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The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873  | Volume CXLVI No. 74  |  Cambridge, Massachusetts  |  Tuesday, September 4, 2018

OP-ED PAGE 14

feature PAGE 11

sports PAGE 16

Manuali: The Transcipt Project forces students to compete.

Mass. voters head to the polls today to decide the state’s primary elections.

Women’s soccer rebounds to beat Syracuse at home.

Surveyed Freshmen Are Majority Non-White Schedule By Alexandra A. Chaidez and Samuel W. Zwickel Crimson Staff Writer

As Harvard prepares to make the case for race-conscious admissions and a diverse student body on a national stage, more than half of surveyed freshmen setting foot on campus this fall identify as non-white, according to The Crimson’s annual survey of incoming students. It is the first time more than 50 percent of respondents have identified as non-white since The Crimson began surveying freshman matriculants in 2013. Not all students responded to the survey — though more than 60 percent of the Class of 2022 did so — and it is not the first time that Harvard’s pool of admitted students is majority nonwhite. That milestone came in 2016. Even as Harvard’s student body grows more diverse, the

school is drawing fire for its consideration of race in the admissions process. Anti-affirmative action advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions has sued the school, alleging it illegally discriminates against Asian-American applicants through the use of quotas, racial balancing, and subjective “personal” ratings. The lawsuit is set to go to trial on Oct. 15. Harvard is taking heat from other quarters, too — the United States Department of Justice is independently investigating the College and recently asserted its admissions process is likely “infected with racial bias.” Harvard has repeatedly denied these allegations and argued its “holistic” evaluation system is vital to its educational mission. In the survey, incoming freshmen of color were more

Highlights from the Freshman Survey Majority of freshman survey respondents report being non-white

Percent of legacy students decreases from 2017 20

18.3% 15.9%

Survey Respondents

By Angela N. Fu and Lucy wang

16.8%

Crimson Staff Writers

15 14.6%

51%

14.4%

10

5

0

Class of 2018

Class of 2019

See survey Page 6

Class of 2020

Class of 2021

Class of 2021

MORGAN J. SPAULDING—Crimson Designer

Admissions Lawsuit Heats Up Over the Summer Department of Justice Alleges Discrimination at Harvard

Continued Coverage expert PAGE 9

Legal Experts Say DOJ Intervention Means Federal Government Likely to Sue Harvard Over Admissions

By dELANO r. FRANKLIN and Samuel W. Zwickel Crimson Staff Writers

The United States Department of Justice said in a court filing Thursday morning that Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policies perpetrate “unlawful racial discrimination” against Asian American applicants. “The record evidence demonstrates that Harvard’s race-based admissions process significantly disadvantages Asian-American applicants compared to applicants of other racial groups — including both white applicants and applicants from other racial minority groups,” department officials wrote. The Justice Department’s criticism came as part of a “statement of interest” it filed in the ongoing admissions lawsuit that alleges Harvard discriminates against Asian Americans in its admissions process. Its filing is meant to oppose the University’s earlier motion that the suit be dismissed before it goes to trial.

See DOJ Page 6

The admissions ofice is located on 86 Brattle Street.

Jacqueline s. chea—Crimson photographer

Searing DOJ Filing Marks the Culmination of A Long Summer of Twists and Turns in Admissions Lawsuit By dELANO r. FRANKLIN and Samuel W. Zwickel Crimson Staff Writers

As eager freshmen meander about Harvard Yard and President Lawrence S. Bacow settles into his new office, Harvard — and its lawyers — are getting ready to head to federal court. The University is battling a four-year-old lawsuit brought

by anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions that alleges the College discriminates against Asian-Americans in its admissions process. Harvard has repeatedly denied SFFA’s charges, arguing that is must consider race in order to forge a diverse student body and fulfill its educational mission. The lawsuit heated up along with the summer’s searing tem-

peratures. In June and July, Harvard was forced to publish hundreds of pages of internal documents detailing the admissions process as part of the suit. Many revealed the inner workings of the College’s notoriously secretive admissions office, prompting national headlines. The case is set to go to trial

See update Page 9

Shift Ends Harvard Time

groups PAGE 5

Twenty-Five Student Groups Sign Letter Supporting the University Ahead of October Trial in Boston

­ rew G. Faust’s presidency isn’t D the only thing students are kissing good-bye this semester. Harvard has implemented an entirely new and strictly regimented course schedule system, making “Harvard Time” — a College quirk that allowed students to arrive seven minutes late to every class — a thing of the past. The fall term and the new schedule kick off Tuesday. So here’s a primer on how it works, why it was implemented, and what this means for the future of punctuality on campus.

Why is Harvard switching to a new schedule?

The new schedule, which the Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to approve last semester, is partly meant to prepare for the opening of Harvard’s new campus in Allston. Class times are now staggered on the Allston and Cambridge campuses to allow students additional time to travel between courses that are now separated by about a mile — and the Charles River. Though the Allston campus — which will house much of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences — is slated to open in 2020, the next two years are meant to serve as a trial run. “The idea was to implement this new schedule this year while we have a chance to see how it works, to see how it works across the FAS course catalog,” said Noël Bisson, associate dean of undergraduate education. “When the time comes to implement across the river, we’ll be that much more experienced and understand better where the pain points may be.”

How does the new system work?

The new schedule standardizes class start and end times, extends the standard course length from 60 to 75 minutes, and eliminates Harvard Time. All of this is supposed to make it easier for students to predict when and for how long courses will be held and to give them more time between classes. Courses can now begin at one of several designated time periods. In the morning, the earliest round of classes in Cambridge must begin at 9 a.m. The second

See time Page 9

Leaked T9 Rules May Bacow Pushes for Civic Engagement at Convocation Change Univ. Policies By molly c. mccafferty Crimson Staff Writers

By JAMIE D. hALPER Crimson Staff Writer

New Title IX policies the U.S. Department of Education is reportedly considering would likely force Harvard to change its policy and procedures for addressing sexual assault and harassment, according to legal experts. The New York Times first reported that the department is considering changing its policies Wednesday, though the DOE has yet to make an official announcement. The Times reported that the updated guid-

ance would mean schools are no longer responsible for incidences of sexual harassment that take place off-campus; would change the standards for filing Title IX complaints against universities; and would apply a narrower definition of sexual harassment, among other changes. Many schools — including Harvard — based their current policies for addressing sexual misconduct on Obama-era guidelines issued in 2011. DeVos rescinded those guidelines

See leak Page 4

In his first speech to undergraduates in his new role as University President, Lawrence S. Bacow told the crowd of wide-eyed freshmen he was assigning them homework. Bacow directed the students — who were crowded into Tercentenary Theater for Harvard’s tenth-annual Freshman Convocation — to take out their phones and write down a web address from the Institute of Politics where they could register to vote. “If you are eligible to vote, we expect you to register, to inform yourself of the candidates

and the issues, and to cast a ballot,” Bacow said. “It is your responsibility as a citizen of this country and as a citizen of Harvard.” “If you don’t think that the world that we live in is perfect, the only way it gets better is if good people like you work to repair it,” he added. Since being chosen for the presidency in February, Bacow has met with congressional leaders and said he is committed to making the case for higher education amongst increasing skepticism and legislative challenges. This message of civic

See Bacow Page 13

President Lawrence S. Bacow speaks at the Freshman Convocation Monday afternoon. Timothy r. O’Meara—Crimson photographer

THE HARVARD CRIMSON  | 

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Page 2

Harvard Today

For Lunch Butter Chicken Philly Cheese Steak Sub White Bean Ragout

For Dinner Broiled Honey-Ginger Salmon General Gao’s Chicken Vegetable Lo Mein With Tofu

Today’s Events

in The Real World

Harvard Farmers’ Market Science Center Plaza, 12 p.m.

Gates Pledges Hundreds of Millions to Struggling American Schools

If you’re looking to ditch classshopping for a wholesome, fresh activity, stop by the Harvard Farmers’ Market anytime today, 12-6 p.m.

Billionaire philanthropist and Harvard dropout Bill Gates has pledged $460 million to aid schools in the most impoverished regions of the country over the next five years. With this pledge, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is straying from previous top-down strategy and instead giving more discretion over the funds to local educators.

