The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 128

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 | VOLUME CXLVI, NO. 128 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

EDITORIAL PAGE 8

NEWS PAGE 7

SPORTS PAGE 10

Choosing a concentration is a milestone for sophomores

Leaves catch fire in Quincy Courtyard Monday afternoon

Women’s Rugby wins first-ever National Championship

HPR Exec Resigns, Citing Racism

By SHERA S. AVI-YONAH and AMANDA Y. SU

Sullivan Accuses Admins of Lying

CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The managing editor of the Harvard Political Review resigned last week, citing conflicts with other organization leaders over instances he described as racist.

Chimaoge C. Ibenwuku ’20 announced his resignation in a public letter posted to several social media platforms Wednesday.

Ibenwuku, who wrote that he was the only non-white member of HPR’s Executive Board, cited “longstanding organizational problems relating to race and racism” as his reason for stepping down.

“I have not taken this decision lightly as I have been a part of and devoted to the HPR for the entirety of my time at Harvard before this point, as anyone who knows me well can attest,” he wrote. “I have faced many instances of discrimination and witnessed many racist things that made me uncomfortable in my time as part of the HPR.” In his letter, Ibenwuku cited several instances when he allegedly faced discriminatory treatment. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment on his account.

The HPR’s Executive Board — which includes President

By SHERA S. AVI-YONAH and DELANO R. FRANKLIN

­

CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Harvard Political Review is a student publication that is part of the Institute of Politics. JAMILA R. O’HARA—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Russell H. Reed ’20, Publisher Wyatt W. Hurt ’21, Associate Managing Editors Katie A. Weiner ’20 and Jessica A. Boutchie ’21, and Staff Director Alexis M. Mealey ’21 — wrote in an emailed statement that they dispute Ibenwuku’s account of his experience at the publication.

“While we disagree with the account presented on social media, we believe it is inappropriate to publicly discuss internal

Bacow Talks Gift Policy Review

By ALEXANDRA A. CHAIDEZ and AIDAN F. RYAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

University President Lawrence S. Bacow said in an interview last week that Harvard’s review of its gift policies is a “more substantial review” than has been previously conducted in light of a simultaneous inquiry into billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s donations to the University.

Bacow said last week that the school’s gift policies are reviewed regularly, but this review differs from a typical review.

“The gift policies are routinely reviewed and undergo update all the time,” Bacow said. “This is a more searching review.”

Harvard has come under fire in recent years for its ties to controversial donors like Epstein, philanthropist and drug marketer Arthur M. Sackler, and the ­

editorial or staffing disagreements,” they wrote.

In his letter, Ibenwuku specifically referenced a Nov. 3 HPR story titled “Renaissance for Rwanda’s Dogs,” which he said argues that the “supposed change in Rwanda’s treatment of dogs was a sign of development, cultural advancement, and nationwide post-genocidal healing.” “[The article] was poorly sourced and logically unsound.

Additionally, it trafficked heavily in anti-Black and anti-African tropes and false narratives,” he wrote.

“As an African (although I was born and raised in the US, both of my parents are Nigerian immigrants), I was horrified at the thought of the HPR publishing such a low quality and frankly racist article.”

The HPR Executive Board

SEE HPR PAGE 7

By SYDNIE M. COBB CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Saudi Arabian government.

University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 — who chairs the University Gift Policy Committee — said in an October interview that Harvard has to take a “principled approach” in deciding when to return gifts.

In the interview, Bacow stressed that the gift policy review is ongoing.

“It’s a more substantial review than what we’ve had in the past, and it’s not yet complete,” Bacow said.

In addition to these policy considerations, Bacow announced a formal review into Epstein’s multi-million dollar donations in September. Vice President and General Counsel Diane E. Lopez announced weeks later that the Office of the General Counsel would lead the investigation.

In August, Epstein died by apparent suicide in a Manhattan

SEE BACOW PAGE 7

Fifty-two percent of surveyed voters between the ages of 18 to 29 and 58 percent of general election voters under 30 support the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump, according to an Institute of Politics poll released Monday.

The biannual Harvard Youth Poll garnered more than 2,000 responses nationwide.

“There is high support among most demographics for impeachment and removal; however, we can see that young voters are decided and divided,” said Justin Y. Tseng ’22, a member of Harvard Public Opinion Project, the group that conducted the poll. “If they support impeachment and removal, they are likely to stay in that position. If they don’t, they are likely to stay in that position as well.”

IOP Director Mark D. Gearan ’78 said on a press call that the fall 2019 iteration of the poll ­

SEE POLL PAGE 9

The Harvard Public Opinion Project, which conducts an annual poll, is one of the programs at the Institute of Politics. STEVE S. LI—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Nobel Laureate Lech Walesa Talks Post-Soviet Union European Politics

By SHARON XU and ANDY Z. WANG CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Lech Walesa, the former president of Poland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, discussed European politics since the fall of the Berlin Wall at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum Monday night.

Moderated by Grzegorz Ekiert, director of Harvard’s Center for European Studies, the talk — which drew a full crowd — covered a range of topics, from the role of education in political discourse to the geopolitical influence of China and Russia.

Mark C. Elliott, the vice provost for international affairs, opened the event by introducing Walesa, and contrasting the current global political climate with the one in which Walesa became a pro-democracy activ­

Students utilize this laundry facility, located in the basement of Canaday. JOSHUA A. NG—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Harvard Today 2

SEE SULLIVAN PAGE 7

IOP Poll Finds Youth Favor Impeachment

SEE PAGE 9

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Former Winthrop House Faculty Dean Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. accused Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay of repeatedly lying about their reasons for dismissing him last semester at an event held Friday.

Sullivan and former co-faculty dean Stephanie R. Robinson left Winthrop this summer after Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana announced he would not renew their contract.

The decision came after months of student protests, open letters, and petitions calling on the College to remove him because he joined Harvey Weinstein’s legal team as the film producer faced rape charges.

“The actions were cowardly and craven and Dean Gay and Dean Khurana just consistently and repeatedly lied to the student body and they know better,” he said on Friday at an event held by the Harvard Undergraduate Constitutional Law Society.

Roughly ten people attended the talk. Sullivan, who remains a professor at Harvard ­

Law School, spent much of the event speaking about his career as a criminal defense lawyer. His comments about Gay and Khurana came toward the end of the event in response to questions about his leadership of Winthrop House.

The Crimson reported in May that a dozen current and former Winthrop staff alleged he and Robinson fostered a hostile work environment for more than a decade, prompting more than half of the tutor staff to threaten to quit at one point.

Khurana announced he would not renew Sullivan and Robinson a day after The Crimson published its report.

Sullivan made his comments about Gay and Khurana in response to a question about the College’s handling of the situation in Winthrop. He said he believes that Gay and Khurana lied to the student body “about everything.”

“Their problem was that I represented an unpopular person,” he said. “They said it to my face and other senior members said it to my face and then they turned around and lied to the student body.”

College administrators have

News 7

Editorial 8

Sports 10

TODAY’S FORECAST

ist.

“We live today in an age of the need to build new walls, bigger walls, higher walls,” Elliott said. “But many here can still remember the time when our leaders called for the tearing down of walls.”

During his talk — which he delivered in Polish and was interpreted in real time — Walesa said he wanted to inspire members of the younger generation to address the changing world around them. In his view, the Cold War era of “deep divisions” has given way to a modern age of “deep global uncertainty” spurred by globalization and technology.

“I want to encourage you young people to contribute to constructing the new era, this new world,” Walesa said.

Walesa also discussed the hostilities that separated the world into two different blocs

RAINY High: 43 Low: 36

in the late 20th century, which he described as the “good empire” of the United States and the “evil empire” of the Soviet Union, respectively.

“Wherever people have problems, felt oppression, and were oppressed, they could count on the U.S. to come to the rescue,” Walesa said. “Now once the ‘evil empire’ has collapsed, what should the role of the U.S. be?”

Later in his address, Walesa spoke about the difficulties of integrating Europe, which he said he believes is especially challenging when each country has its own culture.

“The major question that Europe needs to answer is, ‘What should serve as the true foundation for this new integrated structure we are establishing?’”

Walesa said. “Each country has

SEE FORUM PAGE 9

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laundry

THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

PAGE 2

HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Butter Chicken Pork Sausage Sub Palak Paneer

For Dinner Mesquite Rotisserie Chicken Deep-Fried Prok Cutlet Savory Baked Tofu

TODAY’S EVENTS Ride or DIY Queen’s Head Pub, 6-8 p.m.

IN THE REAL WORLD

It’s the one time of year to pull that school spirit out of your closet! Join the College Events Boars in Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub to decorate a fanny pack and bandana for The Game this weekend. You’ll be cold this weekend, but you can be cold in style.

U.S. Reverses Long Standing Policy of Calling Israeli West Bank Settlements Illegal

The Trump administration reversed four decades of American foreign policy when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday that Israel’s settlements in the West Bank are not a violation of international law. This policy move aligns with other decisions this administration has made in regard to the United States’ relationship with Israel.

Digital Currency Wars: A National Security Crisis Simulation JFK Jr. Forum, 6-7:15 p.m.

Have you ever wondered what it really looks like when the National Security Council convenes in the middle of a crisis? Come watch a simulation led by former senior administration officials at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School!

Rookie Class — Smooth & Rhythm Lowell Lecture Hall, 10 p.m.-12 a.m.

Take a break from studying and grab your rookie dancing shoes! Stop by Lowell Lecture Hall for a no-pressure, no experience, no partner required dance class led by the Harvard Ballroom Dance Team.

Trump Administration Senior Official Resigns Harvard’s campus transitions to the winter season as colder days set in and leaves finish falling.

JAMILA R. O’HARA—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

DAILY BRIEFING The managing editor of the Harvard Political Review resigned last week, citing conflicts with other organization leaders over instances he described as racist. Chimaoge C. Ibenwuku ’20 announced his resignation in a public letter posted to several social media platforms Wednesday. Ibenwuku, who wrote that he was the only non-white member of HPR’s Executive Board, cited “longstanding organizational problems relating to race and racism” as his reason for stepping down. In other news, former Winthrop House Faculty Dean Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. accused Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay of repeatedly lying about their reasons for dismissing him last semester at an event held Friday.

