Harvard adds a New Zealand forest to its holdings after the Harvard Management Company buys a forestry estate for $650 million.

January

A majority of the faculty of Harvard Law School file a friend-of-the court brief to federal appellate judges arguing that the Pentagon misinterpreted the 1996 Soloman Amendment. The Pentagon claims that under the statute, the secretary of defense can restrict federal funding for schools that limit access to military recruiters.

Geremias Cruz Ramos, a Harvard custodian, admits to groping around 100 people in the Square prior to his arrest for allegedly groping a graduate student at the intersection of Mt. Auburn and Holyoke Streets.

February

Thefacebook.com arrives on the Harvard social scene. This popular online college networking site created by Mark E. Zuckerberg ’06 soon expands to more than 30 colleges.

Harvard starts a new campus escort program in the wake of the rash of gropings in the Square and the disbanding of the Safetywalk escort program.

Anthony Fonseca, a member of the Class of 2004, dies in an apparent suicide in Winthrop House. He was 21. Friends and family mourn Fonseca at a memorial service at St. Paul’s Church several weeks later.

The Student Mental Health Task Force recommends that University Health Services Mental Health Services and the Bureau of Study Counsel report to a single administrator.

Summers announces that, starting in September, students from families with income of less than $40,000 will no longer have to contribute to their educational expenses.

March

Six protesters, including one Harvard student, are arrested after a nude protest against animal cruelty in Harvard Square. The protest was part of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) “rather go naked than wear fur” campaign. One of those arrested was Dan Matthews (pictured at left), vice president of PETA, who had been invited to speak in Religion 1529, “Personal Choice and Global Transformation.”

April

For the first time in the history of Harvard College, Harvard offers admission to more women than men. Of the 19,750 applicants to the College this year, 1,016 of students accepted were women, while 1,013 were men.