

PAGE 9

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2019

COUNCIL FROM PAGE 1

STUBBS FROM PAGE 1

Grad Council Backs New Group

Stubbs Backs Gen Ed Tweaks

third part ensures that the HGC and the Undergraduate Council would have semesterly meetings with the Overseers.

“We are advocating for a more broad and holistic restructuring of how we think about responsible investing and responsible fundraising in a way that is very transparent, which is not what we have today,” Goldberg said.

The UC voted in favor of the same governance proposal at their weekly meeting Sunday.

Harvard Medical School

student Alma J. Oñate Munoz, who has held DACA status according to a Harvard Medical School article about undocumented students at the school, also presented at the meeting on behalf of undocumented students in the graduate schools and at the College.

Oñate Munoz informed the HGC that next Tuesday the Supreme Court will be hearing a case which will determine the future legality of DACA. She urged the HGC to ask graduate students to attend immigration

advocacy group Harvard College Act On a Dream’s rally on Nov. 11 ahead of oral arguments.

“Essentially the future of about 800,000 young people in this nation is at stake,” Oñate Munoz said. “We’re hoping to get support from across the graduate schools to show the support we have for our peers, our family members, whoever it might be that you know or don’t know who will be impacted by this decision.”

At the conclusion of the HGC’s meeting, interim-Coun-

cil member and founder of the HGC’s External Action Committee Kelly E. Menjivar Ramirez proposed that at the next HGC meeting the Council vote to issue a statement in support of undocumented students on campus.

“We made an admissions statement two years ago. I think it would be helpful as a student council to re-issue a statement in support of DACA,” Menjivar Ramirez said. luke.williams@thecrimson.com

“[My goal is] empowering my colleagues to be more comfortable to move into that space and take some ownership and share their perspective and understand that it’s okay, in the classroom as a scientist, to speak to things to which there may not be a black-and-white, crisp, quantitative, experimentally-verifiable answer,” he added.

Stubbs said he hopes to embark on this mission in the com­

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ing year with the partnership of the Gen Ed program office.

“I think that we are going to continue to improve the Gen Ed program and the offerings that we have out of this division to support the curriculum of Harvard College,” he said.

Stubbs added that he is inspired by his colleagues and their work. juliet.isselbacher@thecrimson.com

PAGE 10

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 4, 2019

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PAGE 11

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2019

SPORTS

IN OTHER NEWS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

WOMEN’S RUGBY

Senior point guard Bryce Aiken was nominated onto the Naismith Trophy Watch List, the first Crimson player represented since 2014-15.

Harvard will host the NIRA Semifinal against Dartmouth on Saturday, Nov. 9 as it hopes to avenge its own regular season loss to the Big Green.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

2019-20 Harvard Women’s Basketball Preview

By EMA R. SCHUMER CRIMSON WRITER

Although last season ended in heartbreaking fashion for Harvard, this season will offer the team a fresh start.

The team’s competitive play throughout the season, which garnered the squad third place in the league, was belied by a nearly thirty-point loss to Ancient Eight rival Penn in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament last March.

At the time, coach Kathy Delaney-Smith described the game as “probably one of the most disappointing games I can remember in the past 37 years.”

Indeed, the rout came as a shock to Delaney-Smith and her team. During the regular season, the Crimson and the Quakers proved even matchups. Their first contest resulted in a double overtime victory for Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion.

At the Palestra in Philadelphia, Penn surmounted the Crimson in overtime.

But with a new season comes a blank slate.

“It’s behind me. Once it’s over, it’s over and we move forward,” Delaney-Smith said.

Though the Quakers and Princeton are perennial conference power houses and defending co-champions, Delaney-Smith emphasized the importance of every league game in a conference that is often highly competitive from the first seed to the eighth.

“I think every Ivy League game is close,” said the 38-season skipper for the Crimson.

“We sort of take every Ivy League game the same...in any given night, anyone could beat anyone.”

For better or worse, the Harvard team that will step onto the hardwood this week in its first matchup of the 2019-2020 season does not share much in common with last year’s team.