Senior State Department official and Trump appointee Mina Chang resigned after it was reported that she embellished her resume, including inventing a position she claimed to have held at a United Nations panel.

Iranian Involvement in Iraq Exposed After Document Leak Leaked documents show how deeply and intricately involved Tehran is in all aspects of Iraqi politics, economics, and religious life. These documents also show how Iran and the United States have been using Iraq to establish espionage efforts.

AROUND THE IVIES CORNELL The family of Antonio Tsialas, a Cornell student who died in October, has hired an Ithaca-based private investigator and published advertisements with a reward of $10,000 for information in a push to find answers about the death of their son, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. Tsialas was last seen at an unsanctioned “dirty rush” Phi Kappa Psi fraternity party on Oct. 24. His body was found on Oct. 26 in Fall Creek gorge. The cause of death has not been released, but police believe there is no indication of foul play.

PENN

Penn Law School Dean Ted Ruger announced on Monday that the school was reversing its decision to shorten its name to “Carey Law,” and would become known as “Penn Law” again after backlash from students, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported.

The W.P. Carey Foundation donated $125 million to Penn Law earlier this month — the largest donation to any law school — which prompted the name change. More than 3,000 people signed a petition to revert the name, arguing that “Carey Law” is not as recognizable to employers and does not carry the prestige of “Penn Law.” The short name will become “Penn Carey Law” in fall 2022.

PRINCETON

Princeton students will be able to receive academic credit through internships on a departmental basis beginning in summer 2020, the Daily Princetonian reported. Undergraduate international students will also be able to receive curricular practical training credit for certain internships, allowing them to find summer work in the United States.

Credit from internships will not count toward a student’s degree, but it allows students to access internships that require them to accrue academic credit.

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

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

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE

Associate Managing Editor Jamie D. Halper ’20

Arts Chairs Kaylee S. Kim ’20 Caroline A. Tsai ’20

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

Associate Business Manager Amy E. Zhou ’20

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

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

Editorial Chairs Jessenia N. Class ’20 Robert Miranda ’20

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 Andrew J. Zucker ’20

Design Editor Margot E. Shang ’21

Assistant Night Editors James S. Bikales ’22 Simone C. Chu ’21

Photo Editors Kathryn S. Kuhar ’20 Matthew J. Mardo ’21

Story Editors Simone C. Chu ’21 Angela N. Fu ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Molly C. McCafferty ’21 Meena Venkataramanan ’21

Editorial Editor Anna M. Kuritzkes ’20 Sports Editor Joseph W. Minatel ’21

CORRECTIONS The Nov. 18 article “Temp Policy Brings Changes” incorrectly stated that contingent workers serving as videographers are capped at 11 hours of work per week.

In fact, the cap is 14 hours per week though scheduling issues often prevents videographers from working more than 11 hours. The article also incorrectly stated that internal research last year revealed that roughly 300 temporary and parttime workers at Harvard worked “excessive” hours without overtime pay. In fact, the research showed that the workers did not receive the benefits they were owed as a result of their extra work. Finally, the article incorrectly stated that the new policy requires Harvard to provide staff-level compensation and benefits for some contingent workers. In fact, the new policy limits the timeframe during which they can be employed.

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 19, 2019 | PAGE 3

ARTS

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the week in arts

AFTER MIGRATION:

Fashion Designer Walé Oyéjidé in Conversation with Harvard Professor Teju Cole JADEN S. THOMPSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF THE HARVARD ARTLAB

“Picture a refugee,” Nigerian fashion designer Walé Oyéjidé said, standing at the front of Menschel Hall in Harvard Art Museums on Nov. 12. “Do you see someone who is covered in ash, sitting in the back of an ambulance?”

Oyéjidé prefaced a screening of his short documentary, ]“After Migration: Calabria,” by urging his audience to challenge their preconceptions of refugees, underscoring the mission of his overarching project “After Migration.” “After Migration” aims to humanize migrants and share aspects of their stories that are often left out. Oyéjidé discussed this project with creative writing Professor Teju Cole at the Harvard Art Museums event called “After Migration: In Defense of Using Beauty to Illustrate the Journey of Those Who Have Suffered.”

A former lawyer, Oyéjidé is now the creative director and founder of the fashion company Ikiré Jones. His designs featured prominently in the 2018 Marvel blockbuster “Black Panther.” The Ikiré Jones website describes its work as “intended to serve as a reminder that the luxury of birth should not dictate one’s capacity for compassion.”

The event began with the showing of “After Migration: Calabria,” which Oyéjidé co-directed. The documentary follows two young African migrants who move to Calabria,

Italy to seek better lives and opportunities. One migrant is an 18-year-old boy from Gambia who wants to pursue soccer professionally. “I wish there was a way to make us physically closer or able to see each other more often,” he said to his family back home. The other migrant is a young woman from Nigeria, who brought her toddler with her to Calabria.

“When she grows up, I have a lot to tell her,” she says, in reference to both her journey to Europe and her family that remains in Africa. According to Oyéjidé, the documentation of their lives in Calabria is intended to portray migration as multidimensional, focusing on the human element of their journeys.

The migrants in “After Migration: Calabria” were also paid to model Oyéjidé’s designs, which they showcase in the documentary. Against Italian vistas, they wear clothes from his line, which feature depictions of medieval, renaissance, and baroque European art.

“It’s taking the highest apex of beauty and injecting oneself into that,” he said. “We have been historically programmed, and I think rightly so, [to think] that a Michaelangelo or a Caravaggio are gorgeous works made by humankind. If you’re thinking about a population that is seen as less than, what [is the] most effective way to make them be treated otherwise, but to inject them within the most classically accepted form of beauty.”

Cole and Oyéjidé went on to discuss why the topic of migration, as well as the danger and incarceration it encompasses, are not topics of urgency in society the way that climate change is. They agreed that this omission can be explained by the fact that migrants usually don’t look like most Americans, and their experiences may feel far removed and unrelatable to some. Taking into consideration the reality that all Americans who are not indigenous to the land have immigrant ancestors, Cole suggested that the urgency of immigration is deliberately suppressed, and distance from borders encourages this suppression. “[We have to] be infuriated by and just staunchly refuse any notion that our human responsibilities stop at arbitrarily drawn national borders,” Cole said.

The way that Oyéjidé and Cole encouraged people to consider immigration resonated with their audience. “The biggest thing that’s coming up for me is what we forefront when we talk about migrants and these narratives of migration, and how the different depictions of that not only affect the larger conversations but also how the individuals feel about themselves,’’ audience member Molly Copeland said.

Audience members also drew broader, more universal lessons from the conversation.

“My biggest takeaway is that we all should endeavor to hold space for each other, as much as we can while still staying committed to what’s important to us — meaning carry our pain, honor our pain, but also realize that everyone does not walk with our experience,” Torya Beard said.

At the center of Oyéjidé’s After Migration project is storytelling.

“Storytelling is the lifeblood of migration itself,” Cole said. “That’s how you keep yourself alive through the desert. That’s how you keep yourself going through the water, and that’s how, when you arrive on the shores of people who think you’ve shown up empty handed, you have a sense of the wealth of your stories and how complex they are side by side with anybody’s stories anywhere.”

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

TUESDAY NINA MACLAUGHLIN Acclaimed local author Nina MacLaughlin discusses her highlyanticipated fiction debut, “Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung.” The book is a feminist retelling of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.”

Harvard Book Store. November 19 at 7-8:30 p.m. Free.

Wednesday BLACK NATIVITY Enjoy short 15-minute vignettes from Black Nativity, a cherished Boston tradition since 1970 at the MFA before it moves to the Emerson Paramount Center.

Museum of Fine Arts. November 20 at 6:30-8 p.m. Free with MFA admission.

Thursday MAKING OPERA MAGIC: A MASTER CLASS WITH MORRIS ROBINSON Morris Robinson, one of the most interesting basses performing today, will offer a master class featuring Harvard students performing selections from opera and musical theater.

Paine Hall. November 21 at 4-5:30 p.m. Free.

Friday

NOAM PIKELNY & STUART DUNCAN, AND SIERRA HULL A thrilling double-bill featuring some of the most exciting folk musicians today.

Sierra Hull opens on the mandolin, and Noam Pikelny joins Stuart Duncan for duos on banjo and fiddle.

Sanders Theatre. November 22 at 8-10 p.m. $70, $55, $40.

Saturday

HOLLYWOOD WHODUNNITS TRIPLE FEATURE A triple feature of classic Hollywood Whodunnits. Watch “Meet Nero Wolfe,” “The Kennel Murder Case,” and “The Thin Man” all for the price of one ticket!

The Brattle. November 23 at 3:30-8:15 p.m. $12.

Sunday

CHILDSPLAY WITH SINGER KARAN CASEY IN CONCERT A contemporary fiddle ensemble featuring musicians from the United States and Sweden performs at Sanders Theatre.

Sanders Theatre. November 24 at 8 p.m. $45, $35, $30.

Monday

HARVARD SQUARE BOOK CIRCLE DISCUSSES “HOW TO BE BOTH: A NOVEL” The in-store book club of the Harvard book store discusses “How to be Both”

by Ali Smith—a novel that draws on the techniques of fresco painting to tell the stories of the Italian renaissance and the American 1960s.

Harvard Square Book Store. November 25 at 7 p.m. Free.

19 November 2019 | Vol CXLVI, ISSUE XVIII Arts Chairs Kaylee S. Kim ‘20 Caroline A. Tsai ’20

Editor Associates Joy C. Ashford ‘22 Kalos K. Chu ‘22 Aline G. Damas ’20

Iris M. Lewis ‘21 Claire N. Park ‘20 Isabel C. Ruehl ‘20 Allison J. Scharmann ‘21 Caroline E. Tew ’20 Shruthi Venkata ‘22 Lucy Wang ’20

Executive Designer Mireya C. Arango ‘20 Ashley E. Bryant ‘22

Design Associates Amanda R. Stetz ‘22 Maia R. Zonis ‘22

Executive Photographers Naomi S. Castellon-Perez ’21 Mariah Ellen D. Dimalaluan ’20

ARTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 19, 2019 | PAGE 4

FILM

Winners of the Best Documentary Award in the 2019 Cannes Film Festival Come to Lowell House TOMÁS GUERRERO JARAMILLO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF ACEY TERRELL/SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT

On Nov. 14, Lowell House hosted an event with Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts, the directors of “For Sama,” which won L’Œil d’or, the Best Documentary award, at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Hamza al-Kateab, Waad’s husband and protagonist in the film, was also in attendance. The film has won no fewer than 20 different awards across several film festivals around the world, including the SXSW 2019 Film Festival and the Nantucket Film Festival, and has given worldwide attention to the ongoing Syrian crisis. A Q&A session followed the screening of the snippet of the film. The Harvard Crimson sat down with Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts to discuss their experience producing their documentary about the ongoing Syrian crisis through the five years Waad and Hamza spent living in Aleppo.

