The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLVI, No. 63 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | tuesday, april 30, 2019
editorial PAGE 6
news PAGE 3
sports PAGE 8
Harvard should consider how it provides platforms for speakers.
Admitted students explore Harvard days before commitment deadline.
Baseball secures key series win over Columbia.
Divest, FBI Investigating Racist Emails to HBS Students City Council Says By sam e. sharfstein Crimson Staff Writer
The FBI is involved in investigating a racist and threatening email sent to members of Harvard Business School’s African American Student Union in late March, according to a student who received the email. These emails, sent on March 28, contained racial slurs and threats of violence against 18 members of the AASU board. Business School Dean Nitin Nohria sent an email to students in the school’s MBA program the following day condemning the emails and assuring students that authorities believe that no students were in physical danger. He added that an investigation was underway. “We have taken immediate steps, including to notify the police, and we are doing everything we can to support our students and to learn more about the incident,” Nohria wrote in the March 29 email. “Our initial assessment is that there is no
By alexandra a. chaidez Crimson Staff Writer
The Cambridge City Council voted Monday to pass an order endorsing student activists’ demands for Harvard to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Divest Harvard organizers worked in conjunction with the Mayor’s Office to develop the order, which was sponsored by Mayor Marc C. McGovern, Vice Mayor Jan Devereux, Councilor Sumbul Siddiqui, and Councilor Quinton Zondervan. The order’s language puts the “full support” of the City Council
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The Harvard Business School launched an investigation after threatening emails were sent to members of the African American Students Union in March. robert h. edwards—contributing photographer
concern of direct physical harm to any member of our community, but we are investigating the matter fully.” Nohria also wrote about the need for the larger Business School community to support the AASU in the aftermath of the incident. “Hate speech and hate crimes threaten our shared humanity. When an act such as this is aimed at our campus, it is important that we stand in solidarity and reaffirm the values we hold dear,” Nohria wrote. “I hope you will join me in reaffirming and ensuring that Harvard Business School is a place where every individual is respected and honored.” Kel Jackson, the outgoing conference co-director for the AASU, said that the message appears to have originated in a foreign country. “The thing that has been consistent is that they do not expect any imminent
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Students Lobby for Latin Honors GPA Cutoffs Rising Since ’09 Prof’s Tenure Bid By shera s. avi-yonah and delano r. franklin Crimson Staff Writers
Professor Lorgia Garcia Peña works in the Romance Language and Literature Department. emma l. kaneti—contributing photographer By jonah s. berger and molly c. mccafferty Crimson Staff Writers
More than a dozen students have launched a letter-writing campaign in support of Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literature and History and Literature Lorgia Garcia Peña’s bid for tenure. The students’ efforts come in the wake of the departures of three tenure-track professors who specialize in Ethnic Studies in recent months — each of which sparked outcry from students and alumni. Faculty members with knowledge of the tenure process say student activism for Garcia Peña could play a role in the ultimate tenure decision. Adelson Aguasvivas ’21, a Dominican Student Association board member who helped organize the campaign, said he and other students decided to support Garcia Peña because of her representation and mentorship of Latinx and Afro-Latinx students on campus. “She really took me in,” Aguasvivas said. “Not only did she do this for me, but she would do it for all of the kids that were in the Hist and Lit department and the Romance Languages department.” “She will usually try to make a personal connection with each one of them, which I think is something that’s usually rare from professors,” he added. In November, the Harvard Graduate School of Education decided not to put Associate Professor of Education Natasha K. Warikoo up for tenure, and in February, Assistant Professor of History Genevieve A. Clutario accepted a position at Wellesley College. In response, three student and alumni groups sent Inside this issue
Harvard Today 2
letters to University President Lawrence S. Bacow and held a rally decrying the professors’ departures and calling for a formalized Ethnic Studies program. Earlier this month, Harvard Divinity School denied tenure to Associate Professor Ahmed Ragab, prompting hundreds of students and alumni to sign letters criticizing the decision. The students pointed to Ragab’s work in Muslim studies — a field which they said is underrepresented at the University — as well as his teaching and mentorship of minority students. DSA President Noelle V. Castro ’22 said the departure of the other scholars in part inspired the letter-writing campaign on behalf of Garcia Peña. “I think it’s very unfortunate that professors of color who are providing representation for communities of color here are being denied tenureship,” Castro said. University spokesperson Anna G. Cowenhoven declined to comment on the students’ efforts, writing in an emailed statement that she is unable to discuss individual tenure cases. She pointed instead to the FAS Tenure-Track Handbook, which lists teaching, including advising, as a “critical factor” in the tenure decision. The handbook does not explicitly list student letters of support as a factor in a candidate’s promotion decision. The potential impact of the students’ ongoing campaign is unclear, according to multiple faculty members who have served on tenure committees in the past. English Professor Louis Menand, a past witness on multiple ad hoc committees,
