Editorials
The Changing Faces of a Harvard Education
To meet this uncertain moment, each figure within Harvard’s multifaceted model of education will need to face one another and work in tandem, producing a kaleidoscopic vision of our University’s future in which all students, affiliates, and graduates may see themselves accurately reflected amidst ongoing change.
A Post-Covid Campus by Students, for Students
Harvard is a university drenched in history, influenced by a chain of traditions, norms, and practices stretching back centuries. The pandemic’s blip on this record has torn us away from institutional inertia, offering us near-limitless potential for what our campus could look like.
The Dysfunctional DSO Strikes Again
As we’ve opined in the past, clubs powered by hardworking students are foundational to a Harvard education. Through our organizations, many of us find tight communities and develop lifelong skills that benefit us long after we graduate. So in response to the DSO’s proposal to halt club creation, we have a counteroffer: How about no?
Dissent: A Welcome Addition to Campus Discourse
We were disappointed by the Board’s assumption today that the Council of Academic Freedom at Harvard’s mission is not a genuine effort to support academic freedom. By calling the council’s explanation for its formation “dishonest” and thereby assuming malicious intent from the signatories, the Board has failed to practice the very credit and kindness it has called upon others to extend in civil discourse.
Some Cautious Counsel to the Academic Freedom Council
We don’t entirely trust the council’s intentions in constructing this freedom right now, but we remain cautiously optimistic for its future. You might see us in the audience of upcoming workshops, hoping for our skepticism in the council to be proven wrong. Until then, in the spirit of free inquiry, we’ve provided our criticisms to build a more productive campus discourse.
Editorial Snippets: Happy 150th to The Crimson
In 1873, The Crimson published its first newspaper. One hundred and fifty years later, as alumni flock back in town for this weekend’s 150th Anniversary Celebration, we’ve asked members of the Editorial Board to reflect on the bits of magic that have brought — and continue to bring — 14 Plympton St. to life.
Racialized Reviews and Harmful Headlines
Music considered to have widespread appeal often caters to a culture that spotlights whiteness — a culture that ends up shafting Black communities and artistic expression. Selectively embracing Black culture is a pervasive campus-wide trend that has bled into this very newspaper’s own coverage. Making Yardfest a festivity worth celebrating starts with us, as students, cultivating an appreciation for a broad palette of cultures.
Dissent: It’s Ok To Go Into Big Tech
Morality extends far beyond people’s career choices: Individuals can still be good people if they work in profit-driven sectors like big tech. As long as our peers are not doing evil things, we see no reason to censure their post-graduation choices.
Usually, Bigger Is Better — But Not in Tech
Harvard’s techies often fall blindly into big tech without deeper inquiry. Opening our eyes to alternate paths requires a cultural shift towards social good. Harvard, as an institution, should exist to engender good. Even though one’s career is not the only way to do good, we hope that the value of public service touches, in at least some small part, all aspects of one’s life — including work.
Dissent: Don’t Donate to Harvard
Given the host of things the uber-rich spend their money on, donating to an educational institution like Harvard is somewhat praiseworthy. It is, however, not the most effective use of $300 million — not even close.
Take the Money Without the Values
We might never know if this donation came with strings, but now that the money has transferred hands, the unrestricted nature of Griffin’s donation means that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences can spend these funds where it pleases. We have only one request: Use this money well, to promote the social good. We hope that Harvard will put these new $300 million into the pure pursuit of universal betterment.
Legacy Admissions Is a Federal Issue, Not a State One
As a board, we remain resolute in our belief that legacy applicants should not get a leg up in the admissions process. However, the Commonwealth’s legislature should not be delivering the death blow to legacy admissions, and certainly not with this bill.
To the Republican Party: Let Us Vote
Student voting seems like the next item on the Republican Party’s hit list. While many initiatives to hinder young voters have been unsuccessful, we are alarmed by the lengths the Republican Party is willing to go to undermine American democracy. The attempts made by Republicans to restrict voting on campuses serve only to undermine American democracy.
We Shouldn’t Have To Ask a TF
If Harvard is to continue with this CA- and TF-led model of undergraduate instruction, it must support CAs and TFs to the best of its capabilities, so that the students these instructors teach end up with the best education as well. But a better Harvard wouldn’t rely on CAs and TFs for the brunt of its instruction.
To the Class of 2027: What the Numbers Don’t Tell You
To the Class of 2027: Congratulations, and welcome to your new community. As you excel in your studies, forge ahead in new disciplines, and join the ranks of those educated at America’s oldest institution of higher education, never neglect to question the numbers that surround you. With an attitude like that, you might just bring about a more vibrant, equitable world.