The Harvard Crimson: When did you start filming? What was the first thing you filmed in Aleppo?

WAK: So, in 2011 when the revolution started, I joined the protests. And it was so easy in Syria to distinguish with which side you want to be because there were normal people protesting, and there was the regime trying to make these people not ask for their human rights. So, it was so obvious that what we needed to do is to record and film these things because the regime was denying everything that was happening on the state media. Like when we were in one protest, you could see the security forces coming, beating people in the street, and killing them sometimes. And then you see the official camera of the state media coming and filming [as if to say,] “Oh, there’s nothing happening here. All the videos you’ve seen were fake.” I started with my mobile phone, as many other activists in the university, and with time, things became bigger and bigger. Every time, there was more violence.

We felt that we needed to go through to the background of these things and why they happened.

Like, beyond everybody you see. There’s family, memories, people, life. You need to capture the full perspective.

THC: When did it come to your mind that this footage could become a film?

WAK: It’s never come to my mind! Really, for the full five years — I was just capturing as much as I could. I’ve worked sometimes in the news, sometimes in small, short documentaries, and all the time we were trying to do our best in very specific symbol things. I couldn’t see the full picture when I was inside. So, I was just capturing, and I was pretty sure that — not just me, I think everyone who lived in those circumstances — we were feeling that we could be killed at any moment. We’ve never planned something for the future. Everything we were trying to do was just for today, maximum tomorrow, but nothing more. I was just like, capture this material every day put it in one hard drive, and just try to continue. If I could have sent three minutes for one of the news programs around the world, that would be amazing. But I never thought, “Oh, I want to do a film about five years, or three years, or whatever.”

HAK: I think the best thing — and I’ve been, as a doctor there, filmed by several films or long reports news — and it doesn’t feel real when there’s a script. Like when the cameraman came with the script like, “I want you doctor to walk in the corridor. I want to check the patient. I want you to do this.”

What was great about what Waad has done is that she filmed everything and then [tried] to build a story. There is no script written [demanding], “I want a child crying with his mother or something,” but when they wanted to build the story it was like, “Oh, do we have a shot of this? Do we have a clip of that? Do you want to tell another family story?”

EW: I think that is so true. And that’s one of the things that makes it so real and authentic. And one of the incredible things about working with Waad was that because she wasn’t necessarily thinking “Okay, this scene is going to go here and this is going to go there,” she filmed so much. You know, so all of this richness of their lives, and of the story of what happened in Syria was gathered together. So, you know, so much of it was there, and there were so many options that we had to bring out different aspects of humanity.

THC: Two types of footage exist in the documentary, journalistic recordings of the conditions and personal videos. For example, you include videos of your daughter and videos of your wedding. How did you feel about merging those two kinds of footage?

WAK: In many places when I start filming, I was like, “Okay, I’m now here, Waad who’s trying to be a filmmaker [strictly] to document.” But in some places, I felt that the camera became part of my life and my body. For example, in the poster itself, there is me, Sama, and the camera. I felt like these three elements changed the whole of my perspectives. And so far, I still see everything as a frame.

It was all the time like I was trying to live my life normally as Waad, the mother of Sama, sometimes just the wife, sometimes just the young woman. And then trying to capture these amazing minutes in my life. Which means, for me, that if I couldn’t really survive, this will be protected and no one can deny this. But at the same time, I was trying to be Waad, the journalist, trying to capture real stories.

And when we were trying to do the film, it was so obvious that to give people the full perspective, it needed to be a mix between Waad the journalist and Waad the mom. That’s what we try to reflect in

the film.

THC: When did you start putting these different clips together? When did it become the film?

WAK: So, when the film finishes, the last thing is when we left Aleppo. So, after I left, I was filming the whole five years. I was working in 2016 at Channel Four News in the UK. They have a program every day, and I was sending them some small stories which worked for the news. Because I have a good relationship with them, I went to the UK in February 2017 — it was just one or two months after we left Aleppo. And we were speaking more about doing longer news reports. Then I showed them some of the material that I have — I’ve done with them around 25 reports. We put them all in one website called “Inside Aleppo,” like a series of news reports — so at that time when we felt that this could be a very big project, they introduced me to Edward who worked with them before. I couldn’t do the story by myself. I was just left so emotional. I don’t have the good experience to do that big project alone.

EW: You know, people — because of the scale of Waad’s archive and what they lived through — I think everyone was thinking, “This feels like it should be a bigger piece.” That was one of the reasons they called me. But no one knew what it would be. Would it be on TV? You know, how long would it be? But I think we certainly felt from minute one — I definitely did — that it should be a piece of cinema, that it should be a long film because — just the stuff she captured and what she lived through — it felt that that was the appropriate platform, that it should be as long a film as possible to tell the story properly.

THC: Now that you have been able to share your film with the world, what’s next?

WAK: So, for the situation itself: This is still happening now. And I’m so happy to be a filmmaker and to do more films. But for me, I’m here just because of what I went through, because of a cause which I truly believe in. So I will try in my personal future — and with the experience that I have now, and with lots of good things which I’m now getting — to continue to do more stuff about Syria, because there are thousands of hundreds of stories to be told. The film itself now is doing very well around the world. So, what we are trying to do is to use it as a tool to shed light on what’s happening in Syria right now. The impact campaign we’re trying to do, which is “Action for Sama,” is focusing on the situation right now in Syria, about the attacks on hospitals and health facilities, which is happening a lot now. So, we work with many partners located in the U.S. and in the U.K. — one of them is Physicians for Human Rights. So, I think I still feel that there’s a lot of work to do — all the details of what’s happening in Syria, for accountability, for justice.

Lowell House is planning to have a full screening of “For Sama” before the end of this semester so that students can watch the documentary in its entirety.

TV

‘Dollface’: A Show About Feminism That Still Manages to be Sexist JULIA R. KENNISH CONTRIBUTING WRITER COURTESY OF ALI GOLDSTEIN/HULU

In the age of Instagram and Facetune, “Dollface” is trying to reach the pinnacle of female solidarity. Hulu, along with executive producer Margot Robbie, brings the modern American woman a show that speaks to the importance of female friendships. But for a show all about women, the amount of stereotyping that spills into sexism is disappointing, if not regressive.

The show follows a traditional 21st century sit-com set-up: The protagonist], Jules (Kat Dennings), has just been dumped by her boyfriend of five years, Jeremy (Connor Hines), and now has to find her own place in the world. Her process of finding herself focuses on one thing: reforming her female friendships.

In the pilot, “Dollface” suffers from a case of “tell, don’t show,” where the audience is drilled with exposition about how long Jules and Jeremy have been together and how much they’ve been through as a couple. It’s hard to immediately develop empathy for Jules for losing a relationship, given that the audience sees none of it. To make matters worse, Jeremy appears to be nothing more than a jerk, such that it is difficult for the audience to mourn with Jules for the loss of the relationship.

What does set this show apart from others is its unique, surrealist elements of storytelling. The show exaggerates many features of the female experience into indulgent metaphors. In the first episode, for example, immediately after being dumped by her boyfriend, Jules boards a bus driven by a “Cat Lady” (Beth Grant), who becomes her spiritual guide throughout the rest of the season. The bus is full of crying women who have all also just been similarly dumped. Cat Lady tells Jules that she has to reconnect with her female friends and that if she doesn’t she may end up like

a “guy’s girl.” The bus then passes a group of women in football jerseys yelling fractional “manly phrases” like “Who wants to chug a beer?” or “Does anyone wanna get wings?” And therein lies the issue with this show: It propagates the idea that men and women are entirely different species that can only get along when in romantic relationships.

While not every conversation in “Dollface” centers around men, they all do center around how women should act. Jules’ friends Madison (Brenda Song), Stella (Shay Mitchell), and Izzy (Esther Povitsky) spend much of the show trying to educate Jules about how the modern woman should behave in all elements of life. While there are clear character differences between the three friends, they all subscribe to the same stereotypes of modern womanhood.

Even their habits are the same: they all use Instagram religiously, they love parties, and they’re passive aggressive in arguments.

Jules is supposed to be the “relatable” character for the audience, but in every episode she is told she has to be more like her other friends. According to “Dollface,” there are only a few select personalities women are allowed to have, and the same goes for men. The undeniable presentation of “Dollface” is that straight men and straight women should be apart except in relationships, a view that is an unrealistic depiction of modern society and also inherently sexist and old-fashioned.

However, the show does make some witty jokes at the expense of this concept of modern womanhood. Jules works at a company called “Woom,” a clear play on Gwyneth Paltrow’s “lifestyle” company “Goop” for women with too much money and time on their hands. The show jokes about women having to go to the

bathroom together or being superficially nice all while Jules rolls her eyes. But in the show’s world, Jules is still the outsider because she behaves the opposite way of what she’s told to live, and what is most disappointing is that she seems to agree.

The show’s stylistic choices are actually well-thought out, and may be acknowledging the skewed gender dynamic. The show creates a ‘50s aesthetic in its font, title music, and eventually Jules’ new home, which is complete with an entirely pink tiled retro bathroom. Kat Dennings’ casting is also very well thought-out.

While she does do a surprisingly good job at playing the ‘relatable girl,’ she is also the closest thing Hollywood has to a living pin-up model, particularly with the styling in the show. She has pale skin, jet-black hair that is styled into soft curls, and bright red lipstick and intense winged eyeliner. Even the title “Dollface” is a play on a mid-century catcalling term that Jules’ ex used for her. So while the show acknowledges the gender roles it is trying to break, it imposes its own as well.