Indeed, three out of the four top scorers from last season — all guards — will not return to the Crimson this year. They include graduates and co-captains Sydney Skinner ‘19 and 1000-point scorer Madeline Raster ‘19.

Conspicuously absent from this season’s roster is senior point guard Katie Benzan. The Wellesley, Mass. native, who led Harvard in points and assists for the past three consecutive seasons, announced that she will forgo her senior year season with the Crimson to maintain eligibility to play a post-grad year for the University of Texas at Austin.

“I’m sorry that was a choice Katie made, but she feels it’s

A NEW DAWN The Crimson will put out a young side this season as it seeks to avenge last season’s loss to Penn in the Ivy playoff semifinals. Six freshman join the program following the departure of three of its top four scorers from last season. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

the best thing for her and we’re moving forward pretty nicely,” Delaney-Smith commented.

A HEAVY-LIFTING FRESHMAN CLASS Much of Delaney-Smith’s optimism stems from a precocious and talented freshman class of guards.

“I think [Benzan] was a prolific scorer and a tremendous shooter, but our freshman class is loaded,” Delaney-Smith said.

“This may be one of the strongest freshman classes I’ve ever had. I couldn’t be more pleased with their work ethic and their ability to learn the system.”

The Crimson coach exalted two stand-out rookies: guards Annie Stritzel and Lola Mullaney.

Delaney-Smith described Stritzel, a 5-10 guard who is the all-time leading scorer for her high school Nazareth Academy in Chicago, as “a bull in a china shop.”

“She just finds a way to get things done and you don’t even know how,” she said. “You

look at the stat sheet and she’s leading everybody in all of the stats.”

Stritzel’s classmate, Mullaney, has also impressed Delaney-Smith. A 5-11 guard from Colts Neck, New Jersey, Mullaney scored 1500 points during her high school career.

“She may be the best shooter to ever play here if she continues the way she’s going right now,” Delaney-Smith offered.

Other first year guards who will contribute to Harvard’s team include Gabby Donaldson, a Raleigh, North Carolina native who scored 1000 points in high school.

First-year 5-9 guard Sara Park, who shattered records at her high school in McLean, Va., will bring her talents to the Crimson this season. At The Potomac School, Park set alltime program highs in career points, triples, and points in a single game.

A torn ACL will sideline first year guard Gracie Martin. The 6-1 guard, who hails from Biddeford, Maine, was named to

the McDonald’s All-Academic Team and All-Star Team in 2018-19.

The newest addition to the roster is 5-11 guard Naomi-Grace Jennings, who walked onto Harvard’s team this season.

LARGER ROLES FOR RETURNING PLAYERS The talented first-years will support the performances of returning players, who will take on larger roles this season.

Junior forward Jadyn Bush, who led the Crimson in rebounds last season, will likely suit up in the starting lineup for Harvard once again.

The Federal Way, Wash. native averaged 8.5 boards per game last season and led the returning class in scoring with 10.9 points per game.

The junior will be flanked in the post with senior forward Jeannie Boehm, who averaged close to 30 minutes per game last season. In her penultimate season, Boehm contributed 8.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per

game.

In addition to being an offensive threat, the forward sees her role this season in a leadership capacity through supporting younger players.

“Something I’m looking for from a leadership perspective is [using] my experience and seniority to help us win and [to] do whatever I can to help us win,” she said.

The team is captained by junior forward Rachel Levy and senior guard Mackenzie Barta.

Coming off the bench, Levy delivered crucial buckets for the Crimson last season, evincing a smooth mid-range jumper.

Delaney-Smith also expects sophomore guard Maggie McCarthy and sophomore forward Tess Sussman to offer larger contributions to the team this season.

The duo each averaged under ten minutes of playing time per game last season but will both start for Harvard this season, according to Delaney-Smith.

The winningest coach in

the Ivy League noted that her team’s inexperience was its greatest liability.

“We have plenty of scorers,” she said. “What we lack is experience. It remains to be seen whether that hurts us or not.”

FIRST TIP The Crimson’s first test will take place in the Midwest on Tuesday in a 11 a.m. eastern-time tip off against the Northern Illinois Huskies, who play in the Mid-American Conference.

