The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 139

The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLVI, No. 139 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Wednesday, December 11, 2019

editorial PAGE 4

news PAGE 3

sports PAGE 6

Divestment protesters should not be treated with condescension

Khurana prepares for a strike continuing into the spring semester

Men’s hockey loses 4-3 to Colgate in overtime bout

Univ., Union Scheduling Bargaining Session Scholars Criticize Tenure Denial

Union members and supporters picket outside Massachusetts Hall Tuesday afternoon on the sixth day of the Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Automobile Workers’ strike. Owen A. Berger—Crimson photographer

By Aidan F. Ryan and Ruoqi Zhang Crimson Staff Writers

More than a week after Harvard’s graduate students union began its indefinite strike, both ­

University administrators and union negotiators have yet to schedule any new sessions to work toward a contract.

Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers went on strike

Title IX Annual Report Released

As Strike Continues, Not All Student Workers Have Joined the Picket Line

By James S. Bikales, Ema R. Schumer, and Ruoqi Zhang

Crimson Staff Writers

See Title IX Page 5 Inside this issue

Harvard Today 2

ing sessions that preceded the strike.

Differences, however, remain on key issues including compensation, health benefits, and a grievance procedure for sexual harassment and dis-

See STRIKE Page 3

Some Students Sit Out Strike

By Simone C. Chu and Iris M. Lewis

While disclosures of sexual and gender-based harassment increased by 20 percent in 2019, filings of formal complaints remained stagnant, according to an annual report published Monday by the Title IX Office and Office for Dispute Resolution.

The report, which reviews the University’s sexual and gender-based harassment prevention initiatives, highlighted the new measures undertaken this year, as well as how rates of disclosures and formal complaint filings have changed over the past five years.

Between the fiscal years 2017 and 2018, the rate at which Harvard affiliates disclosed harassment to the Title IX Office increased 56 percent. The jump from 2018 to 2019 was more moderate: While 416 students made disclosures in 2018, 500 did so a year later.

The annual report also found that Title IX training completion rates improved substantially as the training system expanded. The number of people who attended in-person trainings increased 50 percent in 2019, for example, and a newly mandatory staff training yielded a 270 percent improvement in employee online module completion. The Title IX Office also introduced a new bystander intervention program over the past year.

“Since the initial pilot, the program has been customized and delivered to faculty and staff communities across 20 departments at Harvard,” University Title IX Officer Nicole M. Merhill wrote in a letter included in the report. “The program continues to return promising qualitative and quantitative results.”

In addition to new

Dec. 3 after voting members overwhelmingly approved of a strike in a strike authorization vote late October. Negotiations, which began in October 2018, had produced 12 tentative proposals during the 28 bargain-

crimination cases.

University President Lawrence S. Bacow said in an interview Friday that the University has spent the past week evaluating an updated proposal submitted Dec. 2 by the graduate students union.

“We’ve exchanged proposals. We’re evaluating their proposal and will be coming back to them with another,” Bacow said. “So you know, negotiations continue.”

Bacow said Friday that new bargaining sessions have not yet been scheduled because the University needed time to thoroughly analyze the most recent proposal.

“It takes a while to actually analyze a proposal. There are lots of dimensions to it and trying to understand the economic impact for the University,” Bacow said. “That requires consultation with a bunch of different schools because it has different consequences for different schools.”

But on Tuesday, University negotiators offered a date for the next bargaining sessions with the union, University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote in an email that evening.

Over the past several days, union organizers have decried the lack of bargaining sessions since the beginning of the

Crimson Staff Writers

A s hundreds of graduate student union members and their supporters have cycled through picket lines across campus over the past week, students like Soufiane A. Aboulhouda, a Medical Sciences Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, have decided not to join their ranks.

Aboulhouda, who also conducts research at Harvard Medical School, cited his obligation to his students and his research colleagues as motivation to continue teaching even as others have set aside their work to disrupt deliveries, picket buildings, and spread the word about the graduate student strike.

As Harvard Graduate Stu­

dents Union-United Automobile Workers enters the second week of its strike, 19 graduate and undergraduate students who have chosen not to strike shared their decision with The Crimson. Their reasons range from a sense of duty to their peers and students, to financial hardships they believe would come with joining the strike, to fear about what a work stoppage might mean for international students’ visas. Others simply do not agree with everything the union is asking for in its contract negotiations with Harvard.

HGSU began its indefinite strike Dec. 3 after roughly 13 months of negotiations with the University on its first contract. Though the two parties have reached agreements on 12

See Students Page 5

By Amanda Y. Su Crimson Staff Writer

Hundreds of ethnic studies scholars within and outside of Harvard signed two letters condemning the University’s decision to deny tenure to Romance Languages and Literatures associate professor Lorgia García Peña.

More than 200 senior scholars across the United States who specialize in fields including Ethnic Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and American Studies sent a letter to University President Lawrence S. Bacow on Monday. The signatories include feminist theorist bell hooks and famed political activist and scholar Angela Davis.

Members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences ladder faculty who work and teach in ethnic studies also circulated their own open letter to Harvard affiliates Tuesday. The nine signatories comprise chairs, directors, and administrators of University institutions that support ethnic and indigenous studies research and teaching, including the Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights and the Committee on Degrees in History and Literature.

The University informed García Peña — who specializes in Latinx studies — of the tenure decision Nov. 27. Since then, University affiliates have protested the verdict by penning letters to top administrators, hosting a rally, staging a sit-in at University Hall, and interrupting a faculty meeting.

Both letters cite García Peña’s previous accomplishments and mentorship to students of color as evidence of Harvard’s misevaluation of her merits. During her nearly seven-year tenure at the University, she helped establish an ethnic studies track in History and Literature, published a book on Dominican racial and national identity to critical acclaim, and received multiple awards from the University for her teaching.

García Peña did not respond to a request for comment.

The nationwide letter argues the tenure denial signals that the University does not find ethnic studies “intellectually significant” in the tenure process. hooks, who signed the nationwide letter, wrote in a press release Monday that Harvard’s tenure decision represents a systemic inattention to the academic value of Black and Latinx

See studies Page 5

Dean Gay Reiterates Ethnic Studies Support

By Jonah S. Berger and Molly C. McCafferty Crimson Staff Writers

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay emailed FAS affiliates Monday stating that she would support faculty who wanted to create an undergraduate concentration in ethnic studies and emphasized an “institutional commitment” to the discipline.

