The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 29

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 | VOLUME CXLVI, NO. 29 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2019

EDITORIAL PAGE 4

EDITORIAL PAGE 4

SPORTS PAGE 6

The College shouldn’t audit clubs’ comp processes.

I am an undocumented immigrant, living with DACA.

Men’s swimming and diving win their third consecutive Ivy leage title.

College Vineyard Project Faces Environmental Review Sends Climate Survey

By SHERA S. AVI-YONAH and DELANO R. FRANKLIN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Harvard College’s institutional research office sent an anonymous, online survey to Winthrop House residents Tuesday as part of a review process aimed at addressing students’ concerns about Faculty Dean Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr.’s decision to represent Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein as he faces charges of sexual assault.

The survey asks students a series of questions about whether they feel welcome in the House.

It also asks them to score Winthrop on a five-point scale based on whether they believe the House is “hostile” or “friendly,” “contentious” or “collegial,” and “sexist” or “non-sexist,” among other ­

SEE SURVEY PAGE 3

MARGOT E. SHANG—CRIMSON DESIGNER

By ALEXANDRA A. CHAIDEZ and LUKE W. VROTSOS CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

California farmer Brenton Kelly still remembers how the Cuyama Valley used to be.

The valley, located in California’s Central Coast region, ­

has long been home to an abundance of wildlife. Historically, the land has been used for cattle pastures, and featured “beautiful rolling grassy hill” and an “amazing wildflower show,” according to Kelly.

These days, however, the land has been taken over by

Bacow Details DACA Efforts, Faculty Vote on Degree Plan

By JONAH S. BERGER and MOLLY C. MCCAFFERTY CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

University President Lawrence S. Bacow updated faculty on his recent meetings with Congressional leaders about the endowment tax and protections for University affiliates whose immigration status is currently in peril at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’s monthly meeting Tuesday.

Bacow has taken five trips to Washington in the past eight months to lobby on behalf of the University’s interests and higher education issues more broadly, he said during the “President’s Business” portion of the meeting. Among the various topics he has discussed with Congress is the continuation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era initiative that allows undocumented youth to legally live and work in the U.S., and an “unprecedented” tax on large university endowments set to be levied for the first time this fiscal year.

Bacow added he has been advocating in particular for Jin K. Park ’18-’19, the first DACA recipient to win a Rhodes Scholarship, who may not be able to return to the United States after he embarks for England in the fall.

President Donald Trump moved to repeal DACA in September 2017, but federal judges in California, New York, and Washington, D.C., have blocked his efforts, allowing recipients to remain in the country temporarily. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began preventing DACA recipients from traveling abroad for academic study in 2017.

The University has “connected” Park with legal counsel from WilmerHale, which is representing him pro-bono, according to Bacow. He added that Park will testify in Congress Wednesday “on behalf of all” the University’s DACA recipients.

“I think it will be an important moment in this conversation nationally,” Bacow said.

Bacow also said he will travel

large commercial farms and vineyards, Kelly said.

“When you drive by orchard[s], the lines make these strange patterns,” Kelly, who is the president of the Cuyama Valley Community Association, said of the new landscape. “It’s an optical illusion. All the lines

line up and it’s just this most mechanical...artificial kind of monstrosity in an area that used to just be, especially this time of year, the most gorgeous green rolling hills.”

Among some of the corporations that have expanded into the region in recent years is an

unlikely investor — the Harvard Management Company. HMC, the University’s investment arm, oversees Harvard’s nearly $40 billion endowment.

In 2014, Brodiaea Inc. — a Harvard-owned corporation based in Delaware — bought 7,500 acres of vineyard land in the area for $10.1 million. The initial purchase, and subsequent development on the land, surprised some residents in the area; the region relies heavily on a fast-depleting water basin.

Despite Cuyama being one of the most severely overdrawn basins in the state, one of Harvard’s vineyards in the region recently proposed a plan to build three large reservoirs in the area, much to the chagrin of neighboring residents and farmers.

“There is a lot of confusion as to why they’re doing this, where they are doing this,” said Cuyama Valley resident Lynn Carlisle. “Some people see it as draining an already critically overdrafted aquifer.”

After the project was announced and an initial report found no serious environmental impacts, a group of local residents began pushing back.

Steve Gliessman and Roberta

SEE VINEYARD PAGE 3

Dean of Students Lauds GenderNeutral Social Club Recruitment

to Asia next week to meet with government officials, higher education leaders, and Harvard alumni in China and Japan to discuss the “status” of “scholarly collaborations” in which the University is engaged.

Faculty members voted on two legislative items — both of which they first discussed in February — after Bacow’s remarks. After a contentious, hour-long debate at last month’s meeting on Comparative Literature Professor Karen L. Thornber’s proposal to establish a concurrent degree program, the faculty overwhelmingly supported an amended version of the legislation. The new program will allow students — starting with the class of 2022 — to obtain a bachelor’s and master’s degree in four years.

Last spring, the Faculty moved to phase out the “Advanced Standing” program, which gave students entering the College with the requisite amount of advanced high school

SEE FACULTY PAGE 3

Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair discusses undergraduate student organizations in a Tuesday afternoon interview in University Hall. DELANO R. FRANKLIN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

By SAMUEL W. ZWICKEL CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair said in a Tuesday interview that College administrators are “encouraged” by “strong student interest” in social organizations that recently adopted gender-neutral mem-

bership policies in accordance with College regulations.

The clubs, known as Recognized Student Organizations, abandoned their single-gender status in the years since the College debuted its social group sanctions policy in spring 2016.

