The Harvard Crimson - Volume CLII, No. 28

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

HUA

Students Favor Israel Divestment on Survey

| VOLUME CLII, NO.28 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2025

EPSTEIN EMAILS

Summers in Exile

AN OPAQUE PROCESS. The Harvard Undergraduate Association’s Election Commission declined to release complete data from the survey, on which a majority of respondents approved of divestment.

SEE PAGE 4

FAS ADMIN

FAS Lightens Cuts to Science Ph.D. Admissions REDUCING REDUCTIONS. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences still plans to lower Ph.D. admissions in the Science division by 50 percent next year — a partial reversal of planned 75 percent cuts that came after faculty outcry.

SEE PAGE 9

HARVARD’S FORMER PRESIDENT abruptly left his teaching role for the rest of the term and resigned from posts outside Harvard amid uproar over his ties to Jeffrey E. Epstein. SEE SUMMERS ON PAGE 6 CAM E. KETTLES — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

EPSTEIN EMAILS

As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’

BY DHRUV T. PATEL AND CAM N. SRIVASTAVA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

LABOR

Harvard Custodians Hold 2-Day Strike for Higher Pay NEGOTIATIONS. Custodians represented by the Service Employees International 32BJ went on strike for the first time in at least 50 years to call for Harvard to offer them more generous wage increases.

SEE PAGE 5

­W

hen former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he sought guidance from a longtime associate: convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein.

In a sequence of texts and emails between November 2018 and July 5, 2019, Summers turned to Epstein for advice on his pursuit of the woman. Epstein was quick to chime in with assurance and suggestions, describing himself in one November 2018 message as Summers’ “wing man.”

The messages became public after House Republicans released more than 20,000 files from the Epstein estate on Wednesday. Summers’ correspondence with Epstein, a financier who

CENTRAL ADMIN

Cambridge Lays Off 7 Diversity Staff LAYOFFS. Cambridge laid off seven employees on diversity-related commissions and restructured its Equity and Inclusion Department. The cuts came days after the city announced an expected $8 million loss to federal housing aid.

SEE PAGE 13

be wants to cut me off but wants professional connection a lot and so holds to it,” Summers wrote in a March 2019 exchange to Epstein, explaining why he believed she continued to engage with him despite tensions.

A spokesperson for Summers said that the woman described in the exchanges was never Summers’ student, but declined to comment further for this article.

In at least some of his exchanges with Epstein on the relationship, Summers appears to refer to macroeconomist Keyu Jin ’04, a tenured professor at the London School of Economics at the time, who is mentioned in a series of late 2018 messages between the two men.

In one, Summers forwarded Epstein an email from Jin asking for feedback on a paper. Summers mused to Epstein that it was “probably appropriate” to hold off on responding.

“She’s already begining to sound

needy :) nice,” Epstein replied.

Jin, who earned her bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. at Harvard between 2000 and 2009, declined to comment on the months of messages between Summers and Epstein. In the messages released by the House, she does not refer to a romantic relationship with Summers. It is not clear whether she was aware that Summers shared her emails or discussed her with Epstein.

Throughout the seven months of correspondence reviewed by The Crimson, Summers and Epstein referred to the woman Summers was pursuing in some messages by the code name “peril” but never used her name in messages directly describing the relationship. On at least two occasions, the two men discussed Jin’s emails to Summers, which he forwarded to Epstein. In later messages, the two men appeared to joke about the probability that Summers

SEE EMAILS ON PAGE 7

ECONOMICS

Harvard To Investigate Summers Relinquishes Faculty Over Epstein Ties Public Commitments

BY DHRUV T. PATEL AND CAM N. SRIVASTAVA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

METRO

pled guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008, ends just one day before Epstein was arrested on new sex trafficking charges.

Together, the messages show Summers — who served as Treasury Secretary under former United States President Bill Clinton — placing an extraordinary degree of trust in Epstein, asking him for help in navigating a relationship that blurred the boundaries of his professional and personal lives.

Summers, who has been married since 2005, told Epstein he thought the woman was reluctant to leave him because she valued his professional connections. Epstein told him in one June 2019 text, “She is doomed to be with you.”

“Think for now I’m going nowhere with her except economics mentor,” Summers wrote in November 2018. “I think I’m right now in the seen very warmly in rear view mirror category.”

“She must be very confused or may-

Harvard will open a new probe into former University President Lawrence H. Summers’ connections with convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein, after newly released documents revealed the two shared an unusually close relationship for several years, a Harvard spokesperson confirmed Tuesday night.

The investigation — which marks an extraordinary step to revisit Harvard’s ties with Epstein following a landmark 2020 review — will also look into all other University affiliates implicated across the thousands of documents released by the House of Representatives last Wednesday, including Summers’ wife and nearly a dozen other Harvard affiliates past and present.

Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote in a statement to The Crimson that “the University is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted.”

The probe will cover any new information revealed in the Wednesday files, including the hundreds of messages Summers and Epstein exchanged over women, politics, and Harvard-related initiatives.

Several other prominent Harvard faculty appeared in the documents, including Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan M. Dershowitz and English professor emerita Elisa F. New, who is married to Summers.

The move comes two days after The Crimson reported a series of back-andforth exchanges between Summers and Epstein that continued through July 5, 2019 — just one day before the disgraced financier was arrested over new federal sex-trafficking charges.

In the messages, Summers sought Epstein’s advice for his pursuit of a romantic relationship with a woman he described as his mentee, asking Epstein to workshop his messages and help guide him through his interactions with the woman.

Epstein often replied within minutes, going as far as calling himself Summers’ “wing man” in one November 2018 message.

SEE REVIEW ON PAGE 6

BY DHRUV T. PATEL, ELISE A. SPENNER, AND CAM N. SRIVASTAVA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will step back from all public commitments in an effort “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,” he wrote in a statement Monday evening.

The announcement comes less than one week after seven years of correspondence between Summers and the disgraced financier Jeffrey E. Epstein were released by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee. The documents showed Summers and Epstein continued to exchange messages until July 5, 2019 — just one day before Epstein was arrested on new sex-trafficking charges.

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” Summers wrote to The Crimson.

He is currently a paid columnist at Bloomberg News and serves on the board of directors at Open AI. A spokes-

person for Bloomberg declined to comment on Summers’ future with the outlet on Monday.

“While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort,” he added in his statement.

“

I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.

Lawrence H. Summers University Professor

Following the announcement, Summers began to leave a series of organizations where he had previously held appointments.

Summers stepped down from his position as an advisor to the Yale Budget Lab — a Yale University-based policy shop that offers financial modeling

SEE PUBLIC ROLE ON PAGE 6

2

LAST WEEK

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NOVEMBER 21 2025

HUA

COLLEGE

INSTITUTE OF POLITICS

HUA Debuts AI Course Search Tool

Map Helds Undergrads Find Free Food

McCarthy Imagines GOP After Trump

MARINA QU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

ELISE A. SPENNER — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

PAVAN V. THAKKAR — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

HARVY. The Harvard Undergraduate Association unveiled Harvy, an artificial intelligence-powered search engine that assists students with course registration, in an email to the student body last week. The tool helps students find courses by recommending classes based on academic information the student provides. BY

VERITASTY. Harvard College students hunting for a break from dining hall food now have a new tool at their disposal: Veritasty, an online map of events on campus with free food. The student-run platform, which pulls data from undergraduate email lists, was open to the public until College officials voiced privacy concerns. BY

LEADERSHIP VACUUM. Former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said at a Harvard talk on Monday that his party needs to settle on new leaders and a clarified platform to succeed in 2028 without the pull of President Donald Trump’s personality.

Democras, too, lack effective party leaders, McCarthy said. BY ELISE

NINA A. EJINDU — CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

BIANCA G. CIUBANCAN AND CHANTEL A. DE JESUS — CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

A. SPENNER AND TANYA J. VIDHUN — CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Week in Photos

AROUND THE IVIES COLUMBIA INVESTING ADVISORY COMMITTEE REJECTS PROPOSALS TO DIVEST FROM ISRAEL Columbia’s Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing rejected three proposals calling on the university to divest from Israel and companies that are allegedly involved with human rights violations. The advisory committee is a voluntary group that makes nonbinding recommendations to the university’s board of trustees on ethical and social issues regarding investment of the university’s funds. The committee wrote in their response that the proposals — submitted by Columbia affiliates in Dec. 2024 — did not meet the university’s criteria for consideration of divestment.

LABOR STRIKE Custodians represented by SEIU 32BJ launched a rare two-day strike, picketing in Harvard Yard and at Harvard Medical School after contract negotiations broke down. Workers cited rising living costs, heavier workloads, and the need for stronger protections as they demanded higher wages.

BY HUGO C. CHIASSON — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR

PRINCETON IMPLEMENTS NEW POLICY BANNING RECORDING IN SCHOOL SETTINGS Princeton University passed a new policy that prohibits recording in most campus settings without the consent of all participants subjected to the recording. It is still unclear how the university will enforce the policy, which is set to take effect Jan. 1, and what the scope of recording permissions will be. The recording policy will apply to all educational, residential, research and workplace settings, along with off-campus events sponsored by the university, and allows for limited exceptions such as in the case of disability accommodations.

THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

EEOC SUES PENN FOR ALLEGEDLY FAILING TO RELEASE DOCUMENTS IN ANTISEMITISM INVESTIGATION

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN. The GSD opened an exhibit the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture campus last month, which received the GSD’s biennial Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design for its innovation in sustainable design and agriculture. BY AUDREY ZHANG—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

IOP FORUM. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy addressed a full crowd at the Harvard Kennedy School, weighing in on party upheaval, Trump’s influence, and the challenges facing both Republicans and Democrats ahead of 2028. BY ELISE A. SPENNER —CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against the University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday for allegedly withholding requested documents detailing discrimination complaints from Jewish faculty and staff. The EEOC wrote in their complaint that the university failed to comply with their July subpoena as part of an investigation over Penn’s alleged mishandling of antisemitism. The subpoena requested the faculty complaints, along with membership lists of Jewish-related campus groups and employees in the school’s Jewish Studies Program.

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

CORNELL PREPARES $1 BILLION BOND SALE, AUTHORIZES UP TO $1.7 BILLION IN NEW DEBT Cornell University is moving to sell around $1 billion in taxable bonds and has authorized up to $1.7 billion of new debt. The bond sale will provide the university with funding to use in the short-term as Cornell continuously faces financial pressure from the federal government. The university will use the proceeds from the bond sale to finance existing real estate projects, unfunded litigation reserves, and refinancing short-term debt, according to Cornell’s Chief Financial Officer Chris Cowen. The expansion will add on to the university’s current $3.2 billion in debt and liabilities.

STATE HOUSE. Cyclists, families, and advocates gathered on the steps of the State House for the “Ride and Walk for Your Life” rally, honoring victims of traffic violence and urging lawmakers to pass long-awaited road safety reforms. BY DIONISE GUERRA-CARRILLO — CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

HARVARD VS. YALE. The Science Center Plaza filled with music, merch tables, and food trucks as HYpefest kicked off Harvard-Yale celebrations, drawing huge lines of students eager for Crimson gear and game-day energy. BY MICHELLE L. YANG — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN

BROWN EXPANDS FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO COVER COSTS FOR GRADUATE STUDENT VETERANS Brown University announced that it will broaden its funding program for student veterans to fully match all tuition and fees for master’s and doctoral student veterans through the next academic year. The university also introduced a new student veteran mentorship program, which will provide support to student veterans for integrating to campus life and professional development.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PORTER SQUARE. Giulia — an Italian restaurant in Porter Square that opened in 2012 — features four courses, dessert, an currently a seasonal white truffle menu. BY JINA H. CHOE — CRIMSON PHO-

PODCASTING LIVE FROM HKS. New Yorker journalists Susan Glasser ’90, Evan Osnos ’98, and Jane Mayer recorded a live episode of “The Political Scene” at the IOP, breaking down national politics and shifting dynamics heading into 2028. BY GRACE E.

TOGRAPHER

YOON — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEXT WEEK

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

3

What’s Next

IN THE REAL WORLD

Start every week with a preview of what’s on the agenda around Harvard University

TRUMP SIGNS BILL ORDERING RELEASE OF EPSTEIN FILES WITHIN 30 DAYS Trump signed a bill on Wednesday which calls on the Justice Department to release its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein, after the bill was passed by the House 427-1, and received unanimous consent in the Senate. But the bill’s passing does not guarantee the release of all the files. The legislation includes some exceptions which would allow the Justice Department to withhold certain files from being released, such as those related to active investigations or ongoing prosecutions.

NVIDIA’S PROFIT SOARS, QUELLS INVESTOR FEARS OF AI BUBBLE BURST Nvidia reported a 62 percent increase in its quarterly earnings from last year, making a record $57 billion in its October quarter. The report came as a relief for investors who feared that the dramatic rise in AI stocks is a speculative bubble that may soon burst and tank the entire U.S. economy. These fears were heightened when Michael Burry, the investor who famously predicted the collapse of the subprime mortgage securities bubble in the 2008 Recession and was featured in the movie “The Big Short,” sold off all of his stock of Nvidia and AI-based tech firm Palantir earlier this month. Shares in Nvidia — the world’s most valuable public company — rose 6.5 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday.

Friday 11/21

Monday 11/24

Wednesday 11/26

18TH ANNUAL BIDMC CANCER CENTER SYMPOSIUM

APPLIED HUMANITIES

GALLERY TALK: MEANING MAKERS

Harvard Medical School Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Join Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for a day-long event that will feature keynote speakers, panel discussions, and presentations on cancer care advancements and new research in the field.

Barker Center, Thompson Room, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Listen to professors Tarun Khanna, Doris Sommer, and Moira Weigel as they discuss the role of the humanities in the fields of business, policy, and technology. They will be addressing how the demand for humanities in external fields is rising, while engagement with the humanities in academia is falling.

Saturday 11/22

Tuesday 11/25

Thursday 11/27

THE GAME 2025: HARVARD-YALE

BKTHERULA

THANKSGIVING DINNER AT ANNENBERG

Yale Bowl Stadium, New Haven, CT, 12:00 p.m.

The Harvard Football Team will play Yale in the 141st Harvard-Yale at the Yale Bowl. The Harvard-Yale football rivalry dates back to 1875 and was the first rivalry in all of college athletics. Harvard’s team has already secured a share of the Ivy League Title, heading into The Game with a 9-0 record.

The Sinclair, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m Come watch alternative hip-hop artist BKTHERULA at the Sinclair as she performs her signature 2019 single “Left Right.” With over 395 million global streams, BKTHERULA is known for her artistic experimentation of merging genres together.

Harvard Art Museums, 12:30 - 1:00 p.m.

Assistant paper conservator Abby Schleicher and assistant curator Yan Yang will be presenting a Chinese ink rubbing added to a new installation in the East Asian art gallery of the Harvard Art Museums.

The object is a type of Chinese rubbing, called ‘zhuta’ or red rubbing.

Annenberg Hall, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Staying on campus over the break? Join Harvard University Dining Services for their annual Thanksgiving dinner! Held at Annenberg Dining Hall, traditional New England Thanksgiving food will be served continuously throughout the day.

Sunday 11/23

Friday 11/28

DANCE MEDICINE CLINIC WITH NICOLE KATZ

HARVARD UNIVERSITY MEN’S ICE HOCKEY VS UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Harvard Dance Center, Studio 1, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Participate in the OFA Dance Program’s first Dance Medicine Clinic with Nicole Katz! Katz, a Sports Medicine Fellow at Mass General Brigham, will conduct the Dance Medicine Clinic, which will consist of free, private 20-minute appointments to discuss confidential injury concerns with dancers.

Bright-Landry Hockey Center, 7:00 -10:00 p.m.

Cheer on the Crimson’s men’s ice hockey team in its match against the University of Michigan! Tickets to attend in-person can be purchased online on the Harvard Athletics’ ticket website. The game will also be streamed virtually on ESPN. PAVAN V. THAKKAR — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

TEXAS REPUBLICANS’ REDISTRICTING PLAN BLOCKED BY FEDERAL COURT A Texas federal court on Tuesday blocked the state’s new Congressional maps that would have advantaged Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections, dealing a major blow to President Donald Trump and Republicans in the House of Representatives. The Texas court’s opinion found that the new maps included illegal racial gerrymandering. Texas Gov. Greg Abbot said that he would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. In response to Texas’s efforts, California passed its own redistricting maps earlier this month, hoping to even the playing field for Democrats. But because California’s new map was designed to stay in effect regardless of the status of Texas’s map, if the Supreme Court rules against Texas, Democrats will gain an advantage in the midterms.

A CRIMSON TREE

TRUMP ESCALATES PRESSURE AGAINST VENEZUELA The Trump administration intensified its pressure campaign against Venezuela on Sunday by repositioning America’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, to the Caribbean, and designating a Venezuelan group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The maneuver comes as Trump has been attacking Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro for facilitating the movement of drugs into the United States and calling for his removal from power.

ANNABELLA F. RITZAU — CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The Harvard Crimson

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE

McKenna E. McKrell ’26 President

Tilly R. Robinson ’26

Jack D. Jassy ’26

Managing Editor

Business Manager

Associate Managing Editors

Magazine Chairs Yasmeen A. Khan ’26 Maeve T. Brennan ’26

Design Chairs Catherine H. Feng ’27 Xinyi C. Zhang ’27

Saul I.M. Arnow ’26 Max A. Palys ’26

Blog Chairs Arezoo Ghazagh ’26 Mirika J. Jambudi ’27

Multimedia Chairs Jina H. Choe ’26 Briana Howard Pagán ’26

Arts Chairs Thomas A. Ferro ’26 Isabelle A. Lu ’26

Sports Chairs Praveen Kumar ’26 Jo B. Lemann ’26

Technology Chairs Dennis S. Eum ’26 Neil H. Shah ’26

Sally E. Edwards ’26 Cam E. Kettles ’26 Editorial Chairs

Associate Business Managers Claire S. Pak ’26 Matthew G. Pantaleo ’26 Copyright 2025, 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

Night Editors Thomas J. Mete ’26 Jack R. Trapanick ’26 Assistant Night Editors Annabel M. Yu ’27 Shawn A. Boehmer ’28 Evan H.C. Epstein ’28 Neena D. Tarafdar ’28 Story Editors Sally E. Edwards ’26 Cam E. Kettles ’26 Azusa M. Lippit ’26 Asher J. Montgomery ’26 Tilly R. Robinson ’26 Hana Rostami ’26

Laurel M. Shugart ’27 Dhruv T. Patel ’27

Arwen Zhang ’26 Lotem L. Loeb ’27

Design Editors Arts Editors Catherine H. Feng ’27 Najya S. Gause ’26 Xinyi C. Zhang ’27 Laurinne Jamie P. Eugenio ’26 Editorial Editors Saul I.M. Arnow ’26 Grace V. Lang ’26 McKenna E. McKrell ’26 Hannah S. Lee ’26 Saketh Sundar ’27 Max A. Palys ’26 Anwen W. Cao ’28 Sports Editors Photo Editors Emma S. de Jong ’26 Jina H. Choe ’26 Nghia L. Nguyen ’26 Briana Howard Pagán ’26 Elyse C. Goncalves ’27 Nika Imamberdieva ’26

CORRECTIONS The Harvard Crimson is committed to accuracy in its reporting. Factual errors are corrected promptly on this page. Readers with information about errors are asked to e-mail the managing editor at managingeditor@thecrimson.com.

ragebaited

4

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

HUA

Students Favor Israel Divestment on Survey DIVEST. A majority of respondents said Harvard should divest from companies tied to Israel.

BY JULIA A. KARABOLLI AND CLAIRE L. SIMON CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­A

majority of undergraduates who responded to a Harvard Undergraduate Association survey reported believing Harvard should divest from and disclose investments in “companies and institutions operating in Israel,” according to a partially redacted copy of the results obtained by The Crimson.

While the HUA Election Commission refused to publicly release the results of the survey questions, which were submitted by two pro-Palestine student groups, they confirmed earlier on Wednesday that 8.4 percent of the roughly 7,000 students in Harvard College — slightly less than 600 students — responded “yes” to the question on divestment.

A slightly higher share of the to-

tal student body, 9.3 percent, said Harvard should disclose its investments in Israel.

The Election Commission declined to provide a total number of respondents, saying only that more than 80 percent of the student body indicated an “uncertain” response to the divestment question, skipped the question, or did not fill out the survey.

But the redacted copy of the results obtained by The Crimson included the total number of votes cast in the Sports Team Office Election — 1055 — an election respondents had to participate in to answer any of the optional survey questions about Harvard’s ties to Israel.

Even if all other voters in the Sports Team Officer election answered the survey question on divestment from Israel and responded “no,” rather than skipping or answering “uncertain” to the question, at least 55 percent of total survey respondents voted in favor of divestment from Israel.

Based on similar calculations, a majority of students also said they thought Harvard should disclose

Most Harvard College respondents said the University should divest from Israel. UY B. PHAM — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

investments in Israel.

It is still uncertain which way a majority of students voted in response to a question submitted

by Harvard Jews for Peace asking whether Harvard should have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which opponents fear could be used to classify certain criticisms of Israel as antisemitic.

Spokespeople for Harvard College and the University did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

But with roughly 15 percent turnout among the study body, all the results still have a question mark hanging over them — particularly after an opaque election process meant few students were informed of the survey’s presence.

Roughly 28 percent of the student body voted in the last HUA presidential election.

The Election Commission sent a single email announcing the start of the voting window in the election to fill the HUA’s Sports Team Officer position, which took place concurrently with the survey period,

and barred campaigning from student groups that submitted questions. Survey respondents were required to vote for a Sports Team Officer before proceeding to the survey, which also included a series of questions on campus life submitted by the HUA, which operates separately from the Election Commission.

Many students interviewed by The Crimson on Tuesday, shortly before the close of voting, said they were not aware of the survey questions.

The survey results put Harvard College on the list of graduate schools whose students have already indicated support for divestment. Student governments at Harvard Law School, the Harvard Divinity School, and the Graduate School of Design all passed resolutions last year urging the University to divest from Israel or from entities involved in human rights violations against Palestinians. Harvard School of Public Health and Law School students also passed referenda supporting divestment — though turnout in the HSPH vote was low.