The email comes as a surge of ethnic studies organizing has reemerged on campus. The swell of activism in the past week — the latest in a nearly five-decade push to establish a formalized ethnic studies program at Harvard — was spurred by the University’s decision to deny ten-

News 3

Editorial 4

ure to Romance Languages and Literatures associate professor Lorgia García Peña.

Hundreds of students and student groups have signed onto an open letter criticizing the decision, staged a sit-in at University Hall, and interrupted last Tuesday’s monthly faculty meeting. Though several of their criticisms have been directed toward Gay, she did not address the tenure denial in her Monday email.

Gay stood by the position she first stated last fall that FAS must hire more faculty who specialize in ethnic studies before creating a formal department to house them, citing professors’

See Gay Page 5

Sports 6

Students hold an Ethnic Studies sign outside Widener Library during a rally on Friday. Mariah Dimalaluan—Crimson photographer

Today’s Forecast

SNOWY High: 34 Low: 22

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

December 11, 2019

Page 2

Harvard Today

For Lunch Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas Dan Dan Noodles Kale and Goat Cheese Pizza

For Dinner Chicken with Green Curry Sauce Moroccan-Style Grilled Fish Cajun Black Bean Cakes

Today’s Events Faculty Speak-Out for HGSU University Hall, 11 a.m.

in The Real World

Head to University Hall to listen to Harvard faculty members speak in favor of HGSU. Some of the featured speakers include a lecturer in public policy, a senior lecturer in leadership, organizing, and civil society, and a professor of computer science.

Volcano Eruption in New Zealand Leaves Six Dead

Massachusetts Book Awards Holiday Dozen Cambridge Public Library, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Democrats File Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump

Take a short walk to the Cambridge Public Library to see 12 Boston area writers who were recently honored by the Massachusetts Book Awards!

The authors will be signing books and talking to fellow book lovers about their work.

A volcano on White Island, a stretch of land off the coast of New Zealand, erupted on Monday.

Six people, including several tourists, died in the eruption, and more are believed to have suffered fatal injuries. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that search-and-rescue operations were underway but stalled by further volcanic movement.

A wreath with a green ribbon sits atop the Joseph McKean Gate, adding some holiday cheer to the red brick walls of Harvard Yard. Kathryn S. Kuhar—Crimson photographer

Daily Briefing

House Democratic leaders submitted two articles of impeachment Tuesday, calling for President’s Trump removal from office. The articles alleged Trump sought investigations from the Ukranian government into his political opponents and “ignored and injured the interests of the nation.”

More than a week after Harvard’s graduate students union began its indefinite strike, both University administrators and union negotiators have yet to schedule any new sessions to work toward a contract. University President Lawrence S. Bacow said in an interview Friday that the University has spent the past week evaluating an updated proposal submitted Dec. 2 by the graduate student union. In other news, hundreds of ethnic studies scholars within and outside of Harvard signed two letters condemning the University’s decision to deny tenure to Romance Languages and Literatures associate professor Lorgia García Peña.

Around the Ivies cornell Student led a protest and sit-in last Friday demanding that Cornell divest from fossil fuel companies by Feb. 13, 2020, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. The protest at Cornell comes less than a month after hundreds of divestment protesters ran onto the field during the Harvard-Yale game.

The group of protesters at Cornell threatened to continue their disruptions until the Cornell Board of Trustees agrees to their demands.

Columbia

The Sunrise Movement at Columbia released a video titled #NobodyWins jointly with 17 other universities Monday, according to the Columbia Spectator. The video highlights the idea, held by divestment protestors, that fossil fuel investments hurt all parties. The Sunrise Movement is a group of students in favor of divestment and other environmentally-friendly policies. Members of Sunrise Columbia collaborated with Divest Harvard as well as other schools to produce the video.

yale

Several conservative professors at Yale voiced their concerns about the lack of ideological diversity among faculty members, the Yale Daily News reported. Four professors said they think political discourse is suppressed on campus. A 2017 survey found that nearly three-quarters of Yale’s professors identify as liberal. Yale has hired 84 ladder faculty since the beginning of a five-year initiative in 2015 to increase faculty diversity.

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PAGE 3

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | DECEMBER 11, 2019

College Prepares for Potential Spring Strike

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

Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana said in an interview Tuesday that his office is focused on “minimizing the disruptions” for College students in the event that the graduate student union’s strike continues through the beginning of next semester.

Members of Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers began a work stoppage one week ago, following more than a year of contract negotiations with University administrators. HGSU-UAW

boasts 4,000 members, including graduate and undergraduate teaching fellows, course assistants, and research assistants.

Khurana said Tuesday that his office is working to minimize undergraduates’ discomfort during the strike alongside administrators from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Office of Undergraduate Education, the Registrar’s Office, and the Office for Faculty Affairs.

“Our focus at the College right now is to do what we can to minimize any disruption to the undergraduate experience,” he said.

Several classes at the Col-

lege have already changed locations, switched exam formats, and canceled review sessions in response to the week-old strike.

Graduate students and faculty have instead taken to picketing in Harvard Yard, hoisting signs and singing labor-themed carols as they call on the University to change its position on several key contract measures.

The union and the University have reached agreements over 12 contract measures, but are currently debating competing proposals regarding compensation, health care benefits, and grievance procedures for complaints of sexual misconduct and discrimination. The

union has not announced an end date to the strike.

The strike may delay academic departments’ ability to report grades and prepare students’ transcripts. In some cases, students need finalized grades and transcripts in order to apply for jobs, postgraduate fellowships, and graduate schools. Khurana did not comment on specific measures the College is taking to address grading delays.

“In situations like that, we are working with individual departments and faculty and students to share those kinds of concerns and do our best in these circumstances to address

those issues,” he said.

Khurana added that the College is currently planning for a strike that stretches into next semester’s shopping week, when classes usually finalize their course staff and set up discussion sections.

“We are focused on minimizing the disruptions for our students,” Khurana said. “We will work together with our various offices to try to minimize disruption and provide guidelines and instruction for managing registration, new classes, et cetera.” shera.avi-yonah@thecrimson.com delano.franklin@thecrimson.com

Honor Council Finds Drop in Academic Violations

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

Harvard College’s Honor Council saw a drop in the number of cases it heard during the 2018-2019 academic year, posting only 64 for the year in the annual report it released last week.

This year’s figure is down from the 88 cases the Honor Council heard during the 20172018 academic year.

