The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 11

The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLVI, No. 11 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | thursday, february 7, 2019

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Sullivan must make clear his priorities to Winthrop and College communities.

Harvard Square businesses prepare for large-scale construction projects.

Women’s hockey defeats BC and advances to Beanpot final.

Gov Dept Shares Grad Council Talks Mental Health Climate Report

By JoNah s. Berger and Molly c. Mccafferty Crimson Staff Writers

Administrators responded positively to a memo suggesting Harvard commission an external review of the University’s response to accusations of sexual harassment against Government Professor Emeritus Jorge I. Dominguez, according to a report released Wednesday morning.

The report details progress the Government Department committee responsible for scrutinizing departmental culture has made since August, when it last updated affiliates on its status. The committee’s seven subcommittees have worked on issues including the proposed external review, inclusivity efforts, and departmental response to harassment, according to the report. The department formed the 15-member group — dubbed the Committee on Climate Change — in March 2018, days after more than 20 women publicly accused Dominguez of incidents of sexual misconduct spanning multiple decades. In the wake of the allegations, the University opened a Title IX investigation into Dominguez, which is ongoing.

Committee members wrote in the progress report that faculty members drafted a memo calling on administrators to sponsor an external review of “Harvard’s collective failure to respond to problems of alleged sexual harassment.” The subcommittee tasked with evaluating the feasibility of an external review met with administrators and received a “positive

response” to the memo, though administrators will not take “public steps” toward sponsoring an external review until the University completes its investigation of Dominguez, according to the report. Another subcommittee considering possible mechanisms to encourage reporting of misconduct in the future suggested creating an ombudsman or harassment officer to respond to complaints.

Government Professor Steven R. Levitsky, who chairs the full committee, said he has met with Title IX Officer Nicole M. Merhill multiple times to learn about the possible “parameters” and authority of such a position.

“It was super clear in the Dominguez case that there was just a huge gulf between our community and the Title IX machinery and people didn’t know the procedures, they didn’t really trust the procedures,” he said.

Fifteen of the women who publicly accused Dominguez of sexual harassment wrote a letter to former Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith and other administrators in March 2018 arguing that a Title IX investigation would not lead to a “full and fair” review of the allegations. The women specifically took issue with the fact that participants in a Title IX investigation cannot share information obtained through the course of the probe, and they argued that a fair investigation would require independence from the University.

Levitsky said the establishment of an ombudsman position within the department could

See climate Page 3

The Graduate Student Council met Wednesday night to discuss student unionization and a temporary halt to mental health survey reports. Naomi s. castellon-perez—Crimson photographer

By Luke a. Williams Crimson Staff Writer

­ he University has asked gradT uate students working on departmental mental health surveys to temporarily stop submitting reports containing the results until the new graduate student union’s contract is finalized, the Graduate Student Council announced at its first monthly meeting of the year Wednesday.

The announcement follows a months-long initiative by graduate students working in conjunction with Harvard Univer-

sity Health Services to create and distribute mental health surveys among individual departments. HUHS Director Paul J. Barreira led the initiative, starting first with the Economics department. HUHS has since created at least three other department-specific surveys, the questions of which are written in part by graduate students within the department.

The GSC worked in cooperation with HUHS to expand the scope of the surveys, and they reported their initial findings to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences administration in De-

cember.

The GSC expected to continue giving reports this semester, but the University asked that graduate students stop submitting reports until the Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Automobile Workers’ initial contract — and the University’s reformed mental health policies — are finalized, according to Council members.

Though the GSC will not be able to report their findings on mental health issues until negotiations between HGSU-UAW and the University conclude, Council members said they are

optimistic about their future in working alongside the union.

“Certain aspects of what the Graduate Student Council does, in terms of advocating for graduate students, may change as the ambitions of the graduate student union becomes more clear and their power develops,” GSC Secretary Zach. M. Hayworth said. “We’re open to that conversation.”

GSC President Blakely B. O’Connor said she is sure the roles of HGSU-UAW and the GSC will remain distinct in the

See council Page 3

STEM Grad Students Discuss Lab Culture Struggles Filings Reveal SFFA Donors By juliet e. isselbacher and luke a. williams Crimson Staff Writers

Graduate students in STEM departments shared stories about sexual harassment in the lab, issues with advisors, and unsafe working conditions at a discussion hosted by the graduate student union Wednesday night.

The event, called “Power in the Lab: A STEM Grad Student Conversation,” focused on power dynamics within research labs. Harvard Graduate Women in Science and Engineering, Chemistry Graduate Student and Postdoc Council, the Physics Graduate Student Council, and the Applied Physics Graduate Student Council — all affiliated with disciplines that had students generally opposed to the union before last April’s election — co-sponsored the two-hour event.

The conversation drew 25 participants, representing 10 ­

Jocelyn Fuentes and Cole M. Meisenhelder present at Power in Stem, an event organized by the graduate student union to discuss the graduate student union. matthew j. mardo—Crimson photographer

distinct fields in STEM and the social sciences, from physics to economics.

Discussion leaders and graduate student union bargaining unit members Jocelyn Fuentes and Cole M. Meisenhelder started the meeting by sharing the Office for Sexual Assault Prevention and Response hotline before arguing that STEM fields are uniquely susceptible to “dysfunctional” power dynamics. They spoke on issues of authorship, fickle research funding, overbearing principal investigators, and a culture of stoicism and isolation.

“A lot of people have managed to get to Harvard by ‘getting along’ in the situation they are put in,” Meinsenhelder said.

He discouraged graduate students in STEM from resigning themselves to what they see as indignities and instead advised attendees to change

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Law Students Favor Pilot Program By connor w. k. brown Crimson Staff Writer

Thirty-eight Harvard Law School student groups signed an open letter calling on the school to continue its support of a pilot federal clerk hiring program.

The letter, organized by the Law School’s American Constitution Society chapter, a progressive legal organization, calls on students and faculty to support “the spirit” of the program and refrain from trying to work around its restrictions on hiring clerks before a certain point in their law school career.

The letter indicated that some second-year law students may have found faculty to recom­

Inside this issue

Harvard Today 2

mend them to judges for positions ahead of the new timeline.

Starting with students who entered law school in 2017, the program prevents judges of certain federal courts from offering clerkships — prestigious postgraduate opportunities for law students to work for judges — until applicants have completed their second year of legal instruction. Hannah L. Klain, president of Harvard’s American Constitution Society chapter and one of the primary authors of the letter, said the program is important for increasing diversity in the federal courts.