But the HUA and the College have done their best to avoid appearing to endorse a divestment vote. Assistant Dean of Student Engagement and Leadership Andy Donahue and the Election Commission emphasized throughout the survey process that the results “have no impact on the Harvard Undergraduate Association, Harvard College, or Harvard University.”

Donahue and the Election Commission also did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.

The survey process itself was adopted after the PSC’s attempt in spring 2024 to call a referendum on divestment from Israel, which the HUA halted indefinitely. The HUA’s co-presidents at the time announced — after work on a problem-solving committee stalled — that the student government would not approve referenda on topics unrelated to HUA policy.

And an undergraduate vote is unlikely to push Harvard toward divestment from Israel, a prospect that Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 has refused in no un-

certain terms. Garber also declined a request by Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, the unrecognized activist coalition that staged the spring 2024 encampment in Harvard Yard, to review Harvard’s investments for ties to human rights violations.

Garber told HOOP in an October 2024 email that the University “will not use its endowment funds to endorse a contested view on a complex issue that deeply divides our community.”

If anything, the results of the survey that closed Tuesday indicate that students remain split over divestment proposals — but the majority outcome in favor of divestment is likely to bring Harvard back under a national microscope for the pro-Palestine views of many of its students.

The Election Commission initially intended to release at least partial survey results to the student groups that submitted questions, but the status of those disclosures remains unclear. julia.karabolli@thecrimson.com claire.simon@thecrimson.com

HUA Survey: Students Feel Less Supported After DEI Office Closures

BY JULIA A. KARABOLLI AND CLAIRE L. SIMON CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Nearly two-thirds of the respondents to a Harvard Undergraduate Association survey said they feel less supported by the Office of Culture and Community than the three Harvard College diversity offices it replaced, according to a copy of the results obtained by The Crimson.

The question on the OCC — which showed that 63 percent of respondents felt they received less support after Harvard College closed its centers for minority students, LGBTQ students, and women this summer — was one of eight on a list submitted by the HUA for a College-wide survey that closed Tuesday. The survey was run by the HUA Election Commission,

which operates independently of the HUA’s executive leadership.

The optional survey was presented to the 1055 students who voted in an election to fill a vacancy for HUA Sports Team Officer. The HUA’s questions, each of which drew between 846 and 906 respondents, appeared alongside three questions submitted by two pro-Palestine student groups.

After voting closed on Tuesday, the Election Commission said it would not release detailed data on any of the questions to the student body at large, but disclosed full results to the HUA and the student groups for their respective survey questions on Wednesday.

The HUA also polled students on the College’s grading policies following the release of a 25-page Office of Undergraduate Education report in October that concluded rampant grade inflation

In a survey handled by the HUA, most Harvard College respondents said the University should divest from Israel. SARAH G. ERICKSON — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

was damaging to the academic culture of the College. The report suggested a list of possible solutions, including adding A+’s to the College’s grading scale and placing median class grades on transcripts.

About 73 percent of respondents said they would like to see a more detailed report that displayed grade inflation statistics on different concentrations and departments.

When asked about four potential changes to grading policy — quotas on the number of A’s awarded, allowing faculty to award a limited number of A+’s, standardizing difficulty across classes, and recording median grades for every course on students’ transcripts — a plurality of respondents, 40 percent, preferred recording median grades.

Roughly a third said classes should be reformed to all have a similar level of difficulty. Changes

to the grading scale were less popular: 22 percent of students preferred introducing a limited number of A+’s, and only about three percent preferred restricting the number of A’s awarded.

Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh, who authored the report, and a spokesperson for Harvard College did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.

The HUA also asked students about their experiences with local transit, including Harvard’s shuttle services and the MBTA. Roughly three-quarters of students responded that they believe PassioGO!, the University’s shuttle-tracking app, should be replaced. A similar fraction said their experience at the College would “be significantly improved” by having a free MBTA pass. The HUA’s Residential Life Team met with the MBTA earlier in the fall about the possibility of Harvard joining its

University Pass Program, which subsidizes unlimited bus and subway trips for college students.

Students were also surveyed about polling preferences on the ballot for HUA co-president and whether they like the current system of ranking candidates or would rather rank only the candidates they choose. More than twothirds of students responded that they prefer ranking only their favored candidates.

After the HUA survey questions, each of which were optional, students also had the choice to answer three questions posed by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and Harvard Undergraduate Jews for Peace.

The PSC’s two questions asked, respectively, whether students believed Harvard should disclose investments in and divest “companies and institutions operating in Israel.” Respondent totals shared

with The Crimson indicated that both questions were approved by a majority of respondents, but the exact figure remains unknown because neither the Election Commission nor the PSC have shared a complete breakdown of votes.

The Jews for Peace question asked whether Harvard should have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s definition of antisemitism.

It was unclear which response to the question drew the most votes.

None of the eleven total survey questions are binding, and the Election Commission has emphasized that their outcome will “have no impact” on the HUA, the College, or the University.

Ocean Ma ’28 won the Sports Team Officer election with 688 first-place ballots — roughly 65 percent of the vote. julia.karabolli@thecrimson.com claire.simon@thecrimson.com

After Opaque Survey Process, HUA Cagey About Results

BY JULIA A. KARABOLLI AND CLAIRE L. SIMON CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Harvard Undergraduate Association’s Election Commission will not publicly share the results of a survey asking whether students support University divestment from “companies and institutions operating in Israel.”

The Commission also declined to release figures to The Crimson that would make it possible to calculate how a majority of respondents answered the question.

Survey results show that 8.4 percent of all 7,103 Harvard College students support the University divesting from “companies and institutions operating in Israel,” according to Assistant Dean of Student Engagement and Leadership Andy Donahue and a member of the Election Commission.

Donahue, who is an adviser to the HUA and the HUA Election Commission, and the member declined to share the number or percentage of “no” respondents, but added that more than 80 percent of the total student body answered that they were “uncertain, skipped the question, or did not answer the survey at all.” They declined to share a more precise percentage.

The Election Commission

member also shared that 6 percent of all Harvard College students said Harvard should not have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, and 9.3 percent of all Harvard College students said they thought Harvard should disclose its investments in Israel. They declined to provide respondent totals or comprehensive answer counts for either survey question.

The limited information provided by the Election Commission prevents conclusions from being drawn from the data. The body declined to release results for more than one answer option for each question — making it impossible to conclude the majority opinion of respondents for individual questions. They also did not provide an explanation for reporting the results as a percentage of all Harvard College students, though only a small fraction of undergraduates vote in even the most publicized HUA elections.

The Commission cited a policy against publicly sharing survey results, which it says are designed to inform student groups that use the survey process to gauge public opinion among undergraduates. No such policy exists publicly in writing, and Donahue and Commission members did not respond to questions about the policy.

The HUA’s most recent campaign guidelines do not specify whether results for student group survey questions will be announced to all students, but state that results will “be released in a non-leading manner.” The Election Commission conducted most of the survey process without circulating updated guidelines for this semester, but the HUA posted the 2024-25 guidelines on its website Tuesday morning, more than halfway through the voting period.

Rather than with the full student body, results to the survey questions will only be shared with the two pro-Palestine student groups that submitted the questions: the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and Harvard Undergraduate Jews for Peace. In a Wednesday morning email to the PSC, Donahue “asked for patience” as the Election Commission verifies results and that “they will be in touch soon,” but did not provide a specific timeline.

The election form also contained eight questions submitted by the HUA, which operates separately from the Election Commission, in addition to the PSC and Jews for Peace questions. Responses to the eight questions — which polled students on issues including campus transit, grading policy, and student ID cards — will also not be released

publicly, according to a Commission member.

The opacity of the survey process, which was conducted simultaneously with elections for the HUA Sports Team Officer, began long before voting closed on Tuesday.

Throughout the voting period, the Commission also limited participation in the survey results by placing the optional survey questions behind a mandatory vote for the Sports Team Officer position and not allowing survey questions student organizations to publicize the questions they submitted. Voting students were required to rank all three Sports Team Officer candidates before seeing what the survey questions were.

Donahue and the Commission also strenuously emphasized that the survey results were nonbinding. In a Tuesday email to the College’s full student body, they accused The Crimson of sharing “misinformation” over objections to the use of the word “vote” in a Crimson article describing the survey process.

“The survey questions are not votes on the issues presented,” Donahue and the Election Commission wrote. “The survey results have no impact on the Harvard Undergraduate Association, Harvard College, or Harvard University.”

In interviews with The Crimson,

undergraduates said they were unaware of the survey questions until Tuesday.

“I had seen an email for the HUA elections that were happening, and I saw that the candidates were in the email, but I didn’t see any other questions or surveys after that,” Aiden E. Zaphiris ’28 said.

“I think if they wanted people to answer the questions, they probably could have pubbed it a little bit better, like maybe in a separate email or something,” he added.

The Election Commission also used its campaigning regulations to repeatedly discourage students in organizations that submitted questions from discussing them with fellow students.

Violet T.M. Barron ’26, a member of the PSC and a Crimson Editorial editor, was notified Tuesday night that the Commission “received a complaint” that she had posted a “campaign-related message in a group chat.” The Commission wrote that, after reviewing the matter, the student would be “receiving a stern warning for violating HUA campaigning rules.”

The message found to be in violation was a response to another text in a 150-person group chat of Harvard Hillel members asking members to vote in the survey on the IHRA and divestment questions, which the sender accused of

“specifically targeting Israel and the Jewish community.” The original sender requested members of the group chat vote “yes” on the IHRA question, and “no” on the divestment and disclosure questions.

Barron was then found to violate campaign guidelines for her response to the student’s message. In the message, Barron argued that “to say these questions target Jews is wholly unfair,” and “everyone is of course welcome to vote how they like – the whole point of a survey like this is to gauge student opinion, not push a political agenda.”

Donahue did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the exchange.

The Election Commission wrote in a Tuesday morning statement to The Crimson that the “primary purpose of the fall election is to elect the HUA Sports Officer.”

Donahue did not share the HUA’s own survey question results or the winner of the Sports Team Officer election with The Crimson.

The Sports Team position’s three candidates were Mark S. Guzelian ’29, Ocean Ma ’28, and Jack G. Smith ’29.

Ma was elected the Sports Team Officer, Donahue confirmed on Wednesday. julia.karabolli@thecrimson.com claire.simon@thecrimson.com

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 21, 2025

5

LABOR

Harvard Custodians Begin 2-Day Strike ON STRIKE. Harvard custodians went on a twoday strike after reaching a standstill with Harvard over wage proposals.

BY HUGO C. CHIASSON AND AMANN S. MAHAJAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­H

arvard custodians launched a strike shortly after 10 a.m. on Monday after union negotiations broke down on the eve of their contract’s expiration, their first strike in at least 50 years.

Roughly 60 workers, who are represented by the Service Employees International Union 32BJ, began picketing in Harvard Yard and outside Harvard Medical School. According to a union press release, the strike is planned to last through Tuesday, when contracted custodial staff are encouraged to stop work and picket.

But unlike most strikes, workers represented by the union did not vote to authorize the action.

32BJ Executive Vice President Kevin Brown said the union bypassed the usual vote in a Saturday meeting because the bargaining committee was unanimous in its disapproval of Harvard’s proposals presented at a Thursday bargaining session.

Custodians voted to authorize a strike during negotiations in 2016, but they reached an agreement before workers headed to the picket lines.

Because the custodians’ contract expired on Saturday, they have the option to strike for a new agreement. But with no vote, it is

Custodial staff represented by Service Employees International Union 32BJ stand near University Hall on Monday. HUGO C. CHIASSON — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

unclear how many of Harvard’s 800 custodians will walk off the job across both days. One bargaining committee member said it was difficult to convince custodians at his worksite to take their shift off, so they only rallied during their lunch break.

Several dozen workers began picketing Monday morning in the Yard and at HMS — a small fraction of the 500 directly employed custodians on campus.

Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement that the University “is taking steps to minimize disruption to services across campus.”

“We are also actively engaging union leadership and have offered additional meeting times so we can continue the negoti-

ations, in good faith, toward a fair contract, beneficial to all,” he wrote. According to Brown, Harvard reached out with dates for bargaining sessions on Monday, and the two parties will likely meet Wednesday.

The strike comes after contract negotiations, which began Oct. 7, broke down last week.

Harvard had slightly raised its compensation offer from an initial one-year wage freeze proposal, but the two sides hit a wall on Thursday.

During the all-day marathon session — meant to help both parties secure an agreement before workers’ contract expired on Saturday — the University did not budge substantially on its economic offers, and union

members walked out of the session in protest.

After Harvard increased its wage offer on Wednesday by 0.9 percent on average, the union lowered its request from a 7.6 percent to 6.3 percent average wage increase over the contract’s duration.

But Harvard stayed firm on its Wednesday wage offers, according to a copy of its latest proposal obtained by The Crimson. Harvard negotiators did raise the per-worker signing bonus from $750 to $1000 and a per-worker legal fund contribution from $200 to $250 on Thursday. But the union has called for larger wage increases that consistently keep up with inflation, which has remained around 3 percent

since 2023.

During the rally, workers marched around Harvard Yard chanting “Harvard cleaners, on strike!” before making a loop past Harvard Law School and the Northwest Building.

Custodian Roxana Lopez, who left her shift in Harvard Yard Monday morning, said that it’s been difficult for her to keep up with food and mortgage costs. Along with car insurance and parking fees — she drives in from Lynn, Massachusetts daily — the expenses have skyrocketed, she said.

Alongside stronger benefits, Lopez said she hoped for heftier workplace protections and training to prevent worker injuries.

“It’s hard work cleaning,” she said. “It’s very hard work, and they don’t appreciate what we do every day.”

Oscar Sola, who left his shift at Pierce Hall in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, also pointed to parking expenses, but added that workloads have increased since the pandemic.

At a rally last week, roughly 100 workers and union organizers gathered in front of the John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard, calling on the University to provide more substantial wage increases.

Brown wrote in a Thursday statement that it was “insulting that the most prestigious university in the world is unwilling to provide their essential workers the wages and benefits they need to support themselves and their families.”

“Harvard needs to come to the table with real dollars, not lip service,” he added.

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton confirmed that the University and the union are working on organizing future bargaining sessions, but he declined to comment on the Thursday session and rally.

He instead referred The Crimson to a Nov. 6 statement that the University’s economic proposals to the union reflected “current financial challenges and ongoing uncertainty.”

“Harvard’s custodial workers are valued members of our community who enable teaching and research in critical ways,” Newton wrote. hugo.chiasson@thecrimson.com amann.mahajan@thecrimson.com

Students Gather Nearly 500 Signatures for Striking Custodians

BY AMANN S. MAHAJAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Nearly 500 Harvard affiliates signed a petition on Tuesday in support of striking University cus-

Harvard custodians are represented by Service Employees International Union 32BJ. E. MATTEO DIAZ — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

todians ahead of a new round of talks with Harvard negotiators on Wednesday.

Campus custodians, who are represented by Service Employees International Union 32BJ, launched a two-day strike on Monday after contract negotiations with Harvard stalled over wages. Directly employed custodians went on strike Monday, and a separate contingent of contracted workers left their shifts at the Harvard Business School on Tuesday.

While Harvard does not negotiate the terms of employment for contracted custodians, union spokesperson Franklin Soults confirmed that contractors generally adopt Harvard’s agreement with direct employees for their workers.

The petition, organized by a group of Latino students and members of the Student Labor Action Movement, urges Harvard to “change course and start seriously bargaining towards a just and equitable contract for custodians.”

“Custodians keep our houses, dining halls, libraries, and classrooms clean, safe, and livable,” the petition reads. “They open our buildings before we’re awake, maintain the spaces we rely on, and do the unseen work that keeps campus running. Supporting them now honors their work and the people who make Harvard run.”

Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment on the petition, instead referring The Crimson to a Monday statement on the strike.

“Harvard is taking steps to minimize disruption to services across campus. We are also actively engaging union leadership and have offered additional meeting times so we can continue the negotiations, in good faith, toward a fair contract, beneficial to all,” Newton wrote.

“Harvard’s custodial workers are valued members of our community who enable teaching and research in critical ways,” he added.

Custodians began bargaining a new contract early last month, and their current agreement expired Saturday. The sides are scheduled to negotiate on both Wednesday and Thursday.

Paloma Del Valle ’26, who initiated the organizing efforts, said she was spurred to act after overhearing custodians discuss possible benefits from student support.

She messaged a GroupMe for Latino students, who coordinated with SLAM to circulate a petition.

“I’m very proud to be here supporting you guys. I love being able to listen to Spanish when I’m in my house, Quincy,” Del Valle said in a speech delivered in Spanish during the Tuesday strike.

Cambridge City Council members Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Burhan Azeem, and Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80, alongside councillor-elect Ayah Al-Zubi ’23, also attended the strike on Tuesday — following a Nov. 3 City Council resolution that urged Harvard to

“engage in good faith with the demands of workers represented by 32BJ SEIU.” The resolution and councilor appearances mark another show of local support for Harvard unions as they navigate a landmark year of contract negotiations. Last month, the Cambridge City Council adopted a resolution condemning Harvard’s decision to remove more than 900 students from its graduate students union.

Sobrinho-Wheeler said that an overly adversarial approach to bargaining could threaten Harvard’s support from the City in the coming months.

“Harvard depends on Cambridge for a lot of things, everything from zoning changes to traffic permits,” he said in an interview.

“We are taking into account your presence in your community when we’re considering these things,” he added. amann.mahajan@thecrimson.com

800 Ask Harvard To Aid Venezuelan Staff After TPS Expiration

BY CAROLINE G. HENNIGAN AND SIDHI DHANDA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

More than 800 Harvard affiliates signed a petition urging the University to offer legal assistance to Venezuelan staff members who lost their authorization to live and work in the United States after the Temporary Protected Status program for Venezuelan nationals expired this month.

The petition — jointly organized by a list of Harvard student groups and the Massachusetts TPS Alliance — calls on Harvard to sponsor visas for noncitizen staff, ensure legal representation for staff members who face deportation, distance itself from firms “actively profiting” from work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The petition also asked Harvard, which has neared record spending on lobbying in Washington this year, to invest in lobbying “at the same rate” to challenge the TPS termination as it does to protect its ability to enroll international students.

The Harvard Law School chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, the International Scholars Working Group of the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers, and the Student Labor Action Movement cosponsored the petition.

TPS is a humanitarian program that grants migrants temporary protection from deportation if returning to their home countries would be unsafe due to “extraordinary” conditions, such as armed conflict or environmental disaster. The designation, which is conferred on countries in 6-18 month intervals and often renewed, has lapsed in recent months for eight countries under the Trump administration, including Venezuela. The termination of Venezuela’s designation — which went into effect on on Nov. 7 — has been challenged in court.

The day Venezuelan TPS designation expired, Harvard emailed affiliates requesting that all employees refile the I-9 employment authorization form, according to Zahra A. Saifi, an organizer of the petition and third-year law student

and Masters of Public Policy student. Harvard previously notified managers that they would ask for new I-9 forms from impacted employees, according to an email obtained by The Crimson.

“It was really hard to see our university taking such a brutal stance against these folks who had just heard that their status had expired immediately — saying, ‘prove to us that you’re legal here, because we know that some of you no longer are,’” Saifi said.

A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment on the petition.

As of 2020, a Massachusetts TPS Alliance organizer told The Crimson that nearly 200 Harvard affiliates held TPS, though advocates said many are reluctant to publicly identify themselves for fear of jeopardizing their immigration standing. Eighty-five percent of workers represented by the Service Employees International Union 32BJ, which represents custodians and security guards, are immigrants, according to the petition organizers.

Organizers shared the petition with the deans of 10 of Harvard’s 13

degree-granting schools. Saifi said that several administrators who responded wrote that they have no control over the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end TPS for Venezuelans.

But Saifi said she hopes the petition will push Harvard to take action.

“If 10 deans walked into the president’s office and said, ‘hey, this is a thing that our students care about, can we talk about it’ — likely that meeting would take place,” she said.

Saifi also said that several deans redirected organizers to the Harvard Representation Initiative, a program that provides free legal immigration resources and consultations for Harvard affiliates. But Saifi said that the program’s small staff of lawyers cannot accommodate everyone who might seek out their services.

Saifi and Justin P. McMahan ’21, another organizer of the petition and a third-year student at HLS, said they thought Harvard was inconsistent for waging court battles on behalf of its international students while remaining largely silent as TPS recipients risk losing their

rights to live and work in the U.S. “When the Trump administration was threatening the University’s ability to enroll international students, all of a sudden, Harvard started really kind of moving its wheels and getting things going,” McMahan said.

But when TPS holders became under threat, McMahan said, Harvard “was not standing up on behalf of students or on behalf of workers

in the same way that it at least appeared to stand up on behalf of international students.”

“I think that as students, we felt moved to try to stand up on behalf of these folks who put in tireless amounts of work, day in and day out year round, that allows the school to function,” he added. caroline.hennigan@thecrimson.com sidhi.dhanda@thecrimson.com

Student groups at Harvard Law School helped circulate a petition asking Harvard to aid Venezuelan workers. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

6

COVER STORY

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

SUMMERS FROM PAGE 1

Summers Will Not Finish Semester of Teaching CRIMSON MULTIMEDIA STAFF

BY DHRUV T. PATEL AND CAM N. SRIVASTAVA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein.

“His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he has been teaching with them this semester, and he is not scheduled to teach next semester,” a spokes-

person for Summers wrote in a Wednesday statement to The Crimson.

Summers will also immediately go on leave from his role as the director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has led the center, which focuses on studying policy issues in the public and private sector, since 2011.

“Mr. Summers has decided it’s in the best interest of the Center for him to go on leave from his role as Director as Harvard undertakes its review,” the spokesperson wrote in a Wednesday

evening statement.

The spokesperson declined to comment on whether Summers is planning on returning to the center in the future.

On Monday, Summers — who served as United States Treasury Secretary under the Clinton administration — said he would step back from all public commitments, while continuing to teach undergraduate and graduate students and leading the Mossavar-Rahmani center, according to a spokesperson.

But by Wednesday night — just one day after Harvard announced that it would probe his ties to Ep-

stein — he had changed his mind amid mounting pressure.

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton confirmed in a Wednesday statement that Summers had communicated his decision to Harvard.

The unprecedented move comes days after The Crimson reported that Summers confided in Epstein about his romantic pursuit of a woman he described as his mentee. In messages and emails over seven months, Epstein workshopped Summers’ texts and interactions with the woman, calling himself Summers’ “wing man.” At one point,

the two discussed the probability that Summers would have sex with the woman, a prominent Chinese economist.