Audition for Mr. Burns Loeb Drama Center, 6:00 p.m. Calling all aspiring actors: Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play is hosting auditions tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Go to try out for the show, or just to find out what “post-electric” means.

Fire Engulfs Brazil’s National Museum Hannah Pearce ‘21 controls the ball and prepares to pass during Harvard’s 4-0 victory over Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer

Daily Briefing Bain Fall Presentation Charles Hotel, 6:30 p.m. While a Bain recruiting event might qualify as the bane of all existence for some of you, the rest of you ambitious undergrads with dollar signs in your eyes may consider showing up (in a suit?) to their “Fall Presentation” at the Charles Hotel. Be there by 6:30 p.m.

The first installment of The Harvard Crimson’s annual freshman survey reveals that a majority of respondents identify as non-white. It’s the first time this has happened since The Crimson began sending out freshman surveys in 2013. But it’s not the first time Harvard’s admitted class of students was majority of color — that milestone came in 2016. In other news, a searing Department of Justice court filing last week alleged Harvard discriminates against Asian Americans — and capped off a long summer of twists and turns in a heated and high-stakes admissions lawsuit.

The tragedy struck this weekend in Rio de Janeiro when the vulnerable 200-yearold museum was destroyed by fire. More than 20 million artifacts spanning millennia from the museum’s collection, including the skull and bones of the 11,000-year-old “Luzia,” may be lost forever.

You Can Take Away Her Catsuit, But Not Her Superpowers Recently banned from wearing her black “catsuit” at the French Open, Serena Williams stays slaying in a purple tutu at the U.S. Open. No matter what she’s wearing, she just keeps winning, proving that our childhood superhero is also now our fairy godmother.

Around the Ivies Columbia A Columbia student filed a $50 million lawsuit against Dean of the School of General Studies Tom Harford that claimed he subjected her to inappropriate sexual activity, according to the Columbia Spectator. The plaintiff’s complaint said he used her scholarship money as “bait.” Harford allegedly provided the plaintiff — referred to as Jane Doe in the suit — with resource and money. Doe claimed she was homeless at the time and would routinely engage in sexual acts “directly before or after meetings to arrange the student [sic] scholarship payments.” Harford was removed from his position for “inappropriate conduct” prior to the news of the lawsuit.

YALE Yale received a record number of sexual misconduct complaints between Jan. 1 and June 30 this year, according to the Yale Daily News. The number, reported by the school’s Office of the Provost, said 154 complaints were filed during the six-month period. The previous reporting period saw 124 complaints, 20 percent fewer.

DARTMOUTH An investigation at Dartmouth found that a professor in the school’s Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice committed plagiarism in a widely-cited article from 2016, according to the Dartmouth. H. Gilbert Welch, who authored the article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was found to have used information found by Samir Soneji and Hiram BeltranSanchez, professors at Dartmouth and University of California, Los Angeles respectively. The paper was related to over-diagnosis of breast cancer when using mammograms.

The University Daily, Est. 1873

The Harvard Crimson Derek G. Xiao President Hannah Natanson Managing Editor Nathan Y. Lee Business Manager

Associate Managing Editors Mia C. Karr ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Associate Business Managers Dahlia S. Huh ’19 Max W. Sosland ’19 Digital Strategists Jamie D. Halper ’20 Dianne Lee ’20 Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20

Staff for This Issue Arts Chairs Mila Gauvini II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19

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Multimedia Chairs Amy Y. Li ’20 Ellis J. Yeo ’20

Blog Chairs Lydia L. Cawley ’20 Stuti Telidevara ’20

Technology Chairs Nenya A. Edjah ’20 Theodore T. Liu ’20

Sports Chairs Cade S. Palmer ’20 Jack R. Stockless ’19

Night Editor Joshua J. Florence ’19 Assistant Night Editors Jamie D. Halper ’20 Alexandra A. Chaidez ’21 Story Editors Brittany N. Ellis ’19 Mia C. Karr ’19 Hannah Natanson ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Alison W. Steinbach ‘19

Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.

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Editorial Chairs Cristian D. Pleters ’19 Emmanuel R. R. D’Agostino ’19 Copyright 2018, 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

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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.

The Harvard Crimson | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | PAGE 3

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The Harvard Crimson | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | Page 5

Bacow ‘Swooped’ Into Opening Days Carrying Boxes By Kristine E. Guillaume and Jamie D. Halper Crimson Staff Writers

As first-year students struggled under the weight of Bed, Bath, and Beyond boxes during movein last week, newly-minted University President Lawrence S. Bacow didn’t stand idly by. Leigh Sharpless ’22 said she was pleasantly surprised when Harvard’s newest leader “swooped in” to help her father carry her boxes into Weld Hall. Sharpless’s father was in the process of lugging two boxes to Weld and was “obviously struggling,” Sharpless said. “Like the hero he’s made out to be, [Bacow] offered a hand to my dad to help carry a box, and it was really great and it was just at the right time, too,” she said. Two months into his presidency — and days into his first semester — Bacow is taking an active, and very visible, role in undergraduate life. University presidents often spend time huddling with top administrators, talking strategy with higher education leaders, lobbying politicians, and exchanging pleasantries with foreign dignitaries. Bacow has already made a point of including box-lugging and trading stories with undergraduates in the repertoire.

Lawrence S. Bacow is the President of Harvard University.

TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Groups FROM Page 1

Two Dozen Student Groups Back Univ. in Admissions Suit By Delano R. franklin ­

Crimson Staff Writer

Twenty-five Harvard student and alumni groups argued in court documents Thursday that the University’s race-conscious admissions policies are vital to the school’s educational mission. “Given racial bias in standardized testing and endemic racial inequities in educational opportunities in primary and secondary school, Harvard must consider race if it is to assemble a diverse student body and achieve the educational benefits thereof,” lawyers representing the students wrote in the filing. The students’ brief comes as part of an ongoing lawsuit that alleges Harvard discriminates against Asian-American applicants, a charge the University has repeatedly denied. Anti-affirmative action advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions brought the suit in 2014. The student groups are partly being represented by lawyers from the NAACP. Some of the groups seek to promote diversity or public service on Harvard’s campus, while others are affinity organizations. Ten of the groups are specifically targeted to Asian or Asian-American students. The students’ brief was one of several filed Thursday. Economists, social scientists, and academics — as well as prominent legal organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union — also entered amicus briefs in support of Harvard’s

admissions practices. At least one brief fell decidedly on the other side of the issue. The United States Department of Justice on Thursday morning filed a statement of interest asserting Harvard’s admissions process inflicts “unlawful racial discrimination” against Asian-American hopefuls. In their brief, the students noted that SFFA’s goal is to eliminate the use of race in college admissions — something the group’s president Edward Blum previously admitted to The Crimson in an email. The students’ filing argues that the loss of affirmative action would lead to discrimination against minority students including Asian American students. If universities could no longer consider race, the filing states, “applicants would no longer be able to present their authentic selves in their applications, deterring and disadvantaging applicants whose leadership and other experiences are inextricably intertwined with their racial and cultural heritage.” Contrary to SFFA’s rhetoric, the student groups argue that race-conscious admissions actually benefits some Asian American applicants, especially those who are flagged as coming from “disadvantaged” backgrounds. “Within the category of disadvantaged applicants, Asian Americans receive the largest preference in admissions,” the document reads. “Attention to the particular

disadvantages faced by Asian Americans is important because this group has the highest intra-racial inequality.” The students’ filing is specifically arguing against SFFA’s motion to decide the case without a trial. Experts have said that is unlikely. The suit is set to go to trial in a Boston courtroom on Oct. 15. The groups that signed the brief include: 21 Colorful Crimson, Harvard Black Alumni Society, Association of Black Harvard Women, Coalition for a Diverse Harvard, First Generation Harvard Alumni, Fuerza Latina of Harvard, Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance, Harvard Asian American Brotherhood, Harvard Islamic Society, Harvard Japan Society, Harvard Korean Association, Harvard Latino Alumni Alliance, Harvard Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students, Harvard Phillips Brooks House Association, Harvard South Asian Association, Harvard University Muslim Alumni, Harvard Vietnamese Association, Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association, Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Women’s Association, Harvard-Radcliffe Black Students Association, Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Students Association, Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, Native American Alumni of Harvard University, Native Americans at Harvard College, and Task Force on Asian and Pacific American Studies at Harvard.

