The Harvard of 1981, as revealed by The Crimson’s editorial pages of that year, was marked by affairs that may seem anachronistic today; yet they are relevant still. As movements for women’s rights and gay rights gained prominence in the student psyche, a concerted attempt at minority enfranchisement within the Harvard Faculty gained steam. Ineffectual government was also on the forefront of student thought, as students became disillusioned by the newly-created Student Assembly as well as the tepid politics of the Democratic Party. That Harvard seems prone to a glacial pace of change is manifested in an excerpt on the creation of a new Literature concentration. And lastly, Harvard’s efforts at land development yielded controversy at the Sumner Road apartments, a story that bears no small similarity to the recent dispute over the Charlesview apartments in Allston. George Santayana’s old adage comes to mind, that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If there is any solace here, it is that the eminent philosopher was, through and through, a Harvard man.
—Brian J. Rosenberg ’08 and Sahil K. Mahtani ’08, Associate Editorial Chairs
Our Traditions After the Deluge CHUL Ducks Small Step for the K-School Some Things Never Change Literature at Last
Read more in Opinion
Not a Lost Cause