The council’s report speculated that the decrease in the number of cases may reflect an improvement in academic integrity at the College, or that it may indicate less frequent reporting of incidents.

“This decline may suggest

that there are fewer instances of academic dishonesty and that efforts to strengthen the culture of integrity on campus are having an impact,” the report reads.

“At the same time, the decline may also in part reflect a reduction in detection or reporting to the Honor Council, especially with respect to less serious concerns,” it also states.

In 52 of the 64 cases — just over 80 percent — the Honor Council found students responsible for academic violations.

The Honor Council hears cases on violations of the College’s academic regulations, including cases related to plagiarism, inappropriate collabora-

tion, cheating on exams, and academic dishonesty. The disciplinary body has 24 voting members.

Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana chairs the council; Brett Flehinger and Brigitte A. B. Libby, associate and assistant deans for academic integrity and student conduct, respectively, served as co-secretaries of the council in the 2018-2019 academic year.

The Honor Council may respond to academic violations with punishments ranging from formal warnings — or “admonitions” — to recommendations for dismissal or expulsion.

In 2018-2019, the council referred seven students for “local sanctions” from course heads,

admonished 14 students, placed 17 students on probation, and required 14 to withdraw from the College.

Withdrawals are normally temporary; the council’s report did not indicate that it issued any recommendations for dismissal or expulsion.

The number of cases adjudicated by the Honor Council peaked in the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years, clocking in at 115 and 128 cases, respectively.

More than 60 cases from the 2016-2017 school year stemmed from a single course — Computer Science 50: “Introduction to Computer Science.”

Consistent with previous years, the majority of cas-

es this year — 47 of 64 — implicated freshmen and sophomores.

Also in line with previous reports, most cases originated in science and engineering courses.

“Furthermore, as noted above, as the total number of cases decreases, the percentage of total cases involving firstyear students has been increasing annually,” the report reads.

“A broader pattern is clearly emerging, in which students early in their academic careers are overrepresented and juniors and seniors are underrepresented,” the report also states. shera.avi-yonah@thecrimson.com delano.franklin@thecrimson.com

Animal Rights Org. Says HMS Caused Primate’s Death

By JULIET E. ISSELBACHER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

An animal rights group alleges Harvard Medical School caused the death of an experimental primate and filed “fraudulent” reports with the United States Department of Agriculture, according to a federal complaint the group filed with the United States Department of Agriculture Nov. 30.

Michael A. Budkie, co-founder of the activist group Stop Animal Exploitation Now, wrote the complaint, which alleges the actions of HMS researchers constituted violations of the Animal Welfare Act. HMS administrators filed a report with the National Institutes of Health in September detailing the death

of a macaque in an HMS lab.

“On July 28, 2019, the [principal investigator] discovered a dead juvenile macaque,” the report to the NIH reads. “The macaque had strangled herself on her hanging surrogate cover, which was being used for enrichment. The macaque had ripped a hole in the surrogate cover and stuck her head through it.”

The macaque’s death marked a violation of the Animal Welfare Act, according to SAEN. The complaint accuses researchers of failing to handle animals “as expeditiously and carefully as possible in a manner that does not cause trauma, overheating, excessive cooling, behavioral stress, physical harm, or unnecessary discomfort.”

HMS spokesperson Ekaterina D. Pesheva wrote in an emailed statement that the school is committed to high ethical standards.

“We will continue to work to ensure that the important research will further medical breakthroughs, while being conducted in an ethical manner,” she wrote. “We recognize that it is incumbent upon us to continuously strive to improve our program and strengthen oversight in order to exceed the highest standards.”

SAEN’s complaint also alleges the experiment entailed the social isolation of primates.

“Since this project involves socially isolating primates, including preventing them from even seeing human or primate

faces, it is highly likely that this project caused these animals to experience unrelieved distress,” Budkie wrote in the complaint.

The complaint noted that, though the project began in 2015, neither of HMS’s last two annual reports — filed with the USDA — disclosed primates being subjected to pain or distress.

The complaint cited USDA guidelines on reporting “the common names and the numbers of animals upon which teaching, experiments, research, surgery, or tests were conducted involving accompanying pain or distress to the animals.”

“HMS has therefore filed several fraudulent reports with the USDA,” the complaint reads.

The complaint concludes by

calling upon the USDA to launch an investigation into the incident and punish the “criminal” laboratory with a fine.

Budkie said his organization believes the incident reveals significant issues with animal experimentation at Harvard.

“If Harvard can’t even keep the animals alive long enough to complete the experiments, then why should we believe they can do science?” Budkie said in an interview Monday.

HMS shuttered its New England Primate Research Center in 2015, after four primates died between 2010 and 2012. Jeffrey S. Flier, then-dean of HMS, said the center closed for financial reasons. juliet.isselbacher@thecrimson.com

STRIKE FROM PAGE 1

Univ. Yet to Meet With HGSU strike, and said Harvard not been responsive to their requests for scheduling more bargaining sessions.

“I just want to make it clear, they have not come to the table at all,” Lisa Xu, an organizer with the United Automobile Workers, said in a rally Tuesday before the next session was offered. “We sent them an email on Monday before our strike began asking them when our next bargaining session would be, and they have not replied. Our inbox is empty.”

Members and supporters of the union have been picketing at Harvard’s Cambridge and Longwood campuses every weekday since the beginning of the strike. HGSU – which boasts a 4,000 strong membership across the University – represents graduate and undergraduate teaching staff, as well as graduate research assistants.

We sent them an email on Monday before our strike began asking them when our next bargaining session would be, and they have not replied.

Lisa Xu UAW Organizer

Striking union members have withheld their teaching responsibilities — including holding office hours, grading assignments, and proctoring final exams — and halted all paid research responsibilities not included in their academic programs. Protestors also picketed in front of loading docks and delivery entrances across Harvard to block deliveries.

Bacow also said that while the University hopes to come to an agreement with the union soon, they’ll be prepared if the strike continues into the new year.

“It’s our hope that it won’t come to that, but we try to anticipate and plan for every contingency,” he said. aidan.ryan@thecrimson.com ruoqi.zhang@thecrimson.com

Throngs of Harvard Students Bare It All for Nude Lap in Harvard Yard

By BENJAMIN L. FU CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Masses of College students streaked around the perimeter of Harvard Yard at the stroke of midnight Monday as part of “Primal Scream,” a school tradition.