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Editorial 6
GPA Cutoffs for Latin Honors 3.934
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Seniors seeking Latin honors at graduation in May will likely face climbing grade point average cutoffs. Students in the Class of 2018 needed to earn a 3.62 GPA to qualify for “cum laude,” the lowest level of Latin honors. A student graduating in the Class of 2009, however, only needed to earn a 3.448 overall GPA to be eligible for the same distinction. The “magna cum laude” honor had a cutoff of 3.844 for the Class of 2018 and one of 3.721 for members of the Class of 2009. The College uses a twotiered system to determine who receives Latin honors. First, academic departments recommend a set of students to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. FAS then bestows Latin honors using a cutoff set each year to ensure the proportion of students earning honors at different levels remains steady. To determine who is recommended for honors, some departments weigh thesis grades, GPAs, and oral exam results; others simply use internal GPA thresholds. FAS then determines College-wide GPA cutoffs for Latin honors each year. Students who were not recommended for Latin honors may receive a “cum laude for the overall record” qualification based solely on their grades. Government Director of Undergraduate Studies Nara Dil-
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Summa Cum Laude in Field
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Matthew J. Tyler—Crimson Designer
lon pointed to grade inflation at the College as the cause of rising cutoffs. As of 2013, an A- was the median grade awarded to undergraduates. “It’s definitely grade inflation,” Dillon said. “It’s gotten very hard, for example, to figure out who to nominate for Phi Beta Kappa and for summa, because we have quite a few students with terrific GPAs. So it makes very small differences stand out at that level.” The magna cum laude and overall cum laude honors — which have the same cutoffs — have seen a rising GPA requirement since at least the Class of 2009.
A 2002 Faculty vote set 60 percent as the maximum portion of each class that can earn honors. That policy change aimed to make Latin honors more exclusive — more than 90 percent of the Class of 2004 graduated with honors. In 2012, FAS capped the number of students who may receive summa cum laude honors at five percent of the graduating class. Roughly the next 15 percent and 30 percent receive magna cum laude and cum laude, respectively. No more than 10 percent may receive cum laude overall degrees. Still, students often have several thresholds to cross be-
fore FAS even considers whether to award them honors. Computer Science co-Director of Undergraduate Studies Stephen N. Chong said his department uses several “filters” to select candidates. “The concentration GPA is one filter, the other one is the excellent or outstanding thesis, and so you need both of those in order to qualify for high honors or for highest honors,” Chong said. Other departments use different weighting schemes — splitting credit between thesis grades and the concentration
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Minister Walton to Leave Harvard for Wake Forest By ruth zheng Crimson Staff Writer
Jonathan L. Walton, the Minister of Memorial Church and a professor at Harvard Divinity School, will leave the University at the end of this academic year to serve as the next dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Walton announced Sunday. Walton has spent nine years at Harvard and seven as minister. Prior to Harvard, Walton worked at Princeton University and University of California, Riverside. University President Lawrence S. Bacow wrote in an email to Harvard affiliates Monday morning that Walton’s upcoming departure is bittersweet. “Jonathan has dramatically altered spiritual life at Harvard
Minister Jonathan Walton will be joining Wake Forest University as its next School of Divinity dean. myeongseo kim—Contributing photographer
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through leadership infused with compassion and love,” Bacow wrote. During his time at Harvard, Walton occupied a number of roles. In addition to teaching and holding his Memorial Church post, Walton serves on the Administrative Board of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the General Education Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Faculty Committee on Athletics, and the University Task Force on Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. He also chaired the Harvard College Working Group on Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging under former University President Drew G. Faust. Walton has frequently spoken out for social justice on campus. In September 2017,
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