Ten Stories That Shaped 2015

While Harvard overhauled its sexual assault policy in 2014, the following year saw many of those efforts scrutinized as the University grappled with continued criticism and harrowing data on the prevalence of sexual violence on campus.

Harvard in particular has felt acute pressure as federal oversights of anti-sex discrimination law Title IX continue to influence how colleges address cases of sexual misconduct. Harvard Law School agreed to alter its sexual harassment policies after the government found the school in violation of Title IX in late 2014. Months later, federal investigators arrived on the College’s campus to interview students for a separate and ongoing probe into the College’s Title IX compliance.

But the federal government has not been the only source of criticism about Harvard’s policy and efforts to address the issue. Harvard’s new central office for investigating sexual assault remained understaffed for more than nine months after its formation. As of October, that office had heard a record number of cases—between 25 and 30—since its formation, according to University Title IX Officer Mia Karvonides.

At the Law School, faculty criticism of Harvard’s new approach—which professors charge lacks due process rights for the accused—precipitated a breach from the University-wide framework and a challenge to centralized policymaking. After federal review and approval, the Law School became the only of Harvard’s 12 schools to roll out a separate set of Title IX procedures.

In the fall, a campus climate survey conducted by the Association of American Universities— in which Harvard posted the highest response rate of the 27 schools involved—revealed that 31 percent of senior undergraduate females experienced some form of sexual assault during their time at the College, prompting students, faculty, and administrators to call for immediate action. University President Drew G. Faust called the results “deeply disturbing” and Harvard’s response to sexual assault “completely insufficient.”

Undergraduates organized town hall discussions and rallies over the course of the semester, and Harvard released a guidance document on Title IX policies, appearing to respond to some critiques from Law School faculty. Still, some undergraduate activists slammed the document as “totally inaccessible.”

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In the fall, students at Harvard and across the nation challenged alleged racism on their campuses and demanded better treatment for minority students, impelling administrators to respond.

After students demonstrating against alleged racism at Yale and the University of Missouri at Columbia seized national headlines in November, dozens of Harvard students expressed their solidarity on social media and in a rally, where they were joined by top administrators including University President Drew G. Faust and Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana.

The morning after the students’ rally, the College released a 37-page report on diversity at Harvard, which, at times critical, advocated wide-ranging reforms to better the experiences of students and faculty of color and bolster diversity training. In an email to Harvard affiliates, Faust wrote that she would create a University-wide task force in accordance with the report’s recommendation.

Faust also met with a group of Latino students that morning, where the group issued a list of recommendations for improving the experiences of minority students on campus. One such request—that Harvard rename the College’s House master position, which some criticized for its associations with slavery—was publicly adopted shortly thereafter. A new title remains pending.

On the same day the diversity report was released, people entering the Law School’s Wasserstein Hall found black pieces of tape stuck across the portraits of black professors, an incident that Harvard Police are currently investigating as a hate crime. The vandalism incident prompted some Law students to speak out against what they called a sometimes unwelcoming environment, and many continued a movement begun earlier in the semester to change the Law School’s seal, the crest of a former slaveholding family. The Law School is currently reconsidering its seal.

In December, the Law students issued a series of demands to a receptive but reticent Martha L. Minow, Dean of the Law School. Minow’s perceived inaction was met with more protests to the commendation of some Law School faculty members.

And as the semester neared its close, College administrators distributed placemats designed to encourage family discussion about race and diversity. Some students sharply criticized the placemats and days later, administrators apologized for what they called a broach of academic freedom. In an interview, Faust called the placemats “a really bad idea.”