In the aftermath of the exchanges between Summers and Epstein becoming public, Summers relinquished or was let go from several roles he held with prominent organizations, including his position on OpenAI’s board of directors and as a contributor to Bloomberg News and the New York Times.

Summers has had a long and high-profile history with Harvard spanning several decades.

He served as its president from

2001 to 2006 and has held the title of University Professor — Harvard’s highest faculty distinction — since 2011.

Summers resigned from Harvard’s presidency in 2006 after facing national uproar over his remarks on women in science at an economics conference in 2005 and discontent among Harvard faculty over his management of the University.

Outside of brief stints in Washington, he has continued to teach at Harvard in the years since. dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com

REVIEW FROM PAGE 1

PUBLIC ROLE FROM PAGE 1

Harvard Investigates Epstein Ties

Summers To Step Back From Public Commitments Amid Epstein Scandal

“She must be very confused or maybe wants to cut me off but wants professional connection a lot and so holds to it,” Summers wrote in a March 2019 exchange to Epstein.

Late Monday night, Summers announced that he would withdraw from public commitments but continue his teaching obligations. By Tuesday, he had resigned or been let go from roles with several large organizations, including his positions at Bloomberg and the New York Times, as well as the Center for American Progress think tank.

Swain did not respond to a request for comment on whether Summers would be sanctioned from teaching while the probe is ongoing.

The cache of documents released last week added to a long paper trail detailing ties between Epstein and prominent Harvard affiliates.

In the documents, New discussed her personal projects at length with Epstein, soliciting thousands of dollars in funding from the child sex trafficker several times — years after Harvard said it had stopped taking contributions from

for policymakers and journalists — on Monday, according to a spokesperson for the group. His profile was removed from the lab’s website by Monday evening.

Summers also resigned from his fellowship at the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank. He had served as a senior fellow at the organization since 2012.

“Larry Summers has announced that he is stepping away from public comments immediately, and this includes ending his fellowship at CAP,” a spokesperson for the group wrote in a statement.

And Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson for the New York Times, wrote in a Tuesday morning statement to The Crimson that the outlet would part ways with Summers at the end of the year.

“Lawrence Summers was a contributing writer for New York Times Opinion on a one-year contract beginning in January, 2025,” he wrote. “We do not intend to renew this contract.”

He is currently a paid columnist at Bloomberg News and serves on the board of directors at Open AI. A spokesperson for

Epstein.

In one 2014 exchange, New and Epstein discussed a potential $500,000 gift to Poetry in America, a television show and digital initiative she spearheaded. She also accepted an unspecified amount of money from Leon Black, an executive at private equity giant Apollo, in a gift that she wrote Epstein helped broker.

“It really means a lot to me, all financial help aside, Jeffrey, that you are rooting for me and thinking about me,” she wrote in December 2015.

Harvard’s new probe comes years after the University issued its earlier report into ties to Epstein, finding that Epstein donated around $9 million to the school between 1998 and 2008. In response, Harvard agreed to adopt new guidelines on accepting potentially controversial gifts and revise its procedures for appointing visiting fellows, a one-year non-degree-seeking research position that Epstein held in 2005 under Summers’ presidency. dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com

Bloomberg declined to comment on Summers’ future with the outlet on Monday.

In the hundreds of messages exchanged by Summers and Epstein — part of a cache of 23,000 documents released by the House Oversight Committee last week — Summers placed an extraordinary degree of trust in Epstein, confiding to him about his pursuit of a romantic relationship with an economist.

Summers’ decision to step back from public events comes less than one day after The Crimson published a detailed account of his messages with Epstein concerning the woman, who Summers described to Epstein as a mentee.

In one November 2018 message to Epstein, Epstein described himself as Summers’ “wing man,” before continuing to advise Summers on the relationship for months. In June 2019, the two men joked about the probability that Summers would have sex with the woman.

Summers currently holds Harvard’s highest faculty distinction as a University Professor. He also serves as the director of the Mos-

Former University President Lawrence H. Summers speaks in a Science Center lecture hall. MADELINE R. LEAR — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

savar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Summers will continue to direct the center, according to his spokesperson.

This semester, Summers is teaching five Harvard courses, including two large undergraduate classes, according to the University’s course search portal.

Summers has already faced a wave of backlash over his ex-

changes with Epstein. Earlier on Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) publicly called on the University to cut ties with Summers. The Justice Department has also moved to open an investigation into Epstein’s relationship with Summers and other prominent figures.

prostitution in 2008. A November 2018 investigation by the Miami Herald Summers’ resignation from the OpenAI board comes hours after Harvard opened a new probe into his’ ties to Epstein, pledging to review the messages in the Wednesday files — including those discussing the woman. The investigation will also cover other Harvard affiliates mentioned in the files, including English professor emerita Elisa F. New, who is married to Summers.

Summers said on Monday that he would continue teaching while stepping back from all public commitments, saying that he sought

time to “rebuild and repair relationships with those closest to me” in light of the Epstein scandal.

By Tuesday, he had stepped down from his position as advisor to the Yale Budget Lab and as a fellow at the Center for American Progress think tank. The New York Times said it would not renew its contract with Summers, and he will also leave his role as a paid contributor on Bloomberg TV. Summers, who holds Harvard’s highest faculty rank as a University Professor, has continued to teach his classes.

dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com elise.spenner@thecrimson.com cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com

Summers Resigns From OpenAI Board

BY DHRUV T. PATEL AND CAM N. SRIVASTAVA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers stepped down from OpenAI’s Board of Directors on Wednesday, the latest in a rapid retreat from his public roles following renewed scrutiny of his relationship with Jeffrey E. Epstein.

The move is the latest in a string of retreats for Summers, who has stepped back from positions at several organizations — including Bloomberg, the New York Times, and several think tanks — amid the release of hundreds of messag-

es by House Republicans revealing years of his correspondence with Epstein.

“In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI,” Summers wrote in a statement.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress,” he added.

Summers has served on the artificial intelligence company’s board since November 2023, when he was invited to join in the aftermath of OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman’s brief surprise ouster from

the company.

OpenAI’s board of directors thanked Summers for his contributions to the company in a Wednesday statement.

“Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and we respect his decision.

We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board,” the board wrote.

Summers’ resignation from OpenAI comes shortly after The Crimson reported a series of exchanges between Summers and disgraced financier Jeffrey E. Epstein over Summers’ pursuit of a romantic relationship with a woman

he described as a mentee.

Over seven months of texts and emails, Epstein counseled Summers on his interactions with the woman, describing himself in one message as Summers’ “wing man.”

The two men joked about the possibility that Summers and the woman would have sex. At one point, Summers told Epstein that the woman was hesitant to leave the relationship because she “wants professional connection a lot.”

The messages between Summers and Epstein continued into July 2019, concluding one day before Epstein’s arrest on new sex trafficking charges. Epstein first pled guilty to soliciting a minor for

dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 21, 2025

7

EMAILS FROM PAGE 1

Epstein Was ‘Wing Man’ to Summers would have sex with the woman, apparently Jin. Summers’ long relationship with Epstein has been well documented, but the depth of their conversations, including over intimate matters, became public only this week. He traveled on Epstein’s private airplane on at least four occasions, including at least three times while serving as president of Harvard. Summers also met more than a dozen times with him and solicited donations from the disgraced financier for his wife, Harvard English professor emerita Elisa New. The messages released Wednesday show Summers organizing visits to Harvard on Epstein’s behalf and discussing contributions for New’s work.

“I have great regrets in my life,” Summers wrote in a Wednesday statement to The Crimson. “As I have said before, my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgement.”

The exchanges concerning Jin’s messages and Summers’ relationship began shortly before a November 2018 investigation from the Miami Herald surfaced accusations from 80 girls and women that Epstein had abused them between 2001 and 2006, drawing on court records and interviews. Summers continued to correspond with Epstein about his relationship even after the Department of Justice opened an investigation in February 2019 into Epstein’s 2008 plea deal.

Wednesday’s documents also revealed messages where Summers, whose speculation that innate differences between men and women could drive women’s underrepresentation in science contributed to the end of his Harvard presidency in 2006, joked about women’s intelligence and what he described as excessive penalties for men who “hit on” women in the workplace.

In an October 2017 email to Epstein, Summers retread the same terrain that had proven treacherous for him in the past, writing that he “observed that half the IQ in world was possessed by women without mentioning they are more than 51 percent of population….”

Summers has continued to teach at Harvard since, inter-

Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers processes into the University’s 2018 Commencement ceremony. JASON J. CHENG — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

rupted by brief stints in Washington, and currently holds Harvard’s highest faculty distinction as a University Professor. This semester, he is teaching two large undergraduate courses and one graduate class.

The first interactions between Summers and Epstein on his relationship with the woman — apparently Jin — appear in late November and early December 2018, when she and Summers seem to have met during an academic conference. For two days, Summers sent Epstein updates on his interactions with her.

On Dec. 1, Summers wrote that the woman had been “interested in my commentary on her outfits” and said he had “referenced your having figured us out” — suggesting Summers told her that Epstein was aware of their relationship.

Summers described his feelings as conflicted in the messages to Epstein, writing in remarkably candid terms.

“When I’m reflective I think I’m dodging a bullet,” he wrote.

“Think right thing is to cut off contact. Suspect she will miss it.

Problem is I will too.”

The next morning, Summers struck a different tone: “Game day at conference she was extremely good Smart Assertive and clear Gorgeous. I’m fucked.”

In messages from later that month, Summers and Epstein discussed Summers’ relationship with Jin’s father, a former high-ranked Chinese Communist Party official and the founding president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, who Summers had long been close with.

When Jin emailed Summers on Dec. 22 to thank him for his

support of her and her father — minutes after she sent Summers an outline of an academic paper — Summers forwarded the exchange to Epstein, explaining that he had recently “sent a comment in mtg w her father flattering her father and saying other China officials had flattered him as well.”

Summers continued to detail his interactions with the woman — who appears to be Jin but is not named in the Epstein emails after December 2018 — throughout March 2019, now expressing frustration that she was canceling or shortening plans and appeared to be interested in another man.

“I think she is tired of this alas. Sustaining w secrecy hard,” he wrote.

The final tranche of messages, beginning in mid-June, shows the relationship still un-

resolved and Summers again turning to Epstein for guidance on how to pursue it. Summers asked Epstein whether it was “meaningful” to discuss the probability of “my getting horizontal w peril,” drawing parallels to forecasting Trump’s reelection.

“U r better at understanding Chinese women than at probability theory,” Summers told Epstein. The two men bantered about probability and mathematics, but repeatedly steered the conversation back to Summers’ relationship.

Epstein joked that “the probability of you in bed again with peril” was “0,” before reversing course and assuring Summers that “she is never ever going to find another Larry summers.

Probability ZERO.” Summers went on to describe what he saw as his “best

shot”: that the woman finds him “invaluable and interesting” and concludes “she can’t have it without romance / sex.”

Throughout June, Summers fed Epstein updates about the woman’s workload and continued contact. Epstein urged him to play the “long game” and keep her in what he called a “forced holding pattern.”

The final messages, dated July 5, 2019, show Summers still in regular contact with Epstein.

That morning, Summers wrote he was in Cape Cod with his family — “Bit of an Ibsen play,” he joked — and the two men exchanged a brief flurry of literary one-liners.

The thread ends at 1:27 p.m.

Epstein was arrested the next day. dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com

Summers Visited Epstein’s Island During 2005 Honeymoon

BY DHRUV T. PATEL AND CAM N. SRIVASTAVA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

In the winter of 2005, just after their wedding at Elmwood — the Harvard president’s official residence — Lawrence H. Summers and his wife, Elisa F. New, traded Cambridge’s cold for a warmer escape.

But their honeymoon route brought them to what would, years later, seem a fateful stop: financier Jeffrey E. Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean, a place that would become infamous as the center of Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.

The couple got married on Dec. 11 in Cambridge, celebrating a cozy reception in the Harvard Art Museum. Ten days later, on Dec. 21, they boarded Epstein’s plane in Bedford, Massachusetts, according to publicly available flight logs — bound for Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, the standard jumping-off point for reaching Epstein’s private island by helicopter.

Those logs also list Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted as Epstein’s partner-in-crime, and Epstein’s longtime pilot, Larry Visoski, as passengers on the same flight.

Steven Goldberg, a spokesperson for Summers, confirmed in a statement to The Crimson that Summers and New spent part of their honeymoon on Epstein’s island during their 2005 trip, which has not been previously reported.

“Mr. Summers and Ms. New spent their honeymoon in St. John and Jamaica in December

2005, which was long before Mr. Epstein was arrested for the first time,” Goldberg wrote. “As part of that trip, they made a brief visit of less than a day to Mr. Epstein’s island.”

The visit came months after authorities in Florida had opened a criminal sexual-battery investigation into Epstein.

In March 2005, Palm Beach police began inquiring into allegations from the mother of a 14-year-old girl who said Epstein had molested her daughter at his mansion in Palm Beach. Over the following months, detectives identified additional potential victims and witnesses, and in October 2005, police executed a search warrant on Epstein’s home as part of the expanded investigation.

In that period, Epstein began assembling a legal defense team. He retained several lawyers — including then-Harvard Law School professor Alan M. Dershowitz — in the days immediately preceding Summers’ Dec. 21 flight.

The case first received widespread public attention in July 2006.

The December flight was one of four total trips Summers took aboard Epstein’s planes over several years — and one of three flights during the period when Summers served as president of Harvard. The four flights have been previously reported, and Harvard’s 2020 report on its ties to Epstein noted that several faculty had flown on Epstein’s plane.

While Summers has long acknowledged having known Epstein, the honeymoon visit is

a new indication of the closeness of their relationship in the 2000s, including during Summers’ tenure in Massachusetts Hall.

The newly surfaced flight details come as Harvard intensifies its scrutiny of Epstein’s ties to Summers after documents released by House Republicans last Wednesday showed the two men exchanging messages at length for years.

On Wednesday, Summers abruptly stepped away from teaching and announced that he would go on leave from his role as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, just one day after Harvard launched a fresh investigation into his interactions with Epstein.

His correspondence with Epstein spanned nearly a decade and ended only on July 5, 2019 — one day before Epstein was arrested and detained on new federal sex-trafficking charges. Epstein died in prison in August 2019.

Summers’ earliest recorded trip on Epstein’s jet predates his Harvard tenure. In September 1998, according to the logs, Summers appeared on a manifest for a trip from Aspen, Colorado, to Washington, D.C., alongside several other passengers, including Emmy Tayler, who worked for Epstein at the time.

Summers took two additional flights on Epstein’s aircraft during his presidency. An April 2004 entry lists Summers traveling from New York to Bedford alongside Sarah Kellen, who was later accused of supporting Epstein’s sex trafficking ring but never charged.

Another flight, in September 2005, shows Summers and Epstein traveling from Bedford to Westchester County, New York, along with individuals identified in the logs as “AM,” Kellen, and Bill Hammond, one of Epstein’s pilots.

New does not appear in the flight logs beyond the one December 2005 trip.

The logs were released by Congress in February as part of a case against Maxwell for her role in recruiting and trafficking underage girls alongside Epstein. She was convicted on five counts, including sex trafficking of a minor.

The hundreds of messages released by Congress last week revealed a strikingly personal relationship between Summers and Epstein, who bantered regularly about women, politics, and Harvard-related initiatives.

In the messages, Summers repeatedly turned to Epstein for advice in his romantic pursuit of a prominent Chinese economist whom they sometimes referred to by the codename “peril.” At one point, the two men joked about modeling the probability that Summers would have sex with the woman.

Summers also wrote in one March 2019 message to Epstein that she could be hesitant to leave him because of his professional influence and connections.

“She must be very confused or maybe wants to cut me off but wants professional connection a lot and so holds to it,” Summers wrote. dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com

Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers dances with his wife, Elisa New, at a Harvard event in January 2006. JOSEPH L. ABEL — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

8

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

FACULTY

Colleagues Address Summers’ Exit EXCUSED ABSENCE. In class on Thursday, professors that taught with Summers briefly addressed his absence with students.

BY DHRUV T. PATEL AND CAM N. SRIVASTAVA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

H

arvard professors who cotaught courses with former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers this semester responded in sharply different ways to his sudden departure from the classroom when they briefly acknowledged the fallout from Summers’ emails with convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein in class on Thursday.

Harvard Kennedy School professor Jeffrey Liebman — who has co-taught ECON 1420: “American Economic Policy” with Summers all semester — condemned Summers’ conduct as “inexcusable” and told students Thursday

HUGO C. CHIASSON, AND CAM N. SRIVASTAVA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Harvard students decried former University President Lawrence H. Summers’ relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein, with some calling for his resignation after documents released last week showed the two maintained a close correspondence until Epstein’s final arrest in July 2019.

Summers announced late Monday night that he would step back from public commitments while continuing to teach at Harvard.

But more than a dozen students told The Crimson they thought Summers should also resign from his post as a University professor after the documents revealed his regular exchanges with Epstein over women and Harvard-related initiatives.

In the messages, which surfaced among thousands of documents from the Epstein estate published last week by House Republicans, Summers turned to Epstein for advice while pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he claimed saw him as a mentor.

In one March 2019 exchange, Summers told Epstein that “She must be very confused or maybe wants to cut me off but wants professional connection a lot and so holds to it.”

Summers and Epstein also joked about the probability that Summers would have sex with the woman, whom they sometimes referred to by the code name “peril.”

Summers — who has served as a University Professor, holding Harvard’s highest faculty distinc-

FRANK S. ZHOU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

ly responded, saying “Yes, we will,” according to three students in the class.

Lawrence did not address the interruption and quickly returned to the day’s lesson — a guest talk by Tony Blair, the former United Kingdom prime minister.

A spokesperson for Summers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Summers’ absence in the class-

room Thursday morning marked a sharp about-face. After assuring students Monday night that he would continue teaching, he abruptly announced that he would take a leave from teaching on Wednesday amid intensifying scrutiny of his emails and rising backlash from students and faculty.

The Crimson reported on Sunday that Summers expressed a ro-

mantic interest in a woman he described as a mentee of his. Over seven months of back-and-forth exchanges, Epstein often workshopped Summers’ texts and gave feedback on his interactions, going as far as calling himself Summers’ “wing man.”

Lawmakers also stepped up calls for action against Summers, with President Donald Trump urging the Justice Department to open an investigation into Summers and members of Congress, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), calling for his ouster or resignation from Harvard.

Summers said on Monday that he would withdraw from his public commitments. He gave up or was let go from several prominent organizations outside of Harvard that he was affiliated with, including his role as an advisor for OpenAI and as a contributor to The New York Times and Bloomberg.

tion, since 2011 — is teaching four courses this semester, including a General Education course and an Economics elective for undergraduate students.

On Tuesday, Summers briefly addressed the scandal during Gen Ed 1120: “The Political Economy of Globalization,” which he co-teaches with Harvard Kennedy School professor Robert Z. Lawrence.

Summers referenced his public comments expressing regret over the messages, but said he placed a high value on continuing to teach undergraduates.

“Some of you will have seen my statement of regret, expressing my shame with respect to what I did in communication with Mr. Epstein, and that I’ve said that I’m going to step back from public activity part time,” Summers said in a video posted by students to social media.

“I think it’s very important to fulfill my teaching obligations.

And so, with your permission, we’re going to go forward and talk about the material in the class,” he added.

Daniel C. LaPointe ’26, a student in the course, said in an interview following the lecture that he expected Summers’ remarks to be more extensive, saying Summers gave a much longer address when discussing the September murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk — another heavily-discussed issue that fell outside the scope of the class.

Logan G. Ashby ’26, who also attended the lecture, said Summers’ statement was a “thin concession,” but that “it doesn’t ease any curiosities from myself.”

Other students said Summers’ close relationship with Epstein and his decision to seek Epstein’s

advice about a romantic interest made him unfit to continue teaching undergraduates.

“It’s incredibly easy — maybe one of the easiest things in the world — to not have a long-standing relation with maybe the world’s most notorious pedophile and human trafficker,” Anna J. Guerrini ’29 said. “I think it’s disgusting that he was asking for advice from another man on how to cheat on his wife and how to best win the affection of this woman.”

“That is not a man that should be teaching underclassmen,” she added. “He’s already proved that he can’t have a mentorship relationship with people.”

Guerrini said she was also concerned by Summers’ ability to teach female students fairly. Summers’ Harvard presidency fell apart following 2005 comments where he suggested innate disparities led to gender gaps in science, and a 2017 email with Epstein showed Summers apparently joking that women are less intelligent than men.

Summers also suggested in the email that people should not face diminished career prospects because they previously “hit on” women in the workplace. “DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT,” he added following the remark.

A spokesperson for Summers declined to comment on Tuesday, referring The Crimson to Summers’ Monday statement in which he said he was “deeply ashamed” of his actions and that his continued communication with Epstein was “misguided.”

Guerrini said Summers should resign of his own accord rather than waiting for Harvard to take action against him.

“I don’t know why he seems to be playing the long game, waiting for Harvard to fire him,” she said. “I feel like just to respect his own dignity — whatever’s left of it — and the dignity of the school as a whole, he should resign.”

A spokesperson for Harvard said on Tuesday night that the University would open a new probe into Summers’ connections with Epstein over the information in the recently released documents.

Students pointed out that even if Harvard wished to cut ties with Summers, the school could have a hard time doing so given the strong protections afforded by faculty tenure, which can only be revoked in rare and exceptional cases. Only one Harvard professor — behavioral economist Francesca Gino, who was accused of manipulating data across four studies — has publicly had her tenure revoked since norms around tenure status solidified in the 1940s.

Fred L. Klein ’28 said he thought Summers’ decision to step back from his public commitments could hardly be interpreted as a sign of a change in character.

“I have a very hard time believing that he’s had some moral reversal. I think it’s more likely that he’s just been caught,” Klein said. “It’s not good enough to just cancel your speaker series — no one cares.”

“Harvard, in the meantime, should figure out whatever they have to do to terminate him, whether that’s suspend him and investigate him and find more information and then fire him, or if they’re able to just fire him,” he added.

Ajay “Jay” Gupta ’27 labeled Summers’ correspondence with Epstein and pursuit of a woman in his profession “pretty bad,” though

AND DHRUV T. PATEL CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Senator Elizabeth A. Warren (D-Mass.) urged Harvard to cut ties with former University President Lawrence H. Summers after newly released emails revealed years of personal correspondence between Summers and convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein, CNN reported Monday.