Around twenty minutes before midnight, members of the Harvard University Band — most of whom donned only their underwear and red coats — congregated around the John Harvard statue and performing for the gathered crowds of spectators and semi-nude and nude students. The student conductor climbed atop the statue to orchestrate the band below.

Participants gathered in front of Hollis Hall shortly before midnight, shouting “I believe that we will win!” and chanting part of The White Stripes’s song, ‘Seven Nation Army’.

As the run finally approached, one person began counting down from five seconds, before the mass of streakers headed in a counterclock­

wise direction around the yard.

Ivan Jara-Marquez ’23 said congestion early on in the lap in front of Matthews Hall resulted in chaos.

“It was a good jog,” he said, while looking for his footwear after the run. “My feet hurt a bit.

I ran with flip-flops, but then I lost a flip-flop and then I lost the other flip-flop.”

The biannual event, now decades-old, involves students running at least one lap in the nude around Harvard Yard at midnight at the end of each semester’s reading period, signifying the beginning of final exams for the fall or spring term.

Conditions around midnight were humid with a light, onand-off drizzle. This winter’s Primal Scream participants ran in temperatures hovering around the high-50s.

Benjamin Chang ’23 said he was grateful his first Primal Scream occurred in what he described as optimal conditions.

“It’s beautiful. It’s perfect weather, almost 60 degrees,” he said. “The rain just makes it way more fun.”

A number of tourists and other spectators photographed the procession of streakers, which caused mixed feelings among the participating students. Maria V. Paredes ’20, who participated for the first time, said she was annoyed at one photographer who she said pointed his camera at her. “But, what are you going to do, I guess?” she said. “Not worth not doing it.”

Running through the final leg of the lap, one streaker swatted a spectator’s phone out of his hand into a puddle, while others made an effort to cover up when passing the spectator-heavy portion of the lap.

Jonathan C. Luo ’23 said he was not bothered by the presence of spectators, even those taking photographs.

“I kind of just tuned them out,” Luo said. “I didn’t even notice them, honestly.”

Afterward, some groups of streakers gathered in front of the John Harvard statue, taking group pictures to commemorate the event. benjamin.fu@thecrimson.com

On rainy Monday night, a large number of students gathered in the Harvard Yard for Primal Scream, a biannual tradition where students run naked around the Yard before finals begin. MYEONGSEO KIM—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON | DECEMBER 11, 2019

PAGE 4

EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

OP-ED

Consideration, Not Condescension

The Right to Strike

A

t its meeting earlier this month, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences considered a proposal calling on the Harvard Corporation to direct Harvard Management Company to divest from fossil fuels.

It was the first time Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow William F. Lee ’72 attended a faculty meeting in his 44 years at the University.But this was not the most unusual part of the meeting.

University President Lawrence S. Bacow asked a student protesting the decision to deny Romance Languages and Literatures associate professor Lorgia García Peña tenure to move so as not to obstruct faculty members’ view.

When the student refused to do so, Bacow asked for the faculty’s support in removing the student, but several faculty voiced objections, and the student remained.

First, we deeply appreciate the time that faculty members took to debate the proposed divestment motion.

We take the mere fact of the proposal debate and Lee’s unprecedented attendance as a sign of progress: more higher-ranking bodies in this University are giving the notion of divestment serious thought.

Clearly, the faculty has had serious conversations regarding the efficacy, symbolism, and impact of divestment.

In light of recent protests and na-

tional coverage, it is especially important that the University consider why the issue of divestment has risen to such prominence over the past few years, and how it has interacted with student activists.

In that vein, we’d like to speak directly to Harvard Magazine’s coverage of the protester who stood in on the meeting.

After describing exchanges between Bacow and the student, who refused to move or give their name, the magazine, which is editorially independent of the University, wrote, “In contrast, the dis-

We take the mere fact of the proposal debate and Lee’s unprecedented appearance as a sign of progress. cussion on divestment was completely civil, and on a high intellectual plane.”

This comment in the article is blatantly condescending.

The article, through this statement, seems to claim that unlike the faculty present for the discussion, protesters are uncivil and anti-intellectual.

We believe that this language reflects broader attitudes of condescension toward student protesters and a misunder-

standing of the motives behind protest.

It is important for all of us to understand that protest of this intensity that comes only after a prolonged period of feeling disempowered and disregarded.

For the Harvard Magazine article to treat this protest as immature and to report it with a condescending tone is inappropriate.

Such an attitude fails to contextualize the role the University has played and continues to play in perpetuating the conditions that led to students expressing their opinions in this manner.

We are encouraged by the time and thought the faculty have put into discussing the proposal to call on the University to divest, and we hope that their efforts will be met with equally thoughtful conversation by members of the Corporation.

We hope that going forward, the efforts of protesters will be met first with consideration rather than condescension.

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!

By WOOJIN LIM

O

n April 9, 1969, roughly 500 student activists took over University Hall to protest Harvard’s role in the Vietnam War. City and state police armed with riot gear, clubs, and mace were called to remove all protesters who had vowed nonviolent resistance. In the early morning hours of April 10, over 400 police officers stormed University Hall, between 250 and 300 arrests were made, and 75 students were injured. In response, by April 11, thousands of Harvard students, teaching fellows, and faculty had gathered in Harvard Stadium to strike.

Fifty years later, the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers declared a strike, fighting for increased compensation, health benefits, and neutral third-party arbitration for sexual harassment and discrimination. On December 3, over 500 demonstrators, wearing on their shoulders large blue-and-white “UAW on Strike” placards, marched routes throughout the Yard. In the strike of 1969, strikers fought for social justice; in the HGSU-UAW strike of 2019, strikers press on the fight for fair wages and working conditions.

The right to strike is a right to resist oppression.

The strike (and the credible threat of a strike) is an indispensable part of the collective bargaining procedure.

Collective bargaining (or “agreement-making”) provides workers and employees with the opportunity to influence the establishment of workplace rules that govern a large portion of their lives. The concerted withdrawal of labor allows workers to promote and defend their unprotected economic and social interests from employers’ unilateral decisions, and provide em-

The strike (and the credible threat of a strike) is an indispensable part of the collective bargaining procedure.

The Crimson @thecrimson COLUMN

Tomb of the Unknown Survivor Ben A. Roy HAPPINESS, THE NEW LIE

T

here are those who do not survive the events of their lives.