The penalties — which took effect with the Class of 2021

— bar members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations from holding student group leadership positions, securing varsity athletic team captaincies, and receiving College endorsement for prestigious fellowships like the

SEE CLUBS PAGE 5

Doyle Seeks to Close Cambridge-Allston Divide

By RUTH A. HAILU and AMY L. JIA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

SHOOTING FOR THREE

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Brice Aiken takes a three pointer during a game against Princeton . QUIN G. PERINI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Harvard Today 2

News 3

Editorial 4

With the construction of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ new Science and Engineering Complex in Allston almost complete, Dean of SEAS Francis J. Doyle III said one of his foremost priorities is to “close the gap” — both physical and perceptual —between the new facilities and the main campus in Cambridge.

In a February interview, Doyle said changing the rhetoric around SEAS’s relocation across the river — for example, by referring to it as an “expansion” to Allston, rather than a “move” — is an important first step in managing the disconnect students and faculty may experience.

“I really try to make the conversation about the fact that we’re just growing Harvard,” he said.

“We’re not creating a second

Sports 6

campus, we’re not creating an outpost by any means.”

For Doyle, ensuring a smooth and effective transition now is especially important given that this year’s incoming sophomore class, who were welcomed to SEAS in the school’s third annual Sophomore Convocation on Feb. 12, will be the first class to spend their senior year in the new building.

The newest concentrators comprise the largest and most diverse class in SEAS’s 11-year history, with 39 percent of the 359 students identifying as female and 21 percent identifying as an underrepresented minority.

Doyle said he is more focused on addressing the physical distance between the two SEAS complexes for faculty than for students, who often cross the river to use Harvard’s athletic facilities.

“For faculty who don’t have a Business School connection or have a reason to go over to All-

TODAY’S FORECAST

ston, it does seem to still be a trek, a distance,” he said.

To this end, Doyle said he has made an effort to host activities across the river to show faculty that the Allston campus is closer than many would think.

“I’ve taken some of my meetings over to the Harvard Innovation Labs so that we can get across and look across the street at this magnificent structure,” he said.

“We’ll often convene a group of us to walk, to make it clear that we don’t need a bus to go across, weather permitting.”

“Even on some of the colder days this winter, a number of us walked across so that we could enjoy the new view that we’re going to get as we take the Weeks Bridge,” he added.

Doyle said he is looking forward to working closely with the Harvard-Allston Land Company, which was established in Nov. 2018 to oversee Harvard’s holdings in Allston, to finalize important logistical informa-

PARTLY CLOUDY High: 29 Low: 17

tion regarding the new campus.

To improve the student experience, Doyle said administrators are taking a number of factors into account, including optimizing the number of shuttles and the shuttle schedule in consideration of students’ class schedules so “it doesn’t become a ping-pong match... between Allston and Cambridge for every other class.”

“The answer isn’t just more buses — because that just clogs the traffic — but a thoughtful consideration on how we optimize schedules to get the right transport back and forth across the river,” he said.

Doyle said he is also speaking to campus leadership about modifying the College’s meal plan so students can use their swipes in the new building instead of having to return to Cambridge to eat in a house dining hall.

SEAS’s expansion to Allston

SEE SEAS PAGE 3

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

MARCH 6, 2019

PAGE 2

HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas Dan Dan Noodles Kale and Goat Cheese Pizza with Balsamic Drizzle

For Dinner Chicken with Green Curry Sauce Red’s Best Fresh Catch Cajun Black Bean Cakes with Corn Salsa

TODAY’S EVENTS Tour: The Architectural History of the Harvard Art Museums 3:30-4:30 p.m.

IN THE REAL WORLD New Drug Approved to Treat Depression

Add a free tour of the beautiful architecture of Harvard Art Museums to your visit today! Director of Facilities Planning and Management Peter Atkinson will lead the tour, which covers both the historical features of the building as well as the recent eight-year renovation. The tour meets in Calderwood Courtyard.

Michael Zeldin: On Becoming an Independent Counsel 4:30-5:45 p.m.

Institute of Politics Resident Fellow Michael Zeldin will host a study break this afternoon with special guest former Independent Counsel Kenneth “Ken” W. Starr in Littauer L-163. If you want the lowdown on what being an Independent Counsel actually entails, this event is a can’t-miss!

Art and Religious Devotion in Morocco 5:30-8 p.m.

Looking for even more art museum action? Search no further! Tonight, the Harvard Art Museum will be displaying a calligraphy panel with Museum of Islamic Art curator Mounia Chekhab Abudaya giving a lecture about the expression of religious devotion in Menschel Hall.

Tickets are free, but space is limited!

Esketamine, which will be marketed under the name Spravato, is reported to help address anxiety, suicidal thinking, and other issues, though how it works in the context of depression is not precisely understood yet. Developed by a branch of Johnson & Johnson, the new drug comes in the form of a nasal spray. Doctors are hopeful that the drug will help relieve patients for whom currently available anti-depressants are not effective.

FDA Commissioner to Resign in One Month Students cross the street in front of Lowell Lecture Hall to attend classes, which continued despite Sunday night’s heavy snowfall. QUIN G. PERINI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

DAILY BRIEFING Harvard College’s institutional research office sent an anonymous, online survey to Winthrop House residents Tuesday as part of a review process aimed at addressing students’ concerns about Faculty Dean Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr.’s decision to represent Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein as he faces charges of sexual assault. The survey asks students a series of questions about whether they feel welcome in the House. In other news, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved local farmers’ request for a focused environmental impact report about a development proposal on a Harvardowned vineyard in California.

The FDA commissioner known for his efforts to curb vaping has announced his plans to resign, effective in one month. His resignation announcement prompted a tweet from President Donald Trump in appreciation of his nearly two years in the position.

Reports Allege Trump Pushed Staff to Grant Security Clearance to His Daughter

Sources claim that President Donald Trump granted security clearances to his daughter Ivana Marie “Ivanka” Trump and her husband, Jared C. Kushner, despite concerns from his advisors.

