The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLVI, No. 62 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | monday, april 29, 2019
editorial PAGE 4
news PAGE 5
sports PAGE 6
Harvard must close the gender pay gap among its faculty.
The College unveiled a new public service initiative for the summer.
A senior is set to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Dallas Cowboys.
Activists Rally During Heat Week Bacow Fights Endowment Tax By alexandra a. chaidez and aidan f. ryan Crimson Staff Writers
Seventeen-year-old climate activist Jamie S. Margolin shouts at the Flood Harvard rally Friday. Margolin attended the rally, intending to call on administrators to divest from fossil fuels, while on her spring break kai r. mcnamee—Crimson photographer By alexandra a. chaidez Crimson Staff Writer
Nearly one hundred students, alumni, and Cambridge residents braved the cold and rain to rally for fossil fuel divestment in Tercentenary Theatre Friday, bringing Heat Week to a close.
Heat Week first began in April 2015 as a week-long protest organized by Divest Harvard — a fossil fuel divestment advocacy group. At the time, students and faculty members blockaded Massachusetts Hall for a week, occupied the Harvard Alumni Association headquarters for two days, and
blockaded University Hall multiple times. This year, after a week of panels, teach-ins, and civil disobedience training, ralliers gathered Friday to listen to speeches from climate change activists and Harvard affiliates; sing songs about the environment; and chant divestment slo-
gans. Cambridge Mayor Marc C. McGovern, who spoke at the rally, called on Harvard and other local colleges and universities “to do more and to do better” and divest from the fossil fuel industry.
See divest Page 3
niversity President Lawrence U S. Bacow joined five other Massachusetts university and college presidents in urging United States Representative Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) to repeal the endowment tax set to be levied on Harvard’s next filings in a letter last month. Neal is chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees the 1.4 percent excise tax on endowment returns at institutions with endowments greater than $500,000 per student. Harvard’s endowment, the largest University endowment in the world at nearly $40 billion, qualifies for taxation under the 2017 Republican-led Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The University’s endowment was previously exempt from taxes because the school is a non-profit entity. The letter stated that Massachusetts is “disproportionately” affected since the state is home to six out of the 30 schools anticipated to fall under the tax, and who are estimated to pay about 40 percent of the revenue raised by the tax. “We anticipate the first pay-
ments under this provision are likely to be due later this year and hope that you and your colleagues will move to address it with some urgency,” the letter reads. “The impact of this pernicious tax will grow significantly over time, as more institutions are affected, and the levy erodes our philanthropic resources,” the letter adds. “We believe that this must be addressed swiftly and definitively to ensure that no precedent is set for such a damaging tax,” the letter added. Signatories of the letter include Bacow, Amherst President Biddy Martin, MIT President L. Rafael Reif, Smith College President Kathleen McCartney, Wellesley College President Paula A. Johnson ’80, and Williams College President Maud S. Mandel. The letter also projected the tax’s likely negative impact on financial aid. “At all our schools, the neediest undergraduates receive grants that cover not just tuition but most of their other costs as well,” the letter reads. “This tax, purportedly motivated to address cost and encourage aid, will make these policies harder
See letter Page 3
Chabad Events Discuss Hosts Racial Justice in Art Vigil Post Shooting By amanda y. su
Crimson Staff Writer
By ruth zheng Crimson Staff Writer
Roughly 60 Harvard affiliates gathered at the Harvard Chabad House Sunday evening in solidarity with the Chabad of Poway, Calif., where a deadly shooting took place Saturday. Hirschy Zarchi, Jewish chaplain and Rabbi at Harvard Chabad, organized the vigil along with his wife, Elkie Zarchi. Hirschy Zarchi, Jewish chaplain and Rabbi at Harvard Chabad, organized the vigil along with his wife, Elkie Zarchi. Speakers at the gathering included University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76; MIT Jewish chaplain Menachem Altein; Jewish chaplain and Rabbi at Harvard Hillel Jonah C. Steinberg; Jewish chaplain and Rabbi at Harvard Hillel, and International Jewish Student Center of Boston Directors Berel Grunblatt and Esther L. Grunblatt. On Saturday, a gunman shouting anti-Semitic slurs opened fire in the Chabad of Poway, killing one and wounding three. Several of the victims had left Israel for America to escape regional violence. Police took the suspect, a 19-year-old man, into custody and charged him with one count of first degree murder. The attack took place exactly six months after the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Penn. in October. Saturday is also the Jewish Sabbath and was the last day of Passover. Zarchi, the first to speak, said Saturday morning’s tragedy should be an opportunity for recalling what unites the Jewish community. He described Judaism as an affirmation of life and pledged to redouble Chabad’s efforts to promote and protect Jewish values.
See vigil Page 5 Inside this issue
Harvard Today 2
Hundreds of people gathered at Harvard to hear from prominent artists, scholars, and activists from across the nation about the intersection of art, race, and justice Thursday and Friday. The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study hosted the gathering, dubbed “Vision and Justice.” African and African American studies professor Sarah Lewis helped plan the events, which were open to the public, according to the meeting’s website. “At Harvard we seek to bring the arts and humanities to the center of civic life, to bring them to the hardest questions, including questions of justice,” Dean of the Arts and Humanities Division Robin E. Kelsey said at the event. Several high-level University administrators — including University President Lawrence S. Bacow and former University President Drew G. Faust — also spoke at the convening.
Prominent national political and artistic figures also spoke — including Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton, Grammy Award-winning music producer Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean, and American Repertory Theater artistic director Diane M. Paulus ’88. Throughout the covening, panelists engaged in a number of events, including “Citizenship and Racial Narratives” and “Race, Technology and Algorithmic Bias.” During a panel on Friday, Melody C. Barnes, former assistant to the United States president and director of the Obama White House Domestic Policy Council, and Damian Woetzel, president of the Juilliard School, spoke about the White House program Turnaround Arts. Hoping to improve arts education in the country, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities founded Turnaround Arts in 2011 under the leadership of former First Lady Michelle Obama.
See justice Page 3
Naomi Wadler, Yara Shahidi ’22, and Professor Robin Bernstein discuss the experiences of black children in the U.S. during a “Vision and Justice” event. amanda y. su—Crimson photographer
UC Moves to Bar Leadership from Voting By kevin r. chen and laura c. espinoza Crimson Staff Writers
chess in cambridge
News 3
Cambridge residents play chess during the final of Community Chess Weekend in the Smith Campus Center. quinn g. perini—Crimson photographer
Editorial 4
Sports 6
Today’s Forecast
The Undergraduate Council debated and voted on two proposals Sunday that, combined, rendered the president and vice president ineligible to propose legislation and vote, overturning more than 40 years of precedent. UC members first questioned the president’s and vice president’s voting eligibility last week, when Cabot House Representative Brandon M. Martinez ’20 pointed out that the UC’s constitution only states that “members” can vote. Both the president and vice president are considered “executive officers,” not explicitly members. The UC sought to clarify this
partly cloudy High: 60 Low: 44
ambiguity and first voted on Sunday to create a committee to interpret the constitution. After the UC then failed to pass a proposal that would deem the president and vice president members, the newly formed committee stepped in to strip the duo of their voting powers. The UC president and vice president have been able to vote for at least the past 40 years, according to Treasurer Jack M. Swanson ’22, who examined past UC records. The two pieces of legislation were part of a series of acts that the sponsors called the “Great Reform.” The first proposal, dubbed the “Great Compromise,” specified the committee to interpret
See council Page 5
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