It’s clear that Jules should’ve maintained friendships while in a long-term relationship. As she says to Jeremy in the first episode, “We’ve hung out together like every day for half a decade. I don’t really know what to do now,” it’s important to value relationships outside of romantic partners so you don’t lose yourself as an individual. But the means she takes to “find herself” cause her to desire to be a stereotype of a modern woman. While the show is a lot of fun, packed with some genuinely good performances and stylistic choices, it exaggerates a rift between the sexes and perpetuates gender stereotyping — the exact opposite of what a show like this should do.

ARTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 19, 2019 | PAGE 5

MUSIC

Nine Years Ago, My Chemical Romance Predicted the Future on ‘Danger Days’ CLARA V. NGUYEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF COURTESY OF REPRISE/MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE

Remember My Chemical Romance? Is your go-to holiday jam their cover of “All I Want for Christmas Is You”? Does the faintest echo of a high G on the piano activate a primal urge to belt the lyrics to “Welcome to the Black Parade”? Did you once consider frontman Gerard Way’s flaming red hair the height of fashion? Do you like D&D, Audrey Hepburn, Fangoria, Harry Houdini, and croquet? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may be entitled to compensation for the emotional distress their 2013 breakup inevitably caused you.

Many MCR enthusiasts will find solace in the upcoming ninth anniversary of the release of “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys,” the band’s final studio album. After the

success of their 2006 rock opera “The Black Parade,” Way and his bandmates swapped their trademark marching band uniforms for futuristic motorbikes and neon ray guns. Their sound also changed as they channeled the dramatic flamboyance of their early days into focused, energetic bursts of power pop.

This anniversary’s significance lies in the album’s rich lore: Like its predecessor, “Danger Days” adheres to an intricate narrative.

Its 15 tracks tell the story of four renegades — the titular “Killjoys,” portrayed by the band members in the accompanying music videos — who use art to oppose an authoritarian government in a postapocalyptic desert wasteland with the help of a mysterious orphan known as the “Girl.” The setting of their imagined dystopia?

California, 2019.

With the year of “Danger Days” finally upon us, the anniversary of its release invites comparison between its reality and ours. The album’s promotional materials, including simulated propaganda posters and news broadcasts, reveal state-enforced conformity and global warming as the causes of the Killjoys’ rebellion and their dismal surroundings. Although government agents in vampire masks aren’t chasing musicians through pools of acid rain (yet), the uncanny similarities to our 2019 are hard to miss.

Inequality and discrimination persist, fueled by those who view our differences as a danger to their tenuous hold on power. Climate change threatens to destroy the world that has sustained life for millennia. Dogmatism and ignorance call truth itself into question.

And, just like their “Danger Days” counterparts, artists continue to confront these injustices in their work. The album opens with a fictional radio announcement by underground DJ Dr. Death Defying, who urges his listeners to “do it now and do it loud!” over a spirited guitar riff that leads into the first single, “Na Na Na.” The accompanying music video depicts the Killjoys’ life on the run from their enemies, literal corporate warriors in sleek tailored suits and mind-controlling masks. The Killjoys hurtle through the California desert at breakneck speed in a deckedout Trans Am, reveling in stolen weapons, salvaged cans of dog food, and — most importantly — music. As the Killjoys prepare for a decisive confrontation, the Girl holds up a stereo. Even though the encounter ends in the Killjoys’ defeat and the Girl’s capture, the lyrics’ menacing defiance shows that the fight is far from over:

“Make no apology / It’s death or victory / On my authority.”

The Killjoys’ story continues in “SING,” a brazen anthem to music’s potential as an agent of rebellion. Over swirling synths and propulsive percussion, Way embarks on an impassioned diatribe against “Cleaned-up corporation progress,” asking his audience to “raise your voice / Every single time they try and shut your mouth.”

In the video for “SING,” the Killjoys meet their end while trying to smuggle the Girl to safety. In the wake of her protectors’ deaths, the Girl escapes determined to carry on their legacy, representing the inexhaustible endurance of art.

“Danger Days”’s political undertones, though prominent, coexist alongside moments of extraordinary tenderness and nostalgia. My Chemical Romance never let listeners forget that the Killjoys’ fight for social upheaval stemmed from love, not spite.

Unlike the dreamy sentimentality of most pop ballads, a sense of urgency hovers over the album’s love songs. “Is this our destiny?

This world is after me, after you,” Way sings on “Bulletproof Heart,” an uptempo track that grows out of an unassuming keyboard motif into an arena-worthy cry for freedom. “Run away like it was yesterday,” he urges in the chorus. “Summertime,” whose ingenuously simple guitar intro elicits surprising melancholy, also explores the concept of love as a motive for escape. “How long until we find our way / In the dark and out of harm?” Way asks. “You can run away with me anytime you want.” On “The Only Hope for Me Is You,” he marvels at love’s ability to inspire courage in the face of adversity, while “The Kids from Yesterday” is a wistful reflection on youth.

Most of all, the Killjoys never let their revolutionary fervor get in the way of having fun. The spoken Japanese intro to “Party Poison” summarizes their carpe-diem mindset: “Life is short / And there are many dangers on the road we travel / So let’s dance!”

Whether or not you plan on dancing, the unbridled energy of the album’s faster tracks — “Party Poison,” “Na Na Na,” and “Planetary (GO!)” among them — will have you on your feet in no time.

As 2019 draws to a close, it’s time to make sure that our future is better than the Killjoys’ present. It’s time to follow their lead and harness art as a weapon against evil. In the words of Dr. Death Defying, it’s time to do it now and do it loud. Killjoys, make some noise.

THEATER

Modern American History Meets Opera in ‘Fellow Travelers’ JENNA X. BAO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER COURTESY OF LIZA VOLL

When most people think of opera, they think of pieces like “La Traviata” or “Carmen,” written hundreds of years ago and performed in another language. This is just one of the reasons “Fellow Travelers” — an American love story between two gay government employees in the 1950s, is such a bold new experience, entrenched in McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare. Gregory Spears’ opera “Fellow Travelers,” based on the eponymous novel

by Thomas Mallon, premiered in the U.S. with the Boston Lyric Opera, from Nov. 13 to 17. In the story, Timothy Laughlin (Jesse Darden), a young man beginning his career on the Hill, initiates a passionate love affair with an official in the State Department, Hawkins Fuller (Jesse Blumberg), while Senator McCarthy (David McFerrin) tries to identify and expel gay and lesbian government employees.

Effectively utilizing the DC backdrop, the opera deftly weaves fact and fiction, personifying the suspicion and mayhem of that political era through a deeply compelling love story. The Lavender Scare, in parallel with the more broadly known Red Scare, rooted out gay and lesbian people with the presumption that “sexual deviants” would be more susceptible to bribery and corruption from outside forces. In a contemporary moment similarly marked by unrest around gay rights and the suspicion of foreign influence, the story feels incredibly relevant. That said, the opera does assume a certain degree of familiarity with figures and events from the time, constantly referencing Roy Cohn, McCarthy’s attorney, Senate consultant David Schine, and McCarthy’s conflict with the army. This backdrop may not be widely accessible, particularly to

younger audiences.

The romance at the heart of the opera is, for the most part, gripping and heartbreaking. Laughlin and Fuller have a connection from their first chance encounter, but as their relationship unfolds they’re persistently plagued by Laughlin’s struggle with his faith, the imperative of keeping their relationship a secret, and the knowledge that they can’t have a real future together. Both characters are deeply flawed, making the heartbreak unfold realistically. Yet, the relationship is also based on a slightly uncomfortable power imbalance, in which it seems that Hawk holds the reins the whole time. From their first encounter, Hawk makes fun of Timothy for drinking milk, calling him a “growing boy.” Later Hawk also helps Timothy get a job, and when he pursues Timothy and guesses he’s the first man the younger man has been with, claims that he now owns him. The relationship and the hurdles it confronts are complicated enough by the myriad environmental factors around then, but Hawk’s dominating role and repeated instances of emotionally hurting Timothy can range from frustrating to unsettling, even if they’re realistic. Still, the audience finds itself desperately rooting for the two until it becomes obvious that their relationship only brings pain to both of them.

In terms of the music, each member of the cast delivers an incredible vocal performance. Blumberg and Dardens’ voices blend together wonderfully, and several members of the supporting cast including Vincent Turregano and Michelle Trainor are real scene stealers. Overall, the non-stop score successfully captures

the show’s overt and repressed emotions. However, there are some conversations and lines for which the opera treatment feels slightly odd, particularly mundane, relatively emotionless phrases delivered with passionate singing or repeated several times. In some scenes, the combination of characters and the lines they’re singing at once on stage are also curious — for instance, it’s unclear why a supporting character Mary sings on stage in a different setting yet simultaneous moment as a critical encounter between the two main characters. The experience of constant music also brings to mind the critical emotional potential in silence, letting the aftermath and consequences of a moment speak for themselves. That said, the operatic music seamlessly combines with the modern dialogue, and lyrics provided on the screen help the audience follow along easily.

“Fellow Travelers” also shines in its set design and staging. The stage is framed by an arc of six marble columns, reflecting both DC’s monuments and a sense of the enclosure the social setting imposes.

From the opening scene, a tree branch’s shadow across the whole stage captivates and sets the stage beautifully. Each different scene has several different pieces and unique decorations, efficiently distinguishing each space and the emotions within it. Reflective of the production as a whole, the design is carefully-thought out, complex, and communicates its message with warmth and depth.

—Staff Writer Jenna X. Bao can be reached at jenna.bao@thecrimson.com.

ARTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 19, 2019 | PAGE 6

BOOKS

‘The White Man’s Guide to the White Male Writers of the Western Canon’: Seeking Chuckles From A Niche Audience JENNA X. BAO STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF HARPERCOLLINS

“The White Man’s Guide to the White Male Writers of the Western Canon” delivers just about exactly what one would expect.