Delaney-Smith suggested that the Harvard squad may appear a “little behind” in its first contest of the season due to off-season surgeries and preseason injuries. Nonetheless, she said she felt “optimistic” and maintained that “we have the ability to win.”

The Crimson will make it back to Cambridge to host University of California, Berkeley — who Harvard topped 85-79 last season — in a Friday night showdown that tips off at 7 p.m. ema.schumer@thecrimson.com

REED BETWEEN THE LINES Senior Mackenzie B arta will serve as a co-captain for this team, alongside junior forward Rachel Levy.. Senior Jeannie Boehm is the only other Crimson player who will play her final season for Coach Delaney-Smith. QUINN G. PERINI —CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

SPORTS

THE WEEK

AHEAD

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS NOV.5 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY AT PRINCETON NOV. 8 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. MIT NOV. 5 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL AT PENN NOV. 8 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S TENNIS CHOWDER FEST NOV. 8 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY VS. PRINCETON NOV. 8 ___________________________________________________________

FIELD HOCKEY AT COLUMBIA NOV. 8 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S BASKETBALL

2019-20 Harvard Men’s Basketball Season Preview

By LEV COHEN, AMIR MAMDANI, AND DAVID MANIKAS CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

In some ways, the seniors have fulfilled all of the expectations that were placed on the group, which 247 Sports’ Composite Team Rankings regarded as the 25th-best recruiting class in the nation. They have won at least a share of the Ivy League title in consecutive years and last season advanced to the second round of the NIT for the first time in program history.

But one achievement is missing: an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Last year’s team was the first in Tommy Amaker’s 11-year Crimson career that was totally devoid of NCAA Tournament experience — this year’s team is the second.

That said, everything seems lined up for the Crimson to end that drought and find itself in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. Harvard returns 96.4 percent of its minutes and 96.7 percent of its scoring from a year ago, second and third most in the country, respectively.

It should also eventually get 2017-18 Ivy League Player of the Year, Seth Towns, back from an injury that kept him out all of last season.

And unlike the last two years, when top-seeded Crimson teams had to face Penn and Yale in the finals of the Ivy League Tournament at Penn and Yale, Harvard will have home-court advantage should it reach the Ivy League postseason this time around.

With a healthy, seasoned roster and a friendly tournament atmosphere, the heralded 2016 recruiting class could be poised to end its Crimson career on a high note. ­

RETURNING ROSTER Towns’s eventual return — the team remains silent about his timetable — will boost a squad that already had a lot of depth.

Scrappy senior point guard Bryce Aiken, a unanimous AllIvy first team selection and the league’s leading scorer with north of 22 points per game last season, will lead the ranks with Towns.

Aiken battled injuries for the second consecutive season, missing most of the non-conference slate and suiting up for 18 games after playing 14 the season before, but he showed his talent and his mettle in league play, consistently taking over games down the stretch.

Without Towns, Harvard did not have a second natural go-to scorer on its roster, and Aiken ably shouldered more of the load.

He was responsible for

Harvard’s signature moment last season, a double-clutch three-pointer against Columbia to send the game into double-overtime before the Crimson eventually won. The shot was the top play on SportsCenter and accounted for three of Aiken’s career-high 44 points, the second-most in school history.

The Randolph, N.J., native then hit a game-tying triple against Penn the following weekend and a game-winner against Yale a weekend after that before pouring in 38 points in the Ivy League Tournament final. Aiken tested the NBA draft waters after the season, a sign of the extent to which the former four-star recruit has improved, before opting to come back to school for his senior season.

Harvard should get Towns back at some point this year, and it will be interesting to see how the former Ivy League Player of the Year fits into the lineup next to Aiken. Two seasons ago, playing the forward position, Towns led the team in scoring and finished just a few ticks behind classmate Justin Bassey for the team lead in rebounding.

With Cornell’s Matt Morgan having graduated, and Yale’s Miye Oni in the NBA, Aiken and Towns, along with Penn’s A.J. Brodeur, could finish at the top of the Ivy League scoring charts.

The rest of last year’s core also returns. Bassey, a do-it-all forward and often the team’s defensive stopper, has been the Crimson’s most consistent player over the last three years. He’s averaged upwards of 27 minutes per game each season and is in line for a hefty amount of playing time this year too. While he is not flashy, Bassey contributes hustle plays that do not always appear on the scoresheet.

