Scrutiny
Volume XXXVI, Issue XVI
Dear Reader, We close out our last regular issue of the year with an excellent scrutiny by HCC and NURC about the college consultant industry. As the college application process gets more competitive year after year, private consultants promise a path forward for their clients. But as HCC and NURC demonstrate, the effectiveness of college consultants is still unclear. So why does the industry continue to proliferate, with a number of Harvard affiliates founding their own firms? Elsewhere, VDR, DGM, and AWS write a retrospection on the Q, amid never-ending grade inflation discourse. AF and AA talk to James Poolner, AICI and AS explore the first-year librarian program, and SEA and ASHA chat with the Coop’s artist-in-residence. MAB, VO, and KT talk to retirees taking Harvard classes, AICI and SC talk to alumni who fill the Harvard band’s ranks from time to time, and HSE and AS sit down with the new Kirkland faculty deans. WNM explores the impacts of Harvard’s dorm architecture on freshman experiences, while SOG, AS, and MBF take us to the Farnsworth reading room and SOG and HGL explore Harvard Library’s Judaica Collection. ASHA pens a levity about lost ballots and other voting mix-ups, and VO, AA, and CMO chat with Harvard’s bird-lovers and bird-watchers. CEB, KC, and OJ head to the antiquarian book fair. In our introspections, AICI writes an introspection on haircuts and identity, while JBR pens an ode to The Crimson’s metro desk. AA writes about being vulnerable, CL explores her relationship with producing and creating, and CX offers some insight into the life of an international super spy. FMLove, MTB + YAK
Harvard’s Funds Are Back. Can Its Scientists Trust the Government Again?
With funding at a constant risk of revocation, Harvard is not out of the clear — and researchers are still fighting for their futures.
The Trump v. Harvard Issue
Dear Reader, Just over a year after the 2024 Presidential election, we bring you a first-of-its-kind themed issue, focused on the fallout of the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks against Harvard. In this issue’s cover story, MLB and JPL explore the human cost of the Trump administration’s funding cuts. Last spring, the Trump administration froze billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard. The University terminated research projects and laid off workers in droves. Most of Harvard’s funds were restored this fall, but researchers are still dealing with the irreversible damage. If federal funding can be revoked at the whims of the White House, how can Harvard comfortably rely on the government again? OJ and TV examine more aftershocks of federal funding pressure. In October, Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences laid off 25% of staff represented by the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers. Many of these staff members worked in student-facing roles as lecturers and advisers. Through a series of profiles, OJ and TV tell the stories of those lost in the layoffs. ASM reports on the changes to the First-Year Urban Program, a preorientation program for freshmen interested in organizing and public service. Founded amid a surge of student activism in the early ’80s, FUP has long been known for its activist and anti-institutional spirit. But this year, in the wake of the federal government’s attack on broadly-defined DEI initiatives, staff altered FUP’s core programming. Staff say the revisions signal a new direction for the program; student leaders and program founders see the changes as a betrayal of FUP’s values. ASM asks how a preorientation program for activists can continue to exist at a university cracking down on campus activism. To understand how Harvard may continue to change under pressure from the Trump administration, CGH and MMN go westward to Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Though it formally identifies as nonpartisan, the Hoover Institution is widely understood as a center for conservative thought at a predominantly liberal university. CGH and MMN explore what a similar center could look like on our own campus. Elsewhere in this issue, RAD interviews Susan B. Glasser, a staff writer at The New Yorker who authors a weekly “Letter From Trump’s Washington.” In one of her signature venn diagrams, MEL compares Donald J. Trump to the dreaded sophomore slump. A pair of personal essays close us out: MEL writes about how political polarization has split her family apart, and SG explores her personal ties to scientific research. For the past year, Harvard’s conflict with the federal government has been a fixture in the national news. This issue illuminates the stories behind those headlines. FMLove, YAK+MTB
