The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume cxlvi No. 129 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | wednesday, november 20, 2019
editorial PAGE 4
news PAGE 3
sports PAGE 6
We cannot forget the profit motives behind the College Board’s practices
Political experts hold security simulation at Institute of Politics
Harvard men’s and women’s cross country teams advance to NCAAs
Sullivan Failed to File Tax Returns Grad Strike May Delay Grades By shera s. avi-yonah and delano r. franklin Crimson Staff Writers
The United States Tax Court found that former Winthrop House Faculty Dean Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. failed to file income tax returns from 2005 through 2013 and failed to pay the Internal Revenue Service more than $1 million in an opinion released Tuesday. The IRS brought the case in order to collect an outstanding tax balance from 2012 and 2013, which amounted to $1,231,775. Sullivan, who is also a Harvard Law School professor, wrote in a 2017 form he submitted to the IRS that he did not believe he should have to pay the assessed 2013 balance. “I did not (nor have I ever made) enough money to justify a $1.2M tax,” he wrote. USTC judge Albert G. Lauber issued a summary judgement — meaning the court did not hold a full trial — after Sullivan failed to respond to multiple requests that he provide evidence that the IRS incorrectly assessed his assets in determining his tax bill. Lauber ruled that the IRS is entitled to collect the money it believes Sullivan owes.
The Winthrop House Faculty Deans reside in a house on Memorial Drive next to the Charles River.
steve s. li—Con-
See sullivan Page 3
tributing photographer
Cultural Diversity Dean Center Search Nears End Delays Foreseen By sanjana l. narayanan and samuel w. zwickel Crimson Staff Writers
After a more than year-long vacancy, the search for an associate dean of students for inclusion and belonging is in its “final stages,” Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair said in an interview Tuesday. College administrators have been looking to fill this position since the former Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Roland S. Davis stepped down in September 2018 after a year-long tenure. The Dean of Students Office — which is overseeing the search, according to Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana — will likely interview finalists on campus before the end of the semester. “We hope to bring candidates to campus in early December and hopefully be able to conclude that for someone to start as soon as possible,” O’Dair said. In February, O’Dair and
By shera s. avi-yonah and delano R. franklin Crimson Staff Writers
Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana said in a Friday interview that Harvard will need to continue research and planning before making any decisions regarding a possible multicultural center. “I appreciate that from a student’s perspective that things can seem like they take a longer time,” Khurana said. “And partly, you know, it’s because constructing anything — and then you have to maintain it and sustain it and make sure that it outlasts the sort of current moment — takes time,” he added. Several candidates in the recently concluded Undergraduate Council presidential election proposed establishing a multicultural center. UC president- and vice president-elect James A. Mathew ’21 and Ifeoma E. White-Thorpe ’21 have advocated converting a floor of the Smith Campus Center into a multicultural space. Other candidates proposed that the UC rent off-campus space for a multicultural center. Khurana also cited the work of the Symbols and Spaces Committee the College created last year in response to the candidates’ proposals. In February, he said the group would use student feedback to create diversity-related programming and examine how Harvard uses its physical spaces. “Part of what we’re working on, and we’re doing work through our Symbols and Spaces Committee, is what is the nature of the kinds of spaces students are looking for? What’s the programming? What happens in those places? Who are the people you want to see in those places? What’s the staff that you want to see in those?” he said Friday. The UC candidates’ proposals for a multicultural center mark the latest effort in decades
Harvard Today 2
See dean Page 5
Crimson Staff Writer
16.7%
10.1% 7.8% 6.4%
4%
Class of 2012
Af. Am. % of Overall Applicant Pool % of Af. Am. Admits Acceptanced Camille g. Caldera—Crimson Designer
News 3
A new working paper by Students for Fair Admissions expert witness Peter S. Arcidiacono alleged that Harvard sends recruitment materials to African American high school students who “effectively have no chance of being admitted” in order to raise the number of African American applicants to the school each year and lower the College’s acceptance rate. The paper — accepted to the National Bureau of Economics Research on Monday — uses documents that the College made public as a part of its ongoing lawsuit with SFFA, an anti-affirmative action advocacy group. SFFA sued Harvard in 2014, alleging that the College unlawfully discriminates against Asian American applicants. Arcidiacono wrote that 38 percent of African American
Class of 2008
Editorial 4
Sports 6
See strike Page 3
SFFA Expert Witness Releases Paper on African American Recruitment
12%
0%
Several departments may delay grading or change final exam formats in the event that Harvard’s graduate student union goes on strike next month, according to faculty members across the University. Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers will strike if it does not reach a contract agreement with the University by Dec. 3, the union announced earlier this month. The two sides remain at odds over several key issues in the more than year-old negotiations process, including compensation, health insurance, and grievance procedures for sexual harassment and discrimination complaints. Since union voters overwhelmingly authorized the strike late last month, multiple department heads across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have sent emails to undergraduates informing them that their grades may be delayed in the event of a strike.