When this happens in the service of one’s country, many people consider those people to be heroes. Heroes are meant to be honored, but what can you do when all that remains is the body of the hero, and not their name, nor any clue as to who they were in life besides the wreckage of their corpse?

A common grave is given to those known in war as the “unknown soldiers,” and they are honored not for the sacrifice they gave, but for the sacrifice they represent.

There are unknown survivors, too,

There are unknown survivors, too, and not just of war, but of a sadly innumerable array of atrocities. Odds are you know a survivor. I am a survivor. and not just of war, but of a sadly innumerable array of atrocities. Odds are you know a survivor. I am a survivor. The only honor most of us ever get is the time we still have left to live.

I’d like to share with you some things that I am a survivor of. At the age of 10, I survived multiple sexual assaults. A few years later, I survived the long and messy divorce of my parents. At the beginning of this semester, I found out that I have been living with depression my entire life, so, right now, I am surviving depression (antidepressants are helping me a lot).

Now, you may expect that I will receive an outpouring of praise and warmth for what I have just written, and I welcome it.

But my pen should not make me more deserving of love than those of us who cannot bear to tell another soul what they have lived through, their pain is so great.

My voice, my courage, my vulnerability should not make me the only recipi-

ent you know of the support of the community.

No one should have to write what I have written to feel that their life is valid.

I think a survivor is anyone who has been made to confront their own mortality, anyone whose life could have easily been rewritten as a tragedy, anyone who has had to choose to still be alive.

And you are not just a survivor once you’ve survived something traumatic, you are a survivor every single day afterwards, too, and you will always be a survivor so long as you continue to choose to lead your life the way you want to, in spite of all that you have lived through.

You are a survivor because wherever you go, you carry the burden of your trauma with you.

Sadly, many survivors choose to end their own lives as a way to escape their suffering, and so we do not just survive once, but our survival is a daily feat of willpower.

This column is the last time I will tell you that I am a survivor.

You can know that I will always be one, because there are no gradations, there are no levels, there is no hierarchy of pain.

Pain is pain is pain is pain is pain. Every strain is equally abominable, ought equally to be our collective enemy, might equally affect any one of us.

Odds are you know a survivor. Do not ask us to tell you what we have survived, or that we are survivors, or to qualify our pain at all.

We have no one face, no one gender, no one complexion, no one religion, no one single trait held in common but perhaps the dark and telling look that fills our eyes when we are made to think of the past.

So, if we are to honor the unknown survivors who walk among us, with whom we laugh and chat and interact each and every day of our lives, let us build within each of our hearts a “Tomb of the Unknown Survivor,” so we might have a place to honor every ghost and mind and memory that wanders the

earth without sharing its pain.

It is estimated that in all of history over a hundred billion human beings have lived, and most have known pain.

Those of us still alive today are not so different, really.

And so, as the dead do not need to explain their deaths to elicit our deepest sympathies, so, too, might we show those

Most of what we call our humanity is at odds with the principles of suffering.

In fact, I believe we are most human when we alleviate the suffering of others, and that is essentially the foundation of any healthy community. human beings who still share the world with us today the great depths of our love and compassion, and not ask them to explain to us the death that almost was their life.

Most of what we call our humanity is at odds with the principles of suffering. In fact, I believe we are most human when we alleviate the suffering of others, and that is essentially the foundation of any healthy community. We may differ in the sources of our trauma, but we are all alike in our suffering — like a jewel found deep within the hollow earth, the weight of the world has only served to make us a thing of beauty, brilliance, and of strength.

This is all to say, so long as there are people in your life, treasure them, and share with them the love you might reserve for the victims of the worst atrocities you can imagine. Who knows, you might just be right.

And remember, it’s easy to praise a writer — it’s hard to change your life.

—Ben A. Roy ’20 is a Classics concentrator in Kirkland House. His column appears on alternate Wednesdays.

ployers with pressure and incentives to make reasonable concessions. Functionally, strikes provide workers with the bargaining power to drive fair and meaningful negotiations, offsetting the inherent inequalities of bargaining power in the employer-employee relationship.

The right to strike is essential in preserving and winning rights. Any curtailment of this right involves the risk of weakening the very basis of collective bargaining.

Strikes are not only a means of demanding and achieving an adequate provision of basic liberties but also are themselves intrinsic, self-determined expressions of freedom and human rights.

The exercise of the power to strike affirms a quintessential corpus of values akin to liberal democracies, notably those of dignity, liberty, and autonomy.

In acts of collective defiance, strikers assert their freedoms of speech, association, and assembly. Acts of striking, marching, and picketing command the attention of the media and prompt public forums of discussion and dialogue.

Any curtailment of this right involves the risk of weakening the very basis of collective bargaining.

The question of civic obligations, however, remains at stake. Perhaps those disgruntled with the strike might claim on a whiff that the strike impedes upon their own freedom of movement, educational rights, privacy, and so forth.

Do strikers, in virtue of expressing their own freedoms, shirk valid civic norms of reciprocity they owe to members of the community, for instance, to students?

No. The right to strike stems from the premise of an unjust flaw in the social order, that is, the recognition that the benefits from shouldering the burdens of social cooperation are not fairly distributed. Strikes and protests publicize this recognition and demand reform.

No doubt, work stoppages from teaching fellows, course assistants, and graduate research assistants — no sections, no office hours, no labs, no grades — may pose inconvenience and perhaps hardship in our present lives.

Strikes may also impose a serious financial cost on both the employer and the employees. These costs and inconveniences, however, should not be ridiculed as outrageous, for they rightfully invite disruption.

The possible hazards that arise from a strike must be weighed against the workers’ welfare and just rewards and to the community. For instance, current graduate students who struggle in financials and mental health may be troubled with juggling teaching obligations.

If graduate students are provided with pay security and adequate dental, mental health, and specialist coverage, their quality of teaching and research may improve in the long run.

There are dangers to bystanders and neutrals when a strike occurs, but such considerations also arise when one lays down the right to strike.

That said, if we should defend the right to strike, it must be meaningful. Both parties involved should strive to strike a deal — no pun intended — in good faith, and not merely act upon purposeless forms of virtue-signaling or anger-venting on chaotic impulse.

Nonetheless, provided the facts of injustice and repression, affected members should not only be permitted but highly encouraged (and obliged) to uptake the call of justice to restore broken institutions — be that through joining the pickets or standing in solidarity.

—Woojin Lim ’22, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Philosophy concentrator in Winthrop House.