Of course, the target audience isn’t exactly “the white man,” but then, you probably could’ve guessed as much from the title as well. Dana Schwartz’s humorous introduction to prominent white male writers, inspired by her twitter account @GuyInYourMFA, briefly glimpses at the lives and seminal works of many literary greats while peppering in drink recipes and questionable life advice for the aspiring (white male) author of the next great American novel.

The main dilemma this book presents is what to do with it.

With no hint of narrative, the book leans heavily on its distinctive, ironic voice throughout, but it’s unclear why readers would read straight through more than 30 brief rundowns of featured members of the Western canon. While little known fun facts about these authors and their often ridiculous lives are interesting, the descriptions of their work are often too short to get a meaningful understanding of their importance to actually “navigate every dinner party you attend...with grace and aplomb.”

They’re more effective as inside jokes for people who’ve already read them. And, going quickly from one writer to another, it’s unlikely you’ll actually remember much without really trying.

Perhaps the book will be a blessing to cheeky academic quiz team competitors or will serve as a self-indulgent quick break for MFA students in between literary classics, but the book isn’t particularly well suited for anyone genuinely seeking education on the

canon, as the bulk of the jokes are meant for those already entrenched in the world of lit mags and fiction workshops.

The humor in “The White Man’s Guide” ranges from successful parody to mockery to excessive bitterness. Schwartz seeks to critique the stereotype of an elitist, privileged young white man horrifyingly confident in his own literary genius, a character that’s easy enough to imagine if not necessarily someone we can all think of in real life. The humor works best when it calls out the absurdity of this culture, these authors, and their texts, like “Byron died at thirty-six in battle because the alternative was turning thirty-seven, which is basically dying anyway” and “Even though he was technically born in Canada like some sort of weak-minded doughnut-eating idiot, Saul Bellows is still one of America’s most important writers.” Yet, other jokes are more on the nose (and occasionally a tad cringe-inducing), striking the reader as too obvious and exaggerated, such as, “my prose poem titled ‘Yes I Am White, But I Still Understand Racism Better Than Anyone Else,’” which ultimately produces a somewhat inconsistent tone experience.

The book continuously highlights the pervasive role of sexism in literature, yet it’s unclear to what effect. As the bios unfold, the trend of famous authors using, abandoning, and mistreating women is blatantly obvious; the number of the literary greats who preyed on women half their age is also stunning. Yet, the book hardly implies this should distract from the work these authors produced (although those too are often critiqued for

their portrayal of women). The book’s whole premise critiques the amplification of white male voices in “the Western canon” and a tendency to disregard works by and for women. The introduction explains this premise by stating “[white men] are the most widely read, the most celebrated, the most influential, and, if I’m going to be blunt, the most talented.” The phrasing is clearly callous and somewhat ironic, but save for “the most talented,” those attributes are hard to refute. Besides perhaps Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, most people would be hard pressed to name “classic” female authors, while Shakespeare, Dickens, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald (or at least several of their works) are household names.

Ultimately, a book highlighting the lives, successes, and most influential works of white male authors only broadens their exposure, celebration, and impact, and while readers walk away feeling the gaping lack of women in the collection, they don’t get any exposure to new female writers either. With chuckle-inducing, if not hilarious, writing, Schwartz presents an unextraordinary but entertaining experience. Thus, “The White Man’s Guide to the White Male Writers of the Western Canon” can provide a quick, fascinating read for a literary geek or anyone curious to learn more about this supposed world of MFAs and black coffee, but it tends to fall short in its more ambitious goals in criticism.

—Staff writer Jenna Bao can be reached at jenna.bao@thecrimson.com.

COLUMN

FLOAT (pt. 3) YASH KUMBHAT CONTRIBUTING WRITER

DESIGN BY MARLENA SKRBACK

K is woken hours later by a cursing F, crashing into the bureau on his way to the bathroom. He raises a finger to his lips and mouths the word quiet. He urinates loudly and — she is listening — does not wash his hands. He stumbles out of the bathroom — his belt is unbuckled and his trousers are around his ankles — and toward her.

You’re here, F says. K turns on her side and does not respond.

I’ve never been happier to see you, he says. She sees his hand slowly stroke her cheek in the bureau mirror. He kneels to the floor and waits by her side. I knew you wouldn’t do it, he says.

She sees him lean closer to place his lips on her cheek. We’re fine, babe, we always have been. He runs his hands through her hair. Trust me. She turns to face him and says, How can I? He does not respond. She asks again. How can I? He does not respond.

K sees F kiss her cheek, her nose, her forehead, her lips, pushing the question back into her mouth. He turns her back on her side. She catches the reflection of his tongue in motion.

She feels another wet kiss on her skin. He spreads her wings apart. She pushes him away. Breathing heavily, he bends down to whisper in her ear, But I love you, and continues.

K searches the mirror for strength, but the weight of the world and all its discontents pin her down. F is too heavy to peel off. She is still. Behind him, she can see the reflected moon, the wide and languorous shores of darkness surrounding it, broken only by pinpricks of diffused light. What she sees — solitary glimmerings in the distance — are stars still in the past. In the millions of miles between them and her, time has aged, transformed from past to present. She learned this in high school.

She is looking into the night of before. What might the stars see tonight, sitting there at the back of time?

The stars could still be looking down upon the world decades ago, on a night when K sat at home, only a child with her head in her mother’s lap. On a night when the room fills with the sound of a small television, a movie that her mother likes. The images are grainy, the colors are bright and gaudy, and spread outward in a cone of light. The television remote is encased in tattered plastic. All the room’s lights have been dimmed and outside, thunderous rain falls in fast, oblique sheets. Her head is heavy with drowsiness and she drifts in and out of sleep. She feels the rise and fall of her mother’s breath, rolling gently forward like waves.

K’s eyes suddenly flutter open sometime later. Her mother has covered her in a thin blanket — dark purple with a silky magenta border. She turns her head to look at her and, is it the glow of the television? the grace with which her face is at ease with itself?, feels love. You are so beautiful! she thinks. I want to be you. I want to keep you from the rest of the world. She does not say anything. Her mother, as if to tell her that she knows, strokes her hair and puts a playful palm across K’s eyes.

F finishes within minutes; he falls to the side and, though his grunts hang fixedly in the sky above the fishing village for days, is snoring within seconds. K does not sleep that night.

The next day, the couple spends the afternoon at the beach. F plays volleyball with teenagers from a nearby college. K sits on a towel and stares out at the sea: Its glimmerings reveal nothing of the deep world below, only dance mindlessly beneath the sunlight. Waves run after their white-frothed crests and crash against the sand; they turn in circles like chariot wheels.

Along the beach, children build sandcastles and chase and flee the tide, and families picnic on the sand, away from the salty spray of the sea. The whole world performs their roles for her

to see. She watches them, but from a distance, as if from behind a mirror.

On the horizon, K sees a ship, a beehive, sailing away from the mainland. It is golden beneath the sun, with a mast and sails sewn from threads of sweet honey, lighter than air. Even from a distance, she can tell that the bees aboard do not waste time with words; each breath, each sidelong glance at another sailor is a look of pure meaning. Some are reeling in the anchor to gain speed, some are sweeping the deck and rigging the sails.

And though the sun shines brightly down, there is not a shadow in sight. Nothing obscures the light. The bees beat with one heart and are set in motion to the song of their own fluttering wings, which hugs the sails and pushes the ship forward, forward.

K remembers reading a book by Zora Neale Hurston in high school, which opens, “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.” She can feel the absence of wishing, of wanting — of thinking wants possible — in her soul. She wonders, nervously, when exactly they boarded a ship and left for brighter ports.

She wonders if she can catch the tail end of a passing wind and reach the ship before it is on the open and endless sea. She wonders if she is out there, somewhere, waiting to be found again.

K hawks back some saliva with great performance and spits it as far as she can. She loses sight of where it goes. Maybe it carries part of her off, floating along currents of air to that honeycombed ship in the distance; maybe it lands on the volleyball that F spikes across the net.

—Yash Kumbhat’s ‘21 column of serialized fiction is called ‘Little Deaths’ and is a triptych of short stories that explore the literal and figurative interpretations of a ‘petite mort.’

PAGE 7

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Fire at Quincy Extinguished

By RUOQI ZHANG CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Leaves on a ventilation grate outside of Quincy House’s New Residence Hall caught fire Monday afternoon, sending plumes of smoke into the air and triggering a multi-engine response from the Cambridge Fire Department.

The fire occurred outside of the building’s Junior Common Room. Cambridge Fire Department tweeted that it was responding to a structural fire on Plympton Street, where Quincy is located, at 1:19 p.m.

The fire was put out by 1:40 p.m. University staff members were removing several filled plastic bags from the site while firefighters were leaving the scene.

Officers from the Harvard University Police Department were also on the scene.

While the fire was initially treated as a structural fire according to the fire department’s tweet, HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano wrote in an emailed statement that it was not serious.

“There was a small contained fire of leaves and debris in a ven­

tilation grate that was most likely caused by a discarded cigarette. It was extinguished by CFD,” Catalano wrote.

Cambridge Fire Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Smoke from the fire could be seen from Quincy’s dining hall, which is located above the House’s Junior Common Room, according to Quincy resident Mason G. Meyer ’20. Meyer was sitting in the dining hall at the time of the fire.

“There was a group of students. We began to smell the smoke, looked outside the window. You could see the just, like, plumes of smoke, ash piling up, which was interesting to say the least,” Meyer said. “It was small, just large enough to get attention.”

Students started leaving the area after discovering the smoke, according to Meyer. He said he went to the Junior Common Room, which smelled like smoke.

“I went into the JCR to check it out and it was not super fun in there,” he said. “It was really just filled with smoke.” ruoqi.zhang@thecrimson.com

BACOW FROM PAGE 1

Gift Policy Under ‘Substantial’ Review jail cell while facing multiple allegations of sexual abuse of underage girls. The Miami Herald reported in December 2018 that roughly 80 women have accused Epstein of molesting or sexually abusing them before 2006.

Though he never attended Harvard, Epstein has long-standing ties to the University. In addition to donating millions of dollars to the University’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Epstein developed close relationships with administrators like former University President Lawrence H. Summers and former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Henry Rosovsky.

In his email announcing the review, Bacow wrote that the investigation already found that Epstein made several gifts to the University between 1998 and 2007. The largest gift during that time was a $6.5 million donation to Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. The investigation also un­

covered roughly $2.4 million in additional gifts from Epstein.

