Cabot Library initiates a trial-period of 24-hour access during reading period. Students embrace the change and it becomes standard practice for reading and exam period.
After months of picketing outside Mass. Hall, the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers wins contract concessions from the University.
February
Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III releases a letter condemning final clubs, citing drug deals and sexual harassment complaints as reasons for students to avoid them.
Alex Myers '00 sponsors a Undergraduate Council resolution to include transgendered persons in the University's nondiscrimination policy.
March
University Provost Albert Carnesale accepts a position as chancellor of UCLA. Harvey V. Fineberg '67, former dean of the School of Public Health, is announced as his successor on April 3.
April
An unseasonable snowstorm blankets Cambridge with 24 inches of snow. Gov. Weld declares a state of emergency but classes go on as scheduled. The University has not closed due to weather conditions since the Blizzard of '78.
Ted A. Mayer is hired as new director of Harvard Dining Services, replacing the popular "Mealtime Messiah," Michael P. Berry, who left for Disneyland.
In a rare use of the bully pulpit, Rudenstine heads a nationwide coalition of 62 university presidents calling for maintaining diversity in higher education, following the Supreme Court's Hopwood decision restricting the use of race as a factor in admission.
Fifteen female senior Faculty members send a letter to Rudenstine Protesting the denial of tenure to Bonnie Honig, associate professor of government. Their letter sparks widespread criticism of Harvard's secretive tenure review process and of the administration's stated commitment to faculty diversity.
May
The Office of the Arts denies funding to student performer Mark R. Talusan, a.k.a. the Dancing Deviant, citing the sexually explicit content of his performance.
Gina M. Ocon '98-'00 wins the right to move with her daughter to Cambridge to resume her Harvard education after a highly publicized custody case.
Filming for Good Will Hunting begins in Harvard Square. Former Harvard undergraduate Matt Damon, class of 1992, later wins a best screenplay Oscar for the movie with fellow Cantabrigian Ben Affleck.
The Faculty votes for Core Reform, instituting a Quantative Reasoning Requirement for the Class of 2003, promising to expand Core offerings and encouraging greater inclusion of departmental courses in the Core.
Federal officials suspend a $14 million contract with the Harvard Institute of International Development after discovery of possible improprieties in the administration of projects in Russia. Accusations focus on Professor of Economics Andrei Shleifer '82, who allegedly "abused the trust of the United State government by using personal relationships...for private gain," officials say.