“Having a really diverse group of clerks is beneficial to the courts, and it is beneficial to

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the judges,” Klain said. “These clerks help shape the law.”

Before the pilot hiring program was instituted, applications for clerkships could be sent anytime during a student’s degree, which the letter’s authors argue hindered those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“It is no surprise that since 2005, 85% of Supreme Court clerks have been non-Hispanic white… and only a third have been women,”s the open letter reads. “As clerkship application timelines have become front-loaded, students who would benefit from additional time to adjust to law school, or

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Today’s Forecast

scooters

Harvard students scooter by the river. chloe i. yu—Crimson photographer

rainy High: 42 Low: 39

By camille g. caldera and sahar m. mohammadzadeh Crimson Staff Writers

A nti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions — which alleges in an ongoing lawsuit that the College’s admissions process discriminates against Asian-American applicants — has historically garnered much of its funding from two two major conservative trusts, according to publicly available filings.

Combined, the two groups, the Searle Freedom Trust and DonorsTrust, contributed nearly three-quarters of the donations SFFA raised in 2016 — the last year for which the groups’ tax records are publicly available.

The Searle Freedom Trust, which donated $500,000 to SFFA in 2016, marked the advocacy group’s largest donor in that year. The organization’s second-largest supporter, DonorsTrust, contributed $250,000 in 2016, according to public records. SFFA raised a total of $1.1 million dollars that year.

SFT and DonorsTrust have helped finance Blum’s advocacy for years. In 2015, they combined to account for nearly half of the donations raised by the Project on Fair Representation, an advocacy group run by Blum “that challenges racial and ethnic classifications and preferences in state and federal courts.”

The Searle Freedom Trust ­

See sffa Page 3

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

February 7, 2019

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Harvard Today

For Lunch American Style Beef Stroganoff Crispy Flounder Grilled Three Cheeese Sandwich

For Dinner Soy Glazed Pork Loin Teriyaki Chicken Vegetable Lo Mein

Today’s Events Land Under Siege PBHA Parlor Room, 4-7:15 p.m.

in The Real World

The first section of a three-day series on Harvard’s unsustainable land developments in Brazil and California will be a teach-in. This event is part of the Divest Harvard campaign, which focuses on divestment from fossil fuels and reinvestment in sustainable and responsible ways.

2018 Recorded as the Fourth-Warmest Year

In nearly 140 years of climate recording, there have been few years as warm as 2018. NASA has reported that of the 19 warmest years, 18 have occurred since 2001. While the planet has undergone spells of warmth in prehistoric times, these past few years of warmth have been concerning as they are directly correlated with greenhouse gas emissions.

Spring 2019 Fellows Dinner Annenberg, 5:45-7 p.m.

Listen up, first-years! The Spring IOP Resident and Visiting Fellows will be at Annenberg for dinner. You are welcome to meet and speak with them, and no reservations or sign-ups are required for this event. Make sure to stop by!

HCEMC Presents: Maceo Plex Adams House, 6-7:30 p.m.

Start your weekend early with a talk held by the Harvard College Electronic Music Collective with DJ and producer Maceo Plex. He’s played some of the best clubs in the world, and is now coming to another renowned clubbing location, the Lower Common Room. There is a lottery for tickets.

MIT Keeping Ties to Saudi Arabia Amidst Backlash Cambridge hosted a workshop in the Smith Campus center to prepare local business for upcoming construction. KAI R. McNamee—Crimson photographer

Daily Briefing Administrators responded positively to a memo suggesting Harvard commission an external review of the University’s response to accusations of sexual harassment against Government Professor Emeritus Jorge I. Dominguez, according to a report released Wednesday. The report details progress the Government department committee responsible for scrutinizing departmental culture has made since August, when it last updated affiliates on its status. In other news, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study announced it has awarded civil rights activist Dolores Huerta the Radcliffe Medal.

Despite facing harsh criticism and backlash regarding its financial and research relationship to Saudi Arabia, MIT president Rafael Reif has announced that MIT will not cease relations with the country. The backlash to this engagement came as a result of the brutal killing of a journalist in Saudi Arabia.

Details Surface Regarding Virginia’s Lt. Gov. Fairfax’s Alleged Sexual Assault

Top Virginia politicians have come under scrutiny in the past week, and Lt. Gov Fairfax is no exception. Lt. Gov. Fairfax is facing allegations of sexual assault. Fairfax’s accuser has now come forward and spoken in detail about the alleged 2004 incident.

Around the Ivies columbia A group of six students at Columbia and the Office of Multicultural Affairs are working in conjunction to host a dialogue series called ROOTED: Respecting Ourselves and Others Through Empathy & Dialogue, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator. The discussions will address students’ dissatisfaction with the Core Curriculum — the set of courses that all Columbia undergraduates must take — which emerged after a Columbia student verbally harassed a group of students of color. After this event, both students and alumni have increasingly questioned the prominence of white and male authors featured in the Core Curriculum.

YALE The Yale Daily News reported that Yale professors in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have had increased difficulty securing grants for research purposes. Some professors said that it is difficult to keep labs open when the increased demand for grants in the sciences coincides with the government’s static or decreased funding of such projects. While the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has received less government money, the Yale School of Medicine has seen increases in its income from grants.

brown Ten student employees of Brown Dining Services have joined a collective civil action lawsuit against Brown University for allegedly failing to pay wages and overtime wages, according to the Brown Daily Herald. Eight other students have expressed interest in joining the lawsuit, the Herald added.

The students allege that the University’s failure to pay “on-call” workers violates the Rhode Island Payment of Wages Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

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

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Sports Chairs Joseph W. Minatel ’21 Henry Zhu ’20

Copyright 2019, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.

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Corrections The Feb. 6 article “Sullivan Replies to House Criticism” incorrectly characterized the allegations that Prof. Roland Fryer is facing. He is facing allegations of sexual harassment, not assault.

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON | february 7, 2019

Businesses Prepare for Construction The Cambridge Community Development Department hosted a workshop in the Smith Campus Center to prepare Harvard Square business owners for an oncoming influx of local construction projects on Wednesday afternoon.

The Square has faced an onslaught of closings in recent weeks as large-scale, longplanned construction projects, including the development of a shopping mall on Brattle Street, have entered their first stages.