Her remarks represent the highest-profile call so far for Harvard to distance itself from Summers, whose position as one of the University’s most influential — and polarizing — figures has endured despite past controversies.

Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor and now Massachusetts’ senior senator, said in a statement to CNN on Monday that Summers’ continued relationship with Epstein showed “monumentally bad judgement” that should bar him

from advising policymaking or teaching students.

“If he had so little ability to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein even after all that was publicly known about Epstein’s sex offenses involving underage girls, then Summers cannot be trusted to advise our nation’s politicians, policymakers, and institutions — or teach a generation of students at Harvard or anywhere else,” Warren said.

The newly disclosed messages, released last week by the House Oversight Committee, detail Summers’ unusually personal relationship with Epstein well after his 2008 conviction, prompting the sharpest challenge to his standing at Harvard since the explosive end to his presidency nearly two decades ago.

Spokespeople for Harvard and Summers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Warren’s remarks.

Summers told The Crimson in a statement last week that he harbored “great regrets” and de-

scribed his association with Epstein as “a major error of judgement.”

Warren’s comments come less than a day after The Crimson reported that Summers remained in regular contact with Epstein until July 5, 2019 — the day before the disgraced financier was arrested on new federal sex-trafficking charges.

Across seven years of correspondence, Summers communicated with Epstein about politics and personal relationships.

In the last months of messages between the two men, Summers repeatedly turned to Epstein for guidance on an intimate relationship with a woman he described as a mentee.

In December 2018, Summers forwarded Epstein, within minutes, an email from a London-based macroeconomist asking for feedback on her work.

In response, Epstein replied that she was “already beginning to sound needy :) nice.”

In later messages, Summers appeared to continue to express

romantic feelings toward a woman who is apparently the economist, referring to her by the codename “peril” and writing after a presentation she delivered at an academic conference that she was “Smart Assertive and clear Gorgeous.”

By the spring of 2019, the two men were openly joking about the odds of the relationship becoming sexual. In one exchange, Summers asked Epstein whether it was “meaningful” to forecast “my getting horizontal w peril” — their code name for the woman.

Summers has taught at Harvard for over two decades and currently holds Harvard’s highest faculty distinction as a University Professor. This semester, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary is teaching several Harvard courses, including two large undergraduate courses.

Epstein, and his ties to Summers and other figures in the American political elite, have come under intense scrutiny from lawmakers across the aisle

CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

since the Wednesday files were released.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump called on the Department of Justice to open an investigation into Epstein’s affiliation with Summers, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and several major financial institutions. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi launched a probe just hours later.

Warren’s remarks also land just days before a closely watched House vote on a bill that would compel the federal government to release all documents it has obtained from the Epstein estate.

Trump — whose name appears hundreds of times in the files released on Wednesday — abruptly reversed course on Sunday and pledged support for the measure. The bill is expected to clear the House, but its fate in the Senate remains uncertain.

Warren and Summers have

The Justice Department asked a federal prosecutor on Friday to investigate ties between child sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein and a list of prominent figures including Harvard professor Lawrence H. Summers, two days after the release of thousands of pages of Epstein’s correspondence.

The move came hours after United States President Donald Trump publicly urged Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi and other federal officials to probe Epstein’s relationships with Summers, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and several major financial institutions.

Bondi wrote that the department would “pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people” in a Friday afternoon post on X. A spokesperson for the department declined to provide details on Friday evening.

Summers, a former Harvard president who served as Clinton’s Treasury secretary, has been a frequent critic of Trump’s economic policies. The other two men named in Trump’s Friday morning Truth Social post, Clinton and Hoffman, are also Democrats.

In the post, Trump accused Democrats of deflecting from the recent government shutdown by releasing a limited set of Epstein-related documents and demanded a full inquiry into what he called Epstein’s “involvement and relationship” with a slate of prominent figures.

“Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island.’ Stay tuned!!!” Trump wrote.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee first released the documents on Wednesday, leaving the public to sift through a trove of more than 20,000 records that they said raised new questions about Epstein’s ties to political, academic, and financial leaders.

The emails showed that Summers and Epstein corresponded regularly through July 5, 2019, one day before Epstein was arrested in the New York area. Their exchanges mixed discussions of Harvard-linked initiatives with unusually candid personal notes about women and politics, offering a striking illustration of how Epstein lingered in some faculty members’ lives long after Harvard said it had cut ties.

Summers’ messages to Epstein included scathing comments about Trump’s first administration.

“Spend zero effort on anything about me w trump. Seeing his approach to conflict of interest, his Putin proximity, and his mindless response on Castro death I’m best off a million miles away,” Summers wrote in one email. “Until they are deeply humbled by the fuckups that are sure to come, I serve myself and country best by doing nothing that involves loyalty to them.”

The exchanges, which date from 2013 to 2019, also show Epstein planning a donation to a project run by Harvard English professor emerita Elisa F. New, who is married to Summers, and bantering about politics. In one exchange starting in 2018, Summers appeared to confide in Epstein about his personal life, sharing his romantic interest in an unnamed woman.

In email threads and text exchanges on the topic, which extended across seven months from late 2018 into 2019, Epstein described himself as a “wing man” for Summers’ romantic pursuit.

Summers, in turn, appeared to turn to Epstein for advice — and to confess conflicted feelings over his own attraction to the woman.

“Game day at conference she was extremely good,” he wrote to Epstein, apparently following the woman’s presentation at a December 2018 conference. “Smart Assertive and clear gorgeous. I’m fucked.”

Summers — who wrote that his relationship with Epstein was a “major error of judgement” in a Wednesday statement to The Crimson — has otherwise stayed quiet on the trove of documents released. On Thursday, he co-taught hundreds of students in his two undergraduate economics courses.

megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com

dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com

dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com

he added that he was not sure whether the conduct violated University policy. But he said it would not be a good look for Harvard if it ended up being the only institution that did not cut ties with Summers.

“It does look, on optics, pretty bad if he chooses to leave everything, but then Harvard can’t do anything about it as the only job he has left,” Gupta said.

Spokespeople for the University did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday evening.

By Tuesday, Summers had either stepped down or been let go from roles at several prominent organizations, including his positions at Bloomberg, the New York Times, and the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank.

Gupta called on Harvard to undertake a comprehensive review of Summers’ actions throughout his time at Harvard, back to when he first became president in 2001.

Christopher “Luciano” Galan-Duran ’28, who said he sent Summers an email earlier in the semester “begging” to conduct research under him, said on Tuesday that he did not “want to be taught by somebody with such a record and somebody who has, not a hatred, but a dark past and a dark view of the world that we live in.”

Yavuz S. Atlamaz ’29 said Summers’ stature within the University could complicate efforts to hold him accountable.

“Larry Summers obviously has a lot of say within the Harvard community. He’s a past president,” Atlamaz said. shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com hugo.chiasson@thecrimson.com cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com

Sen. Warren Urges Harvard To Cut Ties With Summers

BY MEGAN L. BLONIGEN

BY DHRUV T. PATEL AND CAM N. SRIVASTAVA

morning he was “pissed off” and “repulsed” by Summers’ exchanges with Epstein, according to three students in attendance.

But just hours earlier, fellow HKS professor Robert Lawrence struck a far more muted tone with students in Gen Ed 1120: “The Political Economy of Globalization.”

After briefly noting that Summers had stepped back from teaching, he went on to praise Summers for his contributions to the course, reading from a prewritten script.

“As I’m sure you are all aware, Larry has decided to step down from his teaching responsibilities this semester,” Lawrence said, according to a recording obtained by The Crimson. “I’m really sorry for the undoubted disruption it’s going to cause all of you.”

“We will miss his insights and his wisdom,” Lawrence continued.

Instantly, some students took issue with the remark.

“No, we won’t,” one student shouted back, drawing claps and laughter. Another student quiet-

Harvard Undergrads Call on Summers To Resign

BY SHAWN A. BOEHMER,

DOJ Opens Summers Investigation

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 21, 2025

9

UNIVERSITY FINANCES

Harvard’s Bitcoin Investments Expand BETTING ON CRYPTO. Harvard upped its investment in an ETF tracking the value of Bitcoin, per third quarter filings.

BY AVANI B. RAI AND SAKETH SUNDAR CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­H

arvard Management Company dramatically increased its investment in an exchange trade fund tracking the value of Bitcoin in the third quarter of 2025, making the iShares Bitcoin Trust its largest publicly disclosed U.S. equity holding as the University’s portfolio also saw jumps in gold and consumer-facing industries.

HMC raised its stake in the iShares Bitcoin Trust by 258 percent, increasing the investment’s reported value from $116.7 million to $442.9 million, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. The firm’s stake in an ETF tracking the value of gold also doubled, with Harvard’s position in the SPDR Gold Trust increasing from $101.5 mil-

lion to $235.1 million.

SPDR Gold Trust is backed by physical gold stored in London vaults while iShares Bitcoin Trust, holds Bitcoin on behalf of shareholders. Continuing a trend from last quarter, HMC’s venture into Bitcoin and gold ETFs allow it to gain exposure to the commodities without direct ownership.

Harvard also introduced a $29.3 million stake in Flutter Entertainment during the third quarter.

Flutter operates FanDuel, the sports betting and gaming platform that has rapidly expanded in the U.S. market after the Supreme Court legalized sports betting across the country in 2018.

HMC also opened a $16.8 million position in Klarna Group, the Swedish payments company known for its “buy now, pay later” service. Another major addition was Zillow, the online real-estate marketplace, where the endowment added a position worth $73.4 million.

Several of the University’s major technology holdings, including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Booking Holdings, re-

mained unchanged over the quarter. Nvidia was the only large tech position reduced, with HMC cutting its stake by 12 percent and pairing the move with a new $59.2 million investment in Nvidia’s long-term manufacturing partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Economist and Stanford finance professor Joshua D. Rauh said the continued trend of investments in Bitcoin and gold could indicate that HMC is attempting to hedge against macroeconomic headwinds to the U.S. dollar.

“Investors often seem to view both bitcoin and gold as hedges against a collapse of the international monetary system in general, and against a loss of faith in the US dollar in particular,” Rauh wrote.

“However, the extent to which either actually protects investors from these forces is uncertain and scenario-dependent.”

“Gold has traditionally performed well in environments with large uncertainty about geopolitics, but while its properties make it a long-term store of value, it doesn’t necessarily perform well when inflation increases,” Rauh

added. “Bitcoin’s intrinsic characteristics make it still rather speculative today, and it certainly hasn’t proven itself as a hedge against inflation or market volatility, but allocating a small part of the portfolio to it provides diversification in case its role in the global economy increases.”

Stanfard finance professor Darrell Duffie said the increase in Bitcoin in particular might represent the firm trying to get ahead of “the speculative urges of other investors.”

“I was surprised to learn that Harvard Management Company significantly increased its position in Bitcoin,” Duffie wrote. “Bitcoin does not pay dividends and has limited uses as a payment instrument.”

HMC spokesperson Patrick S. McKiernan declined to comment on the endowment’s investment strategy.

Other shifts by HMC in the third quarter included a significant reduction in Broadcom, nearly halving the stake and lowering its value from $53.1 million to $33 million, and a steep, 85 percent cut of its investment in Maze Therapeutics.

The Harvard Management Company is housed in the Boston Federal Reserve building. HUGO C. CHIASSON — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Notably, HMC’s public disclosures only represent a sliver — 14 percent in the last fiscal year — of the University’s total portfolio. The remaining is allocated to a series of private assets — including 41 percent to private equity and 31 percent to hedge funds in FY25— that do not fall under the SEC’s quarterly reporting requirements.

Currently HMC holds 18 public stocks, relegating the majority of its investments to external managers and reducing the fund’s trans-

parency.

“Since Harvard does most of its investing via external managers and pooled or commingled vehicles, we don’t see the fund’s complete exposures,” Rauh wrote.

“In general, stakeholders of Harvard should be interested in knowing more about that part of the portfolio we don’t see in the 13-F,”he added. avani.rai@thecrimson.com saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com

Harvard Receives $36 Million Letter of Credit from Bank of America

BY CASSIDY M. CHENG AND ELIAS M. VALENCIA CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Harvard took out a $36 million standby letter of credit from Bank of America at the end of October after the Department of Education imposed stepped-up financial oversight earlier this fall.

The Education Department required Harvard to secure the letter when it placed the University on heightened cash monitoring status in a September press release, saying Harvard needed to prove that it could continue to fulfill its financial obligations even if it lost federal funding or faced new costs.

But even as Harvard has reluctantly complied, it has repudiated the government’s reasoning.

University spokesperson Jason

A. Newton wrote in a statement to The Crimson that the Education Department’s request for the letter of credit is “unnecessary and unwarranted.”

“While Harvard rejects the government’s claims regarding the University’s financial solvency, it has obtained a letter of credit to put this issue to rest,” Newton wrote.

Harvard disclosed the letter in a filing to bond investors on Oct. 31. The agreement with Bank of America expires next year.

The decision to place Harvard under HCM status was unusual, several higher education experts said in September. The status is largely used for struggling technical and for-profit colleges — not for powerhouse universities like Harvard, which boasts a $56.9 billion endowment.

Taking out a standby letter of

credit is likewise an atypical move for Harvard, which retains top-tier credit ratings despite increased financial uncertainty.

According to Robert J. Kelchen, a professor of higher education at the University of Tennessee, one of the purposes of a standby letter of credit is to protect taxpayers if “a university is unable to meet the conditions of federal financial aid.”

“These letters of credit go to institutions that are deemed financially riskier or on the verge of closure, and that way if the institution shuts down quickly, taxpayers get at least some money back,” Kelchen added.

In the event that Harvard’s finances collapse, the letter guarantees that Bank of America will issue Harvard a loan of up to $36 million to fulfill its obligations to the federal government, distrib-

ute unpaid financial aid to students, and finish teaching current students or facilitate their transition to degree programs at other schools.

The Education Department cited the Trump administration’s own threats to Harvard as a source of “growing concerns regarding the university’s financial position” in the September press release, pointing to the possibility that it would levy penalties for alleged violations of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act — formalized in a June finding that accused Harvard of permitting antisemitism on campus — or if the University refused to turn over documents on its consideration of race in admissions.

The press release also referred to Harvard’s decision to issue $1.2 billion in bonds this year, claiming the bond sales were likely to “have

a significant adverse impact on the financial condition of Harvard.”

Even if Harvard’s budgetary struggles are not existential, they have left few parts of the University untouched. Harvard has laid off dozens of workers this semester and signaled that more layoffs could be on the horizon, especially as the University anticipates paying roughly $300 million under an increased tax on its endowment income. Several of its schools have said the new costs have exposed cracks in their underlying financial practices.

But Kelchen said that, rather than indicating underlying financial instability, the mere act of placing the University on HCM status was “a political statement more than anything else.”

The University’s stable financial reputation — and sizable endowment — may have given it a

relatively smooth path to obtaining the Bank of America letter, in contrast to struggling institutions, which represent larger risks to banks.

“Harvard is not exactly a financially risky institution,” Kelchen added. “Instead, a bank considering whether to issue a letter of credit has to take on the political risk that the federal government could go after the bank for them issuing this letter of credit.”

The letter does not signal Harvard is in financial danger, Kelchen said — it simply represents another clash with Republicans in Washington.

“It means that Harvard is on the federal government’s naughty list, and Harvard is in no danger of failing financially,” Kelchen said. cassidy.cheng@thecrimson.com elias.valencia@thecrimson.com

State Dept. Opens CAMLab Probe FAS To Reduce Science Ph.D. Seats By 50%, Reversing Deeper Cuts

BY WILLIAM C. MAO

AND VERONICA H. PAULUS CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The State Department opened an inquiry into the Harvard Cognitive Aesthetics Media Lab, after a former employee filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that the lab mishandled the admissions process for its visiting scholars program.

CAMLab, led and co-founded

by History of Art and Architecture professor Eugene Y. Wang, supports multimedia art that explores “human consciousness” and hosts roughly two dozen visiting scholars annually, according to its website.

When the lab was created in 2018, it was known as the Chinese Arts Media Lab and aimed to display interactive tributes to Buddhist artwork in China. The lab has since rebranded its Harvard website to refer to itself as the Cognitive Aesthetics Media Lab. Yiyi Liang, a former fellow at CAMLab, filed her complaint with the State Department in May, the same month the lab opted against renewing her contract. Liang said in her complaint that some visiting scholars had used CAMLab’s program to receive a U.S. visa, even though they spent considerable time off campus. Her complaint also alleged that the lab charged unreasonable fees of $16,000 for visiting scholars, she said.

Another core allegation, Liang said, was that CAMLab overworked her and had her focus on completing administrative tasks, instead of the scholarly research she had hoped to pursue at Harvard.

Liang declined to provide a copy of her complaint. A State Department spokesperson told the Boston Globe, which first reported her allegations against CAMLab, that the department “cannot comment

on the specifics of ongoing compliance reviews, nor does it comment on individual complaints.”

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has also launched an administrative review into CAMLab’s management practices, according to FAS spokesperson James M. Chisholm.

Wang strongly denied Liang’s allegations. He said the program never overworked Liang, and that visiting scholar programs at Harvard and other universities charge similar administrative fees. The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, which houses international social science research at Harvard, charges a $10,000 annual fee for its visiting scholarship program.

“With limited staff support, it is reasonable that CAMLab, like many peer units at Harvard, charge administrative fees in order to enhance the quality of visiting scholars’ experience at Harvard,” Wang wrote in a statement.

“CAMLab is committed to full transparency and compliance with all Harvard and U.S. regulations,” he added.

Chisholm also wrote that the FAS does not prohibit faculty projects, like CAMLab, from requiring an administrative fee from students and scholars who participate in their programs.

In response to Liang’s claim that she focused almost exclusively on administrative work, Wang wrote in a statement that her activities at CAMLab were “directly related to her individual research and academic focus.” According to Wang, Liang worked on refining content for two book manuscripts under his direction, and conducted research on both textual and image sources.

In interviews, Liang also accused CAMLab of nepotism. She said the program partnered with Kaimu — a Chinese company with

ties to the mother of CAMLab associate director Chenchen Lu, who co-founded the program with Wang.

Wang said Lu was a student fellow at Harvard and had no oversight over any of CAMLab’s financial or administrative decisions.

The contract was administered through Harvard’s standard process for vendors, and neither Wang nor the lab have ever received any financial benefit from Kaimu, according to Wang.

Wang also said CAMLab only worked with Kaimu once during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the program needed to find a reliable vendor.

Liang also alleged that Wang’s wife, Jie Lu, played an undue role in admitting scholars for the program, even though she does not have a formal academic background. She claimed that Liu would conduct most of the interviews, holding short conversations and admitting the majority of applicants.

Wang said that while his wife helps with the screening process for applicants, he makes final decisions about which candidates ultimately get positions. Liu also works on a volunteer basis, Wang added.

“She doesn’t receive any money from the work she’s done. It’s purely out of her love of the CAMLab project,” Wang said.

The State Department’s inquiry comes as Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration have put Harvard’s ties with China under a microscope. The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party opened an investigation this spring that accused Harvard of maintaining partnerships with CCP-linked groups. william.mao@thecrimson.com veronica.paulus@thecrimson.com

BY WILLIAM C. MAO AND VERONICA H. PAULUS CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday that it would reduce the number of Ph.D. admissions slots for the Science division by 50 percent this year, walking back plans for even steeper cuts after faculty responded with frustration to the reductions.

The FAS announced in October that Ph.D seats in the Science division would be reduced by 75 percent as part of drastic cuts to Ph.D. admissions across divisions in response to growing financial pressures. But the move prompted backlash among some professors, who said the change would have severe consequences for their teaching and research.

In an email announcing the change, FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra cited the October return of federal funding to Harvard and concerns from Science departments as catalysts for her decision to reverse course.

The FAS will consider allowing departments to admit Ph.D. students in excess of 50 percent of historical levels on a program-by-program basis.

Hoekstra wrote that when deciding which programs could exceed the 50 percent threshold, the FAS would take into consideration their access to non-federal funding, including “appropriate corporate funds or incremental philanthropic support, but not startup funds.”

“This year’s approach is not

perfect, but will give us flexibility to meet pressing academic needs while maintaining prudent stewardship of our finances,” Hoekstra wrote, adding that the FAS will continue to pursue new sources of funding over the next year.

The Ph.D. reductions are part of a broader push for austerity at the FAS. The school announced last month that it’s facing a massive $365 million structural deficit, fueled by mounting capital expenditure costs and this summer’s endowment tax, which could cost the FAS $98 million annually.

The school had already taken significant steps to reduce expenditures this year, instituting a hiring freeze, keeping its budget flat, and pausing spending on non-essential capital projects. Hoeksta also convened several committees to evaluate spending across the faculty.

But even as faculty acknowledged the severity of Harvard’s financial situation, many said Ph.D. programs were not the place to cut back on spending.

Professors rely on Ph.D. students to teach their courses and support their research, and many see their graduate students as the future of academia and Harvard.

“Scientific research is not housing prices — it’s something magical. And there are a lot of magical people here,” Physics professor Melissa E.B. Franklin said during last month’s faculty meeting to applause from her colleagues.

Science departments, Hoekstra wrote in her email, made it

clear to her that graduate education is their “highest priority.”

Faculty also questioned how much the Ph.D. reductions would save the FAS. Hoekstra previously said that supplementing federal funding for the more than 1,000 Sciences Ph.D. students who had relied on federal grants cost the school $20 million. The FAS budget for last year was roughly $1.8 billion.

The revised Ph.D. reductions, Hoekstra wrote on Wednesday, would “present incremental financial risk for the FAS.” But she said the move was necessary to ensure the FAS could continue leading research and providing high quality teaching.

The additional Ph.D students will be funded through the Research Continuity Funding program, which Hoekstra launched last spring to support faculty whose federal research grants had been cut by the Trump administration. william.mao@thecrimson.com veronica.paulus@thecrimson.com

THC Read more at THECRIMSON.COM

10

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

KENNEDY SCHOOL

HKS Indigenous Governance Project Looks Ahead ONWARD. A $15 million donation in 2023 set the Kennedy School’s Indigenous governance project on a new course.

