Israel-Palestine Started Harvard’s Mess. Both Sides Must Help End It.

Since the ’60s, universities have played host to protest movements with extreme elements, and those offended by their extremity have criticized those elements. But America has never, in the age of campus protest, been this hostile to universities or led by politicians this reckless, craven, and fascistic.

Harvard Settles, Eight Affiliates React

After more than a year of debate about Harvard’s handling of campus antisemitism, the University has taken its most forceful steps to date. In settling two lawsuits alleging antisemitic discrimination, Harvard adopted a new definition of antisemitism, instituted anti-discrimination protections for Zionists, and pledged to form a partnership with an Israeli university. For the eight Harvard affiliates below — students and faculty, Zionist and anti-Zionist, Jewish and non-Jewish — these policy changes prompt new debates about free speech, student safety, and the proper role of the University in the face of geopolitical turmoil. — Max A. Palys ’26 and Saul I.M. Arnow '26, Editorial Chairs

All It Takes To Censor Speech at Harvard Is a Lawsuit

Most worryingly, with this move, Harvard has signaled that upset constituents — and outside groups backing them — can bring thinly-supported, mostly-anonymous legal complaints against the University to reshape policies at the heart of the academic mission.

Harvard’s Pro-Palestine Protesters Have to Stop Weakening Their Cause

I believe Israel is committing atrocious war crimes in Gaza, but the pro-Palestine coalition has managed to make itself so incredibly difficult to support.

Speech Distinctions

Dissent: With Pass-Fail Policy, the FAS Would Make Grades Even More Meaningless

Grade inflation and compression, worse with every passing year, pose a serious threat to the health of Harvard. The last thing the FAS should do now is give students another out.

Dissent: Abolish Advanced Placement

Sure, the Advanced Placement program provides a standard. But a bad standard is worse than none at all. We should abolish it.

Dissent: Departmental Restructuring Won’t Save — or Kill — the Humanities

Convinced that the longevity of Harvard humanities must take precedence over the longevity of its present departmental form, we hope the FAS does not allow questions of structure to elide more fundamental questions of substance.

Dissent: Equitable Admissions Are Proportionate

Instead of absolving selective colleges of their obligation to admit comparable numbers of men and women, we wish that the Editorial Board had consistently applied its reparative admissions rationale to men.

Harvard Isn’t Fun Enough. That’s No Laughing Matter.

Fun is no laughing matter. It is an institutional imperative for students to be happy and socially connected. A mental health crisis fueled by record loneliness is what happens when we act like fun is not an essential, soul-nourishing part of the human experience.  So why do our fetes falter? I see two things dimming the Friday night lights.

Admissions Can’t Be a Dirty Word

The thing that unsettles me most about today’s affirmative action decision is that admissions remains a dirty word on Harvard’s campus. There exists a politics of politeness that proscribes honest discussion about Harvard College’s admissions practices. This reluctance has long held back reform; now, it could restrain the student response to the fall of affirmative action too.

Need-Blind: Why Harvard Hardly Accepts Low-Income Students

Lost beneath the panic over affirmative action’s coming demise, the hidden tragedy of the ongoing admissions saga has been to make it seem as though class-conscious admissions is an alternative to race-conscious admissions. In reality, we need both. My point is not that there is one inarguable conclusion about how to fairly structure Harvard admissions; it’s that the current system has failed to achieve economic diversity, which is a state of affairs we must reject and improve.

Dissent: We Can Take the Heat

With today’s editorial, the Board seems to have missed the punchline. As a long, important train of our precedents emphasizes, student well-being matters deeply and merits firm institutional support across a host of issues far more serious than a few sweltering evenings. But Harvard neither can nor should be a palace. Manageable, non-life-threatening adversity is an entirely reasonable burden to expect us to bear.

Dissent: David Kane is Harvard’s Institutional Failure

Harvard should use its reputation amongst universities to remove rot as soon as it’s discovered. The longer it fails to do so, the deeper the blight of misconduct will fester and spread. Students, for want of a Google search, will continue to suffer.

Harvard Dreams, Allston Nightmares

Harvard’s dreams and Allston’s nightmares are one and the same. It’s time for both to end.