Melissa A. Miguel, a supervising engineer at the Cambridge Department of Public Works who helped organize the workshop, laid out an approximate timeline for a variety of other upcoming projects in the Square in an interview Wednesday.

Miguel said water main construction and utility work on Eliot Street will begin within the next few weeks. She also said that work on the Harvard Square kiosk and plaza, which is set to begin in late spring, will last from 18-24 months, and that construction on the MBTA, which is set to begin in late June, will last for about six months.

At the meeting, CCDD presented business owners with a folder of pamphlets that laid out steps entrepreneurs could take to prepare their physical stores and their financial assets for the construction projects.

Denise Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, cited the challenges posed by past construction projects in discussing how business owners will prepare for the coming months in an interview Wednesday.

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By ellen m. burstein Crimson Staff Writer ­

Students Discuss Lab Issues, Culture cultural norms and challenge established Ph.D. advising structures when necessary.

Throughout most of the event, Meisenhelder and Fuentes invited participants to share testimonials in an effort to create a more supportive and open STEM graduate student community.

Several participants said they were forced to accomodate more senior lab members. Participants also took issue with the fact that graduate students’ right to neutral third-party arbitration does not apply to sexual harassment, discrimination, and bullying complaints.

Throughout nine bargaining sessions, the union has repeatedly asked Harvard to replace its current sexual harassment response policy with a neutral third-party arbitration policy, which puts the judgement of the facts and final verdict outside of the University’s control, but often results in necessary meetings between accuser and accused. The University has opposed such a policy and has instead suggested that union representatives be appointed to committees that could recommend changes to the University’s current Title IX policies.

Meisenhelder said the union held the event to address issues that disproportionately affect graduate students in STEM departments — many of whom did not support unionization.

“I think that while the union was a divisive issue in some departments, there was always strong support from members of every department, and we’ve been building with those members throughout,” said Meisenhelder. “We’re always trying to expand our membership, to make everyone as welcome in the union as possible.”

“We have a large number of scientists in the union and we’ve always considered them an important part of the union,” he added. “I think this is an important way of trying to make sure we’re addressing all the needs of our members.”

Earth and Planetary Sciences student Aleyda M. Trevino and Biophysics student Frederick B. Shipley said the event left them with a better impression of the union. “I think it’s become evident that the union has been working towards considering the rights of minorities that are in problematic situations and getting them more support,” Trevino said.

“This event exactly addresses our union’s original campaign issues and my reasons for becoming involved in our union: power dynamics in our lab spaces affect people who are vulnerable due to their immigration status and gender-based harassment,” Shipley said. “Who is going to have the most trouble saying no to their adviser or labmates? A US citizen or someone on a visa?”

In the same vein, Fuentes stressed the importance of events like “Power in the Lab.” “It’s a community space. The only way you can learn about what’s going on in campus is to have people talk to each other so that people can know what else is going on,” Fuentes said. juliet.isselbacher@thecrimson.com luke.williams@thecrimson.com

“At the end of the day, when the project is done and it is such a promising and wonderful amenity for Harvard Square, these projects will be awesome.

But it will be a challenge to get through,” she said.

During the meeting, Cambridge city officials briefed business owners on potential issues that may arise during the construction period, including hits to the personal finances of business owners and questions of liability for store damage. Officials advised owners to photograph and record their stores.

Several local entrepreneurs expressed concern over whether construction workers would abide by the traffic patterns and parking regulations in the Square. Pardis Saffari, senior economic development manager for the City of Cambridge, acknowledged in an interview af-

ter the meeting that “people’s primary concerns were the impact to access to their business, and access for their customers to get in and out, so in Harvard Square that means making sure the T is open… making sure there’s parking for customers.”

Ned P. Ver Planck of the Dickson Brothers Company, a store on Brattle Street, said he supported the construction projects “if [they] can stay less commercialized.” He, however, added that “the two years, three years of construction is not gonna go well.”

Ultimately, Miguel encouraged entrepreneurs to be proactive in planning for the construction. “It’s much easier to accommodate things now than when there’s a ten-foot hole in the ground,” Miguel said. ellen.burstein@thecrimson.com

38 Student Groups Sign Letter in Support of Clerkship Program who may lack an insider’s understanding of the competitive process, have been left at a significant, strategic disadvantage.”

The letter argues the continuation of the program is necessary to equalize the playing field in the clerkship hiring process.

There are still a number of federal circuits that have not signed up for the program.

“In the interest of creating a more diverse class of clerks, it is imperative that the two-year Pilot is successful,” the letter reads. “The success and expansion of the Plan are the necessary first steps in addressing

systemic inequities in access to clerkship opportunities.”

Klain said she believes that having the support of Harvard is crucial to ensuring the program is continued. “Harvard is a really big piece of the puzzle, because it just a huge part of the market,” Klain said. Klain reiterated the letter’s call for an open a dialogue with administrators about the Law School’s support for the program. “We want to talk to the administration about how to keep this program on track,” Klain said.

Law School spokesperson Melodie Jackson reiterated the administration’s backing of the

program in an emailed statement. “HLS is a strong supporter of the clerk hiring pilot” Jackson wrote. Jackson also pointed to a letter Law School Dean John F. Manning ’82 sent to students supporting the program last spring. “In consultations with the HLS faculty, I have heard strong sentiment for the proposition that if we can help judges succeed in bringing greater order to the process and moving it to a time that will better serve judges and students, we should make every effort to do so,” Manning wrote. connor.brown@thecrimson.com

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GSC Talks Mental Health Reports future.

“There’s a big distinction in terms of Harvard representing students as employees ver-

Certain aspects of what the Graduate Student Council does, in terms of advocating for graduate students, may change as the ambitions of the graduate student union become more clear and their power develops.

Zach M. Hayworth GSC Secretary

sus students in a more academic and professional development setting,” she said.

O’Connor and GSC Vice President Diana Zhang also announced at the meeting that they had met with Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Claudine Gay to build better lines of communication between FAS and GSAS. Graduate students have reported that athletic facilities are giving preference to undergraduates, according to O’Connor. Each time a graduate student applied for a time-slot in a gym, the slot was allegedly given to undergraduates and the graduate student was offered early morning time-slots instead.