PAGE 5

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | DECEMBER 11, 2019

TITLE IX FROM PAGE 1

GAY FROM PAGE 1

Title IX Office Gay Suggests Ethnic Studies Track Releases Report trainings, the Title IX Office implemented a Student Title IX Liaison Committee in the fall of 2018 and a Staff Liaison Committee in January. Merhill wrote that the student liaisons were “key partners” in implementing several Title IX initiatives this year, including a gender equity summit held in April.

The staff liaisons reviewed the online training module for Harvard faculty and staff, work that will be reflected in the 2020 training programs.

While progress has been made in many areas, all available data supports the need for a multifaceted approach to address issues of sexual and gender-based harassment in academia.

Nicole M. Merhill Harvard Title IX Officer

The University also launched an anonymous online reporting tool in 2019, but disclosures made through the tool were not included in the report’s count because the tool debuted after the end of the fiscal year.

With respect to investigations, the ODR — which handles formal Title IX complaints — also looked into “related allegations,” for example, alleged harassment based on race, color, or national origin, ODR Director William McCants wrote in a letter included in the report.

McCants also wrote that

ODR worked to improve the format and readability of its final reports on investigation over the past year. Final reports for cases originating in 2019 averaged under 22 pages in length, compared to an average of almost 47 pages in 2015.

The plurality of ODR investigations over the last five years involved complaints of “verbal, written, graphic, photo, film, eyeing, sexual advance” or other forms of harassment, with 56 investigations based on this type of reported misconduct. In comparison, 47 investigated cases of unwelcome sexual touching other than penetration, and 39 cases dealt with concerns of retaliation. Thirty-one cases involved non-consensual penetration, and 16 involved penetration and incapacitation.

The Title IX Office and ODR’s annual report comes in the wake of the results of the Association of American Universities’s survey on campus climate regarding sexual misconduct, which were released in October. The AAU survey found that reported rates of sexual violence have remained largely unchanged on Harvard’s campus over the past four years.

“While progress has been made in many areas, all available data supports the need for a multifaceted approach to address issues of sexual and gender-based harassment in academia,” Merhill wrote in Monday’s report. “We are committed to continuing our efforts to this end, by exploring innovative approaches, examining and implementing promising practices, and drawing from expertise both within the Harvard community and across the nation.” simone.chu@thecrimson.com iris.lewis@thecrimson.com

wide influcence over curriculum, advising, and research.

She pointed to her efforts to strengthen Native American studies at the University during her tenure as Dean of Social Sciences, as well as her previously stated commitment to hiring four new ethnic studies faculty this year, as evidence of her dedication to ethnic studies.

“At a time when funds for incremental faculty searches are increasingly hard to come by, the decision to advance this search is intended to signal a strong institutional commit-

ment, as well as a sense of urgency to make concrete, palpable progress,” she wrote.

Gay wrote that she would “welcome the idea” of a new undergraduate concentration in “ethnicity, migration, and indigeneity,” adding that faculty, not deans, must “spearhead” the effort, develop, a proposal, and bring it before the full faculty.

She wrote that faculty would have “the support of the institution” for any attempt to form a new concentration, and that she is prepared to provide the undergraduate curricular com-

mittee that would host the concentration with the power to make tenure and tenure-track faculty appointments jointly with any department in FAS. “With appointment powers, the curricular committee would be able to secure the faculty commitments necessary to sustain the concentration,” Gay wrote.

Gay specifically cited the Department of African and African-American Studies — which, she noted, had its “origins” in the “student activism of the late 1960s” — as a model for how to

create a robust ethnic studies program.

AAAS, she argued, experienced “years of uneven struggle” before it shored up its faculty ranks and was able to “elevate the study of the African diaspora” to the benefit of Harvard students.

“This history informs my theory of change, and is why my own efforts on behalf of ethnic studies are focused, first, on hiring,” Gay wrote Monday. jonah.berger@thecrimson.com molly.mccafferty@thecrimson.com

STUDIES FROM PAGE 1

Scholars Condemn Prof’s Tenure Denial Studies.

“Dr. García Peña’s scholarship and service is the cornerstone to continue building Ethnic Studies as a leading program at Harvard and her absence would be a detriment to the students and faculty that depend on her keen insight,” wrote hooks, who is also an Appalachian Studies professor at Berea College.

The faculty letter contends that the tenure verdict would stifle growing numbers of students who are interested in studying ethnic studies at Harvard.

Currently, 20 students are pursuing an ethnic studies subfield in the History and Literature concentration, and 65 are pursuing a secondary in Ethnicity, Migration, Rights, according to the letter.

“The recent denial of tenure to Professor Lorgia García Peña has severe repercussions on our efforts, especially given our small numbers, to respond to students’ growing interest in ethnic studies courses and ad-

vising, to recruit and retain top faculty working in our fields, and to participate in the university’s mission of fostering diversity, inclusion, and excellence,” the faculty letter reads.

Asked for comment, FAS spokesperson Anna G. Cowenhoven pointed to an email FAS Dean Claudine Gay sent Monday reiterating her commitment to building ethnic studies at Harvard.

She wrote that prioritizing faculty hiring will increase the likelihood of an ethnic studies program’s long-term success at Harvard.

“A program without a strong, vibrant cohort of committed faculty is destined to fail, and this cannot fail. It is far too important,” she added.

Gay has launched a nationwide search to hire three to four faculty members who specialize in Asian American, Muslim American, and Latinx studies.

The search committee has compiled a list of candidates, some of whom will come to campus to give lectures and meet with fac-

ulty and students, according to Gay. But signatories of both letters contend that García Peña’s tenure denial contradicts the ongoing ethnic studies cluster hire and Harvard’s broader efforts to promote diversity and belonging on its campus and in its curricula.

“Universities cannot simultaneously pledge a commitment to diversity and inclusion, and not take seriously the knowledge produced by and for communities that have long been excluded from or marginalized within the academy,” the faculty letter reads.

The nationwide letter calls on Harvard to lead academics in expanding the definition of “areas worthy of research” to include the fields of ethnic studies and Afro-Latinx Studies, as well as create the “intellectual space” for such efforts through its hiring and tenuring processes.

The letters follow recent efforts by students and administrators to start a conversation

about the future of ethnic studies at Harvard. Roughly 40 students from the Ethnic Studies Coalition staged a 45-minute-long sit-in in the Office of the Provost — located on the eighth floor of the Smith Campus Center — Monday afternoon.

