Socially Critical

The lanky 6'6" Frank A. Pasquale III '96 muses over his "portly" stature in sixth grade, when during a regional spelling bee his chair collapsed underneath him as he sat down.

"The whole place, probably 400 people, cracked up laughing," Pasquale remembers.

He won the spelling bee.

That was in Oklahoma, one of seven states where Pasquale has spent his life. (The others are New York, Kentucky, California, Arizona, Texas and Massachusetts.)

According to Pasquale, because of his frequent relocations, often prompted by downsizing and layoffs in the steel and oil equipment industries in which his father worked, his parents have imparted to him a sense of injustice and an "aggrieved attitude toward life."

"Then I started asking whether this anger was justifiable, and that's when I started to look for a grounding for a social criticism," Pasquale says.

His father is now a systems manager at a drugstore in Newton and his mother is a customer service representative for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. But their only child has turned into a political theorist extraordinaire.

Pasquale savors law reviews and political philosophy. He says the Unabomber developed a sophisticated social theory, and he worships theorist Jurgen Habermas as the one who crystallized "all my latent Marxist, critical theoretical and radical democratic intuitions about what had gone wrong with the American public sphere."

But of course, says Pasquale, as references to the canon of social theory roll off his tongue, he prefers Habermas' work for its social theory rather than its philosophical conclusions. He finds Charles Taylor a much more interesting philosopher.

One of his favorite books is Taylor's Ethics of Authenticity because it "articulates a version of moral perfectionism at the levels of both personal identity and political organization which conveys a succinct yet illuminating account of the main obstacles to further democratization of our daily lives."

Sipping tea, Pasquale says he has become more interested in practice as he reaches the limits of the disputes in political theory. In his senior honor thesis titled "Participation as Deliberation: Reconceiving Justification for Campaign Finance Reform," he pointed out the flaws in John Rawls' justification of campaign finance reform and proposed an alternate paradigm.

In addition to these changes, Pasquale says he also has a plan for the first-year curriculum: make philosophy and poetry required courses.

Despite the economic upheavals that have affected his family and perhaps due to lessons learned in these difficult times, Pasquale has collected an impressive array of achievements at Harvard. He says he has always taken to heart his father's advice, "work with your head, not with your hands."

With the exception of four A-s, Pasquale sports an impeccable academic record. The key is to "grind," Pasquale says.

"In order to do well in a course you really have to end up attending to everything," he says. "It's a lot of jumping through hoops, and if you have the tolerance for that, you'll probably do well."

While most social studies concentrators cringe at the thought of Social Studies 10 and its infamously overwhelming reading list, Pasquale lists it as one of his favorite courses.

"I took it seriously as a philosophical inquiry as to how one should lead one's life and how society should be organized," he says. "Very few people think that what they study could have any existential or social relevance."

The junior Phi Beta Kappan laughs as he describes the sophisticated color-coded highlighting system that he used for assigned readings during his freshman and sophomore years. Back then, he used yellow, purple, green, orange and blue. Purple was always reserved for the most important passages.

Pasquale has always completed all assigned readings for classes and spends inordinate amounts of time on composing papers. He says the lowest grade he has received on a paper is an A-. For that examination of the 1842 Corn Law for History 1443: "Capitalist Culture in Britain 1750-1914," he says he spent 40 hours on the research alone.

"Every day in January, I went across the bridge to the Business School to find primary texts," Pasquale says. "I really believe in the A for effort."

Pasquale says his dedication to these fine details was in part inspired by a speech he attended after high school given by Supreme Court Justice Antonin G. Scalia.

"[Scalia] talked about how he spent hours on trivial bankruptcy cases, perfecting his prose," Pasquale says. "To a frightening extent, I am a perfectionist."

Yet Pasquale also managed to find time for extracurricular activities during his time at Harvard. He served as the president of the Catholic Student Association during his sophomore year. He was co-president of the Harvard College Forum and the director of Phillips Brooks House's Small Claims Advisory Service. He also served on the Undergraduate Council and wrote for the Perspective and The Crimson.

But despite these pastimes, Pasquale's passion lies in reading. He admits that he no longer has time to implement his intricate highlighting system, but at the same time, he has also expanded his reading list outside of class. In the last month, Pasquale says he has read 15 to 20 books and an equal number of lengthy journal articles.

Ironically, it is precisely Pasquale's intellectual preoccupation that constitutes his greatest regret during his Harvard years.

He says that in feeding his hunger to read political theory, he has neglected the human aspects of his education.

"I overestimated how much you can learn from books," he says. "I wish I had talked to people more about my interests and learned more about different things they want to do with their lives."

Pasquale says his need to plan every moment of the day has prevented him from amply communicating with those around him. He emphasizes the importance of personal interactions and the necessity of exchanging ideas.

"I never waste time, but that's what I regret the most," Pasquale says. "I read all the time, and when you do that, it's tough to switch gears. Trying to actually engage people and convert this big massive knowledge is difficult."

Even though Pasquale non-hesitantly gives his Harvard experience the top rating, he says the excessively competitive atmosphere of his first year created a "destructive attitude" in which students lost sight of the enjoyable aspects of college.

"I really resent freshman year," he says. "I didn't have much fun that year because I studied so much."

But Pasquale says life improved as he found his niche in social studies and political theory. "I can't think of any classes I didn't like over the past couple of years," he says. "My cores were incredible."