After the former Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and White House counsel Donald “Don” F. McGahn II refused to approve his request to clear his daughter and son-in-law, the President granted their clearances.

AROUND THE IVIES PRINCETON

Princeton implemented a new rule restricting oncampus “pickups” by the “sign-in” eating clubs after dark. Eating clubs function as dining halls and social spaces for many students at the university.

The university claimed this change in policy was because they “could not accommodate on-campus pickups after 5 p.m.” Princeton administrators said this decision was a means to reaching the “university’s goals.” Students in the clubs said evening pickups help them accomodate new members’ schedules.

YALE

Yale affiliates under the umbrella of the Endowment Justice Coalition were given citations by the Yale Police Department Monday for a twohour sit-in at the university’s Investments Office.

The protestors carried signs reading “Yale is Complicit” and called for Yale to divest from fossil fuels and “companies that hold Puerto Rican debt,” the Yale Daily News reports. Several members of the Coalition later said they were hopeful that Yale would divest, citing similar moves in relation to apartheid and the firearms industry.

COLUMBIA

Associate Dean for Student Success at Barnard Jemima Gordon outlined proposals to enhance programming for First-Generation and LowIncome students to the Student Government Association on Monday. Initiatives included the development of an FGLI student awareness week, slated to run from April 15 to April 19. They also plan to expand the size and student awareness of programs that already exist to support FGLI students.

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

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

Associate Managing Editors Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Associate Business Manager Amy E. Zhou ’20 Editorial Chairs Jessenia N. Class ’20 Robert Miranda ’20

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE Arts Chairs Kaylee S. Kim ’20 Caroline A. Tsai ’20

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

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

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

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 Lucy Wang ’20

Design Editor Margot E. Shang ’21

Assistant Night Editors Joshua S. Archibald ’22 Ruth A. Hailu ’21

Photo Editor Quinn G. Perini ’22

Story Editors Angela N. Fu ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Jordan E. Virtue ’20 Luke W. Xu ’20

Editorial Editor Michelle I. Gao ’21 Sports Editor Cade S. Palmer ’20

CORRECTIONS The Harvard Crimson is committed to accuracy in its reporting. Factual errors are corrected promptly on this page. Readers with information about errors are asked to e-mail the managing editor at managingeditor@thecrimson.com.

PAGE 3

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 6, 2019

VINEYARD FROM PAGE 1

SURVEY FROM PAGE 1

Harvard Vineyard Project Faces Environmental Review

Harvard Sends Winthrop Affiliates Climate Survey

On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved a focused environmental impact report, an outcome local advocates applauded. Harvard Management Company spokesperson Patrick S. McKiernan declined multiple requests for comment on the proceedings, citing the company’s policy of not commenting on specific investments.

Harvard’s foray into wine country is part of a broader shift in the Central Coast of California toward large investors and new crops.

The Cuyama Valley was a major oil-producing region for decades before eventually shifting to a mix of crops, including alfalfa, oats, and carrots as the oil dried up. Water scarcity has been a persistent challenge in local agriculture for years.

Casey Walsh, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said the Central Coast region more broadly has become an increasingly popular area for wine-grape cultivation in the last few decades.

Local residents are not concerned as much with vineyard competition, but more with water availability.

“In many other cases, this was just capital that’s coming in and seeking to make profits,” he said. “The fear there really more is not that they’re going to compete in the wine market but that they’re going to use the aquifer.”

As more farmers have tapped the Cuyama Valley aquifer, groundwater levels have fallen precipitously, forcing some farmers to dig wells as deep as 1,000 feet. Government climate data shows the valley received less than a foot of rain annually on average between 1981 and 2000.

Harvard’s 2014 land purchase is not unusual among its investment practices: Natural resources investments are a sizable portion of the University’s portfolio, making up 10 percent of its holdings last year.

Two years after the purchase, Harvard-owned North Fork Ranch Vineyards filed an application with Santa Barbara County to build three “frost ponds,” large reservoirs intended to enable spray irrigation during the cooler months of February, March, and April, according to a county planning board report.

The reservoirs’ total water storage capacity would be about 48 million gallons.

The county published its standard environmental review of the project, a 161-page document, in May 2017.

The report — which examined a number of environmental risks associated with the project, including its possible effect on 18 vulnerable local animal and plant species — did not find any significant environmental issues with the proposal.

Some members of the local community, however, did not consider the review sufficient.

Jaffe and Gliessman filed an ap-

peal soon after, citing concerns about the reservoir’s groundwater use.

“As neighbors and farmers in Cottonwood Canyon, we disagree with the approval of the [initial environmental review],” the appeal reads. “The project represents major land use change from dry range land to heavily irrigated vineyard.”

Jaffe said she and Gliessman have been practicing “dry farming” for about 25 years. This method of growing grapes uses

In many other cases, this was just capital that’s coming in and seeking to make profits.

Casey Walsh Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara

special tilling practices to minimize water use. Jaffe said that farms in the region have long used this practice, and that the new irrigation infrastructure would present a break from precedent that would threaten local water resources.

“This is our groundwater, our critically overdrafted basin, the groundwater mainly for frost protection,” she said.

“They would be filling and emptying the reservoirs on a pretty continual basis.”

Jaffe said the community has had a mostly negative reaction to the reservoir proposal.

“The community was and is pretty outraged about it,” she said.

The Jaffe-Gliessman appeal launched a drawn-out legal back-and-forth between Harvard and its partners — Grapevine Capital Partners and Brodiaea — and local farmers.

In an April 2018 presenta-

I hate to see [Cuyama Valley] abused and more of the natural world destroyed Louise Draucker Cuyama Valley Resident

tion to the region’s Groundwater Sustainability Association, Grapevine Capital Partners argued that the reservoirs will not negatively affect local groundwater supplies. The firm’s geological consultants presented a suite of evidence purporting to show that local residents’ concerns rest on “misconceptions” about the geology of the region.

