The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
|
VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 66
| CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
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FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022
EDITORIAL PAGE 4
NEWS PAGE 5
IN PHOTOS PAGE 6
Mental health care is imperative for a generation adrift
The National Labor Relations Board denied a petition to decertify 32BJ SEIU
Rallying Over Roe: Students react to leaked abortion opinion
Students Rally For, Against Abortion Rights Gay Sets Name Removal Process By VIVI E. LU and LEAH J. TEICHHOLTZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Harvard students staged a series of rallies about abortion this week in response to a report that the Supreme Court is on the brink of striking down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. In response to a leaked draft majority opinion that would end guaranteed legal access to abortion, around 100 students demonstrated in support of abortion rights outside Memorial Church Wednesday. At the same time, a smaller group representing Harvard Right to Life, an anti-abortion studnet organization, gathered nearby in counterprotest. The two groups faced off at points, waving posters and heckling each other. On Thursday afternoon, more than 50 students congregated on the steps of Widener Library as part of a national walkout in support of abortion rights. Roughly 30 anti-abortion demonstrators gathered across the aisle of the steps. The two sides chanted and waved signs, garnering a crowd of onlookers and Securitas patrol. The protests come after Politico published a leaked draft majority opinion showing that the court voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 decision protecting the right to abortion access nationwide. The draft, penned by Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., sent shockwaves across the country. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. ’76 confirmed the draft’s authenticity, though he said the decision is not yet finalized. At Wednesday’s rally, abortion rights protesters held signs that bore the phrases “Pro
Life = Pro Death” and “Reproductive Rights are Human Rights.” Some students delivered speeches sharing their frustration and anger at the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned. “For basic humanity, for the future of our nation, we must raise our voices and make sure our government knows that this is not what we want,” Hea Pushpraj ’25 said in a speech on Wednesday. “We must all stand together to ensure federal protection and to make sure more states cannot follow Oklahoma and Texas.” “The state of those states will not be the state of our nation,” Pushpraj said. Elizabeth M. Benecchi ’25 said in an interview before Wednesday’s pro-abortion rights protest that the rally’s organizers were “really infuriated” and “really upset” by the leaked draft. “Women have had access to safe abortion for the past 49 years without extensive government oversight, and we intend to keep it that way,” Benecchi said in a speech during the rally. “We as women have autonomy over our own bodies. We have the right to make our own decisions and we have the right to choose our own futures.” Wednesday’s pro-abortion rights rally was organized by Ava K. Pallotta ’25, who said in an interview before the protest that she “broke down sobbing” upon learning that Roe v. Wade was likely to be overturned. “I remember sitting there crying and being like, ‘God, I really hope somebody organizes a rally.’ And then I was like, ‘Why not me?’” Pallotta said. “That
SEE ABORTION PAGE 5
Gay outlined the FAS’ process for removing the names of individuals from spaces. By ARIEL H. KIM CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Elizabeth M. “Liz” Benecchi leads students in an abortion rights rally on the steps of Memorial Church on Wednesday. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Students with Harvard Right to Life demonstrated in Harvard Yard on Wednesday, directly next to an abortion rights rally. JULIAN GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay outlined the process the FAS will adopt to consider requests to remove the names or representations of individuals from its buildings, spaces, programs, or professorships in an email to FAS affiliates Thursday. This process is guided by a December 2021 report by the Committee to Articulate Principles on Renaming, which called for the consideration of denaming requests to be “careful, painstaking, and laborious” and grounded “in history.” Gay’s Thursday email clarified FAS-specific principles for denaming and provided details about submitting denaming requests. Any current FAS affiliate may submit a denaming request to the Secretary of the Faculty. In the upcoming academic year, there will be two deadlines for
SEE GAY PAGE 3
HKS Dean Sorry for GSAS Student Lapse in Services Council Elects Four By MILES J. HERSZENHORN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf apologized to students who have been negatively affected by an overhaul of the school’s admissions and financial aid departments in an interview Wednesday, but said the school “will be better off in the future” because of the change. The Kennedy School restructured its enrollment services last summer, laying off seven employees as it merged its admissions and financial aid teams. Almost 20 students interviewed by The Crimson last month reported that services have declined markedly in the months since the change.
Douglas W. Elmendorf is the Dean and a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
“We’re very sorry for the disruptions that have affected students,” Elmendorf said Wednesday, reiterating an apology first offered by the deans who oversee the new office. “The transition has not been as smooth as we had hoped or planned,” he said. “But I am confident that we will be better off in the future than we were in the past.” Elmendorf said the restructuring sought “to create a more effective admissions and financial aid process for the long term.” “I think we’re building a team that will be more effective, but [that] doesn’t mean that there haven’t been dropped
SEE ELMENDORF PAGE 5
By PATON D. ROBERTS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Student Council members voted to fill four of six chair positions at their monthly meeting Wednesday night. After a welcome from incoming council president Zachary Lim, the council discussed the status of special students, who study at GSAS without pursuing a degree program and must petition to join the student council. The council voted, with 85 percent in favor, to automatically include special students and visiting fellows among its members. The remainder of the meeting was reserved for elections
filling several chair positions. The election for the chair of support — a role responsible for overseeing grants to GSAS students for research and conferences — was the most contested position, with 10 students running. Jonathan Boretsky, a Ph.D. candidate in Mathematics, and Lena C. O’Flynn, a Ph.D. candidate in Medical Sciences, each received 39 percent of the vote. Ultimately, Lim decided to allow them to work as co-chairs for the upcoming academic year. History Ph.D. candidate Oluwaseyi “Shae” Ominjo and Human Evolutionary Biology Ph.D. candidate Sophie A. Barton, running unopposed for the
SEE GSAS PAGE 3
Ahead of Finals, Students Strip and Streak at Annual Primal Scream By KATHERINE M. BURSTEIN, J. SELLERS HILL, and NIA L. ORAKWUE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
At the stroke of midnight Wednesday, more than a hundred Harvard students shed their clothes and inhibitions to take a naked lap around Harvard Yard. Students — at varying levels of lucidity — gathered in front of Hollis Hall to begin the biannual streaking tradition, which marks the end of reading period. Primal Scream, which resumed last December after a three-semester hiatus, dates back to at least 1995 as a way for the boldest of undergraduates to let loose before finals. Keeping with the tradition,
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Harvard Today 2
this year’s participants carefully prepared for the race with drinks, chants, and music. The race got off to a sluggish start before the crowd recognized the sound of the Memorial Church bells as their cue to run. Spring’s Primal Scream took place in nippy 50-degree weather, a far cry from last semester’s iteration which coincided with the first snowfall of the season. Many students cited the stress of finals as their motivation to bare it all for the event. “I’m dying,” Amar S. Boparai ’25 said. “Finals have been really hard.” For Kali’inoa Maeva ’25, Primal Scream was a way to destress and take “time off to relax from all the anxieties and worries that come with finals.”
News 3
Editorial 4
Other students were attracted to the tradition for the thrill. “When else are you gonna go streaking through Harvard Yard? I guess, before every finals, but never again in your life,” said Margo A. Smith ’25. Thursday’s throngs were dwarfed by last semester’s snowy streak, some students reported. “It wasn’t as good and there weren’t as many people, but I still had a fun and awesome time,” Mavea said. But this spring’s sprint had one advantage over its predecessor: The Harvard Band was present, pantless, and playing for the runners for the first time in over two years. The band was
SEE PRIMAL PAGE 3
Sports 6
The Harvard Band played for nude students running by University Hall for Primal Scream on Wednesday night. J. SELLERS HILL—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
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