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter describes strategic security considerations that must be taken into account in a crisis during a national security simulation at the IOP Tuesday. amy y. Li—Crimson photographer
By camille G. caldera
See khurana Page 5 Inside this issue
Khurana announced in an email that the College’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion — which Davis oversaw — and the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations would merge to form a single office under the auspices of the DSO. O’Dair also informed College affiliates in an email that Khurana would establish a working group of students, faculty, and staff to provide input on the dean search and review the new office’s mission. The associate dean of students for inclusion and belonging will oversee the new office. O’Dair said the DSO is looking for a candidate who has “a new way of thinking” about student support. “We are looking for someone who has a vision for what a, kind of, revitalized equity diversity inclusion area, someone who deeply understands intersectionality, intra- and intercultural competencies, and
20%
8%
Crimson Staff Writers
History and Literature Director of Undergraduate Studies Lauren Kaminsky wrote in an email to undergraduates last week that the department would not hire temporary instructors to fill in for teaching staff represented by the union. The potential effects of a strike, however, will likely vary by department. Astronomy Chair Abraham “Avi” Loeb wrote in an email that other departments are “much more dependent” than his on their teaching assistants. “The Astronomy department faculty are fully prepared [for] the potential strike and we do not expect any significant disruptions to our courses,” he wrote. Economics Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies Jeffrey Miron said that though exams may pose a “major” logistical challenge to the department in the event of a strike, faculty should be able to handle the issue “fairly easily.” Professors will likely have to grade exams themselves, and those teaching large courses
SEE PAGE 3
African American Student Applications and Acceptances
16%
By james s. bikales and molly M. mccafferty
Today’s Forecast
applicants to Harvard had “essentially no chance of admission based on their test scores alone.” The paper has not been peer reviewed. Harvard has long purchased student information — including students’ names, ethnicities, and test scores — from College Board’s Student Search Program and other similar recruitment services. When recruiting students for the Class of 2012, Harvard sent out more than 112,000 letters to students as part of the program; for the Class of 2017, it sent 114,000. Arcidiacono found that — excluding athletes, legacy students, students tapped by the Dean of Admissions and Director of Admissions, and children and faculty of staff — African American students accounted for 41 percent of applicants whose test scores and GPAs fell in the bottom decile of the overall applicant pool. Harvard
rainy High: 40 Low: 33
eventually admitted just 0.03 percent of those applicants. College spokesperson Rachael Dane wrote in an email that, in a typical year, more than 60 percent of Harvard freshmen were among the names the College purchased from Student Search. The same percentage is much higher — over 80 percent — for minority students at the College. In the paper, Arcidiacono focused on Harvard’s recruiting efforts from the Class of 2008 through the Class of 2012 because the number of African American applicants to the College grew 58 percent during that period, from 6.4 to 10.1 percent of the total. “At the same, there was no change over that same period in the share of admits who were African American,” Arcidiacono wrote in an email. During the time period
See admissions Page 5
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