After weighing the appeal of the environmental review, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission decided at a September 2018 meeting that the initial review was “not adequate,” calling on its staff to produce a new environmental study for the project.

Brodiaea representatives

promptly appealed this ruling, which the Board of Supervisors upheld at a meeting last month, but decided to push a final vote on commissioning a new study to its next meeting.

After Tuesday’s vote, the new environmental review process is now officially underway.

After months of legal wrangling, Jaffe said she is happy to see a new review commissioned.

“I think that’s a really important next step,” she said.

“We can’t possibly move forward with any of this until we have more scientific information.”

Several community members submitted public comments to the commission ahead of Tuesday’s hearing advocating for a review.

One local property owner, Robert Ryan, wrote in an email that if the project were to proceed, his well “could be consequently dewatered,” a result he called “undesirable.”

Another resident, Louise Draucker, criticized Brodiaea’s move into the valley.

“Brodiaea Inc.’s goals appear to be in direct conflict with the well-being of the residents of the Cuyama Valley,” she wrote in an email. “I have lived in Cuyama Valley for over 45 years, and I hate to see it abused and more of the natural world destroyed.”

With the environmental impact report now approved by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, Harvard will have to comply with an extensive study into its vineyard’s reservoir proposal.

Reports of this kind are commissioned when there is “substantial evidence that a project may have a significant effect on the environment,” according to the Los Angeles Public Library website.

Das Williams, a member of the Board of Supervisors, said in an interview that the body will now hire an independent consultant to oversee the study.

Williams added that the project applicant — in this case, Harvard’s vineyard — often pays for the study.

Jaffe, who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said a representative from Brodiaea was present and confirmed that the company would undergo this review instead of taking the case to the court system. Both Jaffe and Carlisle anticipated that the review would last at least several months. It is unclear what the review will ultimately address, but its impact on groundwater remains the most salient issue for residents.

“It’s our lifeblood,” Jaffee said. “We have families that have been in our area and farming and ranching in our area for five generations, and we’re really all across the political spectrum but we’re very much together on the fact that we really need to protect our groundwater.” alexandra.chaidez@thecrimson.com luke.vrotsos@thecrimson.com

metrics.­ Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana announced that former Dean of Freshmen Thomas A. Dingman ’67 would lead a “climate review” in an email to Winthrop residents on Feb. 25.

Khurana wrote that the College decided to launch the review after hearing concerns surrounding support structures for students in the House following Sullivan’s decision to defend Weinstein.

Harvard College Institutional Research wrote in its Tuesday email that in trying to examine the “climate” of Winthrop, the survey will use Pennsylvania State University professor Sue Rankin’s definition of climate: “the current attitudes, behaviors and standards of faculty, staff, administrators and students concerning the level of respect for individual needs, abilities and potential.”

The College review offers two opportunities for Winthrop residents to share their opinions: the questionnaire sent Tuesday, and meetings with Dingman and another College official.

In an email sent to House affiliates on Feb. 27, Dingman wrote that he is currently in

FACULTY FROM PAGE 1

cision to join Weinstein’s defense team, some students started protests and wrote open letters calling for his removal as faculty dean.

The survey sent Tuesday begins with a question about students’ level of satisfaction with the House’s climate. It continues by asking students to indicate their level of agreement — from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree” — with a series of statements evaluating their experiences in the House.

Some of the statements read “I feel I belong in Winthrop House” and “Winthrop House has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Another question asks students to rank the House on 12 different characteristics including disrespectful or respectful, elitist or non-elitist, homophobic or non-homophobic, and racist or non-racist.

The survey closes with two demographic questions and a space for additional comments.

The College will use the results gathered from Winthrop affiliates to guide any further action, Khurana wrote in his shera.avi-yonah@thecrimson.com delano.franklin@thecrimson.com

SEAS FROM PAGE 1

Bacow Talks Lobbying at Doyle Faculty Meeting Plans SEAS Expansion to Allston

coursework the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in three years or a master’s and a bachelor’s in four. Several faculty members took issue with the original proposal, arguing at last month’s meeting that the program as it stood could overburden students, damage the academic integrity of master’s degrees, and disproportionately advantage students who attended elite high schools before coming to Harvard.

After consulting with faculty from a “range” of departments, Thornber proposed an amendment at the Tuesday meeting to increase the number of credits students are able to double-count towards both degrees from 12 to 16, in hopes of resolving one source of contention at last month’s meeting.

Computer Science Professor Harry R. Lewis ’68 — who argued at last month’s meeting that the requirements as originally proposed would have imposed “too heavy a burden” on students — voted in favor of the amended legislation. Lewis cited Office of Institutional Research data presented by Thornber — showing that more than 10 percent of students already take extra courses each semester — as evidence that concurrent degree students would likely take additional courses early in their academic career, rather than

Transformative coverage.

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the process of selecting another person to help him run the inquiry. He added that he will share feedback with Khurana, who will then present it to Sullivan and co-Faculty Dean Stephanie R. Robinson.

“Your participation in this process is entirely voluntary, and you are under no obligation to speak with me or my colleague. That said, the information we gather will necessarily only reflect what was provided to us, and I do hope we have the benefit of many views in this process,” Dingman wrote.

Sullivan has drawn criticism since the New York Post first reported Jan. 25 that he would join Weinstein’s legal team.

Weinstein currently faces five charges of sexual assault in a Manhattan court.

In the following weeks, Sullivan sent two emails to House affiliates. The first argued for defense lawyers’ responsibility to represent the “unpopular defendant.” The second outlined a set of processes in Winthrop going forward, including designating Resident Dean Linda D. M. Chavers as the “point person” for issues of sexual misconduct.