BY ELISE A. SPENNER AND TANYA J. VIDHUN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­T

he Chilkat Indian Village, a tribal group more than 100 miles from Juneau in southeast Alaska, is home to just 80 residents.

This summer, though, two students from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Project on Indigenous Governance and Development joined the Village, working to document and protect traditional Chilkat food sources threatened by an upstream exploratory mine.

Alaina Birkel, who directs intergovernmental affairs for the Chilkat Indian Village, said the students’ work helped lend legitimacy to the “Chilkat Forever” campaign — the tribe’s attempt to block the mining operation.

The internship was an extension

of a class that pairs HKS students with Indigenous nations through the Project— a longstanding Harvard Kennedy School program dedicated to moving Indigenous tribes toward autonomy and self-governance.

“We go, ‘Hey, we have this resource of these motivated and smart students who might be willing to work on your problems,’” said HKS lecturer Eric Henson, who leads the class. “It’s the community voice. It is like ‘What’s on your plate? And how can we help you think about it?’”

The class is one arm of the project, founded in 1987 to conduct research and mobilize students to address the issues facing indigenous groups. Though Harvard researchers have studied Indigenous governance through the project since its inception, a $15 million donation in 2023 has set it on a new course for longevity.

The gift was funded by several donors, including the Endeavor Foundation, the Chickasaw Nation, and HKS professor emeritus Joseph P. Kalt and his wife Judith K. Gans.

Harvard Kennedy School Project on Indigenous Governance staff Meghan M. Hill (left) and Melissa Yazzie (right). ELISE A. SPENNER — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

It supports an endowed chair for a professor to study Indigenous governance, an endowed senior fellowship, and new programming.

The Project on Indigenous Governance hosted chief Sophie Pierre of the Ktunaxa Nation as its inaugural senior fellow in the spring, and welcomed Randall Akee in September as the new faculty director and first endowed professor of Indigenous governance.

For the staff and faculty who lead the project — many of whom have dedicated their careers to studying and supporting Indigenous governance — it was the culmination of a decades-long push to safeguard their program for generations to come.

Megan M. Hill, the senior program director, called it both a symbolic and material victory. She said that donation solidifies the project’s work and extends its life indefinitely through the endowment.

“I think it’s a long time coming — institutionalizing, for lack of a better word, the reality that Indigenous voices and perspectives are valued

here,” Hill said.

“So as long as Harvard University exists — which we expect is going to be a very long time — it will always have a focus on Indigenous governance issues and policy issues because of that endowment,” she added.

The Project on Indigenous Governance is unique not just at Harvard but across the country, its faculty and staff said, for the trust it has cultivated with Indigenous communities through decades of close collaboration.

Akee, the new faculty director, said the project has built up “a really good track record” over its lifespan, giving it credibility that other organizations lack.

“We’re just very grateful to have a partnership that can continue and be sustained because of the important work that everyone’s committed to doing,” said Birkel, the Chilkat director of intergovernmental affairs.

That reputation contrasts with the University’s fraught relationship with indigenous communities.

Though the University’s founding

charter pledged in 1650 to educate both “English and Indian youth,” Harvard would spend the next 300 years encroaching on Native land, and did not make a concerted effort to recruit Native students until the 1990s.

Though Akee, the faculty director, said Harvard’s central administration has a “strong connection” with regional tribal leaders through its Harvard University Native American Program, staff at the HKS project said they were the only group working hand-in-hand with Indigenous communities on research and governance.

The 2023 gift made that work possible on a larger scale. Miriam Jorgensen, who directs research at the project and recently produced a white paper on the efficacy of indigenous conservation, said having an endowed indigenous professor makes it easier to get support and funding for proposals.

“The confidence that a funder can have in the work that’s produced is greater when it’s clear that the institution has indigenous lead-

ership,” Jorgenson said.

“It’s more about the optics of the commitment,” she added. “It’s about the ability of an institution to convey that it’s serious.”

If anything, this moment demands that Harvard — and the United States writ large — pay special attention to indigenous communities and their governance structures, Pierre said. In the face of “destruction” and “chaos” at the federal level, Pierre suggested that the U.S. could look toward Indigenous systems that prioritize the community’s well-being.

The growth of the Harvard Project, she said, is a sign that the institution is catching on.

“Now that there’s chaos, and an institution like Harvard is saying, ‘Yes, we have something solid here,’ we can bring it in,” Pierre said.

“Thing happen when they’re supposed to happen, and we started this fellowship when it was supposed to happen,” she added. elise.spenner@thecrimson.com tanya.vidhun@thecrimson.com

On Podcast, HLS Professor Lessig Tells Gino’s Side of Tenure Story

BY EVAN H.C. EPSTEIN AND GRAHAM W. LEE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

The Harvard Law School Library is located in Langdell Hall. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

HLS Library Releases Digitized Evidence From Nuremberg Trials

BY CAROLINE G. HENNIGAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Harvard Law School Library announced the release of digitized transcripts and evidence from the Nuremberg Trials on Thursday, marking the 80th anniversary of the international military tribunal for Nazi leaders and significantly expanding public access to the second-largest archive of the trials.

Researchers at the Library’s Nuremberg Trials Project digitized more than 750,000 pages of archival materials, including evidence and transcripts, previously only accessible in physical form in HLS’ library system.

The release is the latest step in the Library’s decades-long effort to catalogue and digitize the collection, which — outside of the U.S. National Archives holdings — is the most comprehensive set of Nuremberg Trials documents in the world.

“Eighty years after the Nuremberg Trials began, the efforts by prosecutors, judges, and others to seek a measure of justice in the aftermath of monstrous atrocities stand as a landmark moment in the history of law and society,” HLS Dean John C.P. Goldberg said in a press release.

“The decades-long endeavor to digitize and, for the first time, to make these indispensable records available to the world is a testament to the power of universities to foster the search for

truth by preserving and sharing knowledge,” he added.

The project began in 1998 under the leadership of HLS librarian and professor emeritus Harry “Terry” S. Martin III with the goal of indexing the contents of 730 boxes of original materials and enabling remote access for researchers.

The development of the internet, according to the project’s longtime technical lead Paul Deschner, “revolutionized” research by allowing scholars to apply digital tools to explore the trials’ extensive archive.

Before Thursday, the Nuremberg Trials Project had only digitized and uploaded roughly 20 percent of the total documents — with evidence from seven of the 13 trials. Now, researchers will have access to digitized records of all the project’s materials from all 13 trials.

Deschner said roughly 40 percent of the thousands of documents — primarily those submitted as evidence during the trials — now include detailed metadata including titles, authors, dates, document numbers, subject headings, and descriptive summaries. This extensive tagging, he added, helps researchers locate testimonies and legal arguments that were previously buried in the archive.

Though Thursday’s release marks a significant milestone, Deschner emphasized that the project remains ongoing. The next phase will focus on mak-

ing the documents fully machine-readable — a technically demanding process that will enable users to conduct keyword searches across the entire archive.

Though Deschner said the research team did not use artificial intelligence to assign metadata to the documents, he hopes as AI develops, they can use the tool in the future to convert the image scans to text.

The Library’s team has also started to digitize historical records from other historical military trials, including the International Military Tribunal for the Far East — also known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal — that was used to prosecute Japanese leaders for war crimes during WWII. “Preserving legal information is essential work, but preservation alone is not enough.

We have a responsibility to open doors and connect this vital knowledge with the world,” Amanda Watson, HLS’s assistant dean for library and information services, said in the press release.

“This collection stands as an answer to one of history’s most critical questions: How can law rise to meet moments of international crisis? Today, we ensure that answer is not locked away but available to all,” she added. “We believe when we make justice visible, we make it possible.” caroline.hennigan@thecrimson.com

Former Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino has turned to podcasting to tell her story since losing tenure and leaving Harvard after being accused of manipulating data.

Gino and Harvard Law School professor L. Lawrence Lessig have taped four episodes of a podcast series on Gino’s case since June 7, starting two weeks after Gino became the first Harvard professor since at least the 1940s to have her tenure revoked.

On the podcast, Lessig does most of the talking. He called Harvard’s investigation “astonishingly bad,” and said officials employed “bait and switch” tactics through their Third Statute — which includes the procedure for tenure revocation — to make it difficult for Gino to defend herself.

“Yes, spend a year and $3 million building a defense against this complaint, and then, oops, sorry, you need to race in the next month to build a new defense against a new complaint with multiple new charges and new theories and falsification scenarios added in, like icing on a cake,” Lessig said.

Gino does not say much, interjecting mostly factual points when prompted by Lessig.

Gino, who gained fame for her research on honesty and ethics, was accused in 2021 of falsifying data in four of her studies by research blog Data Colada. Placed on administrative leave by HBS in August 2023, Gino then sued Harvard, accusing the University of defamation, mishandling her tenure review process, and engaging in sex-based discrimination.

After an internal investigation

by Harvard determined that Gino had committed research fraud, Gino’s tenure was revoked and she was fired in May 2025. She was the first Harvard professor to lose tenure since at least the 1940s, when the rules for academic protection were formalized.

But the legal dispute between Harvard and Gino is ongoing. In August, the University responded to Gino’s lawsuit with a defamation countersuit against her, accusing her of sending the school a falsified dataset to prove she did not commit data fraud. Gino’s lawsuit

is currently in the discovery phase and is scheduled to enter summary judgment in April 2026.

On Lessig’s podcast “The Law, such as it is,” which has been running since 2020, Gino maintained her innocence and charged HBS with committing “grave misconduct” in their investigation of her.

“It felt cruel. It lacked humanity,” Gino said. “I had spent 15 years giving my heart and mind to the institution. I taught, I did research, I mentored and advised. I thought of myself as a good citizen. I am certainly far from perfect and if I were to go back, I would spend time thinking about how to improve the practices in the field. But I did not commit academic misconduct.”

Gino also claimed that HBS did not handle her tenure revocation professionally, sending an email to inform her about the decision rather than calling her, and misspelling her name as “Francesco” in the email.

Spokespeople for the University and HBS declined to comment for this article.

Gino wrote in a statement to The Crimson that she is grateful for the help she has received from Lessig.

“I very much admire Larry for what he is doing, and his courage,” Gino wrote after the second episode. “Doing the two episodes with Larry made me feel deeply grateful, but it also made me realize the depth of the wounds and how hard it is, personally, to revisit how this incredible (and insane) story unfolded.”

Lessig also declined to comment to The Crimson, but on the podcast, he explained that he became extensively involved in the litigation effort over time, first as a friend and then as a pro bono lawyer. Lessig said he submitted an unsuccessful appeal of Gino’s tenure revocation decision to Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 and the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing board.

But he said he decided to help tell her story on the podcast because he believes Gino is “an innocent person, wrongfully called guilty.”

Lessig is also fiercely critical of the University’s committee that concluded that Gino had committed fraud, comparing their final 11page report to “edicts from Zeus.”

“This document reads like edicts from Zeus, but as we’ll see in

the episodes that follow, that this was not the work of Zeus, or at least an omniscient Zeus, because we’ll see the obvious mistakes and flat out falsities that are within this report,” Lessig said.

But he stopped short of criticizing Data Colada, which he instead said was made up of “a fantastic group of data scientists.” Gino accused Data Colada, a blog created by three psychologists, of defamation alongside the University in 2023. Those charges were struck down a year later.

“We should be happy there are people like this in the world. People like this flagging anomalies in academic research helps keep research honest,” Lessig said in an episode taped in November.

But he said the investigation process broke down at Harvard, where Lessig said “it effectively locked the defendant in a room and denied her any effective support to build a case to defend herself.”

In the latest episode, Lessig starts to lay out explanations for data anomalies in Gino’s research outside of her own involvement, claiming that her research could have been muddled by outside influences.

In one of the studies that HBS claims that Gino falsified, Lessig said that the misconstrued data came from “scammers” that hijacked her survey, rather than manual entries on her part. He also said the Investigation Committee never found substantive proof that Gino created this data, making inferences “without evidence.”

“The Investigative Committee made an error that Francesca could have corrected, if she had had her own expert support before HBS concluded she was guilty,” Lessig said. “But she didn’t, because the rules that the Business School imposed upon her forbid her from having expert support before it concluded she was guilty.”

In Gino’s final podcast appearance, she thanked her most vocal Harvard supporter.

“I appreciate the courage that you’re showing and making sure that people know more about my story, my side of the story,” she told Lessig. “But also, I hope that it causes people to pause and reflect on the type of processes that were used here and that that changes.” evan.epstein@thecrimson.com graham.lee@thecrimson.com

EDITORIAL 11

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

STAFF EDITORIAL

Harvard’s Epstein Reckoning Isn’t Over TROUBLESOME TIES. The flaws that led to the perverse relationship between Harvard and Epstein are inexcusable.

Harvard shouldn’t be for sale — and pedophiles shouldn’t be allowed to buy access.

BY THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

I

n a world with billions of alternatives, former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers picked Jeffrey E. Epstein — literally the most infamous pedophile on the planet — as a confidant.

Last week, a slew of emails released by congressional Republicans revealed that Larry Summers maintained a close personal relationship with convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein after the disgraced financier’s crimes were uncovered.

While appalling, this is only the latest episode in Harvard’s sordid entanglement with Epstein — and it demands a continued University-wide response.

Although Summers has since described his relationship with Epstein as “a major error of judgement,” the email cache paints an ugly picture. Epstein was Summers’s self-described “wing man” in Summers’s relationship with a woman who Summers described as a mentee.

Being amiably close with a convicted pedophile is bad enough — but seeking advice from that sex criminal about an apparent affair reflects a shocking ethical failure. The emails are also peppered with abhorrent misogyny: In one, Summers seemed to joke that women were less intelligent than men.

What’s more, Epstein donated $110,000 to a nonprofit tied to Summers’s wife, Harvard English professor emerita Elisa F. New. Seeking Epstein’s advice on a project with that nonprofit, New even told him that a donation would “absolutely be a Harvard gift” — well after Harvard had stopped taking money from Epstein.

But this saga isn’t just about Summers — at the end of the day, it’s about Harvard. These revelations are only the latest in our University’s yearslong entanglement with Epstein: For exam-

ple, after donating $6.5 million to Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Epstein was granted unrestricted access to the program’s offices — complete with a private office.

Harvard shouldn’t be for sale — and known pedophiles certainly shouldn’t be allowed to buy access. In 2020, a Harvard investigation revealed that Epstein visited his office at Harvard over 40 times between 2010 and 2018 — even after becoming a registered sex offender in New York and Florida. On those visits, he even met with Harvard professors.

Given this new information about Epstein’s relationship with Summers, Harvard should reopen the investigation into its ties with Epstein.

The investigation and report from 2020 provide a model to follow now and in the future — but they certainly don’t absolve Harvard from its responsibility to probe new evidence that its association with Epstein ran deeper than previously thought.

First and foremost, an investigation will help determine whether any additional University policy violations have come to light — and if so, what steps Harvard should take moving forward.

But this also gives Harvard the chance to revisit deeper issues.

The University adopted a number of new donation policies in the wake of revelations about Epstein’s closeness to Harvard. As the University looks ahead to raising money in financially uncertain times, ensuring our donation policies are transparent and ethical is all the more important.

The personal and structural flaws that led to the decade-long perverse relationship between Harvard and Epstein are inexcusable. Harvard took its first few steps toward doing better. It clearly still has work to do.

–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.

PAVAN V. THAKKAR — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

COLUMN

The Professor and the Pedophile

BY VIOLET T.M. BARRON, ALEX BRONZINI-VENDER, AND ADAM N. CHIOCCO

­F

ormer Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers’ career has weathered many controversies. May this one be his last on our campus.

According to emails released by Congress last week, Summers maintained close correspondence with convicted pedophile Jeffrey E. Epstein for the better half of a decade, up until the day before Epstein’s 2019 arrest. The two shared sexist banter, facilitated introductions, and traded notes on global elites. Most damningly, though, Summers turned to Epstein for guidance on how to pursue a clandestine romantic engagement with a woman whom he described as a mentee.

Summers was right to resign his posts at the Center for American Progress, the Yale Budget Lab, and OpenAI. The New York Times was similarly justified in declining to renew his term as a contributing opinion writer. By any consistent

standard, if Summers is unfit to work for each of these institutions, he is equally unfit to teach at our school. Harvard should not be the only institution in America where Summers remains above reproach.

Summers should choose the most straightforward path and resign. Should he refuse to, though, the University must cut ties with its former president to the greatest extent possible.

If Summers remains, Harvard’s educational mission, public image, and moral standing are at risk. An effective educator must respect all students equally. The content of a lecture — rather than the scandalous and reprehensible conduct of the lecturer — ought to be the focus of a class. Yesterday morning, this was not the case. Summers began his lecture with an apology for fraternizing with Epstein before proceeding with his students’ “permission” — which he seemingly never actually stopped to receive. This elephant in the classroom is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Moreover, women at Harvard deserve educators who respect them. Grotesque as recent developments are, they should come as no surprise. Two decades ago, Summers’ disparaging comments

about women’s intelligence helped topple his University presidency. He has now only doubled down on his misogyny. Emailing Epstein, Summers debuted a more radical thesis: Despite comprising a majority of the world’s population, women possess half of the world’s cumulative IQ points.

The moral and pedagogical implications of inaction are grave. As other high-profile institutions part ways with Summers, Harvard’s continued ties to its president emeritus imperil the University’s already tenuous public standing.

Narratives about elitism at institutions like Harvard have contributed to declining public trust in higher education. The University has, in turn, suffered greatly in the political arena. It cannot afford to further tether itself to Epstein’s shameful and violent legacy — an ultimate symbol of elite impunity in American society.

Unless found guilty of “grave misconduct or neglect of duty,” tenure protects Summers from outright firing. Even if Harvard’s recently launched investigation finds that his conduct falls short of that threshold, we implore the University to explore any and all alternative avenues for discipline. This is a largely unprecedented sit-

uation, and the specific mechanisms available to Harvard and its academic units are unclear. Regardless, we believe that Harvard ought not bestow its highest honors upon those who exhibit the most morally bankrupt of characters.

Summers is a towering figure. He has served at the highest echelons of American political and intellectual life. But Harvard must hold its faculty to basic moral and behavioral standards, however great their accolades.

In a New York Times essay last April, Summers lamented that the University had “repeatedly failed to impose discipline and maintain order.” If Summers won’t step aside voluntarily, Harvard should take his advice — and begin by disciplining him.

– Violet T.M. Barron ’26, a Crimson Editorial Comp Director and Associate Editorial editor, is a Social Studies concentrator in Adams House. Alex Bronzini-Vender ’28, a Crimson Editorial comper, is a double concentrator in History and Government in Cabot House. Adam N. Chiocco ’27, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Philosophy concentrator in Pforzheimer House.

ALEX BRONZINI-VENDER— CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER

12

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

EDITORIAL

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

OP-ED

I’m a SEAS Graduate. The Layoffs Harm Everyone.

BY ORIANA GJINI

“

Harvard has an engineering school!?” is a common reaction when I share that I received my Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Harvard University.

Harvard proudly boasts its liberal arts education but its engineering program is often overlooked. Even Charles W. Eliot, class of 1853, Harvard’s 21st president, once declared that “the practical spirit and the literary or scholastic spirit are both good, but they are incompatible.”

Harvard’s recent actions at SEAS seem to reflect this view — and cast a grim shadow over the future of engineering at our University. Recent severe Ph.D. cuts and staff layoffs, reflect a reckoning in response to funding reductions and a damaging endowment tax. The sacrifices had not, for the most part, directly impacted undergraduates until the recent dismissal of a number of Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences lecturers and advisors — a sudden move that caused alarm and heartbreak for students and alumni alike.

As a recent alumnus, I can attest that our advisors are not peripheral figures. They are the backbone of our programs — teaching courses, guiding us through requirements, and developing the curriculum that shapes our degrees. Losing them is not merely an administrative inconvenience. It is a rupture students will feel daily.

Harvard’s engineering programs are still relatively young. It wasn’t until 2007 that the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences officially came into being. Unlike well-established engineering schools like MIT and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, SEAS is still shaping its identity. That is both its challenge and its opportunity.

When I declared my concentration in Electrical Engineering, there was no universal fixed course sequence, no standard roadmap. It was difficult — sometimes chaotic — but what made the difference were the people who guided me through that uncertainty: advisors, lecturers, and mentors who believed in me and what SEAS could become.

Chris Lombardo and Bryan Yoon — two staff members who have since been laid off — were among those people. They were not only advisors but teachers, collaborators, and advocates for their students. Lombardo co-taught my first electrical engineering course, helped me find my footing as a teaching fellow, and mentored me through one of the department’s most meaningful opportunities: Engineering Without Borders.

In the associated course, we designed clean water systems for underdeveloped communities. It was one of the few spaces where engineering came alive as both a practical science and a means of service. It depended on Lombardo’s willingness to teach a course dedicated to the work, and familiarity with the national EWB organization.

ADDISON Y.LIU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Without him, I worry our chapter will cease to exist — or, at best, function in a significantly diminished capacity The dismissal of Yoon, Lombardo and many other SEAS faculty is a severe loss. Seniors completing their theses have lost long term mentors, like section leaders and lab mentors. For younger students, declaring or new to the concentration, the lack of dedicated advisors makes it far more difficult to find direction and confidence in a daunting — yet deeply gratifying — field. These are not minor inconveniences but fundamental detriments to the quality and continuity of education.

At its core, the purpose of a university is to teach. Teaching is not merely the transmission of knowledge but the nurturing of curiosity, re-

silience, and creativity. In engineering — a discipline defined by its breadth, depth, and real-world consequences — mentorship is indispensable.

This guidance teaches students not only how to build, but how to weigh tradeoffs, take responsibility, and make choices that shape lives beyond the classrooms and labs. The relationships between developing engineers and mentors are invaluable and irreplaceable.

I do not envy administrators managing budgets at this difficult moment. But if cuts must be made, they should not come at the cost of educational integrity. Harvard’s greatness should not be measured by its name or the size of its endowment, but by the excellence of teachers and the engagement of students.

Further, I reject Eliot’s view that the practical

and scholarly spirits are incompatible. As someone with a concentration in engineering and a secondary in the liberal arts, I believe their interplay is what makes Harvard unique, and it is precisely this harmony that must be protected. SEAS represents a rare space where engineers are forged within a liberal arts tradition — protecting and growing that environment is essential.

