Editorials
Sayed Faisal Should Have Received Help, Not a Bullet
That a mental crisis escalated to a chase by at least four police officers and ended up in the death of an individual is heartbreaking, to say the least. Even as the details surrounding Sayed Faisal’s fatal encounter with Cambridge Police Department officers on Jan. 4 are yet to be uncovered, one thing remains clear: The system failed Faisal.
A Crack in the Stone of College Sports
Schools must provide better safeguards within their sports teams to monitor team culture, coaching pedagogy, and athlete mental health. We want student athletes to find fulfillment and pride in their teams, instead of the current overwhelming pressure they weather with hearts of stone.
Harvard’s (Second) Most Elite Club
Inevitably, many of us will one day become alumni ourselves, whose votes will elect future Board members. Prior to graduation, we should seek a better understanding of the Board of Overseers both to improve its current function and to protect our future voices and votes.
The (Mis)Education of ChatGPT
Schools that are too trigger-happy with bans on AI will run the risk of placing their students at a serious educational and competitive disadvantage, particularly relative to other countries that may be more receptive to AI than our own. Education must prepare young people for the future — and the future seems to involve a great deal of ChatGPT.
To All Those Involved in the Comaroff Walkouts
For the second semester in a row, alleged abuser Professor John L. Comaroff is back in the classroom, while students chant in unison, fervently hoping that their voices — loud as ever — might just induce the administration to act. In the long fight against this alleged abuser, we must all continue to beat the drum until justice is won.
Kenneth Roth: The One that (Almost) Got Away
The best apology Harvard can give Kenneth Roth is its improvement. We hope it will. We hope this incident will serve as an opportunity for Harvard to boldly and ambitiously double down on its commitment to academic freedom in hiring University-wide.
Good Day, President Gay
Starting July 2023, a Black woman will proudly claim Harvard’s highest office — becoming the first Black president and president of color in the history of the University. Her impending tenure provides an unprecedented, deeply resonant model of leadership for millions across the country and the globe; we hope its effect will be equally transformative in sparking change.
Standing With Democracy and Chinese Protesters, At Home and Abroad
A future that begins not with a boot forever stamping on a human face — but with a protest, a vote, or a whisper that asks, in brave, unflinching terms, whether you hear the people sing.
The Crisis Isn’t Free Speech — It’s How We’re Speaking
To solve the free speech crisis requires we realize that the crisis is not about free speech at all.
Language Learning at Harvard is a Spark to Keep Alight
A few thousand dollars for a single language program may seem small. But properly nurtured, this spark could ignite significant DEI changes at Harvard.
What, Like it’s Hard?: HLS leaves U.S. News & World Report Rankings
In a world driven by numbers, we should strive to limit the influence of abstract rankings and begin to prioritize our own happiness. Following in the footsteps of HLS, we must break ranks.
The Youthful (and Hopeful) Glow of the Midterm Elections
The past four years have been among the most turbulent in modern American political history. The midterm election results may show the beginnings of a return to sanity.
The Need for Endowment Exposure
As the endowment grows, both in size and complexity, the need for transparency and accountability becomes more and more apparent. The decision to obscure data on asset classes is a step in the wrong direction.
Hate Comes to Our Home
We are saddened to see hateful groups come to the place that we call home, but we can no longer treat these events like one-off incidents. White supremacy is still marching across our country and we must be ready to fight it. Although hate has come to our home, it is our duty to make sure it finds no home here.
At Last, Progress From the Peabody
All remains of Indigenous peoples held by Harvard must be returned to their rightful holders — and the Peabody ought not to rest until this task is completed.
Why Cheaters Cheat, or Harvard’s Fear of Failure
In the short run, students can only attempt to collectively resist our cut-throat cultural impulses. Confront failure in your own life; a failure to do so will make the eventual, inescapable reckoning with your imperfections (we all have them!) much more bitter. We must give ourselves grace, but in turn, allow ourselves to take risks — just not when it comes to academic honesty.
We Deserve To Be Treated as More Than Just Liabilities
If Harvard’s logic continues to assert that everything is fine unless students explicitly reach out for help, then on paper, this campus may not experience any mental health struggles at all — a crude calculation of liability with the potential to be dangerous.
Years after Outbreak, Covid’s Educational Toll Looms Large
Harvard was a leader in combating the pandemic proper. Now, we must lead in healing the scars it's left behind. Harvard can help save a generation from learning loss, and it has a duty to try.
Special Edition: After Affirmative Action
In the wake of the oral arguments of the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard trial, The Crimson’s Editorial Board asked its editors and the broader Harvard community to reflect on what affirmative action means to them, and the impact that the initiative’s looming downfall could have on our campus.
The Post-Affirmative Action Plan Must Keep Diversity Alive
The collapse of affirmative action must be met with righteous anger and a renewed commitment to diversity — not with an empty, subdued shrug.
Affirmative Loss
We shouldn’t have to point out the aggressively self-evident living legacy of racism in this nation, any more than we should have to explain the myriad of ways in which it will only be worsened by ending affirmative action.
Editorial Snippets: Affirmative Action Edition
On the very eve of the Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College trial, we asked our Editorial editors to reflect on what affirmative action means to them, and the impact that the initiative’s downfall could have on Harvard.
The Cost of Free Speech: On Wellesley, Palestine, and Student Journalist Solidarity
Our democracy cannot survive without free speech and the free press. The events of last spring and this past month show us, vividly, that we cannot have either without the unequivocal protection of speakers. The pursuit of the truth through journalism is the sole, brilliant north star of this Editorial Board. And, come what may, we stand unwavering, uncowed, and unbroken in support of it — in Cambridge, in Wellesley, in Palestine, and everywhere.
Dissent: In Defense of Free Speech and In Opposition to BDS
While I wish we had never published our BDS editorial last semester, I will forever defend my peers’ right to publish their views. I just wish they would extend the same courtesy to their critics.