In response to Sullivan’s de-

waiting to do so until later.

“I actually expect that the students who choose this option early will not do as suggested (start taking 5 courses their fifth term) and will instead take overloads as freshmen and sophomores, so they don’t have to kill themselves taking 5 courses later on while they are taking a lot of grad level courses,” Lewis wrote in an email.

Though Thornber conceded the proposed program constituted an “imperfect compromise” between the positions faculty expressed at the February meeting, she said it remains “our best hope at preserving a concurrent master’s.” She added that individual departments will have the option to opt out of the program.

“Many of Harvard’s departments offer the dual degree option as a way to give students necessary professional credentials helpful in a number of fields, to recognize the completion of extra advanced coursework, or to recruit the best and the brightest,” Thornber said.

Faculty also voted unanimously to change the name of the Visual and Environmental Studies department to the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies. jonah.berger@thecrimson.com molly.mccafferty@thecrimson.com

also boasts new opportunities for SEAS students beyond the classroom, according to Doyle.

He said he is excited about new developments near the Science and Engineering Complex, including the ArtLab — an interdisciplinary center for creativity

We’re not creating an outpost by any means.

Francis J. Doyle III SEAS Dean

and innovation comprised of experimental performance spaces, art and recording studios, and workshops, which will have its opening celebration this fall.

“In a way, I’m fine if we suddenly become the second page story or third page story when all these other new things are gonna start coming in,” Doyle said.

“We’ve enjoyed the front page for a while now. It’s time for other things to also be landing in the Allston area,” he added. ruth.hailu@thecrimson.com amy.jia@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 6, 2019

PAGE 4

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

COLUMN

Harvard, Don’t Audit Comps

How Do You Prescribe a Drug for a Culture?

T

he College’s Committee on Student Life, in conjunction with the Undergraduate Council, recently expressed interest in pursuing “audits” of student organizations’ comp processes, citing a need to examine club requirements that may negatively impact campus culture.

While we understand certain officially recognized and affiliated campus organizations may have requirements that could be construed as “detrimental,” we do not believe that a comp audit would be the best way to accomplish and further goals of student inclusion at Harvard.

The administration has shown, in attempting to regulate social organizations on campus, that its actions of achieving diversity and inclusion have largely been unsuccessful.

For instance, while we support the College’s penalties for single-gender social organizations, we believe they were

The administration has shown, in attempting to regulate social organizations on campus, that its actions of achieving diversity and inclusion have largely been unsuccessful. and are imperfect.

Today, many final clubs exist in much the same form they did before the penalties were introduced, while many female-focused groups have been forced to become gender neutral to receive official recognition.

As well-intentioned as the University may be, it has not productively enforced and clarified its policies.

So what can we expect from this proposed audit, even if it’s similarly well-intentioned?

We fear that a similar mess of inscrutable and fuzzy regulations would result if the administration insists upon inserting itself into this issue.

It may be that proposed regulations could be unequally enforced, forcing less institutionally powerful groups to reform, while allowing other organizations to carry on untouched.

Moreover, discussions about the role of comps in Harvard’s clubs must consider that their rigor and strenuousness, in many cases, are what make our organizations so strong. Comps tend to ask for students’ dedication, effort, and commitment, and the process allows students the opportunity to learn and grow, so that they might contribute greatly to the quality of the work that organizations produce.

It is true that the sheer number of clubs on this campus means that there is a variety of ways in which they choose their members and how their comp processes are conducted, and not all of these might be in line with this principle of personal growth.

It follows that any examination of comps, whether through an audit or some other means, must take into consideration these nuances and various approaches.

If the audit does come to pass, we hope it sparks greater conversations over social exclusivity and perpetuation of inequalities with regard to status, wealth, and prior skills. There are many comps on campus that prove inaccessible for some students, as they ask for prior experience or skills.

These are certainly issues that must be addressed and reformed, but we differ with the Committee and the UC’s assertions that an audit is the best way to

resolve them.

With regard to the UC, we stand by our previous position that while studying comps are well-intentioned, we doubt the UC would be able to properly

If the audit does come to pass, we hope it sparks greater conversations over social exclusivity and perpetuation of inequalities with regard to status, wealth, and prior skills. investigate student groups and enforce any regulations, given the extensive projects its members commit to on a regular basis. They should continue focusing on the work they have already committed to.

Furthermore, discussions about comps gloss over the fact that final clubs remain the most damaging and largely unscathed influence on the College’s social life.

The administration must redouble its efforts to curtail the final clubs’ social influence, rather than spending its time attacking the rich and diverse culture of officially recognized student extracurricular organizations, which do not pose nearly as much of a threat, if at all, to student life.

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

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Goodbye, Fear

By EMILY A. ROMERO

H

ave you ever felt fear? Felt your lungs freeze, body still, heart pound? I have. Not at something as inconsequential as a horror movie, or a spider. They possess no real threat to my body, to my mind, to those I care about. Those fears feel trivial to me — especially when there are tangible threats in the world that hold the potential to harm me and my family.

My fear came in many waves at random times. Sometimes it came as a suffocating worry, and sometimes it created a sort of tunnel vision that forced me come face to face with my deepest fear.

I would find myself in the cafeteria in high school, eating my favorite nachos, and my thoughts would travel to that place, and for a couple seconds, I would feel trapped.

My friends who chatted amicably around me wouldn’t notice, they probably thought I had zoned out. I had grown skilled in hiding it. A smile here, a smile there, I shielded myself from having to address my pain openly.

It is immensely frustrating to have these feelings caused by people who I do not know, who do not know me, and who will never know me, yet by some backwards design have the power to impose fear directly onto my life.