Lowell House faculty deans David Laibson and Nina Zipser — who also serves as Dean of Faculty Affairs — held a house discussion about ethnic studies with students and Dean of the Arts and Humanities Robin Kelsey Monday night.

“We discussed the critical importance of improving the diversity of scholarship, teaching, and mentorship at Harvard, with particular focus on ethnic studies,” Laibson wrote in an email.

“We discussed the disproportionate burden placed on faculty of color, in part, because they are substantially underrepresented among Harvard’s faculty.” amanda.su@thecrimson.com

STUDENTS FROM PAGE 1

As Pickets Continue, Some Student Workers Decline to Strike provisions over the past year, they remain at odds on key issues, including compensation, health care, and grievance procedures for harassment and discrimination. More than 90 percent of union voters approved a strike in late October.

“I think I can understand why a strike is being organized considering the breadth and depth of the student body that the union covers,” Aboulhouda said.

“I think many of them are perfectly justified to ask for what they’re asking. But yes, I have prior commitments and so my main thought is that I have 12 hours of work to do, and I’ve got to get it done before the break.”

‘I CANNOT AFFORD TO STOP WORKING’

Daniel J. Richard, a thirdyear Ph.D. student in Human Evolutionary Biology, said that financial considerations have made it impossible for him to join the picket line.

He said that fulfilling his teaching responsibilities — which include teaching a lab section and grading exams for Life Sciences 2: “Evolutionary Human Physiology and Anatomy” — is necessary because he relies on his pay from the University.

“I cannot afford to stop working,” he said. “If I don’t get

a paycheck this month, I will not be able to cover rent for this month.”

The union is offering strike benefits to those who walk the picket line or perform other strike duties for an average of four hours each week.

These benefits include $275 per week for each picketer from the UAW’s strike fund. The fund will go into effect after the strike has gone on for eight days and if the University docks individual strikers’ pay.

Richard, however, dismissed the strike fund as “vastly inadequate to my living expenses.”

For international students, financial issues are not the only concern — because they are on academic visas, striking brings uncertainty to their ability to remain in the United States.

International student Tanush Jagdish, a Ph.D. candidate in Systems Biology, said that going on strike poses a “huge risk.”

“I do empathize with a lot of people who are struggling, but unfortunately, it’s a huge risk to take with my visa and immigration status, too,” Jagdish said.

“All the scenarios that might occur are very unlikely, I’m sure, but if you weigh that against the possible risks, I just think it’s not worth it.”

Several undergraduate course assistants — who are represented by the union — said that while they may support the

union’s demands, they feel an obligation to their students and faculty members to continue teaching and do not necessarily believe they would benefit as much as graduate students from the eventual contract.

Elijah Tai ’22, a course assistant in Computer Science 50: “Introduction to Computer Science,” said that while he agrees with the striking workers, his “primary goal” is to educate and excite students about computer science.

“For me personally, I have an obligation to teach because when I signed up to be a staff member for CS50, one of the things I said was that I would work really, really hard and to teach people as much as possible,” Tai said.

Tai added that going on strike would take away “crucial support” for students as they work on their final projects.

In Statistics 110: “Introduction to Probability,” most of the undergraduate staff is not striking, according to course assistants Michael G. Isakov ’22 and Justin Zhu ’21.

Isakov said that while many of the union’s proposals are “reasonable,” some are less relevant to undergraduates, such as paid leave.

“There aren’t a lot of people who are adamantly against any particular proposal that is being put forward,” Isakov said.

“It’s more of the sense that a lot of the issues don’t apply to us and, thus, we don’t have as much of an incentive to strike.”

Zhu said that he decided to continue working because he feels that undergraduates can “bridge the dichotomy” between the University and the union.

“I see my role as helping the professors who really have no dog in this fight while at the same time, you know, kind of making sure that the overall academic culture at Harvard is still sustainable and thriving,” Zhu said.

Still, some students said they are not striking because they do not agree with some of the union’s demands.

A third-year male graduate student in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences who is not striking said that though he supports the union’s desired grievance procedure, he takes issue with the union’s specific compensation and health care proposals.

The student, who does not want to be named because he is concerned about jeopardizing relationships with peers, said he believes getting paid to study at Harvard in the first place is a privilege, and he considers the calls for increased compensation and benefits to be ungrateful.

HGSU organizers did not respond to multiple requests for

comment for this story.

FEARING BACKLASH

While many student workers have decided not to strike, that choice does not always go unnoticed by their peers in the union.

A female student in GSAS, who is not striking because she believes the union’s demands are too strong and feels a duty to her students, contends that the union has created an adversarial culture for those who choose not to join the pickets. She requested anonymity because she fears retaliation for criticizing the union’s position.

The student characterized the union as having created a with-us-or-against-us culture that has bred hostility toward those who have decided not to go on strike. She said that she is afraid to share her views on the union with her peers and that this fear has affected her relationships and her emotional state.

She said strong supporters of the union have repeatedly sent messages to her private email and cell phone asking her to sign up to strike, which she said she never agreed to and infringes on her privacy.

Still, the student said she does not believe that the union as a whole is responsible for promoting this attitude. Rather, she believes that its most zealous supporters have creat-

ed what she called a hostile atmosphere.

Throughout the strike, union members on the picket lines have discussed holding text banks to reach out to their peers and encourage involvement in the strike. The female GSAS student said she does not find it appropriate to contact individual members about their choice to participate in the strike.

“Can you confirm whether or not you are withholding labor?” reads one of the text messages sent to the student from a union member and reviewed by The Crimson.

Several other students, including a male teaching fellow in the Physics department, said he feels social pressure to not speak out in opposition to the union. The Physics student requested anonymity due to the peer pressure he feels at work.

For student workers like Aboulhouda, however, his duty to his students and his academic progress ultimately have driven his decision not to participate.

“The primary reason I’m not striking is to follow up on the commitments that I’ve made to others, as well as to myself to push my research forward efficiently,” he said. james.bikales@thecrimson.com ema.schumer@thecrimson.com ruoqi.zhang@thecrimson.com

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SPORTS

WEEKLY RECAP

SCORES

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. UMASS W, 89-55 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S SWIMMING MINNESOTA INVITATIONAL 6TH ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VS. MAINE W, 69-40 ___________________________________________________________

WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY VS. YALE W, 4-2 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY

Men’s Hockey Falls in Overtime Bout to Colgate

By STUTI R. TELIDEVARA CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The No. 12/9 Harvard men’s hockey team had only one contest left before its exam break come Saturday. The first half of its season began with impressive success — and a perfect record — that had been derailed just after Thanksgiving.