Bacow wrote in an emailed statement that he and his wife, Adele, “enjoyed” the experience of their first move-in day at the College, which occurred just a month after Bacow moved into his new office with the start of his tenure. “It was inspiring meeting students and their families from all over the U.S. and the world. We loved seeing the excitement on students’ faces and the pride in their parents’ hearts,” Bacow said. Harvard documented Bacow’s presence in the Yard on its Instagram (@harvard), where Bacow and his wife were pictured wearing official “Move-In Day Staff” shirts with first-year students. Bacow and Adele took a selfie with two international students — Robert Kossmann ’22 and Luke Walker ’22 — that appeared on the account, along with several photos of move-in day events. Kossmann said that he and Walker approached Bacow to ask if he would take a picture with them and that Bacow was “very enthusiastic.” Kossmann added he thought Bacow’s enthusiasm signaled that the University is an “inclusive institution.” Kossmann added that he expected that Bacow “would not have much time,” but that

the two had a “pretty cool” conversation about Bacow’s parents’ immigrant background, which resonated with Kossmann, an international student from Germany. “It’s my first time coming to the U.S.,” Kossmann said. “Hearing the president of the University tell me how his parents had assimilated from an immigrant background was definitely interesting to hear.” Besides heavy-lifting in the Yard, Bacow also visited the inaugural group of First-Year Retreat and Experience participants. FYRE leader Daniel Rodriguez ’20 said Bacow helped to quell common fears among first-generation students and encouraged students to find a community at Harvard that will support them. “Having somebody at the forefront of Harvard and leading this college come in and talk to the students, show that they actually belong here and actually have a place to be here was really helpful,” Rodriguez said. Bacow, who previously lead Tufts for 10 years, was known there school for his involvement in undergraduate life. kristine.guillaume@thecrimson.com jamie.halper@thecrimson.com

Transformative coverage.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

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JOIN THE FIGHT TODAY

Volunteer, Advocate, Walk, Fight. To learn more about the Alzheimer’s Association, and how to get involved, visit alz.org/MANH.

24/7 Helpline 800.272.3900

Page 6 | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | The Harvard Crimson

The Harvard Crimson | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | Page 7

Harvard Students Reflect on Summer Service Opps By SIMONE C. CHU Crimson Staff Writer

This summer, Keturah J. Gadson ’21 traded Cambridge brick for the open skies of Sunflower, Mississippi — a town with a population of just over 1,000 which she described as “frozen in time” — to help teach local students as part of the Sunflower County Freedom Project. Gadson is one of 121 Harvard students who participated in paid public service internships this summer funded by the Mindich Summer Fellowship Program, Liman Public Interest Law Fellowship program, the Harvard Clubs Summer Community Service Fellowship program, and the federal workstudy program. Harvard’s Center for Public Interest Careers helps coordinate these summer fellowships.

“Getting to see adults who have actually made careers of public service, and the community that you can have in a pursuit like that, was very inspiring and encouraging.” Katurah J. Gadson ’21

On Friday, roughly 50 students and Harvard affiliates gathered on campus for CPIC’s first End-of-Summer Symposium to share their experiences and offer feedback for future programming.

Student leaders from nine different “sites” of service spoke at the symposium about their time away from Harvard, which involved teaching, campaigning for the opening of a mental health clinic, and providing financial counseling and emergency grants to parents in need. Though speakers mentioned high points, multiple students said they felt ineffectual at times. Savannah J. Miles ’19, who worked in Los Angeles with the community service organization LIFT, said she felt “a little down” about not always being able to help members achieve their goals. She said that, while progress was not something she could easily measure, the “collection of moments and stories and relationships” she gained this summer had their own value. For Gadson, her internship presented an opportunity to give back to a community that reminded her of home. “It really felt like things had come full circle,” said Gadson, whose family moved from Mississippi during the Great Migration. “To be able to go back and help the families that either could not stay or have had to go back to Mississippi was very inspiring.” Trevor W. Ladner ’20, who worked in Meridian, Miss. with the Meridian Freedom Project, said he hopes more students will invest their time in rural communities, where change is ongoing. “Working with my students this summer, especially the girls that I worked with in my journalism class, they were very adamant that people in power — particularly adults — don’t trust young people to have good ideas or to make positive change,” Ladner said.

“I think it’s important for intellectuals and Harvard students to support that work, and to go back to these places,” he added. While CPIC programs are well-established in eight urban centers across the country, organizations in the Mississippi Delta form a new opportunity for undergraduates. “There’s just not a lot of focus on rural communities or course options on rural communities at Harvard,” Gadson said. “As part of that, we want to recruit with intentionality.” When she interviewed with the Sunflower County Freedom Project, she said, interviewers emphasized “what it means for the students to see a black girl that goes to Harvard.” “That was something that came alive every single day in the classroom,” Gadson said. Gadson, who said she wants to work in education policy in the future, said her experiences this summer made a career in public service seem more viable. “Getting to see adults who have actually made careers of public service, and the community that you can have in a pursuit like that, was very inspiring and encouraging,” she said. CPIC Director Travis A. Lovett and CPIC Community Relations Fellow Alysha L. Johnson Williams ’14 said they enjoyed hearing about students’ summer service. “Travis and I know these internships inside and out. We know the partners, we know the job descriptions. But the students add such a different dimension,” Johnson said. “To see the students pick up these internships and transform them is something incredible.” simone.chu@thecrimson.com

Cornell Brooks Appointed Kennedy School Professor By Alexandra a. Chaidez Crimson Staff Writer

Former president and CEO of the NAACP Cornell W. Brooks has been appointed a professor of the practice of public leadership and social justice at the Harvard Kennedy School, according to a Wednesday press release. Brooks is the first member of a national civil rights organization to join the Kennedy School’s senior faculty, according to the release. As the 18th president of the NAACP, Brooks significantly boosted millennial membership and sued the state of Connecticut over prison gerrymandering, marking the first statewide challenge to the issue. His appointment comes amid a call from some students, faculty, and alumni at HKS to recruit a more diverse pool of professors and administrators. As a professor of public leadership and social justice, Brooks will also launch The William Monroe Trotter Collaborative

for Social Justice at the school’s Center for Public Leadership. Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendor said in the press release that the initiative will serve as a “focal point” for Harvard students and faculty interested in social justice. “Under Cornell’s guidance — and drawing upon his experience and knowledge — we expect the collaborative to have a transformational impact on our ability to prepare students to be leaders in public service and social justice,” Elmendorf said. The Trotter Social Justice Collaborative will support research in the field of advocacy and activism by connecting faculty and students with organizations involved in social justice to provide them with expertise and best practices, according to the press release. The collaborative honors the legacy of William Monroe Trotter, the first African-American Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard and founder of the Niagara movement.

Brooks has spent time at Harvard before. He served as a visiting fellow and director of the Campaign and Advocacy Program at the Institute of Politics in 2017. He will now be affiliated with the Center for Public Leadership and will serve as a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School. Brooks said in the release that there is “no more important a task the Kennedy School advancing the practice of social justice.” “Excellence in the practice of social justice is not merely a meritocratic measure of public leadership but a moral measure of American democracy,” Brooks said. “There is no more important a task than the Kennedy School advancing the practice of social justice by those who seek to create a just democracy with vulnerable but empowered communities. That is precisely why I am excited.” alexandra.chaidez@thecrimson.com

HARVARD

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The Memorial Church

The Yard’s #SpaceofGrace

WELCOME BACK TO CAMPUS! STUDENT COFFEE HOUR Sept. 9, 12:30–2 p.m., following the First Sunday of Term Worship Service at 11 a.m.

MEMCHURCH STUDENT OASIS Relax, study, cook, and connect with friends in the lower level of the church. Starts Sept. 2. Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–11 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.–9 p.m.

SERVICES & EVENTS

MUSIC

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE Multi-denominational Protestant worship service, Sundays at 11 a.m. • Starts Sept. 2

AUDITION FOR THE HARVARD UNIVERSITY CHOIR Regarded by many as the premier program in college chapel music in the U.S. Try out!