I told myself I was fine, because that was all I could be. I felt I couldn’t express my feelings and thoughts to anyone. I couldn’t tell my parents I was scared for them. I couldn’t tell my little sister I worried for our parents. My fears over the security of my family, and the

uncertainty for my future would only pile more stress onto the already immense load on their backs. It seemed unfair to add this on top of their worries to put food on the table, deal with conflicts at work, and keep our greedy landlord happy. I refused to give them more to deal with, so I put on a strong face for many years.

This distress turned into hurt after hearing vicious political discourse vilifying undocumented immigrants. Then the hurt manifested itself into pain, a pain that reared its ugly head at inopportune moments — when I watched my father walk our dog, or my mother cook my favorite food, or my sister read her favorite book.

But I got used to it, I recognized it when it came, and I became superb at hiding it.

When I got into Harvard, the hurt lifted slightly. But a few months later, DACA was repealed and it returned in full force.

This weight of fear has fluctuated over and over again: It lifted when the federal judge allowed for DACA renewal applications, and returned when families were tear-gassed at the border. It lifted when my DACA renewal was approved, and returned with the news of human rights atrocities in detention centers.

Much of my life has been dictated by these waves of ups and downs, and it is immensely frustrating to have these feelings caused by people who I do not know, who do not know me, and who will never know me, yet by some backwards design have the power to impose fear directly onto my life.

Though I purposefully did well in school for myself and my family, my life did not feel like my own — not when my options were limited by people who did not care about me at the Capitol hundreds of miles away, not when my identity was attacked every time I turned on

the television.

All these years, I suffered quietly. I realize now that this practice was dangerous.

As I write this with tears clouding my eyes, I see that there is much that I still have to come to terms with, much introspection that I have left to do.

But, while writing this brings up memories that hurt, I feel more liberated than I have ever felt before. I am choosing to write this and I am choosing to take steps to lift the weight and keep it off. It is my choice.

I am talking about my experiences more openly and addressing the issues that plagued me head on, and I have never felt more liberated in my life.

Much of it is attributed to the immigrant community at Harvard, the fearless student leaders I have met, and the personal growth that I have undergone on this campus. The worry is still there, and it will remain there until my place and the place of my family in this country is secured, but I’m not holding my tongue anymore.

I am talking about my experiences more openly and addressing the issues that plagued me head on, and I have never felt more liberated in my life.

So, here’s to lifting my fear, and addressing it. I am an undocumented immigrant, living with DACA. And I am here to say goodbye to the fear that has ruled my existence for long enough.

—Emily A. Romero ’21, a Crimson Associate Editorial Editor, is a joint concentrator in History and Literature and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Cabot House.

Sahil Handa AMBIVALENT DISSIDENT

E

verybody uses drugs. Existing as a human requires you to do so. The frailty of our bodies and minds necessitates ingesting substances that maintain our physiological states.

Yet drugs are not for survival alone. Since ancient times, human beings have taken drugs precisely in order to shift the status quo, transcend waking life, and achieve altered states of mind.

Changes in consciousness produce changes in culture. Although we often think of politics and economics as the primary ways to create social change, our drug habits do so too, starting from the level of the individual.

Imagine for a second that you are a doctor tasked with prescribing a drug for this country’s current cultural ills: increasing inequality and rising rates of anxiety; slowing innovation and interpersonal isolation. What might you recommend?

Patient preferences would lead you to caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine, the American mainstream’s drugs of choice. But a closer look reveals these substances to be symptoms, not solutions.

Caffeine is a symbol for meritocratic mania; alcohol for the increasingly superficial character of human relationships. Cigarettes represent the most depressingly appropriate metaphor of all: quietly comforting, forever reassuring, but always leaving you wanting more.

Looking at patient practices might also lead to a fourth answer: sugar. Perhaps the most socially acceptable drug of all, sugar has been on the rise for years. Deceptively addictive and silently catastrophic, sugar is the embodiment of the modern social media company — the drug that everybody uses, but nobody really wants.

None of these substances do anything to break up the narratives that we have come to believe about our lives: our obsessions with consumption and status; our perceived distance from nature and between one another. They are the equivalent to painkillers and antidepressants: useful short-term relief but useless without an effort to address the underlying cause.

The same cannot be said for psychedelic drugs.

Thanks to years of irresponsible usage in the 1960s, psilocybin and LSD were made illegal. But now, thanks to new research, the stigma is beginning to fall away. The findings have been remarkable: For those suffering with psychiatric conditions, opioid dependencies, and nicotine addictions, a few trips have shown better rates of treatment than other currently available options.

And the results do not simply paint these drugs to be a cure for the mentally ill.

They hint at the promise they hold for the culture at large: improved personality traits, a revaluation of the familiar, a renewed sense of wonder, and a restored sense of gratitude for the people closest to you.

Unlike other psychoactive drugs, such as stimulants and opioids, psychedelics tend to qualitatively alter ordinary conscious experience. Unlike over-the-counter drugs, these substances are non-toxic when taken at standard dosages. And contrary to popular belief, they are also non-addictive.

Mental activity under a psychedelic is similar to that seen in long term meditators, where the brain’s default mode network becomes less active, allowing the individual to experience stimuli beyond the thin thread that they require to survive. Recent research has highlighted the similarities between these states and the brain activity of children, which is characterized by greater playfulness, connectedness, and divergent thinking.

The significance for our cultural moment is clear: an appreciation for our natural world is essential to our sense of environmental responsibility; an aid to creativity is crucial to remedy stagnant innovation; an increased sense of human connection could make it fun to disagree and a loss of attachment to the ego could act as a counter to political tribalism.

Any suggestion that psychedelics could provide a remedy to some of our ills requires serious caveats. The drugs that many recreational users believe they are taking are often riddled with impurities and there can be no overstating the potential problems for people with mental instabilities and genetic predispositions towards schizophrenia.