O’Connor said making this imbalance clear was part of her

message to Gay. “GSAS students are important, and the things we do are important, and our needs should be considered just as important as the College students,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor also said she, Zhang, and Gay have met to discuss GSAS advising in anticipation of GSAS Dean Emma Dench’s new advising project as well as the recent GSAS efforts to bolster the exposure of non-academic employment opportunities.

Forty-six percent of respondents in a fall survey of GSAS students reported not receiving encouragement from their department to explore non-academic careers, according to survey results released in January.

The majority of the hourlong Wednesday meeting focused on a new initiative this spring: a push to increase involvement in student organizations. As part of this initiative, the Council will try to fill all board positions before the summer starts.

Council members also unveiled plans for the first-ever GSAS student organization leader banquet, a celebratory dinner held in the honor of student club leaders at GSAS. “It’s the first time we are ever having this event, and we are hoping it’s a watershed moment that will make people think it’s attractive to have a graduate student organization,” Hayworth said .

“We would like graduate students to be more entrepreneurial in forming groups which cater to their academic needs.”

Hayworth added. luke.williams@thecrimson.com

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Filings Reveal SFFA Mostly Funded by Conservative Trusts gave $450,000 that year for “litigation programs,” while DonorsTrust contributed $250,000 for “general operations,” out of the roughly $1.5 million dollars the group raised in 2015, according to public tax filings.

DonorsTrust in particular has provided significant financial support to PFR and Blum.

PFR was “fully financed” by DonorsTrust from 2006 to 2011, and DonorsTrust coordinated the group’s “administrative side,” Reuters reported in a 2012 article.

DonorsTrust did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Blum wrote in an emailed statement that he is “grateful” for the support of DonorsTrust and the Searle Freedom Trust.

“Both of those foundations have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to a wide variety of organizations and institutions,” he wrote.

Though Searle Freedom Trust has contributed substantial sums to SFFA, it has chosen not to fund SFFA’s lawsuit

against Harvard, according to Searle Freedom Trust President and CEO Kimberly O. Dennis.

“All of our support has been directed to the lawsuits challenging UT and UNC,” she wrote in an email, referring to a case that SFFA had previously brought against the University of Texas, Austin and a lawsuit SFFA is currently litigating against the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. “None has supported the Harvard litigation.”

When asked about the Searle Freedom Trust’s lack of financial support for the Harvard case, SFFA President Edward Blum wrote in an email that he is “confident that each donor and member supports the mission of SFFA.” The Searle Freedom Trust, founded in 1998, supports “work that will lead to a just, prosperous, and free society,” per the group’s website.

The organization currently donates approximately $15 million to conservative causes each year, though the fund is re-

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Gov Dept Shares Report on Climate Change specifically help to address “gray areas,” cases that do not rise to the level of severity that would merit a Title IX investigation, but may still be “hurtful.”

“There’s a lot of reporting and communication and responsiveness that could potentially happen that falls short of Title IX and that’s a part that an ombudsperson could potentially play,” he said.

Government Department Chair Jennifer L. Hochschild released the progress report concurrently with the results of a department-wide climate survey conducted by the committee, which showed that roughly a third of female government students felt “limited” in their work or study due to their gender. Subcommittees have already implemented several of the proposals outlined in the report, Hochschild said in an interview Wednesday.

Last semester, the committee began a new speaker series and held regular social events aimed at “breaking down barri-

ers” between different groups within the department, according to Hochschild. In January, the department met with experts from the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Improved Mentoring Experiences for a workshop on improving mentorship systems.

Committee members will present their recommendations to the entire Government department faculty in April for a vote on certain proposals, which can be implemented by the subcommittees themselves. The committee will likely wrap up its efforts by early May and publish a report, according to Hochschild.

Levitsky said he believes the current committee has adequate resources to finish its work, noting that the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has been “very supportive” in allocating funding for already implemented proposals. jonah.berger@thecrimson.com molly.mccafferty@thecrimson.com

quired to spend all of its remaining money by 2025, according to rules detailed by founder Daniel C. Searle when he began the organization.

Launched in 1999, DonorsTrust is a “donor advised fund” that is “committed to supporting and promoting the principles of liberty,” per the organization’s website. Individuals must make an initial $10,000 contribution to set up an account, after which they can “recommend” charities that they think the group should donate to.

In a November 2018 post on the organization’s website, DonorsTrust President Lawson Bader wrote the group was “engaged in a lawsuit with Harvard University over admission policies that discriminate against Asian-Americans.”

While he wrote in the post that DonorsTrust is not formally listed as a plaintiff in the suit, he wrote that, because of the fund’s donations, the group’s “DNA floats in the bloodstream of the organizations” that are

directly involved, including SFFA. “If non-profits had parents, then DonorsTrust would act as Mom and Dad to these groups,” he wrote.

While Searle Freedom Trust has not donated to SFFA to support the Harvard suit, the group numbers among DonorsTrust’s top five donors. Dennis, Searle Freedom Trust’s president, serves as the chairman of the board of directors for DonorsTrust.

SFFA has not only turned to major donors like Searle Freedom Trust and DonorsTrust to raise money; the group also asks for contributions from smaller organizations and individual donors.

“Since our inception, we have received thousands of donations from individuals throughout the nation,” Blum wrote in an email.

Some of those groups have supported Blum’s efforts to end race-conscious admissions for years. For example, 80-20 National Asian American PAC —

“dedicated to winning equal opportunity and justice for all Asian Americans,” per its website — donated $10,000 to SFFA in 2014. The group also submitted an amicus brief in support of Abigail N. Fisher, the plaintiff in the UT case.

SFFA also gains a small portion of its funding from dues paid by members. Though the $10 membership fees were technically mandatory starting on July 30, 2015, only 0.6 percent — 133 out of more than 20,000 — of the group’s members had actually paid their dues as of April 30, 2017, according to filings in the Harvard case submitted by the University’s lawyers. These fees accounted for $1,330.

A tax form detailing funds raised by SFFA during 2017 — which Blum provided to The Crimson — lists $5,530 in revenue from membership dues.

The organization raised roughly $1.4 million in total that year, per the form. camille.caldera@thecrimson.com sahar.mohammadzadeh@thecrimson.com

Dolores Huerta Receives Radcliffe Medal

By James S. Bikales and Ruoqi Zhang Crimson Staff Writers

Prominent labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores C. Huerta will receive this year’s Radcliffe Medal, the highest honor given by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the institute announced Wednesday.

Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, joins the ranks of United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former University President Drew G. Faust in receiving the medal. It is given annually to an individual committed to “excellence, inclusion, and social impact,” according to a press release.

Huerta, 88, directed a nearly five-year grape strike in Delano, Calif. beginning in 1965, which led to collective bargaining efforts between the employers and what became the United Farm Workers. She helped win concessions on wages, security, working conditions, benefits, for workers, ­

along with workers’ choice on representation.

Huerta’s leadership in the labor movement centered on challenging ethnic and gender stereotypes. Her phrase “Sí Se Puede,” which she created as the slogan of UFW, has evolved into a symbol for the empowerment of marginalized groups across the United States. Former President Barack Obama based his campaign slogan, “Yes We Can,” on Huerta’s phrase.

Radcliffe Institute Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin, who will formally present Huerta with the medal at a ceremony in May, called her “a towering figure in the labor, civil rights, and women’s movements” in a press release.

Brown-Nagin said Huerta’s achievements are often overshadowed by her male counterparts, like Cesar Chavez.

“The fact that some individuals won’t immediately recognize Dolores Huerta’s name and know why we’re honoring her illustrates the all-too-common erasure of women from our histories,” Brown-Nagin said in the release. “As a historian, I am keenly aware that Huerta and other women from traditionally marginalized groups are espe-

cially likely to be omitted from our historical narratives.”

“Every American should know her name and her decades-long work to secure the rights of farmworkers, women, and other disadvantaged people,” Brown-Nagin added.

The Radcliffe Medal is not Huerta’s first honor from a Harvard-affiliated institution. She was also the recipient of Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations’ 2009 Humanitarian of the Year Award – an award that has also honored Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai and former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Huerta will receive the award May 31 as part of the annual Radcliffe Day during Harvard’s commencement week.

The day’s program will start with a discussion panel on the “intersection of food and social justice” moderated by Emmy-winning journalist Soledad T. O’Brien ’88, followed by Huerta’s keynote remarks and a separate conversation with O’Brien, according to the press release. james.bikales@thecrimson.com ruoqi.zhang@thecrimson.com.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 7, 2019

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Editorial The Crimson Editorial board

column

Sullivan’s Professional Priority Dilemma

L

ast week, RealClearInvestigations published an article citing Winthrop House Faculty Dean Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. as the lawyer of Economics professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr., whose alleged sexual misconduct has brought the #MeToo movement closer to home for the Harvard community. Asked twice by The Crimson whether he represents Fryer, Sullivan avoided directly answering the question.

The Office of Dispute Resolution opened three investigations on three separate Title IX inquiries into Fryer and, while ODR has issued a report on two of the three complaints, it is still investigating the third sexual harassment complaint against Fryer. In the Jan. 29 article, Sullivan characterized ODR’s investigations as “deeply flawed and deeply unfair.”

Amid the news of Sullivan’s involvement in the investigations surrounding Fryer, the faculty dean’s decision to defend former film executive Harvey Weinstein in his Manhattan sex abuse case is still sending shockwaves across the College and especially within Winthrop House. On Monday night, in response to the debate, Sullivan announced in an email the designation of Winthrop Resident Dean Linda D. M. Chavers as the House’s “point person” for issues relating to sexual assault and harassment.

We believe that Sullivan took a necessary step in designating a separate administrator to address the future needs of Winthrop students relating to sexual assault and harassment, as we strongly advocated for this action on Friday. Given the new developments surrounding Fryer, however, we feel that Sullivan’s

decision was regrettably reactionary.

Sullivan’s involvement in both of these high-profile cases have come to light not by his own admission, but through news stories that have seemingly left him on the defensive.

In the last few weeks, Sullivan has reacted to criticisms instead of proactively demonstrating a socially aware sense of the community he leads. We call on Sullivan to be more straightforward and transparent when informing House affiliates of his choices of representation, especially in areas where cases may harm

Sullivan increasingly must make clear his priorities to the Winthrop and wider College communities, which greatly depend on him. the relationship between him and his students.

Sullivan increasingly must make clear his priorities to the Winthrop and wider College communities, which greatly depend on him. Is he a faculty dean first, or a defense attorney? We also call on him to thoughtfully consider whether he can continue serving as a leader and mentor to undergraduates while simultaneously taking on controversial public positions with the capacity to alienate many in Winthrop House.

In the days following the news of his decision to represent Weinstein last week, Sullivan explained his motivation for doing so by citing the need to defend

unpopular figures and the undeniable right of due process. If Sullivan’s reasons for taking on this case are truly based on principle, then we also call on him — in a gesture of good faith — to donate some portion of his retainer from Weinstein to organizations that support victims of sexual harassment and assault. Sullivan might consider groups such as the transgender anti-violence organization Forge, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, Safe Horizon, Students Active for Ending Rape (a group focusing on supporting student movements), and a number of others.

As faculty dean, Sullivan has the capacity to provide critical support, guidance, and inspiration to a broad group of undergraduates. Such power should neither be taken lightly nor treated like a second priority.

Given his involvement in such high-profile cases in his career, Sullivan must communicate clearly with his students about his role in those proceedings, make a concerted effort to provide other resources that can step in where he may leave gaps, and maintain an ongoing dialogue not merely about the civil ethics of his legal work but also about how that work may impact the emotions and sense of security of his students.

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.

Op-ed

A Call for Undergraduate Senior Capstone Courses

By Mark E. Czeisler

W

ith the hysteria of shopping week behind the Class of 2019, second-semester seniors have enrolled in courses for the last semester and are preparing to embark on the final undergraduate academic experience.

Many have completed or nearly completed both concentration and General Education requirements, positioning students to take advantage of the nearly 3,000 courses offered by the Faculty of Arts & Sciences in the spring of 2019. As most seniors have only four more classes to take, naturally, they will want to make these final courses count.

For students who have taken courses that are continually narrower in focus into a particular discipline, it can be rewarding to take a step back and explore different areas from some of the leading educators. Unfortunately, intermediate- and advanced-level courses with low student-teacher ratios are frequently reserved for concentrators, guarded by applications, and made elusive by comedically unattainable prerequisites for students with little experience in the department. On the other hand, introductory courses have high enrollment and are often filled with first- and second-year students. The lecture-based structure of most large introductory courses limits the individual student voice and lacks intimacy, which is unappealing to many seniors searching for an enriching experience to culminate their undergraduate education.