Now is a moment to refocus, not retreat. Sacrifices may be necessary, but teachers should never be at the top of that list. If this philosophy is not taken to heart and acted upon, soon enough, prospective students will turn elsewhere, remaining faculty and staff will lose faith in SEAS when their actions do not align with their mission.

– Oriana Gjini graduated from the College in 2025.

STAFF EDITORIAL

The Skeletons in Summers’s Closet HARVARD’S DISGRACE. We need a full accounting of Summers’s sins. Many of this week’s most shocking revelations did not see daylight the last time the University investigated its Epstein ties.

BY THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

S

ome people have a therapist, others have close friends. If you’re lucky, you might have a fundraiser. For all three, Larry Summers had Jeffrey Epstein.

A not-so-shortlist of what’s come to light over the past week: Summers asking Epstein for advice on a relationship with someone he called a mentee. Summers’s wife, Elisa F. New, and Epstein discussing a potential $500,000 gift to her Harvard-connected pet project. And in 2005, Summers and New honeymooning on Epstein’s island. Evidently, Harvard’s 2020 inves-

tigation into its Epstein ties only scratched the surface.

At this point, the only nice thing you can say about Summers is that he is good at economics. The revelations from the last few days — compounded by the reputation he’s accrued for decades — call into question Summers’s ability to perform every other aspect of his job.

For months, Summers traded messages with Epstein about pursuing a relationship with a woman he described as a mentee. Worse still, the woman he apparently referred to earned her Ph.D. in economics at Harvard partially while Summers was a professor (though the woman was a professor at another university at the time the messages were sent and Summers insists she was never his student).

The nature of their relationship remains opaque — but Summers’s communications with Epstein seem to indicate an alarming willingness to leverage his position of power for personal edification. How can students feel comfortable attending office hours with a

professor who talks — to a pedophile, no less — about the probability of “getting horizontal” with someone he considered a mentee?

And Larry wasn’t the only member of the Summers family to appear in Epstein’s emails. Years after Epstein became a registered sex offender (and Harvard stopped accepting donations from him), Elisa New solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from Epstein.

Summers, in yet another addition to his long list of moral failures, apparently brokered this philanthropic relationship.

Not to mention, as sitting University president, mere days after a wedding reception at the Harvard Art Museum, Summers and his wife hopped aboard Epstein’s plane — alongside Ghislaine Maxwell — en route to Epstein’s island for their honeymoon.

The damage that Summers has done to the University’s reputation is irreparable — and that’s just based on the skeletons in his closet that we’ve uncovered so far.

CRIMSON MULTIMEDIA STAFF

Harvard needs a full accounting of Summers’s sins.

Many of this week’s most shocking revelations did not see daylight the last time the University investigated its Epstein ties. In fact, Summers’s name appears just once in the entire 27-page summary of the University’s findings — buried inside a quotation, no less.

That investigation resulted in sanctions on Martin Nowak, the former Faculty Director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. Summers, however, escaped scrutiny even though he established that program after Epstein proposed and funded it with a $6.5 million gift.

In a similar oversight, the investigation noted that Epstein’s foundation gave $110,000 to Verse Video Education, New’s non-profit — then brushed it off because it wasn’t a “gift to Harvard.” The only problem? That organization has contributed material to Harvard courses.

Suffice to say, Harvard’s initial investigation was hardly comprehensive.

Until days ago, Summers still bandied about his title as former president, weighing in on everything from the actions of other Harvard presidents and administrators, to the activities of student organizations. (Notably, he resigned the presidency after a faculty vote of no confidence.)

Today, Harvard cannot afford to send the message that if a member of faculty is brilliant enough, the University will look past deep moral failings — especially those that call into question their ability to carry out their role.

Harvard’s ongoing investigation must be rigorous.

If what emerges is as damning as it seems, the consequences must match the misconduct: stripping Summers of the President Emeritus honorific, his University Professor title, and forcing him to take unpaid leave could all be reasonable. In the meantime, Summers has no place advising anyone — from University officials to American policymakers — on how to conduct themselves.

If Harvard wants to quash the culture that allowed Epstein and Summers to operate with impunity, it has to demonstrate that even its most decorated figures aren’t untouchable.

– 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.

METRO

THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 21, 2025

CITY GOVERNMENT

Cambridge to Lose Over $8 Million in Federal Funding INCOMING CUTS. Continuum of Care funding requirement changes will cut the City’s budget by $8M.

BY SHAWN A. BOEHMER AND JACK B. REARDON CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­C

ambridge expects to lose more than $8 million in federal housing funding after the Trump administration adjusted requirements for the use of Continuum of Care funding — a change that could slash housing support for thousands of residents.

City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 informed the Cambridge City Council of the expected loss of federal funding during the Council’s Monday meeting, where he called the loss “beyond depressing.”

Cambridge’s federal housing funding comes from two grants.

The city expects to lose $4.6 million of the $6.4 million it receives through the Continuum of Care program, which currently provides housing to 214 Cambridge individuals and families transitioning from homelessness. It also receives $3.8 million from the Emergency Hous-

ing Vouchers for Permanent Supportive Housing program, which houses nearly 130 formerly homeless Cambridge residents.

“It’s bad enough that this administration is trying to starve people, now they want to make them homeless,” Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern said.

Cambridge leadership has been anticipating budget cuts since the Trump administration took office. In April, the Council discussed the potential loss of funding from emergency vouchers. And last Monday, Huang announced that the Council is aiming to save $12 million next fiscal year and will make cuts to non-essential spending across departments.

Now, Cambridge is left more than $8 million short in its fight against a longstanding housing affordability crisis.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sent a 128-page notice to grant recipients to inform them of changes to the Continuum of Care program last Wednesday. Trump’s new policy guarantees only 30 percent of the previous appropriation, with the

other 70 percent transferred to programs to police homelessness and to short-term programs with mental health treatment and work requirements.

Huang said that the new restrictions are “challenging for us to accept or impossible for us to meet.”

But the loss of federal housing funding is the most severe hit to Cambridge’s coffers since Trump took office.

Huang confirmed Monday night that the emergency vouchers, administered by the Cambridge Housing Authority, are also likely to be cut.

“While not all of these funding streams are on the same schedule, and the timelines are not exact, the expectation is most of the funding will be cut off in the August to October 2026 time period,” Huang said.

“It will likely affect somewhere between 250 to 300 households,” he added.

A 2024 survey conducted by the city found that housing was far and away the most important issue to Cambridge residents. Cambridge is one of the most expensive cities to live in in the nation, and on any

given night, approximately 550 individuals experience homelessness in the city.

As Cambridge adjusts to the new funding reality, Councilors suggested reaching into the city’s funding reserves to help prop up the Continuum of Care funding.

But Huang said that funding won’t be enough, and that the city would have to consider covering the lost funding with budget increases or taking legal action to find a resolution.

“We are also looking at legal avenues,” Huang said. “There may be ways for us to challenge aspects of the new policy in court, similar to SNAP.” Councilors unilaterally expressed anger and shock at the news, condemning the federal administration’s policy change.

“I had heard intimations of this, but to have it be confirmed is quite stunning,” Councilor Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 said.

“I just want to say this is very sobering news, and it’s cruel,” Councilor Catherine “Cathy” Zusy said.

“It’s simply cruel.” shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com jack.reardon@thecrimson.com

Cambridge is set to lose more than $8 million in federal funding that goes toward housing. FRANK S. ZHOU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Cambridge Lays Off Staff From Diversity-Related Commissions

BY SHAWN A. BOEHMER, MATAN H. JOSEPHY, AVANI B. RAI, AND JACK B. REARDON CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Cambridge laid off seven employees across diversity-related city commissions on Thursday afternoon, multiple people with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed.

Staff from the Peace Commission, Commission on the Status of Women, and the LGBTQ Commission work with city departments to make Cambridge more equitable, according to the city’s website. The entire full-time staff of the Women’s Commis-

sion has been laid off, a person familiar with the decision confirmed.

The changes are accompanied by a restructuring of Cambridge’s Equity and Inclusion Department. Five executive directors within the EID — overseeing areas including the Police Review Advisory Board, the city’s internal Office of Equity and Inclusion, and the Minority Business Enterprise Program, as well as the commissions — will now report to the city’s chief of equity and inclusion, Deidre Travis Brown, according to an email sent to city staff on Thursday.

“The City and Department’s commitment to these pro-

grams and commissions is unchanged,” Brown wrote in a Thursday afternoon statement, sent after the changes were announced.

“The goal of this restructuring is to improve the integration of related boards and commissions, centralize administrative support, consolidate roles and responsibilities, and establish a new Executive Director structure to better support the Department’s mission,” she added.

The set of layoffs came just days after Cambridge took an $8 million hit to its budget, after federal housing funding was revoked because of federal adjustments to housing programs.

The City has prepared to tight-

en its belt for months, with City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 instructing departments to cut unnecessary spending, aiming for a 2.1 percent decrease in spending in fiscal year 2027.

At a Monday City Council meeting, Huang cited the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 128-page notice to grant recipients, which said that cities that had discussed diversity, equity, and inclusion in previous proposals would likely be ineligible for continued funding, as the cause of the housing grant cuts.

Thursday’s layoffs are the first major personnel cut that the city has announced since the federal cuts became public.

13

Substitute Teacher Sues Cambridge Schools

BY CLAIRE A. MICHAL CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

A longtime volunteer and substitute teacher at Graham and Parks Elementary School is suing Cambridge Public Schools for disability discrimination, alleging that the district prevented her from volunteering because she is in a wheelchair.

Sarah Heine sued CPS earlier this month, alleging CPS administrators prohibited her from volunteering based on her disability. Heine, a licensed elementary school teacher, previously volunteered in the district for 12 years.

CPS spokesperson Jacqueline Piques declined to comment on the lawsuit, writing that the district does not comment on “personnel matters.”

Parents and advocates previously alleged that CPS has continually struggled to meet the needs of students with disabilities in the district. John H. Summers filed a discrimination complaint against the district in 2024 on the grounds that CPS lacked equal tracking measures on buses and vans for disabled students.

But this is one of the first disability discrimination lawsuits from a CPS instructor in recent years.

Heine, who was confined to a wheelchair after a car accident when she was a teenager, said she was reluctant to teach full time but found purpose in volunteering at G&P. Heine was scheduled to fill five substitute teaching jobs in early September, but the assignments were “abruptly” canceled by school administrators. According to Heine’s complaint, she was told that there is “not a para assigned to this classroom to support transitions.”

Heine is unable to accompany a large group of students up stairs because of her wheelchair. But she said in the complaint that this has not been a problem in the past, as other teachers have watched her students travel between their classes.

After all five of her upcoming substitute teaching jobs were canceled, Heine contacted Principal Kathleen Smith. Heine explained that she had a plan to navigate transition plans, writing in the complaint that she believed her jobs were canceled “because I am in a wheelchair.”

City councilors were not given advance notice of the cuts.

The executive director of the Women’s Commission, the project coordinators of the Women’s and Peace Commissions, and other staff from across the LGBTQ Commission, the Commission on Immigrant Rights and Citizenship, and the Human Rights Commission were all included in the layoffs.

Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern confirmed that the city had made staffing changes in regards to certain commissions in the city, citing a conversation that he had with Huang this af-

Heine included CPS human resources personnel in her communications with Smith, which she said should have notified the district of the disability discrimination complaint. But Heine said she has not heard anything from district leadership about her G&P concerns.

Smith sent out a memo updating G&P’s volunteering policies days after Heine raised her concerns — reiterating the requirement that all volunteers be pre-approved by school leadership. Heines alleged in her lawsuit that this memo effectively blacklisted her from continuing volunteering.

When Heine finally met with Smith to discuss her concerns, Smith expressed a concern that the students’ “‘energy level’ were not conducive to a learning under Ms. Heine’s care,” according to the filed complaint. While Heine was told that she could return to substitute teaching with support of Graham & Parks Assistant Principal Paul McKnight, she has been unable to resume her volunteer work.

“It was very upsetting to after 12 years in this kind of close knit community, to be abruptly excommunicated,” she said in an interview with The Crimson. “That was not fun.”

While Smith was principal at Underwood Elementary School in Newton Public Schools, the district settled a $315,000 lawsuit after a teacher at Underwood sued alleging that NPS discriminated against them when they sought accommodations for fibromyalgia. In 2019, NPS conducted an external investigation that found that Smith created a toxic workplace environment for staff at Underwood.

In 2024, after complaints from teachers and parents that Smith created a “toxic working environment,” CPS hired an outside firm to investigate the allegations. The results of the investigation were never publicly released.

Smith did not respond to a request to comment on the lawsuit.

Heine’s ultimate goal from this lawsuit is to be able to return to volunteering at G&P. “I feel like I can make a rare contribution to kids who need help,” Heines said. “I do want to go back to Graham and Parks — I mean, that’s really a goal.” claire.michal@thecrimson.com

ternoon.

“What I do know is that there are going to be staffing changes to a number of different commissions, you know. And my hope, and what I’ve been assured, is that the work of these commissions will continue,” McGovern said.

“I only heard about this today, so, you know, I don’t have all the information at this point,” he added. shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com matan.josephy@thecrimson.com avani.rai@thecrimson.com jack.reardon@thecrimson.com

Hundreds Rally for Bike Safety at State House

BY DIONISE GUERRA-CARRILLO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

BOSTON — More than 250 people crowded the steps of the State House on Boston Common on Sunday for the “Ride and Walk for Your Life” rally, calling for stronger road-safety laws amid a rise in cyclist deaths across Cambridge and Boston.

Now in its second year, the rally brought together families, cyclists, and advocates on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Organized by seven bicycle-safety groups from Cambridge and Boston, it paired a solemn gathering with a coordinated push for legislative change.

The renewed urgency follows a string of fatal crashes. Three cyclists have died on Cambridge roads in the past two years: MinhThi Nguyen, an MIT graduate student; John H. Corcoran ’84; and a woman struck at the intersection of two busy roads in Harvard Square.

Those deaths have made bike safety a pressing issue for Cantabridgians and shaped local politics as well. Cambridge Bicycle Safety — one of the city’s three super PACs — endorsed twelve candidates for the City Council, seven of whom won election.

Jack B. Corcoran ’25, an organizer with CBS who encouraged Harvard students to become engaged in Cambridge politics after the death of his father, cited those victories as proof that advocacy can reshape city priorities.

“You couldn’t have won pro bike seats in both the Cambridge and Boston elections without the work and support of the city’s voters,” Corcoran said. “What we’re doing is valuable.”

Before converging on Boston Common, participants completed a roughly six-mile ride through Boston and Cambridge, tracing roads where fatal crashes have occured. Volunteers handed out pamphlets which contained legislation they urged attendees to pressure lawmakers to support.

Massachusetts Senate President Pro Tempore William N. Brownsberger pointed to the clear results of a “huge decline in road enforcement.”

“Very few people drive the speed limit, and all too many don’t even stop at red lights,” he said, arguing that establishing enforcement is now essential.

Two bills featured in the pamphlets — Senate Bill 2344 and House Bill 3754 — would authorize road safety cameras to issue violation notices without requiring in-person stops. A third, Senate Bill 2343, would “improve safety equipment on trucks” by requiring additional mirrors and side guards to reduce blind spots Speakers stressed that the political gains of recent elections are only a beginning. Tiffany B. Cogell — the interim executive director of the Boston Cyclist Union — urged attendees to keep the ante up on legislators.

“There is more work to do, people are still losing their lives, families are still grieving,” she said.

“We mourn today, but we’ve also got to mobilize tomorrow,” Cogell added. “Make sure they hear you.

Make sure they cannot ignore you.”

The calls for stronger road-safety laws come as Cambridge braces for a multi-year economic slowdown that could force cuts to community programs. City leaders have said they remain committed to completing the Cycling Safety Ordinance — the city’s 25 mile bike network — but have been forced to search for more cost-effective ways to meet its requirements.

Several cyclists said they rode to Boston Common to shed light on the human costs of unsafe streets.

Miriam S. Hils, who previously lived in Europe, said she hopes Boston will emulate cities abroad that are built around walking and cycling.

“I want to find out about what local planners and politicians are doing to improve the situation,” she said.

Veteran cyclist Martha Merson,who has ridden in Boston since 1992, said “many days my life flash-

The Bike for your Life Rally was held in front of the Boston State House. DIONISE GUERRA-CARRILLO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

es before my eyes.”

“We need political leaders who are willing to take that kind of action and create legislation that ensures safer streets for walkers and cyclists,” she added.

The rally’s pre-planned remarks concluded with Reverend Laura Everett, the leader of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, who said she was tired of officiating ceremonies memorializing those killed in traffic crashes “I don’t want to do any more

ghost bike ceremonies,” she said.

“I’m tired of wondering who we will bury next.”

She ended on a note of resolve, envisioning “a day when there’s zero traffic fatalities for you,” before inviting community members who had been impacted by or experienced traffic violence to speak.

Twelve community members stepped forward to share their stories. dionise.guerracarrillo@thecrimson.com

14

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

METRO

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

City Axes Statute Keeping Institutions Out of Neighborhoods

BY MACKENZIE L. BOUCHER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Cambridge Redevelopment Authority is located at 255 Main St. M. ZOHAIB ABBAS — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

HOUSING AND AFFORDABILITY

CRA Advances Housing Project LIVABILITY. The Cambridge Redevelopment Authority voted to advance an affordable housing

BY STEPHANIE DRAGOI AND THAMINI VIJEYASINGAM CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­T

he Cambridge Redevelopment Authority voted, on Wednesday, to purchase an underutilized parking lot from the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House, a local non-profit which operates a food pantry for Cambridge residents.

Under the agreement, which is valued at around $4 million, the CRA will construct new affordable housing units on the 9,000 square-foot lot. The MFNH will use the money they receive from the sale to renovate their historic building and expand their existing food pantry.

The MFNH agreed to the terms of the transaction earlier this month. It includes the forgiveness of a $250,000 loan which MFNH borrowed from the CRA in 2019 and the $3.5 million land purchase agreement.

The CRA has been working to secure a deal with the MFNH since 2018, and at the Wednesday meeting, the organization’s five-person board voted unanimously to approve the final agreement.

“This will be part of our mission to deliver mixed income housing here in Cambridge,” Alex Cardelle, a project manager at the CRA, said during the meeting. “We’ve been on this project for many, many years.”

The CRA will now begin to search for a development partner to help implement their project, which aims to build between 10,000 and 20,000 square feet of new units as part of their commitment to the City of Cambridge to build low- and middle-income housing.

The agreement will also help prevent further deterioration of the MFNH’s main building,

“

This will be part of our mission to deliver mixed income housing here in Cambridge.

Alex Cardelle CRA Project Manager

which was originally constructed in 1807. The organization uses the space to host workshops, provide financial support to families, as well as to run their food pantry.

The MFNH’s current pantry is an underground, half-story height facility that serves

around 6,000 guests annually. At the July meeting, the CRA outlined problems with the current space, which include accessibility issues when entering and exiting and “very cramped” conditions that are “inadequate for current needs.”

The MFNH was one of the first settlement houses in the United States to provide resources to low-income residents when it first opened its doors in 1902. In 1984, the house was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Originally, the CRA had planned to aid MFNH in their effort to renovate the house and expand the pantry alongside the agency’s own affordable housing project. But concerns from developers and new multifamily zoning regulations led to logistical challenges, causing the parties to sever the projects in July.

But while the CRA will not be directly involved in the house’s renovations, they will take on an advisory role in the construction project.

Wednesday’s vote allows CRA executive director Tom Evans to enter into the purchase and sale agreement. After a 30-day due diligence period, the board will reconvene early next year to provide final authorization and close the deal. stephanie.dragoi@thecrimson.com thamini.vijeyasingam@thecrimson.com

MWRA Tables Vote To Allow Sewage Overflow in Charles River

BY MEGAN L. BLONIGEN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority has tabled a vote adopting a recommendation that would allow for the continuation of sewage overflows in the Alewife Brook.

The plan, proposed by the MWRA at a meeting last month, would allow for the continuation of the sewage system by declassifying the Charles River as safe to swim, shifting to a designation that allows the waterway to be “occasionally subject to short-term impairment of swimming or other recreational uses.” The MWRA board of directors were set to vote on the proposal on Wednesday, but the vote has now been pulled from the agenda.

Though it is unclear how the MWRA will proceed, Alewife advocates called the postponement a victory. Emily J. Norton, executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association, said she doesn’t expect a worse alternative to be proposed when the MWRA reconvenes.

“The proposal that they offered up for Nov. 19 originally was the weakest of all the options on the table,” Norton said.

Norton said that advocates will still need to put pressure on the MWRA as they consider future plans in order to ensure a “sewage-free” river.

“People really need to keep the pressure on,” Norton said.

The Combined Sewage Overflow system is a decades-old sewage system that discharges untreated wastewater into several waterways, including the Alewife Brook, Mystic River, and the Charles River, after heavy rain. The discharge can make the water unsafe for swimmers and boaters for days.

The MWRA has spent decades removing nearly 90 percent of the CSOs in Massachusetts, but several still exist in Cambridge, Somerville, and Allston. The remaining CSOs are increasingly difficult and expensive to eliminate, according to the MWRA. At the October meeting, the MWRA’s Wastewater Policy and Oversight Committee recommended downgrading the Charles River from an Environmental Protection Agency rating of Class B to Class B (CSO).

Under the recommended plan, CSO discharge would be cut in half by 2050, but discharges will still be allowed from certain sites.

Waterways with a Class B rating are safe for “for primary and secondary contact recreation” — such as swimming and boating — but waterways rated Class B (CSO) may occasionally have water quality that is two low ofr their permission. The EPA currently deems the Charles River safe to swim in 70 percent of the time.

Norton added that the MWRA’s proposal would go against Massachusetts’ recent-

“

What the MWRA staff propose was literally flying in the face of what the Healy administration had just announced.

Emily J. Norton CRWA Executive Director

ly-announced biodiversity plan in August that called for the reduction or elimination of CSOs. “So what the MWRA staff proposed was literally flying in the face of what the Healey administration had just announced as their goal,” Norton said. “They’re really going rogue against what the public wants, against what this administration wants.”

The MWRA did not respond to a request for comment.

Norton hopes that ongoing advocacy will continue to improve the sewage output into Boston area waterways.

“We literally will not have a swimmable Charles if we keep dumping sewage into it,” Norton said. “This is a victory of the people of Greater Boston who love the Charles River and want to see the job finished of cleaning it up.” megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com

As a predominantly pro-housing Cambridge City Council is set to take office in January, some have turned their attention to patching the holes in the city’s zoning code — tightening the restrictions on institutional development in residential neighborhoods.