The advocates of the sixties got a lot wrong about psychedelics, but they got one thing right: set and setting — one’s mindset and location — are of the utmost importance in turning these drugs from potential dangers into tools for improved wellbeing.

It takes one look at the current state of America to know that pursuing a drug-free country is no longer an option. More importantly, it was never an ideal worth fighting for. Non-addictive, non-toxic, and only requiring a single dosage, psychedelics have a great amount to offer this country’s people and wider culture. At the very least, they are superior to continued dependencies on substances that worsen mental states, increase the risk of suicide, and feed our social problems.

While complete legalization may be a step too far, serious thought must be given to a middle ground (as a new Harvard club is doing).

That middle ground may include guided trip therapy, integration with meditation retreats, and increased monetary support for research.

What is clear is that it must include an opening up of our minds.

—Sahil Handa ’21, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Social Studies and Philosophy concentrator in Cabot House. His column appears on alternate Wednesdays.

PAGE 5

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 6, 2019

CLUBS FROM PAGE 1

Dean of Students Lauds GenderNeutral Social Clubs on Campus Rhodes.

In January, four RSOs – the Fleur-de-Lis, the Ivy, the Kali Praxi, and the Themis Asteri Club – coordinated joint recruitment activities hosted in College-owned spaces.

Nearly 400 students registered to attend the events, which marks an approximately four-fold increase over the historically low interest in all-female Greek groups last year.

O’Dair said she was pleased to hear about the turnout for the recruitment events given the the groups’ recent membership transition.

“We hope to continue that work in supporting those organizations, encouraging students to explore possibilities of membership in those organizations,” she said.

When asked about whether or not the social group sanctions are achieving their intended purpose, Associate Dean of Student Engagement Alexander R. Miller said in the Tuesday interview that “it’s too early to kind of tell on either end.”

The College has most recently stated that its social

group policies are part of a larger effort to eliminate discrimination of any kind on Harvard’s campus.

“I think for right now we should just relish in the fact that students, 400 students, were

We should just relish in the fact that students, 400 students, were interested in participating in a social organization that is genderinclusive.

Alexander R. Miller Associate Dean of Student Engagement

interested in participating in a social organization that is gender-inclusive,” Miller said.

“I think the numbers don’t lie here. I think students are kind of looking for something different.”

“We are, you know, leading

a change here in the history of the scope of American higher education,” he added.

Despite administrators’ enthusiasm for the new gender-neutral groups, some Harvard affiliates are fervently opposed to the sanctions; several final clubs and Greek organizations have refused to go co-ed.

In December 2018, a group of sororities, fraternities, and several anonymous undergraduates filed parallel lawsuits against the University in federal and state court, alleging the policies are unconstitutional and constitute sex-based discrimination.

The plaintiffs include international organizations for sororities Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Alpha Phi, and a management corporation for chapters of Delta Gamma.

Harvard’s attorneys moved to dismiss the complaints and have disputed the plaintiffs’ claims.

Plaintiffs in the federal case will file a formal response to Harvard’s motion by March 22.

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SPORTS

WEEKLY RECAP

SCORES

MEN’S SWIMMING IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP 1ST ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AT PENN

L, 75-70 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY AT NO. 9/9 COLGATE W, 5-2 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S WATER POLO VS. BROWN W, 7-6 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY AT RENSSELAER W, 4-1 ___________________________________________________________

BASEBALL AT WOFFORD L, 6-5 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. PENN W, 59-53 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S LACROSSE AT HARTFORD W, 16-9 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Harvard Wins Third Consecutive Ivy League Crown

By WILL CONNAUGHTON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Down in Providence, competing for the Ivy League Championship, Harvard men’s swimming and diving captured its third consecutive Ivy League Championship this past weekend, clearing the second place team by 223 points. This championship marked their fourth in the past six seasons and capped a dominant season within the league. The Crimson team was particularly strong in relays and individual events, surpassing the field and setting records on the way.

The Harvard squad went 8-1 over the course of the regular season, falling only to a No. 12 ranked Georgia team. However, the Crimson completed the sweep against Ivy League opponents, going 7-0. With high expectations going into the competition, many within the team appreciated the success, but had an eye toward NCAAs. “Obviously it’s a great feeling to win Ivies for the third year in a row, but I think the most exciting part is how well we are set up now going into NCAAs,” captain Brennan Novak said. “Our goals at the beginning of the year were not just to win Ivies, but to place higher nationally as well. We have more people qualified for the meet than we’ve had in a long time and I am excited to see what we can do there.”

Harvard swimmers set multiple school records throughout the tournament. The four man team of junior Dean Farris, junior Daniel Chang, freshman Umitcan Gures, and junior Raphael Marcoux broke the school record in the 200-medley relay with a time 1:24.33, crushing the previous time by three sec-

MIDAS TOUCH The Harvard men’s swimming and diving team has won four of the last six Ivy League titles and this weekend’s performance marked the third consecutive such win. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

onds. They outkicked a strong Penn team to grab the win in the event.

Later that day the four man team of Farris, Novak, and sophomore pair Mahlon Reihman and Corban Rawls rewrote the record books again, finishing the 800-medley relay with a time of 6:15.38. This quartet blew out the competition beating the second place team

by over nine seconds. Both record setting teams qualified for NCAA A standard in their respective events.

Novak had a dominant showing over the course of the tournament, capturing first place in the 500-yard freestyle, making the cut for an NCAA B standard in the event while winning the competition for his third time as a Harvard swim-

mer. Later on in the Championship, Novak captured the win in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 8:47.78. Finally to end his last Ivy league Championship, Novak crossed the finish line first in the 1,650-meter freestyle, going back to back in the event.