He has led Harvard in rebounds for two straight years while also adding a couple of assists and a steal or so per contest.

No matter how Tommy Amaker chooses to sort out his rotation — and he has a multitude of options — Bassey, because of his versatility and role-player prowess, seems set to be a big part of Amaker’s plans.

In addition to the star power of Towns and Aiken and the heart-and-soul of Bassey, it is clear that the Crimson does not lack quality returning wing pieces. In the absence of Towns last year, then-freshman Noah Kirkwood grew into a key role off of the bench at first before later becoming a starter and often Harvard’s second-most dangerous offensive weapon.

Kirkwood was the only player not named Bryce Aiken to crack double figures in the Ivy

PERFECT SCORE Robert Baker wows the crowd with a between-the-legs dunk in Crimson Madness. With the team’s introductory event and first weeks of practice in the books, Harvard will turn to its first game of the season athome against MIT on Nov. 5. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

League Tournament final, and he went on to finish second on the team with 30 points in the Crimson’s two NIT games.

While Kirkwood sometimes looked like the first-year he was — in particular, he spoke last season about improving his body language after a call goes against him — the broad-shouldered combo guard showed an ability to create his own buckets and also chipped in on the boards, finishing third on the team in rebounds.

Also back are senior point guard Christian Juzang and senior forward Chris Lewis, both of whom started regularly for most of last season. While some may have thought that the return of Aiken last season would have sent Juzang to the bench, the steady ball-handler started all but two Ivy League games and played at least 20 minutes in every single league game.

Juzang will look to serve as the lead guard that Amaker trusts most after Aiken, and his ability to knock down three-pointers at a 36% rate should prove to be a valuable asset. While he might not start all season again, with the emergence of Kirkwood and the return of Towns, Juzang will remain part of the rotation.

Like Juzang, Lewis is a reliable option whose spot in the rotation seems assured. After earning an All-Ivy first team selection in his sophomore season, he shot better than 60% from the field for the third

straight year and remains an excellent post player. Shooting 12of-15 against Georgetown and NC State (both power conference teams) in the NIT should also boost his confidence.

While juniors Danilo Djuricic and Rio Haskett will likely have far bigger roles next season, by the time the 2016 recruiting class will have graduated, they will both have been regular members of Amaker’s rotation for two years. Djuricic received an uptick in minutes late in the season, while Haskett scored in double figures just twice all season but remains a sparkplug who can get hot in a hurry off the bench.

Senior bigs Robert Baker and Henry Welsh offer Amaker two very different options to play instead of — or alongside — Lewis. Baker has flashed the potential of a dangerous stretch-five, with the bounce to be a proficient shot-blocker and the skill to hit 36% of his threes, fly by slower defenders, and hammer home monster dunks. Welsh, meanwhile, plays a more traditional big man position who chips in on the boards and can, on occasion, punish smaller defenders.

Kirkwood was the most productive of last season’s firstyears, but he wasn’t the only to receive important minutes.

In fact, forward Kale Catchings went from being unused for most of the season to starting four of the last five regular season matchups and both Ivy League Tournament games, showing off his explosiveness and soft touch from beyond the arc.

Given the roster depth of a talented group of sophomores like Catchings, Mason Forbes, and Spencer Freedman, deciding how to distribute minutes between the players will present a challenge for Amaker and his coaching staff.

THE FRESHMEN The Crimson will again add what can be considered the Ivy League’s top recruiting class and its best since 2016 — a class that ranks 38th nationally per 247 Sports. While the crowded roster will make cracking the lineup difficult for first-year players, at least one freshman has broken into Amaker’s rotation in each of the last few seasons, so it is well worth considering the possibility that the same might happen this year.

GETTING TO THE HOOP Bryce Aiken will look to continue to power towards the rim this season as he did in last year’s NIT upset of Georgetown and throughout the entire campaign. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

CHRIS LEDLUM The fifth ESPN Top-100 recruit to commit to the Crimson since 2016, Ledlum extends the trend of high-profile prospects joining Tommy Amaker’s program.