After learning about the existence of capstone classes for graduating students at other schools through personal conversations, I advocate for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Registrar to consider offering similar courses to Harvard’s graduating seniors. A capstone is the highest stone in an arch and represents the apex, visible completion, and culmination. In academia, a capstone course is an opportunity to tie together the educational journey. Many educational in-

stitutions offer these courses or some derivative. For instance, the Capstone Program at Boston College strives to offer students “a dynamic and meaningful conclusion to their college experience.”

Notably, in the Boston College model, the Capstone is not the final course in a major, but rather an opportunity to “focus on personal development — in relationships, society, academics, spirituality, career, and personal skills.” I expect students at Harvard would value tremendously the opportunity to engage if such courses were offered to them. A consistent and valid reason to question the value of liberal arts institutions of higher education — from those involved and from those looking in — is the lack of touch with society and lack of preparation for everyday life. Capstone courses could provide a resolution to this criticism and offer students something desirable for students that the current course listing fundamentally cannot offer.

Moreover, capstone courses could address the canonical shopping week dilemma. Course shopping and enrollment decisions outside of requirements are influenced by a host of factors. Renowned teaching staffs, the opportunity to take a class with classmates outside of a concentration, and high Q-scores are some of the principal factors that drive students to some courses. But for a considerable cohort of students, the quest for the elusive near-guaranteed GPA booster with minimal workload overtakes shopping week. These “gems” quickly gain student-wide reputation fueled by content students who previously took the course.

The process leads to inevitably overflowing classrooms and course lotteries for limited enrollment due to teaching staff limitations. For instance, about 300 students shopped Folklore and Mythology 90i: “Fairy Tales and Fantasy Literature” in 2012; the following year, approximately 600 students swarmed to Fong Auditorium to lottery for just 45 spots.

A randomized lottery with those odds means that students in the graduating

class of 2013 who were accepted to enroll in “Fairy Tales and Fantasy Literature” could rejoice overcoming worse odds (7.5 percent admission rate) than they faced when applying to Harvard assuming they were accepted in 2009, when the admission rate was 9.1 percent.

To be clear, disparaging “gem” classes is not my intention. I wholeheartedly recognize and appreciate the value of offering students an opportunity to gain exposure to diverse topics they would not have otherwise sought out. Finding courses that are less time-intensive provide a chance for students to balance their schedules and commit the requisite time to more rigorous courses — a practice I unashamedly implemented to balance some pre-medical courses I expected to be especially challenging.

Yet as a graduating senior, I would have cherished the opportunity to take a course with a professor from another discipline and a small group of seniors.

Specifically, it would have been rewarding to articulate the meaning and value of our education and to contemplate and discuss what lies ahead for us as individuals, members of smaller communities, and members of a global society. Capstone courses could have a similar course structure as those in the Freshman Seminar Program, which uniquely fostered an environment for first-year students to meet each other and a professor in a somewhat informal setting. Semester- or year-long weekly meetings that bring together a faculty member and 12-15 graduating seniors for seminar-style courses on topics such as career planning, personal finance, leadership, mindfulness, relationships, “adulting,” and more, would provide an much-needed opportunity for students to select a topic of personal value and come together in an intimate academic environment one last time before commencing life after Harvard.

—Mark E. Czeisler ’19 is a Neurobiology concentrator in Quincy House.

Woman or Ticking Time Bomb Ifeoluwa T. Obayan Remnant of truth

T

ime has always been an enemy of mankind, but it seems to oppose women the hardest.

As recently as the past few generations, society has seen an increase in women who are career-oriented, pursuing education for more than a MRS degree (a colloquial term to describe a young woman’s intent to find a spouse while in college), and starting families later. While this new wave for women seems to have become more socially acceptable, the opposition has really just become more subtle.

As an ambitious student in today’s day and age, it seems so easy to plan for a second degree and possibly even a third. The four years of college

A woman unmarried in her thirties with no serious prospects is pitied or criticized for focusing on the “wrong things” when she was of a more “marriageable” age, maybe even for being too picky with her standards.

God forbid she be past her thirties! that most undergraduates experience is a time capsule: It is the beginning of adulthood, and all of your fellow classmates are around the same age and experiencing time similarly, so time-related pressures are virtually nonexistent. However, once the bachelor’s degree milestone has been passed, all bets are off against time.

After graduation, it becomes more difficult for young women to plan the next ten years without worrying about perfectly fitting in the major milestones of marriage and children. I am urged by family and other women around me to consider finishing my years of schooling as quickly as possible to facilitate getting married and having children. With this mindset, gap years seem like a literal waste of time. Taking one or more years off from school to work, travel, volunteer, participate in a fellowship, or relax after four life-changing years of college? It doesn’t seem worth it when I need to rush off to the next life goalpost. This messaging tells me that if I do not carry out my life timeline like my mother, sisters, or female contemporaries, then I am not doing life correctly.

This is reinforced by how we subtly — or not so subtly — shame women who do not align with this acceptable schedule. A woman unmarried in her thirties with no serious prospects is pitied or criticized for focusing on the “wrong things” when she was of a more “marriageable” age, maybe even for being too picky with her standards. God forbid she be past her thirties! Because, of course, a fiercely independent, driven woman intimidates and puts off potential suitors. And if you’re not sitting around and waiting with all of your attention on securing a husband, how will men notice or take you seriously?

Similarly, a woman in the same age group who is happily married, but without children is queried and criticized. Her status as a good wife is called into question because it is selfish and downright unwise to concentrate on finishing school, establishing her career or marriage while her fertility wanes with age. These sentiments imbibe a sense of urgency about womanhood. We are always racing against the clock.

So, how did the incessant ticking begin for women? The idea of the female biological clock does have scientific proof and, therefore, validity behind it. Conversely, in terms of reproduc-

Given that women and men in this day and age both take their education and careers seriously, women deserve the same respect and patience afforded to men. Do not rush us. tive ability, men do not experience time the same way women do and have less reason to worry if they can conceive a child as they get older. This privilege makes allowances for them. When I talk about the future with most of my male friends, while they may mention that they want a family at some point, the timing of those life goals are often nebulously defined. If anything, their five to ten-year plans center around professional success and financial stability. What’s more is that I never hear men being asked about when they are going to settle down until they are in or around their thirties! This line of questioning typically appears after they have established themselves, portraying marriage and a family as an added benefit as opposed to an absolute requirement for women.

