The Crimson’s 4/29/22 Editorial in support of the BDS movement has sparked condemnation, accusations of anti-semitism, and calls for a retraction. Former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers, Alan Dershowitz, former Crimson editor Ira Stoll, and many others have responded to the editorial.

The Crimson

David Kaiser, former Harvard history professor, takes issue with Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery Report. By giving less attention to the ways the Harvard community contributed to abolition and racial progress, there is a “danger of [historical truth] being subsumed by modern efforts to recast history with a blinkered reading of the past.”

The Crimson

In this opinion piece, the writer targets David Rubenstein, arguing that he should step down as a member of the Harvard Corporation due to profiteering from the fossil fuel industry.

The Crimson

In this piece, Feldman, preceptor in Yiddish, is “troubled by something that is missing” from the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery report—”Harvard affiliates and alumni continue to incarcerate other human beings through their work in government and the legal profession,” she explains, going on to call prisons “legalized slavery.”

The Crimson

Responding to Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery report, the Crimson Editorial Board writes, “Uncovering the truth is important: Action must follow,” urging that more must be done. “$100 million is an excellent start: At 0.19 percent of Harvard’s endowment, it cannot be the end. It cannot be enough.”

The Crimson

Dean Gay stressed new urgency in de/renamings after Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery Report, but also indicates caution. In an email, “Gay wrote that the report and its findings bring ‘new urgency’ to efforts already underway…such as evolving the school’s visual culture, diversifying faculty and staff, and expanding undergraduate financial aid.”

The Crimson

The peaceful, dueling rallies offered a glimpse into how diverse viewpoints can be heard and advocated without cancelation, silencing or violence. As one student said, “This message can ripple out to a lot of people who look at Harvard students as a model of what advocacy should look like.”

Julia Hartman ‘22

Julie Hartman ‘22 delivers a powerful speech condemning anti-Americanism. “We members of this University…have shirked our responsibility as the most privileged cohort on earth. We have remained cringingly silent in the face of corrosive ideas…that [have]…severed the bonds that hold our country together… We remain silent…[because] we see personal and professional advantages in doing so... We must speak up against [anti-Americanism] now or our civilization will face a somber reckoning.”

The Crimson

A Harvard ‘25 student is concerned that “a professor of a class about narratives of individuals who were enslaved was a white man.” He asks, “Why would a class about stories integral to Black culture be taught by someone with no lived experience in that culture?… I’m sure the white professors teaching about Black history are knowledgeable. But that doesn’t mean they should be the ones teaching those classes.”

Harvard Gazette

Ibram X. Kendi, a keynote speaker at a conference around the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Report, “said that higher education was complicit in manufacturing and promulgating lies that enabled slavery and that the residual effects can be seen today in falsehoods about voter suppression, textbooks, gun control, and climate change.”

The Crimson

The Crimson comes out in support of the pro-Palestine BDS movement. “In the past, our board was skeptical of the movement… We regret and reject that view. It is our categorical imperative to side with and empower the vulnerable and oppressed...”

Washington Post

Bacow and Brown-Nagin disclose Harvard’s relationship with slavery and the path forward. “Today, we mark a new chapter by releasing a report that extensively documents the university’s entanglements with slavery and its legacies.”

The Crimson

“The new policies…would define consent as an ‘active, mutual agreement’…two weeks into an open comment period….some have taken issue with the word ‘active’ in the new definition.”

WoLF

Feminist philosopher Dr. Buckley was scheduled to speak on British Romanticism and philosophy at Harvard. She was “disinvited” due to her board position with WoLF, an organization that takes a stance on transgender issues as it relates to women’s safety, including housing biological men and women in prisons together.

The Crimson

With preregistration on the docket for a spring Harvard faculty vote, Harry R. Lewis makes clear what is really being decided: an undergraduate education that’s a voyage of self-discovery vs. “education as training” requiring a careerist approach of constraint, not freedom.

Quillette

Filmmaker Rob Montz writes about his new documentary on the attempted derailment of Harvard Professor Roland Fryer’s career.

The Crimson

Chanting ‘end the occupation’ and ‘apartheid has got to go,’ protesters disrupted an April 2022 HKS event with Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog.

The Crimson

Working groups have issued recommendations for a “sweeping set of proposed changes” including updating the definition of consent to require “active, mutual agreement.”

The Crimson

UC President Cheng’s resignation letter concludes with a powerful William James quote: “The day when Harvard shall stamp a single hard and fast type of character upon her children, will be that of her downfall. Our undisciplinables are our proudest product.”

Harvard Law Today

Interviewed by HLT, three instructors “explain why constructive dialogue has declined in recent decades, how to reverse the trend, and why it’s critical for lawyers — and everyone else — to learn how to have discussions about the issues facing our nation.”