Three straight losses later, the Crimson hosted Colgate, a team that has enjoyed a reasonable run so far, in an opportunity for redemption.

A win would bring home two points, of course, but it would also end the first portion of the season on a positive note.

That was not to be, however. Colgate (7-7-4, 5-2-1 ECAC) drew penalties and shut down Harvard’s (6-4-0, 6-2-0) offense all night, winning the game in overtime by a score of 4-3. With the win, the Raiders catapulted up conference standings to take second place, though these two teams are tied in points. The Crimson can only hope that this forthcoming break is enough to right its ship.

“It was a hard-fought game.

I give [the Raiders] credit; they battled hard,” Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 explained. “It’s disappointing [to lose] before the break, at home… This one stings, you have a chance to end the pre-Christmas break on a winning note, and we don’t do it.”

The first period had some bursts of pace, though neither team found the back of the net.

The Raiders found themselves on the powerplay twice, but to no avail; Colgate has struggled on the man advantage this season, with an efficiency of 6.2 percent coming into Saturday’s clash.

Yet another powerplay chance for the visitors came early on in the second, when junior defenseman Benjamin Foley was whistled for a boarding call.

On this attempt Colgate had good stretches of puck possession, despite a handful of shots that missed the net. That possession eventually paid off, as right at the end of the powerplay a point shot from junior blue-liner Nick Austin beat Harvard rookie net-minder Mitchell Gibson.

The tally, only the Raiders’ fifth on the man advantage this season, put the visitors up, 1-0 in front of a Bright-Landry crowd that had just reached its most intense level the previous night against Cornell.

“To win in this league, you’ve got to play a full 60 [minutes],” said captain and forward Nathan Krusko. “We didn’t pick up guys in front, we weren’t moving our feet… At the end of the day it’s hard to pick up points here, and...every night’s going to battle a battle, whether you’re playing [ECAC] number

UNDER PRESSURE The most recent loss to Colgate is just the Crimson’s second conference defeat, but caps off a four-game losing skid the team has recently been facing. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

one Cornell or Colgate.”

But their lead did not last long. Later in the frame, the Crimson had a powerplay chance of its own. The chance began with an offensive-zone shift that lasted over a minute — but was broken up by a bad bounce.

As Harvard regrouped, sophomore defenseman Jack Rathbone fired the puck in from the blue line. Rookie forward Nick Abruzzese collected it at the side of the net, tucking it past Colgate sophomore goaltender Andrew Farrier to tally one for the Crimson in front of its home crowd.

Abruzzese’s tally began a sudden rush of scoring. Soon after, junior forward Jack Donato found stole the puck in the offensive zone, the lone Crimson shirt to two Raiders. While his shot attempt was turned away

by Farrier, the puck ricocheted off a defenseman and found the back of the net, giving Harvard its first lead of the Saturdaynight contest.

Colgate answered with a tally of its own, however. Senior forward Ben Sharf threw the puck across the blue paint to

find his linemate, senior Tyler Penner, who chipped it in over Gibson’s pads. The eventful middle period ended with the teams once again knotted up, this time at 2-2, entering a fateful final period.

“We have to be hungrier around the net,” coach Donato said. “[If we] think we’re going to get a lot of pretty goals, it’s just not going to happen, and it’s only going to get tougher and tougher as we come down the stretch. We’re going to have to simplify our offense, get guys to the front of the net, get some rebounds. Right now, we haven’t done a good job of it.”

The teams spent the first half of the third trading chances, until Raiders captain and forward Bobby McMann put the visitors ahead again. And again, the Crimson answered, as junior defenseman Reilly Walsh scored from the high slot to tie it up.

As time ticked down it was clear this contest would be headed to sudden-death overtime. Just moments before the buzzer sounded, McMann was whistled for holding junior forward Henry Bowlby. Harvard

would begin the extra hockey with two minutes of powerplay time.

But Colgate was up to the task, shutting down the Crimson’s man-advantage squad to supporters’ cheers. Harvard could not produce any particularly challenging chances; Farrier tended pucks ably and, with McMann out of the box, it was anybody’s game in the final frame.

Despite the shift in momentum, the contest’s winner came about in a surprising play. Raiders forward Sharf collected the puck to the net-minder’s right and cut to the middle, swerving around Gibson to backhand the puck home. An attempt that could have been better defended — or defended at all — instead became the dagger that settled the evening’s contest at BrightLandry, in heart-wrenching fashoin for the hosts.

“I’m just disappointed,” coach Donato said. When you battle as hard as we did and it wasn’t really going our way, but we get a powerplay in overtime...like the rest of the team, [I] was just frustrated and upset that we didn’t get it done.”

Though the Crimson’s ECAC hopes are by no means finished, the four-game losing skid points to several issues that have plagued the team all along — the difference being that to start the season, Harvard managed to win in spite of these problems.

It’s true that the team’s goaltenders have gone from lightsout, nation-leading numbers to ordinary. In the past four losses, senior Cameron Gornet and Gibson have together put up a total of three sub-.900 performances.

It’s also true that the losing skid has come against some talented squads. But the Crimson’s problems lie not just with who’s in net, nor with the quality of its opponents.

“I’m certainly not sitting here saying our goaltending is the difference between where we were at when we were winning versus the current losing streak,” coach Donato said. “But I think the real message is, we need to get better, be more consistent in all facets of the game…

There’s not really any element of our game where we can say, hey, that’s at a point where we’re go-

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ing to be able to have success at that level.”

If Harvard wants to return to its winning ways and prove that its early success wasn’t an outlier, it will have to find a solution before the season returns in full swing once again after the break.

That opportunity comes with a double-header against Arizona State in late December, in Irvine, Calif., and a return to conference play against Quinnipiac and Princeton in the new year. With more significant contests ahead, the Crimson will have several weeks to replay the frustration of losing two straight home contests, which the team hopes it can use as motivation moving forwards this season.

“This taste is going to be stuck in our mouths for a while now, which is tough,” Krusko said. “I know we’ve learned a lot of lessons through this [half of the] season that we want to take with us for the rest of the year, but we’ve got a long way to go if we’re going to try and lift any trophies this year.” stuti.telidevara@thecrimson.com