When the City Council voted to eliminate single-family zoning citywide in February, they struck an exemption to the Dover Amendment, a state law that already allowed educational and religious institutions to develop larger properties. But Cambridge’s exemption to the amendment had previously barred institutions like Harvard from aggressively expanding their property.

Without the city’s exemption in place, councilors have expressed concern that Cambridge’s neighborhoods are now left vulnerable to wealthy institutions looking for new property.

Councilor Catherine “Cathie” Zusy said that, for the incoming Council, it is “imperative that we reinstitute some guidelines.”

“I think that one of the reasons that Harvard and MIT and the City of Cambridge have such a healthy relationship right now is because there are guardrails,” Zusy said.

The Council began weighing the elimination of single-family zoning in March 2024, and Zusy — who began her term on the Council in September 2024 after the death of Joan F. Pickett — has criticized the upzoning for leaving “holes” thwat developers can take advantage of.

Harvard Chabad — a campus Jewish organization — pushed to expand their existing Banks St. property last year, but were rejected by Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeal in May 2024. But after the upzoning was passed, Chabad was able to green-light the development of a five-story increase.

Zusy was the sole dissenter to the zoning ordinance in February, and has repeatedly attributed her opposition to a potential increase in luxury housing development, a lack of environmental protections, and the elimination of the Dover Amendment exemption.

Councilor Burhan Azeem — one of the Council’s most vocal proponents of the upzoning — argued that the Dover Amendment exemption has been overutilized by critics of multifamily zoning.

“I think that the main cudgel that people are using is, ‘because of this Dover Amendment, the multifamily housing ordinance

was not well thought through,’” Azeem said.

“It was in the first slides from the first Housing Committee meeting,” he said, “I think that if some Councilor wanted to claim that they didn’t know, that’s on them. It was very clearly spelled out.”

City Solicitor Megan B. Bayer wrote in a June legal analysis provided to the Council that, with the language of the approved upzoning, they “cannot prohibit religious uses and non-profit educational uses anywhere in the City” and would need to amend the ordinance.

The Council failed to fully discuss removing the exemption to the Dover Amendment and understand the repercussions of the decision, according to Councilor Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80.

“During the discussions, it was brought up by city staff in a couple memos, it was brought up by some members of the public, but honestly, we did not fully discuss it,” Nolan said.

Nolan said that there is a legitimate concern that institutions will begin purchasing land in residential neighborhoods, and that the Council must have conversations with institutions moving forward.

“I think the real question is, what are their intentions?” Nolan said, “For Harvard and MIT there’s so many other ways that we’re bound together as a city, that we need to have those conversations with them.”

The goal of the upzoning was to “create as much housing as possible for residents in our community, regardless of university affiliation,” according to Melissa A. Peters, the city’s assistant city

manager for community development.

“Removal of the Dover Amendment exception was a known consequence of the zoning changes, but was not the purpose of them,” she wrote in an email.

In a September meeting of the Neighborhood & Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebration Committee, MIT spokesperson Sarah E. Gallop said MIT had no plans to make use of its allowed development in Cambridge.

“Can you imagine our asserting rights to do something that you don’t really want us to do?”

Gallop said, “That doesn’t make for good community.”

Thomas J. Lucey, who represented Harvard at the meeting, said that Harvard similarly does not plan to expand into Cambridge. The University has reached their goal of being able to house 50 percent of graduate students, he said.

“We have a very mature campus. It’s a very stable campus,” Lucey said, “So the notion that we’d be expanding in Cambridge just isn’t accurate.”

Still, Zusy said that — even when revisiting zoning restrictions for these institutions — the Council needs to work to support more graduate student housing to prevent students from competing with Cambridge residents in an already oversaturated housing market.

“There are 8,000 graduate students that live off campus. We want Harvard and MIT to build more housing, and we need to make it easier,” Zusy said. mackenzie.boucher@thecrimson.com

Harvard Chabad is located on 38 Bank Street. BRIANA HOWARD PAGÁN— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Cafe Sushi To Roll Out In-Person Dining After Five Years

BY JAYA N. KARAMCHETI AND KEVIN ZHONG CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Cafe Sushi, a staple Harvard Square Japanese restaurant, is set to reopen for in-person dining for the first time in five years this December.

Cafe Sushi — located on 1105 Mass Ave. — has operated an omakase-style lunch and dinner service since it opened in 1984. The pandemic, however, forced Cafe Sushi to “pivot” towards takeout and delivery only.

“Business was very successful with takeout only,” Monique Y. Thomas, the general manager at Cafe Sushi, said. “So there really wasn’t a push or a necessity to go back to doing the original business model.”

Thomas said that Cafe Sushi’s success, while not offering in-person dining, was unanticipated by many.

“I don’t think that anybody saw that this place would still be successful just doing takeout and delivery only,” Thomas said.

But Thomas said focusing on the wants and needs of the restaurant’s customers helped Cafe Sushi to find success with this model since making the

transition during the pandemic.

“It took a lot of trial and error, a lot of listening to our guests and us being receptive and wanting to make situations right,” Thomas said. “Rethink how we are prepping our dishes, even just how we pack the bag for those that are picking them up and those that are being delivered.”

Cafe Sushi opened Cafe Sushi Shoten, “shoten” meaning “store” in Japanese, in an effort to further engage with customers during the pandemic. Shoten — an annex of their restaurant — sells sake, Japanese drinks and snacks, and other imported goods.

Thomas said that while Shoten has been a great addition to Cafe Sushi, it is too small for the customers to “be able to enjoy the food here with the ambiance and with our staff there to lead them through that experience.”

“We mostly wanted to do this for the guests. They’ve been asking for it,” she said.

Emphasizing Cafe Sushi’s positioning as an affordable restaurant, Thomas said that she hopes people can afford the restaurant daily and “on special occasions.”

“We want to make sure that people feel good about coming

here in this economy. We want this to be a place where people can escape but not worry about how much it costs,” she added.

Cafe Sushi previously served sushi omakase-style, a form of Japanese dining where the chef directly serves the customer multiple courses. Thomas said that while the omakase design would not be returning, fan-favorites menu items, along with new hand rolls and an expanded sake collection, will make their debut during the reopening.

“We’ll do totally different flavor profiles, like something for everybody. If you like things a little bit more umami, something more fruity, a little bit more clean, dry and crisp, it’s there for you,” Thomas said.

The restaurant portion of Cafe Sushi will take on a new name, Cafe Sushi Nisei, when it opens in December. Thomas said that “nisei,” which means “second generation” in Japanese, represents a fresh start for the restaurant and chef brothers Kenshi Imura and Seizi Imura as they transition back to in-person dining.

“It’s kind of just a new beginning for us,” Thomas said. jaya.karamcheti@thecrimson.com kevin.zhong@thecrimson.com

ARTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 21, 2025

15

CAMPUS ARTS

EESA Hosts Second Ethio-Jazz Soiree COURTESY OF SELAM ANWAR

ETHIOPIAN JAZZ. Eritrean and Ethiopian Students Association soiree performers strike a chord.

BY ANYA E. MOVIUS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

O

n Nov. 9, around 200 people packed into the Signet Society for the second annual Ethio-Jazz Soiree, hosted and organized by Harvard’s Eritrean and Ethiopian Students Association (EESA).

Enlivened conversation among the crowd took pause for three musical performances, which featured both student and professional artists.

The soiree was dreamed up last year by former EESA president Arsema A. Aklog ’26 and carried out this year by current President Selam Anwar ’27, Vice President Feker A. Chane ’27, and Special Events Chair Sarah Y. Berhan ’28.

The popularity of this event is due, in part, to the intentional inclusivity of the organizers.

“We’re an open space,” Anwar said. “Anybody can come and join and see what our events are about.”

Through music, Anwar hopes that the audience will

“see the beauty of our culture” and that attendees get to use the space to “learn and connect.” Members of the larger Boston area showed up for this very purpose, bringing together a range of undergraduate and graduate students and members of the broader community.

Onyinye E. Okonkwo ’27 kicked off the night with a rendition of “Amazing Grace” played on the alto saxophone. Okonkwo first learned how to play the saxophone in church with the encouragement of his mother and the inspiration of his friend, who “taught [him] the ropes.”

Playing in front of this audience in particular felt “super special” to Okonkwo.

“There’s a depth of culture here that is so astounding,” he said.

The second performance of the night featured Bethlehem G. Melaku, a former professional musician and current CNA, and her son Samuel E. Shibabw, a sophomore at UMass Dartmouth. The pair played two songs, “Eyuat Sitinafikegn” by Tilahun Gessesse and Ethiopia Hagere by Messele Asmamaw and Tigaw Bellete. The performance featured traditional Eritrean and Ethiopian instruments: the Washint, an end blown flute, the Kirar, a five or

six stringed lyre, and the Masinko, a single-stringed bowed lute.

When Melaku first moved from Ethiopia to the United States in 1997, she began touring, bringing her musical talent to weddings, restaurants, and stages around the country, including Harvard University. There, she befriended Kay Kaufman Shelemay, the G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and Professor of African and African American Studies, who offered to “exchange Ethiopian culture and American culture.”

Melaku was “so excited” to be back at Harvard performing for so many of “[her] people.”

“It’s like being blessed, you know?” she said.

Anticipation was high leading up to the final act: Kidus N. Yohanness ’29, a Harvard student who has already also graced renowned stages such as The Kennedy Center. Yohanness played arrangements from two Ethiopian composers, Mulatu Astatke and Emahoy Tsige Mariam, on the piano.

While Yohanness has been playing the piano since he was nine, his interest in Ethio-Jazz sparked much later, specifically during his sophomore year of high school. Girma Yifrashewa was an early inspiration for

Yohanness, who mixed Ethiopian music “elements with classical music.” From there, he started listening to other Ethio-Jazz artists, including Astatke.

Astatke is widely credited as a godfather of Ethiopian Jazz, fusing traditional Ethiopian scales with jazz influences like Duke Ellington. After studying at Berklee College of Music here in Boston, where he became the school’s first African student, Astatke was inspired to incorporate five-tone, pentatonic scales familiar to Ethiopian music with the chromatic scale, a building block of jazz.

The soiree was black tie themed, the audience dressed in an array of satin and suits.

Light food and refreshments were provided throughout the evening. Awaze tibs, a sauteed spiced beef stew, and firfir, a spiced shredded flatbread dish, were both served on top of injera, a fermented flatbread. Tej, a traditional Eritrean and Ethiopian honey wine, was available along with non-alcoholic beverages.

Rheanna K. Robinson ’29, a student at MIT, heard about the event through a few of her Ethiopian friends, and made the trek across Cambridge to get to know “some new people” and “enjoy good music.” She was interested

in learning more about Ethiopian culture, but was also excited to simply “experience Black joy.”

To some, the event was not only a social occasion, but also a chance for spiritual reflection.

“Seeing the way that God has brought me through so, so much to get to this moment right now, I’m grateful that he’s given me a gift to be able to share that with the world and give it — to speak of his grace and show his grace through my saxophone,” Okonkwo said.

It was also a chance for celebration; in a display of gratitude, current board members honored Aklog for her former tenure and lasting contributions to the organization. Anwar said that the soiree was one of Aklog’s “principal ideas,” which she worked to get off the ground during her time as president.

“This event is, honestly, as I was saying before, the kind of baby or the child that Arsema, our former president, came up with,” said Anwar.

The event was a hit last year, and so EESA wanted to continue the tradition.

Given this year’s turnout, the Ethio-Jazz soiree is well on its way to becoming an annual fixture in the campus arts scene.

‘LUX’ Album Review: Rosalía Redefines the Holy

BY ARIANA N. BARILLAS SANTIZO CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

How close can one get to the divine? Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a German mystic and visionary of the Middle Ages, described herself as having seen visions from a young age — visions she received directly from a holy source. Her spirituality guided her to the taking of monastic vows, as she gave herself over to her God, and swore herself to a life of ascetic devotion. It is a redesigning of this same mysticism that permeates Rosalía’s “LUX,” an epic quest of human desire, divinity, control, and mortality, where the veil between the human and the divine is noticeably thinner.

“LUX” references Saint Hildegard directly within the album, as well as at least five other female mystics, saints, prophets, and nuns. Using these figures, Rosalía had a clear vision for a project that centered itself around the ideas of feminine mysticism, of the connection between woman and the divine, and of spiritual transformation through the abandonment of worldly pleasures and possessions. The ideas coursing through the veins of this album are gigantic, and the Spanish artist simply refuses to shy away.

“LUX” arrives as Rosalía’s fourth studio album, and as successor to the critical acclaim and

popularity of 2022’s “Motomami.” The latter was an explosion of sound and traversed the genres of reggaeton, electronic, bachata, and flamenco — all tossed together to create an experimental feast.​​The album, while taking itself seriously, also knew when to throw caution to the wind and have fun. While “LUX” may seem like a complete tonal shift towards the intense and reverent, it provides just as much to bite into as “Motomami” did, if not more.

The album is as sonically grand as the topics it expresses, full of sweeping orchestral arrangements, elements of opera, and of course, Rosalía’s voice that soars right towards the heavens.

Opening with “Sexo, Violencia,

“

The ideas coursing through the veins of this album are gigantic, and the Spanish artist simply refuses to shy away. y Llantas,” she softly hums the very thesis of the album’s grand idea of the relationship between the earthly world, its desires, and a connection to God: “Quién pudiera vivir entre los dos / Primero amar el mundo y luego amar a Dios” — “Who could live between the two / First love the world, then love God.” These lyrics open

up the world of “LUX,” and layered over drawn-out strings, the somberness of the track and her questioning become clear.

Transitioning into the frantic strings on “Reliquia,” Rosalía lays out a journey traveling the world, mapping her imperfections, sins, and loss of faith at times. The verses build and build into a catharsis that provides as much relief for the listener as it does for her.

“Porcelana” slinks beneath the skin, with its heavy sonic background dragging it into a slow pulsing rhythm. The beating drums create a hypnotic allure as she tempts through the power of desire, stating “Yo Te puedo envenenar / y te puedo curar / Yo te puedo elevar / o te puedo humillar” — “I can poison you, and I can heal you / I can lift you up, or I can humiliate you.”

Transitioning from power to vulnerability, “Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti” resembles a hymn, evoking a melancholy stemming from the love of God. The track is a career highlight, a sparkling jewel in Rosalía’s crown of fresh concepts and the exciting new skills she has mastered.

The album takes a turn towards the intense in “Berghain,” an orchestral, operatic journey that never truly lets up. Opening with the German chanting that, when translated, details: “His fear is my fear / His rage is my rage / His blood is my blood.”

The song carries the intensity of

a spiritual vision, declaring itself one with a higher being. Bringing in giant of the avant-garde Björk, as well as Yves Tumor, the song was the first single released in anticipation of the album and understandably so, as it packs a punch, catching listeners off guard with its chaotic strings.

Rosalía explores Arabic in “La Yugular” where she declares ultimate love for her holy being, particularly for their enormity and significance. In “Sauvignon Blanc,” a piano ballad, she speaks of leaving her Jimmy Choos behind in a cheeky redefining of the mystic philosophy for the modern world, renouncing her possessions in hopes of giving herself completely. A flamenco-infused song, “La Rumba Del Perdón,” speaks of ultimate forgiveness over a thumping beat and accompanying claps.

Closing out the journey, “Memória” and “Magnolias” confront what it means to be mortal, to die, and to be remembered and memorialized. They are solemn hymnals, carrying out the innate sadness and reverence of their themes, as well as the album’s tone of humility.

In “Magnolias,” a heavenly choir sings out: “Dios desciende y yo asciendo / Nos encontramos en el medio” — “God descends and I ascend / We meet in the middle,” a confession of a reunion with God, the culmination of this quest between the earthly and the holy, and how they discover

each other.

“Lux” seeks to establish this connection for modern times, stating that while some may not consider a breakup to be a spiritually transformative experience, Rosalía does. She eagerly

“

While some may not consider a breakup to be a spiritually transformative experience, Rosalía does.

Rosalía eagerly redefines what is sacred, rewriting it for a world riddled with material desire. redefines what is sacred, rewriting it for a world riddled with material desire. Some could see her tackling of religious visions and unity with God as too grandiose and pompous for a mainstream album, but by engaging with the enormity of the human experience with God, she declares that the ordinary can be a transformative religious experience.

Rosalía expresses that there does not have to be fire raining down from the heavens to witness God, because the connection to spirituality exists already, directly through the very human and ordinary pain that is experienced every day. She humanizes these celestial experiences

and explains that they are never that far away. By doing this, it becomes clear that these topics are not too grand for such an album.

Rosalía rises to the occasion as it descends down to her.

The album is ambitious, but never insincere. Instead, it is grounded in its confessional honesty. Rosalía humbles herself before the holy — even before the listener — with the understanding that while she is going to reach towards the heavens with her huge ideas, she still declares herself human. The album’s grandiosity always pays off, and is always creating something incredibly exciting and visionary. There is nothing that sounds quite like what Rosalía is doing with “LUX,” and that is because she is daring to go where few have gone. The result of her ambition is a monumental testament to what can be done in just an album; it is unapologetically maximalist.

Some could say that she was taking a risk by creating an operatic, orchestral, and mystic album, but through “LUX,” Rosalía suggests that maybe listeners have always been ready for such musical divine intervention.

5 STARS ariana.barillassantizo@thecrimson.com

16

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

ARTS

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

BY CLORIS F. SHI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

F

or Aaron Goldberg ’96, improvisation is not just musical technique, but an organizing principle of his life. An award-winning jazz pianist and Harvard College’s first graduate of the interdisciplinary program in Mind, Brain, and Behavior, Goldberg is no stranger to paving new pathways between the academic and artistic, analytic and emotional.

When The Crimson spoke to Goldberg, he had just finished teaching students at a school in Greece and was in Stuttgart, Germany to prepare for a concert with his jazz trio. Balancing teaching and performance, Goldberg recently spent a week in Cambridge, working with students in the Harvard Jazz Orchestra and Harvard Jazz Combo Initiative.

“It was a pleasure musically,” he said in an interview. “But it was even more of a pleasure to see how much jazz has grown at Harvard since I was around 30 years ago.”

Goldberg’s path to Harvard was itself a search for balance between structure and creative improvisation. Classically trained as a pianist, he discovered jazz in high school at Milton Academy through “a fantastic teacher,” Bob Sinicrope — math teacher by day and jazz bassist by night.

Soon, Goldberg began training rigorously under saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi and performing in gigs, and by the end of high school, he realized he wanted to attend music school.

He wanted the chance, for the first time in his life, “to just focus on one thing.”

New York — the “heartbeat” of jazz — beckoned. At 17, he spent a year in the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, sharpening his skills and testing jazz as a vocation. But soon, Goldberg was ready for a chance to resume the academic endeavors he had left behind.

“None of the masters of this music actually went to jazz school. There were no jazz schools when Miles Davis and John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock were coming up. What was necessary was to be in a community of musicians,” Goldberg said.

His compromise was Harvard. Determined to pursue a liberal arts education, Goldberg concentrated in Philosophy, but soon transitioned to the novel Mind, Brain, and Behavior track. At the same time, he continued to engage with jazz in the urban music ecosystem of Boston. 30 years ago, as he explained, Harvard’s jazz scene was rudimentary and mostly extracurricular. As such, Goldberg’s community formed instead at the New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music, with him playing in gigs at Boston’s historic jazz clubs.

“I used to play in Wally’s Cafe every weekend while I was in college — Fridays, Saturdays. We play for five hours and make 15 dollars. It wasn’t remunerative, but it was an in-

CAMPUS ARTS

Aaron Goldberg ’96 on Jazz as Philosophy JAZZ PIANIST. Aaron Goldberg ’96 talks improvisation and balance in his college journey, politics, and jazz.

COURTESY OF ALEJANDRA BARRAGAN

credible experience. Play with great musicians and practice on the bandstand together, for that 10,000 hours of experience, that’s necessary,” he said.

Today, Goldberg says that he experiences a different jazz universe at Harvard. With full-time jazz faculty like Vijay Iyer and Yosvany Terry and a dual-degree pipeline from

Berklee, Harvard now attracts academically inclined students whose simultaneous musical training rivals the education at top conservatories.

Ask Goldberg about jazz and it will be clear how he finds jazz beautiful, poetic, and nourishing to the soul. Jazz, as he frames it, is a conversational ethic — an art form that cher-

ishes listening, responsiveness, and mutual care.

“You’re making music, beautiful music together in an act of love with your fellow musicians — all of whom are of different backgrounds, different races, genders,” Goldberg said. “It models the democratic process in a way that is rarely encountered in politics. Like you’re

on stage, everybody’s supporting each other. Everybody has a chance to lead, everybody’s following — when they’re not leading. And there are moral values that guide the way a jazz band plays together that are kind of utopian.”

It’s also “part of a long, beautiful, essentially Black American tradition — maybe Ameri-

ca’s greatest art form,” Goldberg said. Contributing to that art form, he said, is “an honor.”

Jazz is rooted in the blues, a genre of music born from oppression, protest, and a stubborn insistence on joy.

“The reason it moves people is not just the virtuosity of the improvisation, but the soulfulness, ” Goldberg said. “If you were Charlie Parker, or Thelonious Monk, or Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, like you were one of the geniuses of music — of all human history — and at the same time, you’re being treated like someone below.

That doesn’t even need to be stated. It’s being played through your horn.”

In this tradition, Goldberg is also a politically engaged citizen, and he brings that ethos of engagement to his music.

“High artistry is a form of protest,” he said. “I don’t necessarily feel like the music needs to be overtly politicized, personally. I think the music itself embodies the values that I would like to see reflected in our society and in the world.”

Still, there have been moments when he has stepped directly into political life. In 2004, alarmed at the prospect of George W. Bush’s presidential re-election and the Iraq War, Goldberg began organizing fundraising concerts, trying to shake fellow musicians out of what he saw as apathy about electoral politics. Those efforts laid the groundwork for a wave of artistic engagement when Barack Obama ran in 2008. After the catastrophic 2010 Haiti earthquake, Goldberg also penned a letter to The Crimson encouraging readers to contribute to organizations promoting youth education on the island.

Though his politics emerge through his music, Goldberg finds that the reflective and recursive ponderings of academia are more subtly woven into his musical career.