Pasquale admits, however, that on occasion he has opted to back down from taking a few courses because of their difficulty. Among them are Government 1060: "The History of Political Theory I," Philosophy 130 "Hegel" and Philosophy 159z: "Topics in Epistemology."

"Sometimes I would see a class and I would just be scared of it," he says. "I do regret that in retrospect."

Pasquale's record in the classes he did take, however, has earned him a Marshall Fellowship to study at Oxford University. There he will focus on political philosophy. He says he eventually wants to practice constitutional law.

This summer he will be working with the National Voting Rights Institute in Los Angeles to campaign for legislation that will designate more freedom for the courts to regulate political speech.

And his most immediate goal?

"I just want to catch up with people," Pasquale says.CrimsonMatthew P. Miller

Sipping tea, Pasquale says he has become more interested in practice as he reaches the limits of the disputes in political theory. In his senior honor thesis titled "Participation as Deliberation: Reconceiving Justification for Campaign Finance Reform," he pointed out the flaws in John Rawls' justification of campaign finance reform and proposed an alternate paradigm.

In addition to these changes, Pasquale says he also has a plan for the first-year curriculum: make philosophy and poetry required courses.

Despite the economic upheavals that have affected his family and perhaps due to lessons learned in these difficult times, Pasquale has collected an impressive array of achievements at Harvard. He says he has always taken to heart his father's advice, "work with your head, not with your hands."

With the exception of four A-s, Pasquale sports an impeccable academic record. The key is to "grind," Pasquale says.

"In order to do well in a course you really have to end up attending to everything," he says. "It's a lot of jumping through hoops, and if you have the tolerance for that, you'll probably do well."

While most social studies concentrators cringe at the thought of Social Studies 10 and its infamously overwhelming reading list, Pasquale lists it as one of his favorite courses.

"I took it seriously as a philosophical inquiry as to how one should lead one's life and how society should be organized," he says. "Very few people think that what they study could have any existential or social relevance."

The junior Phi Beta Kappan laughs as he describes the sophisticated color-coded highlighting system that he used for assigned readings during his freshman and sophomore years. Back then, he used yellow, purple, green, orange and blue. Purple was always reserved for the most important passages.

Pasquale has always completed all assigned readings for classes and spends inordinate amounts of time on composing papers. He says the lowest grade he has received on a paper is an A-. For that examination of the 1842 Corn Law for History 1443: "Capitalist Culture in Britain 1750-1914," he says he spent 40 hours on the research alone.

"Every day in January, I went across the bridge to the Business School to find primary texts," Pasquale says. "I really believe in the A for effort."

Pasquale says his dedication to these fine details was in part inspired by a speech he attended after high school given by Supreme Court Justice Antonin G. Scalia.

"[Scalia] talked about how he spent hours on trivial bankruptcy cases, perfecting his prose," Pasquale says. "To a frightening extent, I am a perfectionist."

Yet Pasquale also managed to find time for extracurricular activities during his time at Harvard. He served as the president of the Catholic Student Association during his sophomore year. He was co-president of the Harvard College Forum and the director of Phillips Brooks House's Small Claims Advisory Service. He also served on the Undergraduate Council and wrote for the Perspective and The Crimson.

But despite these pastimes, Pasquale's passion lies in reading. He admits that he no longer has time to implement his intricate highlighting system, but at the same time, he has also expanded his reading list outside of class. In the last month, Pasquale says he has read 15 to 20 books and an equal number of lengthy journal articles.

Ironically, it is precisely Pasquale's intellectual preoccupation that constitutes his greatest regret during his Harvard years.

He says that in feeding his hunger to read political theory, he has neglected the human aspects of his education.

"I overestimated how much you can learn from books," he says. "I wish I had talked to people more about my interests and learned more about different things they want to do with their lives."

Pasquale says his need to plan every moment of the day has prevented him from amply communicating with those around him. He emphasizes the importance of personal interactions and the necessity of exchanging ideas.

"I never waste time, but that's what I regret the most," Pasquale says. "I read all the time, and when you do that, it's tough to switch gears. Trying to actually engage people and convert this big massive knowledge is difficult."

Even though Pasquale non-hesitantly gives his Harvard experience the top rating, he says the excessively competitive atmosphere of his first year created a "destructive attitude" in which students lost sight of the enjoyable aspects of college.

"I really resent freshman year," he says. "I didn't have much fun that year because I studied so much."

But Pasquale says life improved as he found his niche in social studies and political theory. "I can't think of any classes I didn't like over the past couple of years," he says. "My cores were incredible."

Pasquale admits, however, that on occasion he has opted to back down from taking a few courses because of their difficulty. Among them are Government 1060: "The History of Political Theory I," Philosophy 130 "Hegel" and Philosophy 159z: "Topics in Epistemology."

"Sometimes I would see a class and I would just be scared of it," he says. "I do regret that in retrospect."

Pasquale's record in the classes he did take, however, has earned him a Marshall Fellowship to study at Oxford University. There he will focus on political philosophy. He says he eventually wants to practice constitutional law.

This summer he will be working with the National Voting Rights Institute in Los Angeles to campaign for legislation that will designate more freedom for the courts to regulate political speech.

And his most immediate goal?

"I just want to catch up with people," Pasquale says.CrimsonMatthew P. Miller