The University still refuses to release the names of the students.... But this position ignores the crucial issue: that the students in 1920 had done no wrong and that they were victims of a witch-hunt. By not revealing the students’ names, the University implies that they were accused of some legitimate transgression; nothing could be further from the truth.

The University can never compensate these students for their cruel persecution. Granting the students honorary diplomas is the best way Harvard can make amends today for one of the darkest moments in its history.

—Dec. 9, 2002

Our House, Our Bells

The Russians are mad at Harvard again. But this time, instead of faculty bungling their economy, it’s an alum pilfering their bells. In 1930, Charles Crane bought 18 bells from the St. Danilov Monastery to save them from the Soviet authorities, who wanted to melt them down, and donated them to Harvard. But now the rebuilt monastery wants them back by March 2003.

One word to our Russian friends: Nyet....

—Dec. 13, 2003

Molière’s Dining Halls

In 1672 the French playwright Molière wrote that “it is good food and not fine words that keeps me alive.” Over three centuries and several thousand miles away, the Harvard students who are bombarded daily with a plethora of fine words—including, from time to time, Molière’s own—are still waiting for administrators to digest his message.

Last week’s announcement that Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) has postponed the much needed renovations to Quincy, Dunster and Mather dining halls ensures that many undergraduates will continue to eat—or not, as the case might be—in facilities that lag far behind the rest of Harvard.

The least that HUDS can do until the renovations are finally completed is to end the unfair interhouse restrictions and allow all students to eat where they will most enjoy their meals. After all, without good food, Harvard students, like Molière, know that eventually even the finest of words becomes stale.

—Jan. 13, 2003

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