The 200-yard medley saw two school records broken. In the prelims, sophomore Michael Zarian clocked the best

time in the history of the program. In the following finals, freshman Jake Johnson also broke the school record. Johnson continued his strong performance with a school record in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing a strong outing for the freshman.

To end the second day, Marcoux, Gures, senior Grant Goddard and Farris won the

200-freestyle relay, qualifying for the NCAA A standard with a time of 1:17.73. Sophomore Alex DiCaprio was Harvard’s top overall diver, finishing in sixth overall.

The story of the end of the tournament was the individual performance of Farris as he dazzled the crowd, swimming the fastest NCAA Division I time in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:30.83, passing the previous top time by .03 seconds. This time was a pool, school, and tournament record, capturing his third Ivy title in the event.

Less than a half an hour later, Farris did it again, crossing first the win in the 50-yard freestyle, winning this event also for the third time in his illustrious Ivy league career. Farris ended his championship weekend by setting a school record and the Ivy record in the 100-yard freestyle, making the NCAA A cut with a time of 41.42.

Novak and Farris were dominant throughout the event and both deserved their High Point Swimmers awards for the weekend. In addition, Novak took home the career High Point Swimmer award, displaying how integral the captain has been to the team success over the course of his career.

This win means that both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving team won the Ivy League Championships this year. This is the third time this has happened in the past six years, a testament to the strength of the culture across the entire program over the last decade.

Harvard has many swimmers qualified for the NCAA Zone diving championships in early March, and will look to continue their momentum going into the tournament.

CURLING

Harvard Curling Club: From Learning-to-Curl to Nationals

By ELIZABETH PACHUS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Not many people come to college with significant curling experience, but that doesn’t stop the Harvard Curling Club from taking people who’ve never heard the word “bonspiel” and sending them to compete at Curling Nationals within the year. This time around is no different, as the Crimson will be sending a team to complete at their home ice arena this weekend.

After wrapping up a successful season, Harvard Club Curling is taking the ninth seed for the 2019 USA Curling College National Championship. This year it is held in Wayland, Mass, at the Broomstones Curling Club, about a 35-minute drive from Cambridge.

From March 8th to 10th, Harvard will compete against some of the top collegiate curling teams in the country. Only the top 16 seeded teams across the nation qualify. This year some of Havard’s competition includes Yale, MIT, Hamilton, and Colgate.

“We found out as a team a few weeks ago that we qualified for nationals” said president of the team, senior Neekon Vala.

“We’re all pumped and excited to be able to participate.”

Harvard has high hopes for this year’s championship, after a strong showing the past two years. In 2017, Harvard placed fourth in the tournament and, in the next season, the Crimson opened the competition with a big win over Yale. The team is excited for the possibility of another rivalry matchup this weekend, but won’t be playing the Bulldogs in the first round.

The past two championships were held in New York and Wisconsin, so the home location of this year’s championship is especially exciting.

The competitive season of collegiate curling starts in No-

vember, and ends with Nationals in early March. The season consists of six formal bonspiels, with scrimmages against other teams in the area making up the rest of the team’s contests.

Curling tournaments are called “bonspiels,” which is thought to be derived from the Dutch word spiel, meaning game. Each bonspiel consists of a set number of ends, and the scoring rules are described as being “similar to bocce,” where the most points are awarded for stones closest to the bullseye on the ice. The Crimson’s last bonspiel was in Utica, N.Y., where they recorded decisive wins over both Yale and Cornell.

The club was informally started in 1999 by a group of Harvard graduate students.

“It was started almost as a joke between some Canadian law school students and has existed in various stages ever since,” said sophomore and team treasurer Jack Schroeder. “ I think we’re probably the third or fourth generation of the club.”

Eager to introduce newcomers to the sport, the team holds learn-to-curl events twice a year. This is when a majority of the team had their first experience with the sport. New club members learn the rules, and get to practice sweeping and throwing stones.

“Some people have curling experience, but I would say generally the majority don’t,” Vala said. “It’s probably about onethird, two-thirds in terms of those who are committed: onethird have had experience coming in, two-thirds don’t. But it depends on the year and who happens to be playing.”

Curling is a sport that can be learned and picked up fairly quickly. Some of the members of the team headed to Nationals have only one year of curling experience.

“There’s definitely a learning curve, it might take like a prac-

tice or two to get into it, but once you do, the end goal is in sight,” Schroeder said. “You can see yourself being very good.”

The Winter Olympics are often a source of popularity surges for the sport of curling, especially in the U.S. This past 2018 Olympics was especially memorable, as the American team clinched the gold medal, a first for the United States.

Vala’s own initial exposure with the sport came from watching the Olympics.

“I joined the team my sophomore fall and I didn’t have any experience beforehand,” Vala said. “But I’ve seen it in some Winter Olympics in the past, so I decided to try it out and I’ve loved it ever since.”

However it isn’t always easy getting all the new members onto curling ice. Not practicing on campus means organizing transportation is often the biggest challenge the team faces.

The team practices at Broomstones Curling Club in Way-

land, Mass., which they share with some of the other schools in the area such as Tufts and MIT. However, this minor obstacle can’t stop the team.

“There’s a lot of interest at Harvard for curling, and there’s a healthy amount of us really committed on a day to day basis,” Schroeder said.

While the team is primarily undergraduates, there are also graduate students from Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,

the Law School, and the Chan School of Public Health on the roster.

Vala mentioned the possibility of keeping curling as a hobby in the future, putting on display the transformative effects Harvard Club Curling seems to have on those new to sport.

From watching curling at the Winter Olympics to heading to Nationals this weekend, Vala hopes to cap off his Harvard journey with a fierce showing in Wayland.

GOT STONES? The Harvard Curling Club poses holding their equipment. To curl, the team slides stones towards the target on the ground and uses the brooms to direct the stone’s tragectory. PHOTO COURTESY OF JACK SCHROEDER