MORNING PRAYERS • Appleton Chapel Monday–Friday, 8:45–9 a.m. • Starts Sept. 4 COMPLINE • Appleton Chapel 1st Thursday of the month, 9 p.m. • Starts Sept. 6 MEMCHURCH TAILGATES Before every Harvard home football game Sparks House, 21 Kirkland St., Cambridge. Harvard vs. San Diego, Sept. 15, 11:00 a.m. Harvard vs. Rhode Island, Sept. 28, 5:30 p.m. Harvard vs. Holy Cross, Oct. 12, 5:30 p.m. Harvard vs. Princeton, Oct. 20, 5:30 p.m. Harvard vs. Columbia, Nov. 3, 11:00 a.m. Harvard vs. Yale, Nov. 16, 5:30 p.m.

Audition Schedule: Sept. 2, Sept. 4, Sept. 5 &

Sept. 6 from 2–4 p.m., Choir Room.

Tea Time: Sept. 6, 4–5 p.m., Student Oasis.

Open Rehearsal: Sept. 6, 5–6 p.m., Choir Room.

Contact uchoir@gmail.com or visit uchoir.harvard.edu to learn more.

Many more student programs including Black Student Ministries, fellowship events, ongoing pastoral care, and workstudy & volunteer opportunities available. For more info, visit: memorialchurch.harvard.edu

The Memorial Church of Harvard University • 617-495-5508 • memorialchurch.harvard.edu

Page 8 | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | The Harvard Crimson

Capuano, Pressley Face Off in Seventh District By Jonah s. berger Crimson Staff Writer

For the first time in roughly two decades, voters in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville will vote in a highly contested Democratic primary — one that has received growing national attention. Ayanna S. Pressley, a progressive and a familiar face in Boston politics for the last decade, will take on congressman Michael E. Capuano, a 20-year incumbent who possesses tendencies of his own on Tuesday. Capuano, 66, served as mayor of Somerville before winning a crowded Democratic primary in 1998 to represent Massachusetts’s 7th U.S. congressional district, which cuts a wide swath across Boston and its suburbs. Since that time, he has never faced a serious challenge, comfortably winning the majority of the vote in all nine of his re-election bids. Pressley, 44, the first woman of color elected to the Boston City Council, has won endorsements from local newspapers in addition to multiple state officials, including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey ’92. The winner of the primary will almost certainly win the general election in November, as no Republicans filed to run for the seat. Pressley’s quest to take on the 10-term congressman has garnered national media attention for its parallels to a recent New York congressional primary, in which progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez upset long-term representative and Democratic Party mainstay Joseph Crowley. When Pressley visited Harvard Medical School — which is in the 7th district — last month, her introducer referenced Ocasio-Cortez almost immediately. After Ocasio-Cortez’s unexpected victory, many political pundits have looked toward the Massachusetts race as a potential sequel — and another sign of the growing rift in the Democratic party between estab-

lishment figures and young activists eager to upend the status quo. National political reporters have descended on Boston and Somerville in recent days to cover what many are billing as a bellwether. In interviews with district residents in Allston and on Harvard Business School’s campus Monday evening, many were oblivious to the upcoming election. Two said they had not made up their minds about which candidate to support, and others said they didn’t plan to vote at all. The Harvard College Democrats are not planning any official get-out-the-vote efforts in the district, according to Devontae A. Freeland ’19, the group’s president. John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Institute of Politics, wrote in an email that the race has centered more around identity than ideology. “Congressman Capuano has run a hard-fought campaign strongly defending his progressive credentials in debates, through surrogates and paid media,” he wrote. “If Pressley wins, it will be less about ideology, and more about voters choosing a representative who better reflects the demographics (younger, majority-minority) of the district.” Though the parallels between the congressional races in New York and Massachusetts are apparent — both Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez are young women of color challenging entrenched white male incumbents — the dynamics in the races are in many ways markedly different. For one, the ideological gap between Capuano and Pressley is much narrower than that between Ocasio-Cortez and Crowley in New York — a fact Pressley has acknowledged. Capuano and Pressley support single-payer health care, propose cuts to military spending, and oppose President Donald Trump. In addition, while Ocasio-Cortez ran as an outsider, Pressley has held elected office for close to a decade.

Freeland argued that the comparisons between the two races are misguided. “I think that these folks are missing a particular context of this district in Massachusetts and trying to conflate it with other districts in the country,” he said. “Boston is a community that is distinct from New York and has its own motivations.” Both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald recently endorsed Pressley, citing her potential to shape the conversation in Washington in a way that an entrenched incumbent such as Capuano could not. “Ayanna Pressley is such a powerful persona that her election would change the dynamic of the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation,” the Herald wrote. “She’d be an instant leader.” Rather than attacking Capuano’s voting record, Pressley has focused on her background growing up in a single-parent home and as a survivor of sexual assault, as well as her advocacy on behalf of low-income families since she joined the Council in 2010. Her signature campaign phrase is “The people closest to the pain should be closest to power.” In a recent online campaign advertisement, Pressley highlighted the economic disparities between the first and last stops of the Number 1 bus, which runs from Harvard Square to Roxbury, a Boston neighborhood where the child poverty rate hovers near 50 percent. “You can learn everything you need to know about the 7th congressional district by riding the Number 1 bus from Cambridge to Roxbury,” she said. “In a matter of blocks, you will see a stark visual contrast of life experiences, household median income, and quite literally, life expectancy.” If Pressley wins, she would be the first African American to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives. jonah.berger@thecrimson.com

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The Harvard Crimson | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | Page 9

update FROM Page 1

expert FROM Page 1

Harvard Preps for Oct. Showdown Experts Predict on Oct. 15 in a Boston courthouse. A lot happened over the summer — read up on the five things you need to know before school starts.

Trump Administration Takes a Stand

The federal government appears to have picked a side — and it’s not Harvard’s. The United States Department of Justice filed a scorching ”statement of interest” in the case last week that accused Harvard of committing “unlawful racial discrimination” and asserted its candidate evaluation process is “infected with racial bias.” The department had signaled before that it was sympathetic to SFFA; but Thursday’s memo marked its strongest intervention to date. Department lawyers wrote in the court filing that evidence that bubbled up over the summer supports SFFA’s accusations. Attorneys justified the Justice Department’s interference by pointing to the fact that Harvard receives significant federal funding. Taxpayer dollars must not “serve to finance the evil of private prejudice,” the lawyers wrote. Legal experts say the timing of the department’s filing is unusual and means the federal government may sue the University for its admissions policies. The department is already conducting a separate probe — overseen by top department officials — into whether Harvard discriminates against Asian-American applicants. Department lawyers have reviewed confidential student records as part of that inquiry. But the Trump administration is looking beyond Cambridge in its efforts to roll back affirmative action. The federal government in early July authored a “Dear Colleague” letter notifying university administrators that it had withdrawn Obama-era recommendations promoting the consideration of race in college admissions.

Internal Harvard Research Showed Disadvantage for Asian Americans

SFFA has accused Harvard

of giving Asian-American applicants poor “personal ratings” in an effort to derail their candidacies despite generally stellar academic records. The group says Harvard’s admissions process puts Asian-American students at a significant disadvantage. A 2013 internal Harvard review that came to light over the summer shows that the University at one point concluded the same thing. A June 15 court filing revealed that Harvard’s internal research office produced a top-secret series of reports several years ago that found the College’s admissions policies produce “negative effects” for Asian Americans. One report noted Asian Americans received consistently lower scores for their personal traits — things like “humor” and “grit” — than did applicants of other races. The University has disputed the claim that its evaluation of applicants is discriminatory. Harvard’s research office presented its findings to senior officials including Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67. But the report was never made public and top administrators did not take any significant action to address the issue.In court filings over the summer, Harvard officials and lawyers argued the 2013 research was incomplete and not meant to uncover possible discrimination.