It is clear that men and women are socialized differently, but that is not necessarily what I take issue with. Given that women and men in this day and age both take their education and careers seriously, women deserve the same respect and patience afforded to men. Do not rush us. While we may desire marriage and a family, the reality of planning life around it is, at times, a farce. The reality is that everyone has their own unique path, regardless of gender. We all should be allowed to take our time to enjoy our current season and each subsequent step that makes sense for us. Life is unpredictable, after all.

—Ifeoluwa Obayan ’19, a former Crimson Associate Editorial Editor, is a Biomedical Engineering and Social Anthropology joint concentrator in Leverett House. Her column appears on alternate Thursdays.

Page 5

WoMen’s ice hockey

ABOUT

Sports

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

2018-19 Overall Record 8-11-3 ______________________________________

Captains upcoming games ______________________________________ ______________________________________

Conference Record 6-8-2 ______________________________________

Kate Hallett ‘19 - Forward

Streak WON 3 ______________________________________

Lexie Laing ‘19 - Forward

Goals per Game 2.05 ______________________________________

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

Feb 12. vs.BU at Bright-Landry Hockey Center

Women’s ICE HOCKEY

Harvard Stuns No. 7 BC, Advances to Beanpot Final

SOUND THE HORN The Crimson tallied 2 goals in the final period to seal its spot in the Beanpot Championship next Tuesday. Timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer By wILLIAM BOGGS and CONNOR J. WAGAMAN Crimson Staff Writer

Backstopped by a heroic goaltending effort, Harvard women’s hockey upset the nation’s seventh-ranked team to advance to its first Beanpot Championship since 2015. Its win over Boston College (19-10-0, 16-7-0 Hockey East) Tuesday night books the Crimson (8-113, 6-8-2 ECAC) a championship duel with the Boston University Terriers, who defeated Northeastern in the first semifinal of the day.

Despite putting only 12 shots on goal by the close of the second period — compared to the Eagles’ 38 — Harvard entered the final stanza clinging to a 2-1 lead. Spectators were just settling into their seats as the puck fell to the ice for the third period opening faceoff.

Co-captain and forward Lexie Laing won the draw, and

freshman defender Kyra Willoughby quickly secured possession. Advancing the puck up the boards, Willoughby saw junior forward Kat Hughes, who pushed the puck to a streaking Laing. Maintaining an edge on the BC defender, Laing fired along the ice as she neared the faceoff dot.

The puck slid under Eagle freshman goalie Maddy McArthur and—just nine seconds into the period—the Crimson had widened its lead to a 3-1 advantage.

“We just went into the first draw...wanting to win that draw because we really think that that [faceoff ] sets the tone for the entire period,” Laing said.

“Kat [Hughes] did a great job of getting the puck past the defender, and I just picked it up and took it to the net. But I think that [goal] really was a turning point in the game because we kind of just shut them down at that point.”

Although Harvard found its stride in the third, striking instantly before later adding another goal to increase its lead to the 4-1 final tally, getting there was no walk in the park. A 53shot onslaught by BC demanded impeccable defense from the Crimson. The Eagles struck early and often, putting 19 shots on goal in the opening period on the way to their jaw-dropping total.

Harvard’s defense was more than up to the challenge. Freshman goalie Lindsay Reed established control in the nets, locating shots through heavy traffic, beating BC passes with quick lateral movements, and stifling second-chance opportunities with tight rebound control.

Reed’s career high 52 saves on the night marked the first 50-plus-save performance by a Harvard keeper since 2016. Her most clutch play of the game came during a BC five-on-four advantage in the second period.

Riding a power play opportunity from a tripping minor

by Laing, the Eagles funneled the puck across ice to set up a shot on a largely open net. Reed sprang into action, executing a sprawling kick save.

The Crimson killed the penalty moments later and went on to score barely a minute after Reed’s denial. With Reed as the squad’s backbone for the night, Harvard was able to muster the effort to pull off the upset of a top-ten opponent.

“I love playing against really good teams,” Reed said. “We had nothing to lose. I think we all showed up tonight, played really well in the [defensive] zone, and everyone helped me out.”

Embodying the “nothing to lose” attitude, the Crimson played at a frenetic pace in the first minutes of the game, and the Eagles matched the intensity. Constant end-to-end play carried on for more than seven minutes, interrupted only once by the referees’ whistle.

With activity settling down, Boston College took to the offensive and created the majority of the period’s scoring opportunities. Despite the Eagles’ offensive efforts, the Crimson defense proved impenetrable, bolstered by Reed coming up with several saves and Willoughby deflecting two dangerous centering pass attempts away from BC. Eventually, the advantage in shots paid off for the Eagles.

With 41 seconds to go in the first, sophomore forward Daryl Watts rounded the back of the net before curling up the half boards to set up a high-slot one-timer from BC captain and forward Makenna Newkirk. As Newkirk powered the shot towards the goal, the Harvard defense managed to tip the attempt. The deflection, however, was not enough, redirecting the puck through Reed and into the back of the net.

“You never want to let up a goal in the final minute,” Reed said. “But we went into the locker, took a deep breath, and knew we still had 40 minutes of Har-

vard Hockey left to play.”

Despite the Crimson’s intermission regroup, as the second period began, the offensive side of the ice saw BC continuing to heavily outshoot Harvard. The Eagles held a 26-8 lead in shots on goal as the second-period clock ticked below the 12:00 mark.

Then, sophomore forward Becca Gilmore cleared Crimson territory, carrying the puck through the neutral zone before relaying to sophomore forward Brooke Jovanovich. Collecting the puck at the blue line, Jovanovich faced a one-on-one.

Looking to create space, she cut to the faceoff dot and fired along the ice. Squeaking through the BC goalie’s 5-hole, the puck rattled inside the post to knot the game at one.

Less than six minutes later, Harvard continued its highly efficient offense as sophomore forward Kate Glover rushed the puck up the ice. With Eagle defensive attention glued on Glover as she crossed the blue, freshman forward Dominique Petrie found a pocket in the slot.

Receiving a pass from Glover, Petrie netted a top-corner snipe to hand the Crimson a 2-1 lead, adding another set of points to the Jovanovich-Petrie-Gilmore line.

By the end of the night, the triumvirate would combine for five assists and three goals for an eight-point outing.