In last week’s interview, Bacow did not give a date for when the Office of the General Counsel would complete the review, nor did he explicitly say whether or not the findings would be made public.

It’s a more substantial review than what we’ve had in the past, and it’s not yet complete.

SULLIVAN FROM PAGE 1

Sullivan Alleges Harvard Deans Lied repeatedly stated that the decision to let Sullivan and Robinson go was unrelated to Sullivan’s representation of Weinstein. Khurana wrote in his May email that the decision to not renew the pair was because the climate in Winthrop became “untenable” under their leadership.

Harvard spokesperson Rachael Dane pointed to previous College statements in response to Sullivan’s criticism of Gay and Khurana at the event.

“The decision not to renew Ronald Sullivan and Stephanie Robinson was not directly related to the Weinstein representation, but rather due to their failure to fulfill their responsibilities as Faculty Deans of

Winthrop House,” Dane wrote

The actions were cowardly and craven and Dean Gay and Dean Khurana just consistently and repeatedly lied to the student body and they know better.

Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. Former Winthrop House Faculty Dean

in an emailed statement.

Sullivan and Robinson have

previously criticized Harvard’s decision to not renew them, noting that they plan to use the experience to advocate for academic freedom at universities nationwide. The controversy has also drawn federal lawmakers’ attention — United States Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to University President Lawrence S. Bacow in early October seeking additional information about the decision.

HUCLS President Thaddeus J. Kennedy ’21 separately stated during the event that his organization had faced pushback for their decision to invite Sullivan. He said the group moved the event, which was originally planned to be in Leverett

House, to an auditorium in the Center for Government and International Studies at the request of Leverett Faculty Deans Brian D. Farrell and Irina P. Ferreras.

“We were approached by the Leverett faculty deans and they told us that we could not even have this event in Leverett House,” Kennedy said.

Farrell and Ferreras did not respond to a request for comment on whether they declined to host the event.

At the end of the event, Sullivan said he planned to return for a larger event with HUCLS in early December. shera.avi-yonah@thecrimson.com delano.franklin@thecrimson.com

HPR FROM PAGE 1

Citing Racist Incidents, HPR Exec Quits wrote in their statement that they have taken steps this year to make the organization more diverse and inclusive.

“We are committed to continuing this work under the leadership of our 52nd Masthead, which was elected on November 10, and remain dedicated to making the HPR a more inclusive, equitable, and representative voice for all Harvard students,” they wrote.

A day after Ibenwuku posted his resignation letter, Reed sent an email signed by the Executive Board to HPR members apologizing for the letter’s “impact” on the organization.

The email outlines measures HPR has taken in recent years to foreground diversity.

The organization has created two commissions — one

on race and ethnicity and one on gender and sexuality — and codified Title IX reporting pro-

I have faced many instances of discrimination and witnessed many racist things that made me uncomfortable in my time as part of the HPR. Chimaoge C. Ibenwuku ’20 HPR Managing Editor

cedures for its staff.

“His letter of resignation ex-

pressed concerns that are serious and important, and we do not take them lightly,” Reed wrote. “We want to take a moment to reaffirm that the values of inclusion, diversity, and representation have been fundamental to the spirit of Masthead this year.”

Former HPR member Henry N. Brooks ’19 said he thinks Ibenwuku’s letter clearly explained his reasons for resigning.

“It’s a complex issue,” he said.

“There’s a wide gulf between a Facebook tirade and a thoughtful sort of explanation of reasoning. And I thought that Chimaoge’s piece was very thoughtful, and it clearly outlined every measure he had taken before going to Facebook

and basically going to the public sphere.”

Brooks said that during his time at the HPR, he participated in conversations about making the publication more diverse and inclusive.

He said he thinks HPR spearheaded those efforts to improve the publication’s quality.

“Foregrounding that again is a big issue because it has implications for a lot of other big issues,” he said.

“The HPR, like most reputable publications, is ostensibly nonpartisan. And you can’t have a nonpartisan journal if it’s also kind of monoracial, right?” shera.avi-yonah@thecrimson.com amanda.su@thecrimson.com

The sights and sounds of Harvard.

Lawrence S. Bacow University President

“I’m not going to put an artificial date on the completion,” he said last week. “I’m sure I’ll have something to say once the investigation is complete, but until it’s complete, I can’t say.” alexandra.chaidez@thecrimson.com aidan.ryan@thecrimson.com

The Crimson @crimson_photo

Proud to cover Harvard for 146 years and counting.

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 19, 2019

PAGE 8

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

OP-ED

Declaring the Right Concentration

MIT Professor Esther Duflo and Husband Win Nobel Prize

A

ll College sophomores had to declare their concentrations Thursday, a milestone in their undergraduate academic journey. For some, the choice was likely clear long before they entered Harvard’s gates — less of a choice than a destiny.

For others, the idea of selecting a concentration was probably more comparable to pulling teeth. Needless to say, however it felt, it’s now done — at least provisionally.

We encourage students to strongly consider pursuing concentrations that will make them feel happy, engaged, and intellectually fulfilled during their time at the College.

Many factors go into choosing a concentration: passions held since the earliest days of childhood, new interests discovered freshman year, big dreams for graduate school, ideal careers, and familial visions of success. Unfortunately and inevitably, employability often worms its way into the equation as well.

In the reality of our economic system, some concentrations may lead more easily to employment than others, and some concentrations tend to be associated with higher incomes and greater tangible success — by which we mean some combination of wealth, social status, and security.

We recognize that these pressures often override other motivations and crite-

ria toward picking a concentration, and distributing our time more generally, as undergraduates.

That said, we believe that the extent to which people perceive that their employability is a function of their concentration is greater than its actual truth value. Most concentrations and the broad analytical skill sets they teach are applicable to a wide range of careers, especially here at Harvard where our academic paths will be centered around a liberal arts education.

We encourage students to strongly consider pursuing concentrations that will make them feel happy, engaged, and intellectually fulfilled during their time at the College.

Choosing a certain concentration, with few exceptions, will not close doors to careers later in life, but will open opportunities for you to study material that fills you with excitement.

For those who fear declaring a concentration because they fear choosing one will mean missing out on another academic passion, we offer this piece of advice: Selecting a concentration is not so much picking the one subject you will study for the rest of your academic career as it is picking the pair of glasses through which you will view all of your other interests and puzzles.

Choosing physics is not at the expense of Social Studies; choosing English will not deprive you of neuroscience; and choosing Women, Gender, and Sexuality does not mean you can’t explore linguistics.

When all of us get together with all our various pairs of glasses and all the

many topics we use them to look at, we get the marvelously dynamic village of bespectacled scholars that is Harvard.

If all of this still sounds terrifying, we provide a friendly reminder that despite the Nov. 14 declaration deadline, you can still change your concentration for many weeks — even semesters — to come.

Just as a concentration is not the end-all-be-all of your future, the declaration date is not the last chance to change your mind.

Just as a concentration is not the endall-be-all of your future, the declaration date is not the last chance to change your mind.

While it may seem like a daunting step, we hope that this declaration day, and declaration days to come, is filled with the sort of nervous excitement that is more excitement than nerves, more pride than self-doubt, and more joy than misery.

Congratulations, Class of 2022! Welcome to your concentrations!

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.

Submit an Op-Ed Today!

The Crimson @thecrimson COLUMN

Harvard’s Authenticity Problem

By AJAY V. SINGH

M

y first visit to Counseling and Mental Health Services, I sat across from my clinician on a lime sofa. I folded my legs and mustered up the courage to look my clinician in the eye, my chin perched on my upright arm.

“I feel like I’m… behind. I feel like I’m doing so much here, and it’s never enough.

And I’m tired. It always feels like everyone’s so ahead and figured out. I feel so unsatisfied, so aimless.” I sank into the sofa a little, folding my arms into my lap.

Ever since coming to Harvard, I’ve struggled with being my authentic self on a daily basis. During my time with CAMHS, I grappled a lot with the relationship between Harvard’s culture of exhaustion and the ever-present imposter syndrome, a localized manifestation of a problem existent at most elite educational institutions — that students might perform peace or even happiness in everyday life, but often experience a constant internal, silent struggle.

While not reflective of every experience students might have with CAMHS, my therapist was wonderful. But I noticed that the language my therapist employed to describe this self-curating instinct of Harvard students was often individualistic, not collective — the language suggested Harvard students might choose to project confidence was ultimately always a choice, one that might have been influenced by an overarching cultural norm but nonetheless individual.

My therapist would say, You’re doing this to yourself — it’s a student culture that you don’t have to buy into.

The focus on student responsibility for this community problem is one I’ve found as common across the university. I’ve thought a lot about to what extent this discourse of individual, student-centric responsibility for this problem is an accurate one, and I’m inclined to say that there actually is some truth to our responsibility in perpetuating a culture of exhaustion and in stigmatizing struggle.

We implicitly measure each others’ sleep schedules, or GPA, or the number of positions that we hold in student organizations, and collectively and constantly calculate about peoples’ social value based on those criteria and more. It’s a

norm that ultimately has created exclusive comp processes and an implicitly toxic academic environment.

However, there’s another culprit here that often goes ignored: an institutional culture that actively encourages and promotes the accumulation of accolades and achievements and neglects mental and physical health.

This mentality begins before we come to college, driven by the college admissions process. Yes, some students got to Harvard by focusing on their passions, and perhaps by authentically being themselves.

But when the Common Application has ten spaces for extracurriculars, it’s no longer a game of authenticity; rather, it’s a numbers game.

And if a student manages to keep up with those many different activities in ways that might look good when applying to a place like Harvard, it’s inevitable that the student loses sleep, or neglects their mental health.

However, there’s another culprit here that often goes ignored: an institutional culture that actively encourages and promotes the accumulation of accolades and achievements and neglects mental and physical health.

When we arrive as students at Harvard, we construct these false personas and suffer in silence not because we enjoy it, but because at Harvard, it works.

Not that students shouldn’t be rewarded for hard work, or that competitive things shouldn’t exist; there’s just no strong effort on the part of the College to encourage academic exploration or social transformation, in a way that balks the expectations of achievement championed by fellowships, or job applications, or really any other form of conventional success.