{timeline num=10 date1=\'October 23\' \r\nevent1="Activists kick off \\“Royall Must Fall\\” campaign, advocating for\r\n the removal of the Law School’s seal—the coat of arms of a former \r\nslaveholding family." date2=\'November 18\' event2="Top administrators \r\njoin Harvard students as they rally and march in solidarity with student\r\n protestors at Yale and the University of Missouri at Columbia." \r\ndate3=\'November 19\' event3="Students and faculty find portraits of black\r\n professors at the Law School defaced with slashes of tape in \r\nWasserstein Hall; police later begin investigating the incident as a \r\nhate crime." date4=\'November 19\' event4="A College task force releases a\r\n report on diversity at Harvard, identifying areas of inequity \r\nand recommending wide-ranging reforms. University President Drew G. \r\nFaust writes in an email to Harvard affiliates that she will create a \r\nUniversity-wide task force in accordance with the report’s \r\nrecommendation." date5=\'November 19\' event5="A group of Latino students \r\nmeets with Faust to discuss issues students of color face on campus." \r\ndate6=\'Late November\' event6="A Facebook group purporting to represent a\r\n \\“union\\” of white Harvard students surfaces, accompanied by flyers \r\nadvertising the group around campus. Law School administrators, \r\nmeanwhile, appoint a committee to reconsider the school’s controversial \r\nseal." date7=\'Late November\' event7="Student activists coordinate to form a\r\n coalition of students of color at the College, gauging interest in \r\npresenting collective demands to administrators." date8=\'December 1\' \r\nevent8="Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana says that Harvard’s \r\nundergraduate House masters unanimously agreed to change their title, \r\nwhich some had criticized for its associations with slavery." \r\ndate9=\'December 4\' event9="At a Law School meeting, students issue a \r\nseries of demands to improve the experiences of minority students, \r\ngathering in protest the next week after the demands were not \r\nimmediately met." date10=\'December 16\' event10="Harvard administrators \r\napologize after installing placemats with advice for discussing race, which some students criticized as one-sided and dogmatic." }

In April, The Crimson broke news that a group of students from Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was planning an effort to unionize, a move that could drastically alter the working relationship between Harvard and many of its teaching fellows and Ph.D. seekers. Graduate student teaching fellows have long charged they are overworked and underpaid, but the unionization movement marks a new effort to rally for better living and teaching conditions and follows similar efforts at peer universities like Yale and Columbia.

University President Drew G. Faust has firmly opposed the prospect of unionization, saying that such a relationship would fundamentally change the dynamic between faculty and students from one based in mentorship to one based on labor. The Graduate School’s dean, Xiao-Li Meng, also affirmed his opposition to the union movement in an October message to colleagues. Another document sent to administrators included a list of guidelines on how to respond to the effort: by encouraging discussion but avoiding hostility.

During the fall semester, the students pushing for unionization amped up their efforts to recruit new members. They created a website, and students involved in the movement gained the support of the Graduate Student Council. The movement also partnered with the United Auto Workers Union.

It remains to be seen whether the graduate students’ unionization efforts will bear fruit. For now, they have no legal precedent.

{timeline num=5 date1=\'Early April\' event1="The Crimson breaks the news that a group of students at Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is planning an effort to unionize." date2=\'September\' event2="Graduate students amp up efforts to recruit new members for their unionization movement." date3=\'Late September\' event3="Graduate student union effort partners with United Auto Workers Union." date4=\'October 14\' event4="In a message to colleagues, GSAS Dean Xiao-Li Meng affirms opposition to unionization and includes guidelines on how to respond to the effort." date5=\'November 4\' event5="Graduate Student Council votes to support students involved in the unionization movement."}

The College implemented its highly anticipated honor code to much fanfare at the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, though it remains to be seen whether the policy will have the impact administrators intended.

The honor code—along with a new body charged with adjudicating academic dishonesty cases—made its debut this semester after more than four years of planning, and three years after a massive cheating scandal at the College. In the wake of the scandal, which prompted the College to investigate more than 100 students for cheating on Government 1310’s final take-home exam, professors and administrators questioned whether there was a cheating problem at Harvard and advocated the creation of a policy to enact a “cultural shift” among students.

In the spring, members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to approve legislation that now asks undergraduates to make an affirmation of integrity at the beginning of each semester and on final papers and examinations. At the end of the fall semester, many students were thus required to add a signature to their assignments and acknowledge the existence of the honor code.

The Honor Council, the newly-convened body of students and faculty, began its work hearing academic integrity cases in the fall semester. Often clad in matching t-shirts, members of that body publicized the honor code over the course of the semester, speaking to students in course lectures and dining halls.

{timeline num=5 date1=\'May 6, 2014\' \r\nevent1="The Faculty of Arts and Sciences votes to create the honor code \r\nand the Honor Council, a body that would adjudicate cases of alleged \r\npolicy violation." date2=\'April 7\' event2="Harvard faculty approve\r\n a measure that asks students to affirm their acknowledgement of the \r\nhonor code at the beginning of each semester, as well as on final \r\npapers, assignments, and examinations." date3=\'April 27\' \r\nevent3="The College hosts an honor code panel, addressing questions and \r\nconcerns about the policy." date4=\'September 2\' event4="With the \r\nstart of the fall 2015 semester, the Honor Code and the adjudicatory \r\ncouncil go fully into effect." date5=\'December\' \r\nevent5="Undergraduates sign affirmation of integrity statements on final\r\n exams and assignments." }