“I intentionally kept my more academic interests separate from my music as best I can. When I go on the bandstand, I want to be a jazz musician, not an intellectual playing jazz,” Goldberg said.

Inspired by his early teachers, Goldberg said, he would later employ the “aural and oral tradition” of jazz pedagogy in guiding the next generation of jazz musicians.

“There’s no real tradition of very clear jazz pedagogy. When you teach this music well, people progress quickly, and they love it more, and when it’s wrong, get led down blind alleys,” he said.

Recently, he has been constructing a philosophy course tailored for musicians for the upcoming semester at the New School, and he doesn’t deny the possibility of returning to Harvard as an instructor.

For now, Goldberg isn’t ready to give up the life of a traveling musician, though he’s eager to keep experimenting with teaching in jazz, philosophy, and the spaces where the two overlap. True to form, he will continue improvising wherever he goes, keeping us listening for where the melody carries him next.

Local Appetite: Clear Flour Bread

BY KATE E. RAVENSCROFT CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Clear Flour Bread has purveyed artisanal breads and pastries to the residents of Brookline since 1982. Under the care of Nicole Walsh and Jon Goodman — who took over baking operations from Christy Timon and Abe Faber eight years ago — Clear Flour Coffee Bar sprouted from the original bakery in 2022. Nestled in the elbow of Thorndike St. and Lawton St., Clear Flour is a true Boston idyll.

Every weekend, a procession of customers reliably traces at least a third of Lawton St.’s sidewalk. Clear Flour may be the only establishment in Boston where a line down the block isn’t so much a deterring factor for the small business, as an enticing promise — one of perfect pastries. Only three parties are able to fit in the tiny lobby of the

bakery at a time (the reason for the line), so the wait is far less enduring than an initial look might suggest. Dreamy French jazz and the persuasive scent of freshly baked rolls waft from the swinging door of the bakery to greet seasoned regulars and patient newbies alike, seven days a week.

With its crusty baguettes that might come straight out of that one scene in Ratatouille and its detailed, old-school bakery schedule which shifts on a daily basis, Clear Flour feels like a corner of Europe, here in Brookline. The bake shop boasts delicacies of German and Italian origin, like vollkornbrot (every Monday) and pastiera (an Italian orange and ricotta tart that was available in their spring rotation).

In a market increasingly saturated by fleeting internet food trends, Clear Flour’s commitment to tried-and-true classics, with reinvention informed by

tradition, is commendable.

“We might fill our croissants, but it’s going to be appropriately traditional,” Nicole Walsh, the bakery’s owner, said in an interview with The Crimson. “We’re not really putting candy bars inside our products. We’re making everything in house. The products maintain a sense of themselves.”

That being said, Clear Flour Coffee Bar has valiantly kept pace with the constant overturn of seasonal specials which have become obligatory in a coffee landscape dominated by the likes of Starbucks, doing so with class.

“We’re not going to order syrups if we are able to make it in house, and the creative energy that is shared amongst the team is really what makes it stand out,” Walsh said. Their inventive coffee and matcha specials include offerings like lychee matchas and caramel apple lattes. Not to mention,

Clear Flour was experimenting with the Táche Pistachio Milk even before Blank Street Coffee brought it into the mainstream coffee scene with this summer’s crossover with the brand.

“It takes ideas bouncing off of each other to come up with the perfect combination of ingredients,” Walsh said. In addition to ideating and crafting loaves, seasonal viennoiseries and inventive caffeinated drinks, Clear Flour’s over 50 employees have also developed a line of in-house ice creams, sherberts and sorbets.

Beyond the outstanding repute of Clear Flour’s delicacies, the expert juggling of the business’s lasting fleet of regulars and ever-expanding fleet of new regulars is made more impressive by their resistance to contemporary advertising.

“We don’t do any marketing,” said Walsh, “the word of mouth is the marketing.”

Carly Mast — who became a

regular after graduating from Boston University — introduced her friend to the shop recently. She confirmed Clear Flour’s word of mouth prestige — one increasingly rare in an algorithm-fueled 2025.

“It’s kind of just known. It’s one of those local bakeries that everyone’s like ‘Oh, you have to go!’” said Mast.

“We have three kids and they’re also hooked on Clear Flour. They eat their peanut butter sandwiches every week on it,” said Marian Delarcio, who has spent 10 years frequenting the bakery three to four times a week to pick up bread and cookies for her family.

With such bombastic success, some are surprised by the fact that Clear Flour will not instigate a city-wide chain, like competitors Flour Bakery + Cafe and Tatte. On the contrary, Walsh and Goodman are, honorably, sticking to their com-

munity-focused guns.

“I’m seeing customers every day, I go out and hug customers in line, my husband’s former high school friends come by on their way to a friend’s wedding.

It’s just so nice when I can be there, I like to be at my bakery,” Walsh said.

In an America inundated with faceless chains and TikTok trends, Clear Flour’s pride in what Walsh describes as their “hidden” location tucked away from central foot traffic and the committed customers that seek them out, feels a pure reprieve.

“We’re just trying to run a really good business, small business, keep it tight. I don’t want to blow it up too big. I’m sure we could be successful, but, you know, more money, more problems. We’re just trying to have a sustainable life,” Walsh said. kate.ravenscroft@thecrimson.com

SPORTS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON NOVEMBER 21, 2025

17

FOOTBALL

Putting the Foot in Football SPECIAL TEAMS Behind Harvard’s game winning field goal that clinched a slice of the Ivy title is a season of work and training to get kickers ready when it’s their turn to save the day.

BY SAKETH SUNDAR CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

I

vy League Championship on the line. Five seconds on the clock, Harvard down one point in a tense battle with Penn. 53 yards out — a kick that would mark the longest made by a Harvard kicker since at least 2009.

The fate of Harvard football’s historic undefeated season — and a possible FCS playoff berth — lies in the feet of sophomore kicker Kieran Corr. This is where legends are made.

Corr lines up, eyes fixed on the uprights. Freshman long snapper Jack Baade fires the ball back to sophomore punter Dylan Fingersh. Good snap.

Fingersh sets it down cleanly, laces outward.

Good hold.

Corr takes two steps, swings, and sends the kick spinning into the wind — ice in his veins as the season hangs in balance.

The

kicker and the rest of his team watch in anticipation, holding their breath.

The ball has the distance, drifting dangerously toward the left upright before sneaking inside by inches. It’s good.

The Crimson explode onto the field, swarming the team’s hero. The stadium erupts. But for Corr — the highest scoring kicker in the Ivy League — it was no different from any of his other kicks this season. These are the moments he lives for.

“When I’m going out, walking out onto the field, I’m not repeating into my head, ‘This is how you kick a football,’” Corr said. “I just kind of let my body do what it’s naturally used to, and let my muscle memory kick in.”

In the highlights of Harvard football’s undefeated run, it’s easy to remember the heroics of star quarterback Jaden Craig, the bruising runs of Xaviah Bascon and the rest of the C r i m s o n ’s backfield,

and a defense that’s smothered opponents all year.

Yet Harvard’s quiet edge comes from a pair of sophomores who rarely make headlines. Corr turns every touchdown from six to seven — and adds three more when Craig and company stall — while Fin-

“

We’re completely meshing with the rest of the team.

Kieran Corr Sophmore Kicker

gersh’s booming punts and kickoffs bury opponents deep, tilting the field in Harvard’s favor.

“What we do is just like a reflection of how the team performs,” Fingersh said. “When the team drives down the field, we’re just there to put, hopefully that extra point on after the score touchdown, or put three points on the board for a field goal. It’s really just capitalizing on what our offense and our offense and our defense is able to give us.”

And while the offense gets multiple downs on each drive to methodically push down field, kicking is an all-or-nothing game.

“You kind of get that one rapid rep during the game,” Fingersh said. “You don’t know how many times you’re gonna get to be on the field, but it’s a repeatable motion, so you basically just have to

Sophomore Kieran Corr winds up for a kick. CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER — NICHOLAS T. JACOBSSON

be able to do what you do really well.”

Corr and Fingersh arrived in Cambridge as “kicker-punter hybrids,” but their responsibilities solidified early in the season. Corr has handled nearly all field goals and kickoffs, while Fingersh stepped into the punting role after freshman Brian Checkley suffered an early-season injury.

Their operation depends heavily on the chemistry the two have with each other and Baade, whose consistency as a freshman long snapper has stabilized a pro-style scheme.

“We’re only as strong as the unit,” Corr said. “If one of us is off, all of us are off. And if we’re all good, we’re all good.”

During regular practices, the kickers rarely work on the main field. Instead, they spend most sessions striking balls into a net, getting only a handful of fieldgoal and punt attempts.

“We’ll get a few field goals, like on the actual uprights while the whole team is, like, on the sideline getting a drink of water,” Corr. “We always try to stay fully prepared and treat it like a game as much as possible.”

Still, the specialists maintain close ties with the broader roster, even if they don’t share every drill.

“We’re completely meshing with the rest of the team, even though we don’t necessarily like to do everything with the rest of the team, like physically in practice,” Corr said.

“We’re just trying to develop as much trust as we can in the team, and the more they view us as fellow football players, the better for us. We go to every single lift, every single run in spring ball,

so we’ve done everything with the team,” C o r r added.

Perhaps the hardest part of the job, according to the duo, is staying mentally sharp for hours at a time.

“One thing that’s hard about kicking is that you always do have to be ready for, three hours,” Corr said. “Two hours before the game, you have to be equally as ready as you are half an hour later as you a r e , four

and a half hours later in overtime, you have to stay ready for every single moment.”

Then comes the weather.

Corr’s previous season-long of 38-yards against Dartmouth barely snuck inside the upright, and was just one example of how bad weather can turn a routine kick into something far more scary. But Corr and Fingersh said they’ve had plenty of practice.

“Harvard Stadium is always going to be windy,” Fingersh said. “We’ve had a lot of practices

that are a lot windier than any game we’ll play. If there are, we’ll handle it. We’ve gotten experience in a lot of different elements, which I think is advantageous.”

All of the hours of quiet work ultimately funnel into just a handful of game-changing moments. Kickers don’t get many chances to demon-

strate months of preparation — which is exactly what both sophomores love about the position.

“It’s a weird moment in sports where you have very few opportunities to show the result of so much hard work, which I really, really like,” Fingersh said.

“You can also flip it and talk about how that gets really stressful. But I think both Kieran and I kind of live for that pressure,” he added. saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com

WOMEN’S RUGBY

Rugby Makes National Championship

BY RHIANNON STEWART CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Mignone Field was the backdrop for the second meeting of Harvard and Dartmouth this season, as rival fans adorned in Crimson and Green watched on. Looking to replicate its 36-33 regular season victory against the Big Green, the Crimson succeeded in its pursuit of another national championship.

The game began much like historic meetings between the two; each team determined to break the other down, but both sides’ intelligent and compact defense denied the other. This deadlock remained until almost halfway through the first half.

Dartmouth put points on the board first, with a penalty kick easily converted to go up 3-0. At the 18th minute, Harvard was able to take its first lead of the game. Freshman Sana’a Lunon accelerated at defenders on the wing and drew them in with an electric move, before offloading to junior Maya Hilger to sprint through and score the opening try.

The game began to flow late in the half with both teams delivering promising attacks. The Big Green leapfrogged the Crimson to retake the lead with its first try of the game, but Harvard responded quickly.

Freshman Sophie Hayes wriggled through Dartmouth defenders to secure the second try of the afternoon for the Crimson. Building on this lead, junior Courtney Taylor executed the final drive over the line on a quick play that came from a patient team attack.

These two late tries gave Harvard an inch of breathing room

The women’s rugby team in action against Dartmouth during the early portion 2025 season. CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER — MAE T. WEIR

over its rivals, ending the half ahead 19-10.

From the first whistle of the second half, fans could sense an inspired Crimson squad, from the bench to across the field. The team began the half lively, picking up where they left off, applying constant threatening pressure to the Big Green defense.

“More than anything I think the words of one of our captains Charlotte Gilmour that personally inspired me, and I think others felt the same. She said that while

we were up, we weren’t playing to our standard of rugby and I think we all felt like we had more to give,” standout freshman Gemma Ogoke said.

Ogoke capitalized on this pressure, powering across the try line to secure her first try of the game. She escaped the grasp of multiple Dartmouth defenders, demonstrating strength and resilience as Harvard extended their lead 24-10.

The Crimson continued to be patient, waiting for an opportuni-

ty to strike through the Big Green.

It next came when three quick passes got the ball wide to senior Cameron Fields on the halfway line. Fields flew down the length of the field for one of her signature tries, highlighting her explosivity that has blitzed college defenses for the past four years.

The scoring continued, with a scramble on the line from Gilmour that allowed Ogoke to seal her second try of the day, getting the ball and pouncing between the posts.

“Scoring a try is always amazing but I was honestly happier to contribute to getting one more week with everyone, especially the seniors.” Ogoke said. “While I was the one who got to put 10 points on the board, none of it would have been possible without how hard everyone was working to open those gaps and create opportunities.”

Harvard closed out a near-perfect second half with junior Neasa McLaughlin delivering the final punch, diving into the try zone

surrounded by defeated defenders. The relentless offensive effort did not allow Dartmouth any hopes of a place in the final, or even a single point.

The Crimson will enter their final game of the season in high spirits as they look to complete its undefeated season on Mignone Field next Saturday, November 22nd. The team will face Lindenwood as it hopes to lift the NIRA national championship. rhiannon.stewart@thecrimson.

18

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

SPORTS

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

CROSS COUNTRY

Cross Country Makes NCAA Championship

BY UY B. PHAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

H

arvard’s men’s cross country team and the captain of the women’s team, Molly Malague, will advance to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships next weekend, following their qualifying performances on Friday at the Northeast Regional Championships.

The men secured an at-large bid to the national event after finishing in third place at the New Hampshire meet, just behind automatic qualifiers and top-two finishers Iona University and Syracuse University.

Malague, one of four individual regional qualifiers to the national race, finished in third. The women’s team finished seventh overall.

week and ran a cross country 10k prior to this weekend,” Burgess said. “That considered, we wound up running alright, as a good first look at a cross country 10k for a lot of the guys, and then we’ll hopefully touch some things up next weekend and run pretty well.”

Men’s cross country has qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships for six consecutive seasons, including two previous second-place finishes at the regional level.

Graham Blanks, a two-time NCAA Cross Country Champion and Team USA Olympian, graduated last year and is now a professional runner for New Balance. In Blanks’ absence, Harvard’s young

team is adjusting to the rigor of competing on the NCAA stage. Out of seven runners on Friday, four were freshmen and six were without 10k experience.

In addition to missing Blanks, the team raced without three of its runners with 10k experience, as they were sidelined with injuries.

Harvard was still able to notch a third-place finish, even without former top-10 regional placer and top60 national finisher senior Shane Brosnan and junior Ferenc Kovacs, who finished third in the 1,500 meters at last year’s nationals for track and field.

“Third place in the region is not too bad, and it definitely sets up the confidence looking towards nation-

als next week,” Burgess explained.

“We have four freshmen on our regionals and nationals group.”

Gavenas, the 2024 Foot Lock Cross Country Champion, had already secured second-place at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships and All-Ivy First Team honors, positioning himself for a bright future in collegiate running.

“The freshmen run very mature for how young they really are compared to some of the guys that we run against,” Burgess said. “I don’t think the [experience] really affects our approach to nationals in any way, though. I think it’s just trying to be as confident as we are. We’ve done the training, we’ve run well,

Men’s Cross Country The Crimson was the only team to have two top-five finishers in Friday’s race, with junior captain Sam Burgess (29:18.6) and freshman Tam Gavenas (29.21.2) placing third and fifth, respectively. Junior Charlie Ortmans finished in 15th place (29:41.4).

Burgess, who was the only one on Friday’s lineup with experience at both regionals and nationals, has two NCAA Cross Country Championships appearances. The men typically run 8k races throughout the season, but the final two NCAA-level competitions are a 10k race format.

“We only have one person who had run the regionals prior to this

Junior Sam Burgess races ahead, toward a third-place finish. COURTESY OF HARVARD ATHLETICS

and it’s putting it all out there on Saturday.”

Heading into the upcoming nationals race, the team’s goals include a top-20 placement and beating its Ivy League rival Princeton, which secured a first-place finish at the Ivy League conference meet.

Several Harvard runners will also vie for a top-40 individual finish and All-American honors.

Harvard will strive to continue its history of success in the NCAA Cross Country Championship, after Blanks has won the last two individual titles and the team has recorded three top-20 finishes in the past four years.

Women’s Cross Country Malague, a three-year veteran of the NCAA Cross Country Championships and Two-time AllIvy First Team honoree, will be the only runner representing Harvard’s women’s cross country team in Columbia, Mo., next week.

The senior led the team in regionals with a time of 19:54.6, followed by freshman Dylan McElhinney’s 15th-place finish (20:23.5). Senior Penelope Salmon, a 2024 All-Ivy First Team selectee and sixth-place conference finisher, was out due to injury.

“I thought it went pretty well on the whole. We were missing one of our top teammates. She’s been banging up and out with injuries, so I think we knew that we would have to have a perfect day to get a team qualification for the NCAA Championship,” Malague said.

“With that in mind, we just went out and tried to get the most out of ourselves individually, knowing that the bulk of the work was done in the months previous in training,” the Metuchen, N.J. native added. “We had to go out and see what we were capable of.”

Malague sees this season as a representation of a “growing team,” following two consecutive appearances and top-30 finishes for the women at the NCAA Cross Country Championship. Similar to the men’s team, only some of the runners had previous regional and national experience.

“The bulk of our team graduated. So this year we’ve definitely been finding ourselves again, trying to find a new team identity, as our coach says,” Malague said. “ I think that this year wasn’t our best performance, because we’ve had a good string of getting to NCAA championships as a team recently. I’m sure in the coming years they’ll build back to that.”

Although the course will be unfamiliar at next week’s national race, Malague looks forward to her last race and seeing how she fairs against the best racers in the country.

“There’s a lot of potential, a lot of room to grow, and I think the team is going to do that growing,” Malague said. “Just watch out for the Crimson this year in the track seasons. I think the men will do really well next weekend. I’m just grateful to have been a part of the program.”

The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will take place next Saturday.

FOOTBALL

The Game Preview

BY CONNOR CASTAÑEDA CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

After nine consecutive weeks of action-packed Harvard football, we have finally reached the season finale — a matchup in New Haven against the Yale Bulldogs that will have more riding on it than any game this season, and potentially in the Crimson’s history.

Thanks to wins last Saturday by both Harvard (9-0, 6-0 Ivy) and Yale (7-2, 5-1), the two teams now in first and second in the Ivy League.

Due to new tiebreaker rules from

both be positioned this year to impress the skeptics.

One of the best statistics to use when comparing teams across divisions is ESPN’s SP+ metric, which utilizes advanced statistical tracking and considers the quality of a team’s opponents to hypothetically put all 766 college football teams on an even playing field.

In the most recent update, both the Crimson and the Bulldogs hold respectable rankings, with Harvard sitting ranked fourth among FCS teams and Yale at 14th.

With this year’s newfound stakes, it’s easy to forget how mean-

The No. 14 Harvard football team runs onto the field ahead of a matchup against Cornell. NICHOLAS T. JACOBSSON — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

league officials, the winner of this matchup will be the Ivy champion.

But the real incentive will be a chance at an automatic bid to the FCS’s 24-team postseason tournament. While both programs have won well over a dozen Ivy League titles each, neither has played in the FCS postseason, thanks to the 1945 Ivy Group Agreement. However, thanks to a reversal in that agreement late last year, the Ivy League winner will now have the chance to face perennial powerhouses such as North Dakota State, Montana State, and Montana.

With no real benchmark as to how the Ancient Eight stack up against the rest of the nation, many will see this year’s tournament as a test for some of the oldest programs in the country to see how they play against some of the strong teams of the FCS. Still, Harvard and Yale may

ingful this matchup is among students and fans from both schools.

For many students who root for the Crimson, this is merely the biggest game on the athletic schedule, but for some, it is the biggest university event of the year and calls for allout pandemonium.

But for players on the team, such as senior quarterback Jaden Craig, the key to pulling away with a victory lies in the team’s dedication to its weekly standard.

“I understand what’s at stake, and it’s definitely in the back of my mind, but I’m doing my best to not even think about things like that,” Craig said. “I just out-prepare them and come out with my best effort.”

Crimson faithful will be rooting for one of the best offenses in the country, with its star quarterback leading the unit to 40.7 points per game, one of the top marks in the FCS. Alongside offensive weapons

such as sophomore receiver Brady Blackburn and junior running back Xaviah Bascon, Harvard has pushed its point differential on the season to plus-230, the top mark in the Ivy League.

Led by safety captain Ty Bartrum, the Crimson’s defense has allowed just 15.1 points per game on the season, the lowest in the conference and third lowest in the nation — though the team struggled last week to stop Penn’s offense.

With emerging stars such as junior linebacker Sean Line and junior defensive back Damien Henderson, Harvard has managed to lock opposing teams down into the red zone, allowing a .654 scoring percentage inside the 20 — second best in the country.

Yale won’t go down without a strong fight, though, as the team has the top rusher in the league by far in running back Josh Pitsenberger, who has 1,095 yards on the season. With the second ranked rushing offense in the conference alongside quarterback Dante Reno throwing just six interceptions on the year, the Bulldogs post the second most efficient offense in the league behind the Crimson.

Old Eli’s defense will try its best to limit the Harvard offense, and with the sixth ranked defense in the country, it will certainly be the toughest defense the Crimson has faced all season. Led by linebacker Inumidun Ayo-Durojaiye — the Ivy leader in tackles with 91 — the Yale front eight gives opposing offenses little room to get things going, leading the conference in sacks and third down conversion percent allowed.

With Harvard and Yale both possessing strong offenses and the two best total defenses in the league, this matchup is sure to be one for the ages, and it will be the biggest Ivy League game in years.

Aurich and his squad hope to bring a level of focus into the match that will give the Crimson its best shot at leaving New Haven with its first win there since 2021.

“The reality is, you only have 24 hours in a day, so you can’t do weird things,” Aurich said. “The team that can lock themselves in and focus harder right from the get-go is gonna get themselves an immediate edge in the game, and that’s the area we’ve got to make sure we are ready to take.” connor.castaneda@thecrimson.com

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