Ironically, Harvard’s most recent attempt to encourage academic exploration, the Transcript Project, is itself a competition.

When students feel encouraged to pursue such unhealthy understandings

of success, we become more robotic than human.

Instead of being intentional with our time at Harvard, we strive to mechanically fill check-boxes for whatever we perceive our next steps in life are; and when we don’t know the next steps, we pursue the default option available. It should come as no surprise, then, that the two most popular concentrations at Harvard in the past five years are Economics and Computer Science; or that a whopping 50 percent of Class of 2018 respondents to a Crimson survey reported that they would be entering jobs in consulting, finance, or tech immediately following their graduation.

While the “recruiting” for these jobs can be exhausting, they fit the same sort of criteria that most focused and dispassionate Harvard students might seek: a straightforward application process, and the promise of a prestigious and comfortable position in society.

There are a few simple answers to this immense cultural problem. Students and the College need to work together to eliminate competitive comps where we can, and make all non-academic spaces inclusive.

Faculty must learn how to be more encouraging of students of all proficiency levels in the classroom, and need to acknowledge that mental health is not only important, but a priority. Small things like mental health statements on syllabi and notes at the beginning of class go a long way.

Ultimately, students need to understand that it’s okay to not be okay. Harvard University Health Services should continue to make CAMHS more accessible to students of all backgrounds and all identities.

We also need to learn that pursuing a passion need not be mutually exclusive with success.

Only through academic and non-academic risks, through exploration and discomfort and failure, can we find a pure passion, a happiness that surpasses the cheap thrills of conventional achievement, and shed our mechanical instincts for a pursuit that is more real, more satisfying, more human.

—Ajay V. Singh ’21 is a Social Studies concentrator in Kirkland House. His column appears on alternate Tuesdays.

By CHLOE A. SHAWAH

M

y high school English teacher once told my class about how she made the personal choice to not take her husband’s last name when she married, as she did not want any part of her identity or accomplishments under her old name to be erased.

Nevertheless, at the conclusion of her wedding ceremony, the officiant of the wedding still introduced her and her new husband under his name only.

Despite her best efforts to avoid it, her name seemed to vanish the very instant she became a wife. My teacher laughed it off, calling it ironic, but I think she experienced the perfect metaphor for a social phenomena I am only beginning to understand.

In the middle of October, three professors were awarded the Nobel Prize in economics: Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, professors at MIT, and Michael Kremer, a professor here at Harvard. Esther Duflo is the youngest person to win the Nobel Prize in economics, and only the second woman.

Her laundry list of accomplishments include co-founding the Poverty Action Lab, directing the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s development economics program, and becoming one of the youngest faculty members to hold tenure at MIT. Duflo and Banerjee are married, only the sixth married couple to be awarded the Nobel prize. While a husband and wife duo winning the Nobel prize seems like an occasion to be celebrated, some media sources seemed to elevate one member of the couple more than the other.

After hearing of the couple’s receiving the prize, the Economic Times, the most read English-language business newspaper in India, and which claims to be among the world’s top three English business dailies, published a headline (that has since been changed) reading, “Indian-American MIT Prof Abhijit Banerjee and wife wins Nobel in Economics.” Duflo is left completely unnamed, reduced only to “wife.”

The verb “wins” has not even been conjugated for a plural subject. To be fair, it makes sense that Banerjee’s Indian heritage would be a focus of an India-based newspaper. However, even with this in mind, reducing Duflo and her accomplishments entirely to “wife” is a huge oversight at best, and grossly misogynist at worst.

This phenomena of reducing powerful and accomplished women to “wife” or speaking of them only in relation to their marriage is a plague that pervades American media as well.

When Amal Clooney, an accomplished human rights lawyer, gave a resounding speech at the United Nations, TIME Magazine seemed more inclined to focus on her baby bump, pregnancy, and outfit, rather than on her speech or her work combatting sexual violence in the Middle East.

The introductory sentences ironically read, “Amal Clooney was all business on International Women’s Day. The mom-to-be (who also happens

Why are married women referred to as “wives,” but married men are CEOs, academics, athletes, politicians, etc. in the headlines? to be married to George Clooney) stepped outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Wednesday, showing off her baby bump in a dark gray pencil skirt and matching cropped blazer.” Married female athletes are often described in the same manner, with the media coverage of athletes such as two-time Olympic medalist Corey Cogdell-Unrein, two-time World Cup champion Julie Ertz, and three-time Olympic gold medalist Katinka Hozzsu providing particularly egregious examples.

Here, the women are either left unnamed, described as “wives,” or worse, ignored, their accomplishments having been attributed to their husbands.Sometimes society seems to decide that married women are only wives, as if this is their sole important attribute.

Their accomplishments seem to fade away, and they become the half of the pair whose professional success is deemed to be less important. Why are married women referred to as “wives,” but married men are CEOs, academics, athletes, politicians, etc. in the headlines?

A New York Times Upshot piece describes a study showing that women who earn more than their husbands are likely to perform more household duties, as if to apologize for not conforming to the societal standard that women should not be as successful as their husbands and compensate for their professional success.While this standard has certainly loosened over the past few decades, this study and these headlines show that there is much work to be done. Women should never feel the need, consciously or unconsciously, to downgrade their professional lives or apologize for their success, and society and the media should certainly not do it for them, as we see with these headlines.

My English teacher, Esther Duflo, and Amal Clooney are far more than just their husband’s wives, as are Corey Cogdell-Unrein, Julie Ertz, and Katinka Hozzsu. Let us be aware of this bias, on our campus, in our media feeds, and in our futures. When the women of this campus leave Harvard, I hope that they will be remembered for the professional and personal accomplishments I know they will achieve, rather than just their marital status. I hope that I will read headlines with their names written proudly in big, bold letters.

They — we — are far more than someone’s future wife.

—Chloe A. Shawah ’22, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Cabot House.

PAGE 9

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Crimson Cash Back Online

By JOSHUA C. FANG and ETHAN LEE CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

A s Harvard students sought to use laundry and vending machines across campus this past weekend, they were met with a surprise: Crimson Cash use was disabled.

Crimson Cash is a payment system that students add value to and use to make purchases at locations on and off campus. Students can use the account for campus printing and laundry services, and spend it at University restaurants, vending machines, and some business in Harvard Square.

Arnav A. Srivastava ’23 said he first experienced issues with Crimson Cash Saturday night, when he was unable to use it to wash clothes. The only sign that the machines were not working was the text at the top of the payment terminal that read “Card Use Disabled.”

“I was trying to do my laundry Saturday night and I loaded my clothes into all of the washers, and I went to swipe, and I realized that none of the machines could be accessed because Crimson Cash use was disabled. I had to take all of the clothes back out,” Srivastava said.

While the system was down, students could only use quarters to pay for laundry — the machines charge $1.50 per wash cycle and $1.50 per dry cycle, meaning that a load of laundry required 12 quarters in total. As a result, some freshmen laundry rooms were empty Sunday night, and students roamed Harvard Square looking for change throughout the outage.

Campus Services spokesperson Michael D. Conner confirmed that Crimson Cash had been down for laundry and ­

vending machines, and said the malfunction was fixed Monday.

“I can confirm there were some issues reported over the weekend that impacted laundry and vending machines, but those issues have been largely resolved. We apologize for any inconvenience this might have created,” Conner wrote in an emailed statement.

James Chen ‘23 said that it was a “hassle” to collect the quarters he needed to do laundry.

“I had to get a bunch of quarters to do my laundry today because I was worried the machines would be broken,” Chen said.

Though the University did not send any campus-wide notifications about the issue, Dunster House residents were notified by building manager Lucia Baldock Monday morning that laundry machines were not accepting Crimson Cash and that Leverett and Mather Houses were experiencing similar issues. Baldock added that Harvard University Information Technology was “aware and working on repairs.”

Some students said they were displeased with the consequences of the Crimson Cash outage. “I think it’s pretty irritating, just because you use Crimson Cash so much, and because it interrupted my laundry schedule, but hopefully it’s fixed,” Allison K. T. Tu ’23 said.

Others took to their House email lists to complain about the problem. In Lowell House, Faculty Dean David I. Laibson ’88 emailed residents offering to provide quarters for laundry machine use.

“I’ll be in the dhall today starting at 12:30,” he wrote. “I will have quarters that I am happy to exchange for engraved green paper.”

POLL FROM PAGE 1

Sanders Most Popular In IOP Poll a nalyzed opinions of the 18-29 voting bloc regarding “incremental and structural change, specific policies, and how they engage with politics more broadly.”

Of those surveyed, 40 percent of young voters favored policies that “stand a good chance of being achieved as opposed to sweeping changes that will be difficult to carry out.”

On the other hand, 34 percent of youth who were surveyed in the poll preferred “big structural policy changes that address the urgency of the problems that we are facing, even if they will not be easy to carry out.”

John Della Volpe, the IOP’s director of polling, said he believes this trend is indicative of young people’s shifting preference for pragmatism over progressivism.

“In a race of progressive change and pragmatic change, when we look at the entire electorate likely to vote in November, we see that pragmatism is winning,” Della Volpe said.

The poll also asked surveyees questions about the 2020 election.

HPOP used generalized statements from the campaign platforms of the leading Dem­

ocratic candidates and Trump to gauge support for each ticket.

Among those surveyed who said they were likely to vote in the general election, the campaign messages of Senator Bernie Sanders (D–Vt.) were the most popular, with 24 percent of those surveyed supporting

In a race of progressive change and pragmatic change, when we look at the entire electorate likely to vote in November, we see that pragmatism is winning.

John Della Volpe IOP Director of Polling

the language of his ticket.

Messages from Senator Elizabeth A. Warren (D–Mass.) and former Vice President Joe Biden each had 21 percent support; 19 percent of those surveyed indicated that they supported the language of Trump’s campaign.

The poll also asked young

voters about five structural reforms: replacing private health insurance with government-sponsored coverage, eliminating the electoral college, implementing universal background checks, banning the sale of assault weapons, and instituting a mandatory buyback program of assault weapons.

The data showed each of these changes garnered majority support among young voters who indicated that they were likely to vote in the Democratic primary.