Admissions Process Secrets Unearthed

The internal Harvard reports are one of many secrets the lawsuit has unearthed. Other details that sprang from documents released over the summer include tidbits about the so-called “Z-list,” a small pool of students whose offers of admission Harvard defers for a year. Court filings showed that students who receive spots on the Z-list are overwhelmingly white and that almost half them are legacies, meaning at least one of their parents attended Harvard. That wasn’t the only revelation about Harvard and its legacy students. Filings showed that the acceptance rate for legacy

students is about five times that of non-legacy students. More than a third of legacy students who applied won admission to the Classes of 2014 through 2019. Documents also revealed that recruited athletes see relatively high rates of admission compared to non-athletes. Of athletes with high academic scores, 83 percent earned admission, while only 16 percent of non-athletes with top-tier academic ratings did so. Other filings uncovered the fact that Harvard specifically trains its admissions officers on how to weigh race in the admissions process. The disclosure of these details comes amid a monthslong dispute over which admissions documents and applicant data should remain confidential. Harvard has fought to file information under seal, meaning only parties to the suit could see it. But a federal judge ultimately ruled that many documents — ranging from statistical analyses to admissions officers’ emails — must become public. If the suit goes to trial in October — which experts have said is all but certain — thousands of additional pages of student records could enter the public domain.

The Trial and the Stakes

Harvard and SFFA have one thing in common: both want to prevent a trial.Lawyers for the two parties have asserted that the facts of the case are so clearly in support of their respective arguments that Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who is presiding over the case, should rule on some or all of the charges without allowing the lawsuit to proceed to a full trial. On June 15, each party filed briefs — comprising hundreds of pages of expert statistical analyses and depositions from top Harvard administrators like former University President Drew G. Faust and Khurana — that argued for dismissal. Over the next several months, Harvard and SFFA rebutted each other’s arguments and gave their versions of the “undisputed facts” of the case. As recently as last week, the parties continued to skirmish

over the issue. Harvard, in a lastditch effort to avoid a trial, tried to argue that the SFFA lacks legitimate standing to sue. Despite all of this, legal experts — as well as the judge herself — say a summary judgement is highly unlikely. The trial, slated to be held in the U.S. District Court in Boston, is expected to take place — and to last for several weeks. Some say the case is destined for the Supreme Court. If it reaches the Court — and if nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh wins a seat on that Court — the decision could end affirmative action in the United States.

Phoning a Friend

As they spar in federal court, Harvard and SFFA have at times benefited from the the help of outside allies. Numerous third parties have filed amicus or “friend-of-thecourt” briefs in favor of one side or the other. The Department of Justice is the most notable name to throw its weight behind SFFA so far, though lesser-known individuals and organizations have also come to their aid. The Asian American Coalition for Education filed an amicus brief supporting SFFA on behalf of 156 Asian American organizations in July. Five economists, as well as conservative think tanks like the National Association of Scholars, filed in support of the plaintiff around the same time. Higher education appears to have listened to Harvard’s call. Sixteen top American universities — including every member of the Ivy League — filed a joint brief defending the University’s race-conscious admissions in July. Last week, Harvard students spoke out in favor of affirmative action when 25 campus student groups — including 10 Asian or Asian-American interest groups — filed a joint brief with the help of lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The American Civil Liberties Union also filed a brief arguing for Harvard over the summer, as did 15 economists and 531 social scientists. delano.franklin@thecrimson.com samuel.zwickel@thecrimson.com

Time FROM Page 1

New School Year Nixes Harvard Time earliest round begins at 10:30 a.m.; the next round after that begins at noon; and so on and so forth, with 90-minute intervals between every round. Professors — many of whom have been teaching 60-minute versions of their courses for years — are not required to use their entire allotted 75 minutes. Courses that are by necessity longer than 75 minutes, such as some labs and seminars, will be restricted to certain time slots. Given that there is now almost always 90 minutes between classes, and given that most classes are now restricted to 75 minutes, students will have a 15-minute passing period between classes. To understand how this works, consider a 9 a.m. class (which, remember, now starts at 9 a.m. exactly and not at 9:07

a.m.). That 9 a.m. class can end at 10:15 a.m. at the latest, meaning enrollees are guaranteed at least 15 minutes of travel time before the next round of classes begins at 10:30 a.m. at the earliest. So, to those students panicking about losing seven minutes of Harvard Time: you’re actually gaining eight minutes of travel time under the new system.

What about Allston?

Allston classes will typically start and end 45 minutes after Cambridge classes do. In Cambridge, the first classes of the day start at 9 a.m and the last classes start at 7:30 p.m. In Allston, classes will start at 9:45 a.m. The second round of Allston classes will start at 11:15 a.m., the third at 12:45 p.m., and so on.

This staggering is supposed to give undergraduates — the vast majority of whom live in Harvard housing in Cambridge — time to make the roughly mile-long trek across the river.

How is this different from the old WAY?

The new schedule most obviously axes Harvard Time and increases the average class length. The standardization of start and end times also imposes a rigid order on what was an unruly and almost wholly unregulated scheduling landscape. Under the new system, moreover, departments are required to spread out their course offerings evenly across the day. In an April 2017 memo to faculty, Jay M. Harris, former dean of undergraduate education,

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D&D RUBIK’S CUBE TRIVIAL PURSUIT THE SETTLERS OF CATAN

wrote that more than 80 percent of all lecture courses were offered between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The new schedule will allow for “de-compression of the instructional day,” he wrote in the memo. Harry R. Lewis ’68, a Computer Science professor and former dean of the College, wrote in an email that he thinks the new schedule is a “perfectly rational re-set.” “Seven minutes wasn’t realistic either as the classroom locations spread out,” Lewis wrote. “So the new scheme leaves a full 15 minutes between the end of one class and the start of the next.”

Future DOJ Fight By dELANO r. FRANKLIN and Samuel W. Zwickel Crimson Staff Writers

The Department of Justice spawned breaking news alerts and shockwaves that tore across the country last week when it ripped into Harvard’s admissions practices, writing in a court filing that the College practices “unlawful racial discrimination” and that its ranking of applicants is “infected with racial bias.” Department lawyers introduced their scathing “statement of interest” in support of the plaintiff in a four-yearold lawsuit that accuses Harvard of discriminating against Asian-American applicants — a charge the College has repeatedly denied. The Justice Department signaled at least once beforethat it is sympathetic to Students for Fair Admissions, the anti-affirmative action advocacy group suing Harvard, but Thursday’s memo marked an unprecedented escalation of hostility towards the University.Still, experts say, that’s nothing compared to what may come. “It paves the way for the Justice Department to directly intervene in the suit, join the suit, as opposed to just filing an amicus brief,” Savannah Law School professor Vinay Harpalani said of the Thursday filing. “If the Justice Department does actually sue Harvard, [it would be] bringing the suits together and really putting a lot of pressure.” Harpalani said he found it striking that the department chose to file a statement of interest and not an amicus or “friend of the court” brief, which any party not directly involved in a suit may file in support of one side or the other. The former category is a stronger proof of investment, he said. Whatever happens, the Trump administration will likely continue to publicly critique Harvard’s admissions practices as SFFA’s lawsuit moves forward, according to Harpalani. The suit, brought in 2014, is set to go to trial Oct. 15 in a Boston courthouse. Both Harvard and SFFA have tried to convince Judge Allison D. Burroughs to dismiss the case via summary judgment before that happens; however, she is not likely to do so. The department’s decision to file its statement before the trial launches is telling, said Theodore M. Shaw, a law professor at the University of North Carolina “Certainly they’re trying to throw the weight of the gov-

ernment to sway the outcome in this position,” Shaw said. “I guess they’re trying to get in early and often.” Roger Clegg, a former Justice Department official who is president of the anti-affirmative action Center for Equal Opportunity, said that strategy is likely to be effective. He said judges typically give department filings “more weight” and that federal arguments tend to be “taken more seriously.” Harpalani said the department’s early intervention ups the pressure on College administrators because it focuses a national spotlight on the lawsuit, building “public momentum” — and possibly anti-Harvard sentiment — around the case. He said the University will want to do everything it can to prevent the case from going before the Supreme Court, something experts have said could happen. If the suit reaches the Court — and if conservative nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh is sitting on that Court — it could mean the end of affirmative action in the United States. “Harvard doesn’t want to go all the way up there,” Harpalani said. “Because that would be an embarrassment, to lose at the Supreme Court.” The Justice Department is conducting its own separate investigation into alleged discrimination against Asian Americans in Harvard’s admissions system. The department did not publicly announce that probe; it came to light several months ago through news reports and Freedom of Information Act requests. Department lawyers confirmed that the government’s inquiry is active and ongoing in their Thursday filing, writing that the resolution of the admissions lawsuit “could have a significant impact” on the department’s own “pending investigation” into Harvard admissions. As a whole, the Justice Department’s behavior is a “warning” to court officials and university administrators around the nation that the federal government dislikes and will continue to oppose race-conscious admissions policies, said Dana N. Thompson Dorsey, an education professor at the University of Pittsburgh. “It does send a message,” Dorsey said. Clegg agreed. “I think it is fair to say… that the Justice Department is unlikely to walk away from this case,” he said. delano.franklin@thecrimson.com samuel.zwickel@thecrimson.com