Finishing his high school career at Northfield Mount Hermon— the same prep school that Kirkwood attended—Ledlum was named 2019 Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year, USA

Today Massachusetts Player of the Year, as well as the 2019 NEPSAC AAA Player of the Year after leading his team to a NEPSAC championship in his final high school run. Ledlum’s explosiveness on the court and ability to guard virtually any position will make him an intriguing piece in a rotation loaded with talent and experience.

IDAN TRETOUT The freshman class’ second New York native, Tretout, spent his high school career playing at Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Massachusetts. He capped off his four-year, 1,600 point career at WMA earning First Team All-NEPSAC in his final season, receiving honorable mention recognition the year before. Tretout arrived on campus already having built some chemistry with Ledlum, as the two New Yorkers played together on youth teams. To go along with his high school career, Tretout played on the Under Armour Circuit with New York’s New Heights AAU team, winning the 2018 Under Armour Association championship alongside teammates Precious Achiuwa and Lester Quiñones — two members of Memphis’ number one ranked recruiting class this past year.

His abilities to shoot the ball, attack the rim, and defend give him the potential to develop into the role that junior guard Rio Haskett takes on.

CIARAN BRAYBOY The Glencoe, Ill. native was Harvard’s first commit from the incoming freshman class. Brayboy graduated from New Trier High School, where he earned an All-State selection in his senior year. Brayboy played in the highly competitive Nike EYBL and Under Armour Association circuits, where he faced off against some of the nation’s top prospects following his seasons with New Trier.

His rugged play and aggressiveness around the rim are reminiscent of current senior Chris Lewis, as Brayboy hopes to contribute another dimension of toughness to the roster.

LUKA SAKOTA The trend of Canadian Crimson commits continues with Sakota, who is the ninth Canadian in the Amaker-era to play for Harvard. Sakota’s success in Canada includes many accolades, among which are two Biosteel All-Canadian honors in 20182019 and his spot on the U16 and U17 Canadian national team rosters. Sakota’s 6’5” frame at the guard spot is complemented by great court awareness and a solid outside shot. He will have a chance to return home during the season when the Crimson travel to Toronto for the first time to play at Scotiabank Arena against Buffalo.

TOMMY O’NEILL Harvard’s first Boston-area player since Kyle Casey ‘14, O’Neil hails from a basketball family: his older brothers Hugh and Harry currently play at Bowdoin and Johns Hopkins, respectively. He finished off his high school career at Vermont Academy after a decorated tenure at St. Johns Prep. O’Neil’s willingness to shoot the ball with a soft touch around the rim contributes versatility to his offensive game, as O’Neil is comfortable both in the post and from outside, much like junior Danilo Djuricic.

PROJECTED STARTERS Guard: Bryce Aiken-SR Guard: Noah Kirkwood-SO Forward: Seth Towns-SR* Forward: Justin Bassey-SR Forward: Chris Lewis-SR *Towns is not expected to be ready for the start of the season, and his return date is unknown.

KEY NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS MIT - November 5, Lavietes Pavilion, Cambridge, Mass.

Buffalo - November 16, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, James Naismith Classic Texas A&M - November 28, HP Field House, ESPN Wide World of Sports, Orlando, Fla., Orlando Invitational California - December 29, Berkeley, Calif.

San Francisco - December 30, San Francisco, Calif.

KEY IVY LEAGUE OPPONENTS Penn - January 31, vs. February 22 Yale - February 7, vs. March 7 Princeton - February 1, vs. February 21 SEASON OUTLOOK Harvard received 15 out of 17 first place votes in the Ivy League’s preseason media poll, making the Crimson a near-unanimous choice to repeat as Ivy League Champions.

The team returns meaningful contributors from last season, adds a solid freshman class, and should get former Ivy Player of the Year Seth Towns back at some point.

While some warning signs remain — from Towns’s lingering knee injury to Harvard’s sky-high turnover rate last season — all of the ingredients are in place for another strong Ivy League season and an end to Amaker’s NCAA Tournament drought. lev.cohen@thecrimson.com amir.mamdani@thecrimson.com david.manikas@thecrimson.com