Background checks, in particular, had “overwhelming bipartisan support,” according to HPOP co-chair Richard M. Sweeney ’21.

Sweeney said reform surrounding the mandatory buyback program, medicare-forall, and electoral college reform failed to gather majority support among those who said they were likely to vote in the general election because young voters are unsure where they stand on these policies.

Sweeney said he believes politicians need to seriously consider the policy interests of the 18 to 29 voting bloc if they want to succeed in their respective elections.

“Young people are seriously considering these policies.

These are the policies the older generation has written off,” Sweeney said. “Candidates need to continue to explore and discuss each one of these be-

This is a significant cohort of an emerging voter bloc.

Mark D. Gearan ’78 Institute of Politics Director

cause we are listening and we are voting.”

Gearan said he believes the results of the IOP Youth Poll become more important each year, given the growing size and influence of the 18 to 29 voting bloc.

“By election day in 2020, the Millennial and Gen Z generations will represent more than a third of the eligible voters,” Gearan said.

“When you combine the high turnout and the sustained voter interest from the midterms and beyond, this is a significant cohort of an emerging voter bloc.” sydnie.cobb@thecrimson.com

FORUM FROM PAGE 1

Walesa Talks Post-USSR World Order its own history, has its own development.”

Responding to a question about public political participation, Walesa raised his doubts about the efficacy of democracy if citizens do not participate.

“I was taught that democracy was wherever there was ma-

jority,” Walesa said.

“And now, in many countries, the turnout of the election is suddenly not with the majority – the majority do not vote. So where is democracy if the majority do not go to vote?”

Florian Bochert ’23, who attended the talk, said he found

Walesa’s commentary about the United States’s role as a world leader to be particularly interesting.

“I did not expect him as a Polish person to that obviously state that the United States should be a world leader,” Bochert said.

The T closes. We don’t.

Breaking news, 24/7.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

Matej Cerman ’23 said he was excited to see the former Polish president speak at the Forum.

“I know all about him and as an Eastern European just like him, there were similar freedom fighters like him in my country,” Cerman said.

SPORTS

WEEKLY RECAP

SCORES

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VS. RUTGERS L, 74-46 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S SOCCER VS. PENN

L, 2-0 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S SQUASH VS. TUFTS W, 9-0 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. BUFFALO L, 88-76 ___________________________________________________________

FOOTBALL VS. PENN L, 24-20 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VS. LA SALLE L, 75-69 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL VS. COLUMBIA L, 3-2 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S RUGBY

Harvard Wins Its First-Ever National Championship

By LUCY CONNOR CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Harvard women’s rugby team was named the NIRA National Champions for the first time in program history this past weekend. The Crimson defeated Army West Point, 18-7, at Mignone Field in front of Harvard’s home crowd.

“The team and program could not be more excited and proud,” junior Gabrielle Fernandopulle said. “We talked all season about hitting our peak at Nationals, and it was incredible to see it all come together.”

The Crimson fell to Army West Point in September, 34-10, the team’s only loss of the regular season.

“We knew that they were going to be a really tough team physically and have some really strong runners,” senior captain Emily Prentice said. “But I think that we were really confident in our ability to manage the game and stay mentally strong the whole time, regardless of what might happen.”

The Black Knights came out aggressive and scored first, taking the lead 7-0. After many defensive stops by Army West Point, sophomore Sofie Fella was finally able to breakthrough the opposing defense with a dodging run toward the end zone. Right before crossing the line, she passed the ball off to Beese who dove into the end zone, making the score 7-5. The first half was a defensive battle as both teams were unable to break into the endzones once more; the score remained 7-5 until the break.

At halftime, Harvard’s focus was on minor technical adjustments and increasing the intensity level in the second half. Al-

though the Crimson was down two points, its confidence remained high.

“Even though we needed to make a few changes, such as getting a bit more depth, attacking the ball more and getting into space, we were feeling pretty loose and ready at halftime,” Prentice said. “We felt good; we play our best rugby when we are loose and we are just playing for each other.”

Harvard scored first in the second period with first-year Brogan Mior’s penalty kick to secure the Crimson’s first lead, 8-7. Mior ended the season leading Harvard’s team in total points, with six tries, 17 conversions and one penalty kick, for a grand total of 67 points. After this crucial penalty kick, the Black Knights never regained the lead; Harvard scored 18 consecutive points following Army West Point’s first try of the game.

“The penalty kick was definitely a turning point because it showed us that we were able to get ahead. We finally trusted that we could be in control for the rest of the game,” Prentice said. “It gave us the confidence to take a breath and just focus on playing our game. We really kept adding on pressure after that.”

First-year Achele Agada scored with about eight minutes left to extend Harvard’s lead, 13-7. With time winding down, the Crimson managed to hold of all of Army West Point’s attacks.

Dominique Cantave scored a try with almost no time left, to make the final score 18-7.

“This championship was built by more than just this team, but by the generations of Radcliffe Rugby before us that brought our team to this lev-

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS After avenging its previous loss to Dartmouth with a semifinal win, the Crimson took home the national championship with a victory over Army. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

el through their hard work and example,” said Fernandopulle.

“We are most proud that we won together, as a family.”

The miserable, snowy weather did not deter the attendance of Harvard fans and thus,

the team was able to really experience a home field advantage. Its stadium was filled with energetic Harvard fans, providing extra support and encouragement to secure the win.

“The crowd we had was

amazing; having fans who showed up even in the weather created such an incredibly unique experience for all of us,” Prentice said. “Having all of that support from the department, the student body, oth-

er teams and our friends made all the difference. It meant so much for us to win the National Championship in front of everyone.” lucy.connor@thecrimson.com

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY

No. 13/12 Harvard Easily Skates By Yale On the Road, 6-1

By STUTI R. TELIDEVARA CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — In another chapter of a storied rivalry, the No. 13/12 Harvard men’s hockey team faced off against Yale to finish the young season’s first road trip. Thus far, the Crimson’s offensive power and quick-strike ability had made up for the squad’s occasional puck mishandling. Fac-

ing a struggling Bulldogs team, Harvard looked to collect another two conference points and add another notch to its undefeated play.

In the end, the Crimson’s performance was a microcosm of the season so far. The visiting team capitalized on its chances, and solid goaltending nullified its defensive errors, as Harvard (5-0-0, 5-0-0 ECAC) defeated Yale (1-5-0, 1-5-0) by a score

of 6-1. Two goals from rookie forward John Farinacci and a stellar showing from senior net-minder Cameron Gornet (1 GA, .976 SV%) put the contest beyond reach for the hosts. “[We’re] always excited to be able to come here and get two points,” head coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “I thought we just battled. It’s a tough place to play, obviously.”

Just 50 seconds into the

game, Yale got a taste of the Crimson’s punishing offense.

In the Bulldogs’ zone, Harvard junior forward Henry Bowlby found himself surrounded by opponents but managed to get the puck to sophomore linemate R.J. Murphy. Murphy made no mistake, putting the puck by senior net-minder Corbin Kaczperski to give the visitors the early lead. Murphy now has goals in three straight games,

SIX FOR SUCCESS After several high-scoring contests, the Crimson leads the entire country in goals per game played (5.40) this year. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

while Bowlby has netted points in each of the past four tilts.

The Crimson doubled its lead as the first period came to a close. Freshman defenseman Henry Thrun shot the puck from the left point, where Farinacci collected it at the side of the net and banked it in off Kaczperski.

“I really don’t know how that went in,” Farinacci said. “I saw [Thrun] shoot it from the point.

I went behind the net and tried to wrap it around, and I think it might’ve hopped up the goalie’s pad and off his helmet and in….

But you’ve got to take [goals] how you can.”

The Bulldogs’ own pace brought plenty of chances, however. The hosts were the beneficiaries of a too many men penalty assessed against Harvard in the first, as well as three more minor penalty calls in the second. Gornet, who played backup to rookie Mitchell Gibson for the previous three games, was up to the task.

“I think every team, especially Yale, they’re going to want to try and get in my grill,” Gornet said. “Maybe they saw that I hadn’t played in three games, and so they thought maybe they could get into my head. But… at the end of the day I think I would prefer a game where I get a lot of shots.”

With Yale attempting a comeback from the outset of the contest, Gornet faced a barrage of shots but was able to turn them all aside — by the halfway mark, the Bulldogs had put up 20 shots already.

“I thought Cam was excellent tonight,” coach Donato said. “He looked calm, he looked confident. I think you could feel it on the bench, that the guys knew that he was locked in….

It’s a credit to him, after watching for a couple games, to come in and play that well.”

The Crimson opened the third with 1:30 remaining on a power play chance, having been outshot 28 to 15 to that point.

The 16th shot was another dagger: unable to set up the man advantage effectively, Harvard carried in on an odd-man rush instead, and junior defenseman Reilly Walsh fired a shot past Kaczperski from the high slot.

Just like that, the visitors were up 3-0, with most of the final period still remaining.

But the scoring was far from over. Both Farinacci and captain Nathan Krusko added tallies for the visitors, the latter with a shorthanded strike for his first goal of the season.

On the same penalty, however — a call that had coach Donato fuming on the bench — the Bulldogs finally broke Gornet’s shutout bid. A pretty passing play ended with senior forward Mitchell Smith punching the puck home; Gornet’s crosscrease lunge was to no avail.

Nevertheless, the Crimson rode out the last few minutes of the game, and added a goal courtesy of junior forward Jack Badini, to earn a weekend sweep. The triumph extends the current unbeaten streak to five games, which is the team’s longest since its Frozen Four season in 2016-2017 — although there is lots of winning to be done before coach Donato’s group even approaches that memorable 16-game stretch.

Despite the fact that Harvard outscored opponents 10-2 on this road trip, shot differential remains an area for improvement. By the final buzzer, the Crimson was outshot 42-28, a number that might not entirely be explained away by the team’s game-long lead. As long as Harvard has the kind of performances in net it has been seeing, though, it can afford for its team defense to be a work in progress.

“At the end of the day, my job is to stop pucks,” Gornet said.

“If I’m going to have to stop 40 shots a night, then that’s what I’m going to have to do. stuti.telidevara@thecrimson.com