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Page 10 | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | The Harvard Crimson

The Harvard Crimson | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | Page 11

Massachusetts Primary Races Federal

State

GOVERNOR

SENATE Elizabeth Warren (D) Incumbent Former HLS Professor

Geoff Diehl (R) John Kingston HLS ’94 (R) Beth J. Lindstrom (R)

Jay M. Gonzalez (D) Bob Massie (D) DBA ‘89, HDS Lecturer

Charles D. Baker AB ’79 (R) Incumbent Scott D. Lively (R)

Shiva Ayyadurai (I)

Lieutenant Governor CONGRESS MA District 5 Katherine M. Clark MPA ’97 (D), Incumbent

John Hugo (R) Louis Kuchnir (R)

MA District 7 Michael E. Capuano (D) Incumbent Ayanna S. Pressley (D)

Quentin Palfrey ’96 and HLS ’02 (D)

Karyn E. Polito (R) Incumbent

Jimmy Tingle MPA ’10 (D) 2010 Graduation Speaker

Secretary of State Willian F. Galvin (D) Incumbent

Anthony M. Amore (R)

Josh Zakim (D) No Declared Republican Candidates

Attorny General Maura Healey AB ’92 (D) Incumbent

James R. McMahon (R) Daniel L. Shores (R)

Where You Can Vote Near Campus

Credit: Open Street Map Truelian lee—Crimson Designer

The Harvard Crimson | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | Page 12

leak FROM Page 1

Leaked T9 Rules Could Spur Changes The latest on student life. in Sept. 2017 and offered a fresh set in their place. None required Harvard to shift its policies and the University’s top Title IX administrators pledged to stick to the old rules. Now, though, keeping the status quo may not be an option, according to experts. Colby Bruno, a lawyer with the Victim Rights Law Center, said the reported changes would require universities like Harvard to revise their Title IX policies. Unlike the Obama-era guidance, DeVos’s proposed regulations, if enacted, will carry legal weight because they will have passed through the federal rulemaking process. Liz Hill, an Education Department spokesperson, told the Times that the department is “in the midst of a deliberative process” and that the Times’s information “is premature and speculative, and therefore, we have no comment.” Bruno said the changes to Title IX rules could generate confusion on campuses across the country. “If every four years we keep swinging from one side to the other, it just doesn’t help us,” Bruno said. “If I’m a school, I don’t know what I’m doing.” University spokesperson Melodie L. Jackson wrote in an emailed statement that “the safety and well-being of our community remains the University’s top priority.” “We have worked hard in recent years to develop strong and

fair policies and procedures, to increase the support services available to our community members, and to raise awareness of them across campus,” she wrote. Harvard’s current Title IX policy was forged in 2014 and uses the “preponderance of the evidence” standard, the lowest legal standard of proof and the one suggested in the 2011 guidance. The new policies, however, would allow schools to choose between “preponderance of the evidence” or a stricter “clear and convincing” standard initially laid out in DeVos’s 2017 guidelines, according to the Times. Harvard’s policy and procedures have drawn controversy in their four years of existence. A group of professors at Harvard Law School charged that the definition of sexual assault laid out in Harvard’s policy is inappropriate and that the University’s procedures deny due process to the accused. The professors successfully led the charge for Law School-specific procedures in 2014 — and several submitted a memo to the Dept. of Education in Sept. 2017 calling for a narrower federal definition of sexual harassment. In a break from precedent, the proposed rules define sexual harassment as “unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school’s education program or activity.”

Harvard’s current definition of sexual harassment, based on the Obama administration’s broader definition, is “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, including unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, graphic, or physical conduct of a sexual nature.” The new policies also reportedly alter the standard the department will use when judging whether a school took the right steps to address allegations of sexual assault. The standard, called “deliberately indifferent,” would only find the school to be in violation of Title IX if its “response to the sexual harassment is clearly unreasonable in light of known circumstances.” Bruno said such a policy shift would make it nearly impossible to bring an Office of Civil Rights complaint against a school’s handling of a Title IX complaint. Harvard currently faces three OCR investigations into its handling of complaints opened in 2014, 2016, and 2017. Under the DeVos policy, schools would also only be responsible for conduct that takes place on campus or within its own programs, which would exclude off-campus parties and events. The 2011 Obama administration guidance required schools to investigate complaints even if they took place off campus. The change would mean that incidents that occur at final

clubs or properties not owned by Harvard would no longer fall under the University’s purview — at least in the eyes of the government. A 2015 campus climate survey found that 47 percent of senior women who reported participating in final clubs — as members or as attendees of male final club events — reported “experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact since entering college,” the highest figure among any student group included in the data. The government would also hold schools responsible only for investigating formal complaints, which are those made to “an official who has the authority to institute corrective measures.” This would remove Harvard’s legal responsibility for incidents brought to the attention of faculty and staff via more casual channels. The new rules would also make it optional for schools to offer appeals processes and recommend schools use mediation to settle Title IX disputes, according to the Times report. The Obama administration recommended allowing appeals and advised against mediation. An FAQ document accompanying Harvard’s Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Policy and Procedures says the school will not use mediation in cases of sexual assault.

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The Harvard Crimson | SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 | Page 13

Bacow FROM Page 1

In First Speech, Bacow Urges Students to Go to the Polls engagement carried throughout the event, which took place Wednesday afternoon. Reverend Jonathan L. Walton, Pusey Minister in Memorial Church, began the ceremony with an invocation, praying that the new students pursue “a cause greater than [themselves].” Jenna M.E. Gray ’19 delivered the student address, encouraging freshmen to study abroad in order to gain perspective. Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana, who took to the podium after Bacow, noted that Harvard’s newest undergraduates arrived on campus “at a critical moment in our nation’s history.” Khurana framed much of his speech around “Autumn... Nothing Personal,” a new art installation in Tercentenary Theater. The installation was inspired by a James Baldwin essay, which, according to Khurana, “describes a divided, violent, and empty America at a different historical moment: the height of the Civil Rights movement.” “Baldwin’s view of the world in 1964 resonates in so many ways with what we can see is going on in our country and the world today,” Khurana said. “Given the world that you’ve been handed, you’re going to be faced with some critical choic-

es over the next four years,” he added. Like Bacow, Khurana entreated members of the Class

“If you are eligible to vote, we expect you to register... and to cast a ballot. It is your responsibility as a citizen of this country.” University President Lawrence S. Bacow

of 2022 to use their talents and their education to better society. “The path you choose here has more urgency than whether it’s personally fulfilling to you,” Khurana said. “As you start classes and meet new people, I urge you to watch and listen closely to your faculty, and your peers, and the texts you read.” “Not only does your education depend on this habit, so does our Republic’s,” he added. molly.mccafferty@thecrimson.com

Marshall Brooke E. Asnis ‘94 leads first-year students from Apley Court into Tercentenary Theatre during the Class of 2022’s Convocation ceremony on Monday afternoon.. Timothy R. O’Meara—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

survey FROM Page 1

doj FROM Page 1

Most Harvard Students are White, Rich Trump’s Justice Dept likely to report being the first person in their family to attend college than were freshmen who identified as white. White-identifying students were more than 50 percent more likely to report a combined family income of $250,000 per year than were black students. Each year, as incoming students start packing for their first year at the College, The Crimson emails each class member asking them to fill out a survey. The anonymous questionnaire asks several questions on topics ranging from their religious views to their sex lives to their opinions of current campus and political affairs. Of the 1,661 -member class, 1,064 freshmen responded, representing roughly 65 percent of the class. The Crimson did not adjust the survey results for any possible selection bias. This first piece of The Crim-

81.6

percent of freshman respondents identified as straight son’s three-part look into the Class of 2022 examines the the makeup of the incoming College freshman class, analyzing demographic information like ethnicity, gender, and family income of respondents, as well as financial aid and admission statistics.