“We just had some chemistry,” said Jovanovich, who notched two goals and one assist, when asked about her line.

“I played with Becca [Gilmore] last year, you throw Dom[inique Petrie] in the mix, [and] they’re both just very skilled players—great skaters, great hands, great vision. Playing with them, it’s just about getting open and communicating.”

With the Jovanovich-Petrie-Gilmore line clicking at high volume and Laing striking just nine seconds into the last act, BC was forced to alter its play. Down 3-1, the Eagles shifted their focus from defense to offense, exposing themselves to the Har-

vard counterattack.

“We thought we were playing pretty well in that second period, so we wanted to carry that momentum into the third,” said Eagles head coach Katie Crowley. “When they squeaked that one by, we needed to go a little more offensive. I think that’s probably why they got that fourth one.”

The Crimson seized on the gaps left by BC’s new offensive focus. With five minutes remaining, a Gilmore drive down the ice brought the puck past the blue line. Petrie crashed the net, and Jovanovich was there to score her second of the night off a far-pad rebound, booking Harvard’s ticket to the championship game.

The Crimson returns to ECAC play this weekend before vying for the Beanpot, with away games on Friday at Union College and Saturday at Rensselaer. Still needing to make up ground in the conference to secure a favorable playoff position, this weekend’s slate of games supersede Beanpot preparation for the time being.

“It just is what it is for all the schools in Boston,” said Harvard head coach Katey Stone.

“The hockey schools have to go back and play some pretty important league games themselves….We try to stay focused on what’s right in front of us….

We’re just taking every game as it comes.”

Next Tuesday, an 8 p.m. puck drop at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center marks the start of Harvard’s Beanpot Championship matchup against No. 8/8 Boston University. By then, the Crimson will have played six games in 12 days.

“We’re in a stage of the season where it’s playoff hockey, and the kids know it,” Stone said. “There’s this sense of urgency that we have, and we’ve been showing it recently… I think everyone understands that they’ve got to come to play as hard as they can together for the remainder of the season and make something happen.” william.boggs@thecrimson.com connor.wagaman@thecrimson.com

Women’s Basketball

Alumni, Delaney-Smith Talk Gender Equity, Leadership

By HENRY ZHU Crimson Staff Writer

In a crowded late-night audience filled with familiar faces and old friends, Harvard women’s basketball coach Kathy Delaney-Smith and five former teammates shared their thoughts around gender and leadership in the arena of basketball and beyond.

Among those in the panel of alumni included Jessica Gelman ‘97, MBA ‘02, CEO of the Kraft Analytics Group; Megan Song ’98, former Harvard College Admission Officer; Hana Peljto Cluff ‘04, Vice President, Applied Analytics Solutions, Warner Media; Lindsay Miller ‘08, former assistant coach and current BU Master’s Candidate in Clinical Counseling and Sports Psychology; and Kit Metoyer ’16, Criminal Financial Investigator, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

The event was moderated by David Tannenwald ’08 of Harvard Magazine, who in conjunction with this talk released a piece entitled “An Authentic Act.” In addition, almost the entire current team was present, seated in the front row at the Worklab in Central Square.

The panel discussion revolved largely around the connectivity of female athlete empowerment to broader societal challenges facing gender equity and representation in the workforce.

Numerous panelists reflected on the impact that Coach ­

Delaney-Smith — an outspoken advocate for gender equality who filed four anti-discrimination lawsuits while a coach at Westwood High in the 1970s and has voiced displeasure over pay differences in the coaching ranks — had on their own self-discovery and confidence as a woman in society.

“I looked at early on in my career where people would say, ‘You can’t do that or you’re not ready for that position,’” Gelman said. “I think in general [and] specifically for women, that’s a consistent theme which is, ‘you have to be able to do the work before you get the role.’

That’s not how Kathy [Delaney-Smith] taught us, which is there is a confidence thing too... to understand you can raise you hand and say you want to do more. I think that’s something that Kathy really preached.”

Delaney-Smith noted how she was a “bull in a china shop” initially as a high-school coach, but maintained a passion for her job and has stayed at Harvard for 37 seasons because of her platform to shift notions of female athletes and women in general.

“You guys can change the world,” said Delaney-Smith as she looked at her team. “That’s why I stayed at Harvard, as long as I have the talent in this room, the brainpower, motivation, and drives. I hope I can pass the baton to you, to know that, be that, and do that.”

At one point in the discussion, Delaney-Smith asked all of the male attendees in the

audience to stand as a demonstration of how boys at a young age are taught to embrace confidence, while girls are instead ingrained with lessons of modesty and self-effacement.

“I ask every single recruit, ‘What’s your greatest strength?’”, Delaney-Smith said. “It’s better now, but they are very uncomfortable telling me what they are good at. I say, ‘What are your weaknesses?’ and I have a list for a half-hour.”

Miller, who is pursuing her postgraduate studies in psychology, added that this lack of embracing a positive identity has led teenage girls to lose a sense of their true selves. She noted that Delaney-Smith has exemplified the ability to “know who she is” at all times.

“I think we don’t have as many choices in our society today to choose authenticity,” Miller said. “We are more and more on this path either driven by the common app or by social media on what we’re supposed to be like... I think all of us have learned from Kathy this idea for going for comfort or greatness. You can choose comfort or greatness, but you can’t choose both.”

The open-ended portion of the talk concluded with Delaney-Smith emphasizing the need for increased financial and fan support for women’s sporting events, which despite the progress made since her earlier career continues to be a significant hurdle in the sports world.

She called on collective assistance from all individuals, in-

cluding “male allies.”

“You do more men’s events, you spend more time, energy, and effort on those events because they’re easier,” Delaney-Smith commented.

“That’s the reality of the world.

You think we should have equal pay, [but] where are we going

to get the money from? I don’t have a simple answer for that, but I think the world needs to be comparable, period.”

On the hardwood, the women’s basketball team will head back on the road for Columbia-Cornell in the last of five games on the road, before re-

turning back to Lavietes Pavilion for an all-important homestand with Princeton and Penn.

Harvard currently holds a 3-1 record in Ivy play, and are looking for its first Ivy championship in 12 seasons. henry.zhu@thecrimson.com

REUNION TOUR Tuesday night’s panel included Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith and five of her former teammates.

Henry zhu—Crimson photographer

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | February 7, 2019