Demographics

In line with the trends of previous years, much of the freshman class is wealthy, white, and straight — and hails from the country’s coasts. Of survey respondents, 49.8 percent identified as women, 49.4 percent as male, and 0.6 percent as non-binary. About 0.7 percent identified as transgender. Of respondents who answered a question asking about their ethnicity, 46 percent said they are white, 18.1 percent of surveyed students identified as Asian, 14.3 percent as multiracial, 10.7 percent as Black or African American, 6.5 percent as Hispanic or Latino, 3.8 percent as South Asian, 0.6 percent as American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.1 percent as Pacific Islander. That makes a total of 51 percent of respondents who identified as non-white. 81.6 percent of students surveyed said they identify as straight, 7.6 percent as bisexual, 5.4 percent as gay or lesbian, and 0.7 percent queer. Roughly 3 percent indicated that they are questioning their sexual orientation.

A plurality of surveyed members of the Class of 2022 reported being raised on the East or West coasts, with 42.2 percent hailing from the Northeast and 16.0 percent from the West. The Southwestern states — Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma — sent the lowest percentage of students (7.1 percent) to Harvard this year. Twelve percent of surveyed students reported hailing from outside the United States, almost identical to the 12.4 percent of last year’s respondents who did so. The percentage of students who reported coming from rural, suburban, and urban areas also remained consistent with the previous year. Around 10.4 percent of surveyed freshman said they hail from rural areas, while the majority — 61.1 percent — said they live in suburban areas. Roughly 30 percent of freshmen reported that they come from urban areas.

Families & Finance

As in past years, survey results show that the color of a student’s skin appears to correlate with the amount of money their parents make in a year. White students were more likely than were students belonging to any other demographic to report an annual income above $250,000. About 33.5 percent of white freshmen did so. A much smaller percentage of admits of color — 21.6 percent of black students, 18.9 percent of Hispanic/Latinx students, and 19.7 percent of Asian students — reported a combined family income above that level. Income levels also appeared to correlate with legacy status. Over a third — 36.3 percent — of students with one or more parent who attended Harvard said they come from a family with a combined income of $500,000 or more. The percentage of legacy admits may have dipped slightly this year, but the demographics of the group did not alter. Legacy students are still largely white and wealthy, according to the survey results. Slightly more than 14 percent of surveyed freshmen in the Class of 2022 reported being legacy students, a decline from the 18.3 percent from the Class of 2021 who did so. Documents made public over the summer as part of the admissions lawsuit revealed that legacy applicants benefit from an acceptance rate that is more than five times that seen by non-legacy students. 23.4 percent of survey respondents who identified as white also reported being legacy students. Among Hispanic and Latinx respondents, 13.4 percent said they were legacy students, while 7.4 percent of black respondents did so. Roughly 14 percent of Asian respondents indicated one or

more of their parents graduated Harvard. About 53 percent of students with at least one parent who attended college reported a combined family income of over $125,000. Less than 2 percent of legacy applicants said they come from a family with a combined income of $79,999 or less. The percentage of first-generation students increased from last year, rising from 16.3 percent to 17 percent. The Class of 2022 was the first to partake in a new pre-orientation program meant to help freshmen “from historically marginalized communities” transition to life at Harvard. That initiative had a rocky beginning; Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana at first rejected a proposal to create a similar “bridge program” for these students. Roughly 40 percent of Hispanic/Latinx respondents indicated they are first-generation students, as did 23.7 percent of black students, 14.8 percent of Asian students, and 10.4 percent of white students. First-generation students were more likely to report a lower family income than were non-first generation students, according to the survey results. Roughly 9 percent of first-generation respondents reported a family income of over $125,000. About half — 45.7 percent — of first-generation students said they come from a family that makes a combined income of $40,000 or less. Nearly all first-generation students said they are also ben-

36

percent of legacy students reported an income of $500,000+ eficiaries of the College’s financial aid program, with 93.8 percent of those students reporting they are receiving financial assistance. The cost to attend Harvard College is $67,850 for the 20182019 academic year, representing an increase of roughly 3 percent from the previous year. A majority of respondents to the survey — 55.4 percent — reported receiving financial aid, similar to the 55.5 percent of the Class of 2021 who reported doing so.

high school highlights

A record-low 4.59 percent of 42,749 applicants to the College earned acceptance to the Class of 2022 in the most competitive admissions cycle in Harvard

history. It was the first time the school’s overall acceptance rate dropped below 5 percent and the fourth consecutive year that this number has decreased from the year before. A majority of freshman respondents — 56.8 percent — said they were accepted during the College’s early action admission cycle. Of this group of early admits, 38.3 percent reported being first-generation students, 76 percent indicated they were legacy students, and 88.2 percent said they were recruited athletes. The vast majority — 79.8 percent — of student respondents said Harvard was their firstchoice college pick. Slightly over a third of surveyed students, 36.6 percent, said they applied to Yale. Thirty-six percent of this group said they were accepted to both Ivy League universities. Respondents indicated they applied to an average of seven colleges or universities and were admitted to an average of five. Slightly more than 19 percent of student respondents reported seeking application advice outside of their high schools from a private college admissions counselor. Of these students, 26.9 percent reported that their parents made more than $500,000 per year; 11.3 percent noted a parental income of less than $40,000. Close to 60 percent of those surveyed said they attended a non-charter public school, 38.1 percent said they attended a private school, and about 0.5 percent said they were homeschooled. Legacy students were more likely to report attending a private school. 69.8 percent of respondents said they attended a secondary school that calculated class rank. Within this group, 72.9 percent reported finishing in the top 2 percent of their graduating classes. Slightly more than 60 percent of legacy students who attended schools that ranked said they finished in the top 2 percent of their classes; 37.1 percent of recruited athletes reported the same achievement. Respondents reported an average GPA of 3.90 on an unweighted 4.0 scale. Students who reported taking the SAT said they did so an average of 2 times. The average score of respondents who reported taking the New SAT was 1512 on a scale of 1600. Students who said they took the ACT reported doing so an average of 2 times. Among these test-takers, the average score was 34. Students who reported taking one or more Advanced Placement tests took an average of 8 examinations. alexandra.chaidez@thecrimson.com samuel.zwickel@thecrimson.com

Favors SFFA in Suit Harvard spokesperson Anna Cowenhoven wrote in an emailed statement that the University resents the department’s interference. She added that Harvard continues to deny all charges of discrimination. “We are deeply disappointed that the Department of Justice has taken the side of Edward Blum and Students for Fair Admissions, recycling the same misleading and hollow arguments that prove nothing more than the emptiness of the case against Harvard,” Cowenhoven wrote. Anti-affirmative action advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions first brought suit against Harvard four years ago. Helmed by conservative litigant Edward Blum, the group argues Harvard is trying to “racially engineer” its student body. SFFA’s ultimate goal is to end the use of race in college admissions, a mission experts say the lawsuit may accomplish if it reaches the Supreme Court. The suit has already had some consequences. Over the course of summer 2018, hundreds of pages of internal College documents related to the admissions process became public as part of the summary judgment phase of the lawsuit. Department lawyers specifically pointed to various revelations that proceeded from the documents’ release — including the discovery that College admissions officers consistently gave Asian-American applicants lower scores for their personal traits — as proof that Harvard’s admissions policies are discriminatory. “The evidence… shows that Harvard provides no meaningful criteria to cabin its use of race; uses a vague ‘personal rating’ that harms Asian-American applicant’s chances for admission and may be infected with racial bias; engages in unlawful racial balancing; and has never seriously considered race-neutral alternatives in its more than 45 years of using race to make admissions decisions,” department lawyers wrote. The lawyers cited Harvard’s receipt of federal funding as justification for the Justice Department’s involvement in the suit. Referencing an earlier Supreme Court opinion, attorneys argued the department must work to ensure that tax dollars “do not serve to finance the evil of private prejudice.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a press release announcing the filing that the department is intervening in the case to defend the civil rights of the American people. “No American should be denied admission to school because of their race,” Sessions said. “As a recipient of taxpayer dollars, Harvard has a responsi-

bility to conduct its admissions policy without racial discrimination by using meaningful admissions criteria that meet lawful requirements.” The memo, signed by Acting Assistant Attorney General John M. Gore, heavily cites the testimony of Harvard admissions officers— including Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 — as well as internal University research which the Justice Department says reveals how the school’s admissions process “harms” Asian-American applicants. Harvard’s research office concluded in a series of reports circulated among top administrators in 2013 that the College’s admissions policies produce “negative effects” for Asian Americans. But the reports were never made public — until the lawsuit required their release — and did not spur College officials to take significant action to address the situation. In their filing, Department lawyers specifically took Harvard to task for failing to act on that report. “Harvard admits that, on average, it scores Asian-American applicants lower on the personal rating than white applicants,” lawyers wrote. “Yet when an internal Harvard report pointed out that the personal rating may be infused with racial bias and sought authorization to study the issue further, Harvard buried it.” This is not the first time the Justice Department has intervened in the suit. The department requested the unsealing of previously confidential Harvard admissions documents and data in April. It is also independently conducting a Title VI investigation into Harvard in response to the allegations that the College discriminates against Asian-American applicants. Lawyers for the department wrote in Thursday’s filing that that probe is ongoing. The Trump administration is tackling affirmative action in other quarters, too. In early July, the Justice Department and the Department of Education penned a “Dear Colleague” letter notifying universities that the government was withdrawing Obama-era recommendations that encouraged race-conscious admissions. At the time, a University spokesperson said that Harvard plans to ignore the retraction of the old guidance and “will continue to vigorously defend its right, and that of all colleges and universities” to consider race as a factor in the admissions process. The case is set to go to trial in a Boston courthouse on Oct. 15. delano.franklin@thecrimson.com samuel.zwickel@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON  |  September 4, 2018

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Editorial Transactions and Transformations By Michelle I. GAO Opinion Writer

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n beginning my second year at Harvard, I have spent time thinking about Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana’s advice — to choose a “transformational” education over a “transactional” one. I remember nodding along at Convocation because making that choice seemed sensible and straightforward. A spot at Harvard provides a certain freedom from having to be transactional. For better or worse, a Harvard degree helps to alleviate the pressure to concentrate in what one thinks will be most economical. I am also lucky enough for money not to be on my mind every day. This financial privilege has been greater than I initially realized, because the college experience consists of many transactions — not just affording tuition, but also paying to eat in Harvard Square and even to print out course readings. One can also be transactional by being close-minded. As Khurana defined it in a past Convocation speech, being “transactional” means “focusing on material goals,” like graduate school, and thinking of college as a “stop on the way to the rest of your life.” Being “transactional” doesn’t only apply to those pursuing certain fields — a sub-

ject like economics might get a bad name, but in no area is one-track mindedness useful. In the first few semesters of college, at least, I have found it easy to avoid this transactional mindset. I didn’t come in with one burning passion. I didn’t know enough people to close myself off from the possibility of meeting more. I hadn’t planned my post-college future with any degree of specific-

I explored, but I never went too far. During shopping weeks, I accompanied friends to classes that I knew I’d never take. ity. So I needed to be open-minded. If “transactional” versus “transformational” were just a binary, I would place myself in the latter category. And yet — a year in, having completed eight of the 32 (in all likelihood) classes I will ever take as a Harvard College student — I don’t think of the difference between “transactional” and “transformational” as a binary. It is more of a scale, like the five-

point scales of the Q Guide. And I don’t think that I would give myself a five. The courses that I’ve taken have undoubtedly transformed me in some way. By simply attending class, one picks up interesting lessons and comes out at semester’s end a different person than one was at the start. Certainly, though, I did more than just attend class. I liked the courses I took. I participated in them. I challenged myself in them. Yet I cannot say I wholly pursued transformation. I explored, but I never went too far. During shopping weeks, I accompanied friends to classes that I knew I’d never take. But I didn’t change my mind while I was in them. And sure, I had not picked out all my classes before beginning shopping week. But the ones that I walked into and put on my schedule were not random classes. They were in departments that I knew I wanted to study, and they were in subjects that I knew I’d have some knowledge and interest in. For example, when a course on Chinese foreign policy did not fit in my schedule, I simply moved to a course on international relations, which was certainly not true academic exploration. I did not have the courage to enroll in a course for which I thought I had no talent or aptitude. I did not have the courage to risk failing. So I have judged

the things that I thought I would like, and I’ve found that I haven’t liked all of them equally. But I still don’t know what I don’t know. I haven’t tried very hard to find out, either. Because while I don’t think that I’ve succumbed to fears of financial pressure to choose a certain field of study or career, I have allowed unnecessary fears about time to restrict the extent of my exploration. These are fears of running out of time — the fear of wasting one of the precious four slots I have every semester, of not finishing the General Education requirement if I take too many electives, and maybe worst of all, the fear of eventually finding a concentration that I love — but finding it too late to fully pursue it. These fears may feel more valid and less transactional, but they are nevertheless restrictive mental obstacles that must be overcome. As I realize now, I have been “transformed,” but only as much as I let myself. Although that is certainly a start, it is not quite enough. Choosing a “transformational” experience requires more than just not being “transactional.” The journey is more important than the end, but I hope this realization is a step in the right direction. —Michelle I. Gao’21, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Adams House.

In Defense of the Truth By Anna M. Kuritzkes Opinion Writer

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KARINA G. GONZALEZ-ESPINOZA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Boycott the Transcript Project By Lorenzo F. Manuali Associate Editorial Editor

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rony is “incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result.” Welcome to the Transcript Project. Announced in Feb. 2018, the Transcript Project allows students to submit pieces of work, such as prose, a photo, or a song, that discusses their academic journey at Harvard. The purpose of the project is to encourage students “to think differently about the intellectual odyssey that being at Harvard can represent,” according to the man who created it — Dean of the Arts and Humanities Robin E. Kelsey. Instead of focusing on grades, students should “recognize the spirit of adventure which the transcript represents,” said Kelsey. Harvard has a particular problem with academic rigor and pressure to get immaculate report cards, which can create mental health issues for its students. Given the fact that some classes at Harvard College are graded on a curve (which in and of itself not a bad thing), an immaculate transcript may inherently necessitate competing against your peers. Thus, Harvard’s academic pressure problem is compounded by and necessarily entwined with a culture of competition that exists at Harvard. It is therefore heartening that the Transcript Project was created in an effort to combat the idea of the college transcript being a source of anxiety. In order to succeed, a successful initiative would have had to successfully combat the various pressures at Harvard that cause many students to overemphasize grades, academic pressure, and competition. Except the Transcript Project is — wait for it — a competition. Yes, the initiative that should combat the culture of academic pressure and competition among peers at Harvard is itself a competition among peers at Harvard. Not only does this render the project nothing more than a ridiculous lesson in irony, but it also means that the Transcript Project inculcates the very culture it seeks to combat. In the creation of the Transcript Project, the deans of Harvard College have indeed

proven that everything at Harvard is a competition between your classmates and necessitates academic pressure. Seemingly sensing the contradictory nature of his project, Kelsey did not change the nature of it, but rather, at the event congratulating the winners of the contest, qualified the competition by saying there was an emphasis on “creativity” and “participation.” In this case, the emphasis does not excuse the action. A competition is a competition is a competition. Indeed, the “winners” won not only the title of winner, but also a gift card. Students were pitted against other students, some of whom did better than others and were recognized for it. One could even argue the Transcript Project reflected a more materialistic and self-serving culture than any Harvard class — curved or not — since students were given a monetary reward. Imagine if for every A a student received in a class, they also received cash. Beat your peers, and you’ll be rewarded financially. Such is the lesson taught by the Transcript Project. Of course, there is an important place for contests and competitions that have a select number of winners at Harvard. Academic, athletic, and other types of achievement deserve to be recognized and rewarded with monetary accolades or other forms of recognition, just not in a program whose important goal is to offer an alternative to that formula. As an alternative, perhaps the College could take a lesson from its signature writing class — Expository Writing 20 — and work with all of the 20 or so participants in the Transcript Project to improve all of their pieces and make them worthy of recognition, instead of selecting six winners. Indeed, the Transcript Project should present “an opportunity for students of all abilities to make progress.” But until the Transcript Project is amended or scrapped entirely, I urge my fellow students to organize against it and not submit pieces for the competition. —Lorenzo F. Manuali ’21, a Crimson Associate Editorial Editor, lives in Adams House.