When the Arthur M. Sackler Art Museum opened its doors in October 1985, many involved in the project dubbed its completion “The Miracle on Quincy Street.”

But social gatherings on campus became more confined within Houses and individual dorm rooms when Massachusetts adopted a new law in June 1985 increasing the legal drinking age from 20 to 21. The hike was in response to federal legislation that required all states to enforce a drinking age of 21 or risk losing government highway funds.

In 1985, a Harvard informant came forward to The Crimson and hand-delivered a package of documents that had never before been made available to the public. The package contained extensive information about the Central Intelligence Agency’s dealings with Nadav Safran, then-director of Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

On an April night in 1986, more than 200 South Africa divestment activists erected a shantytown and a symbolic 16-foot ivory tower in front of University Hall to protest Harvard’s investment in companies doing business in South Africa.

The Challenger—with McNair, high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, and five other astronauts onboard—had exploded 73 seconds into its flight. As news of the tragedy spread across Harvard’s campus, the disaster set into motion emotional, professional, and institutional changes in how students and researchers viewed the space program.

Though the personal computers available in 1986 were roughly 300 times slower than today’s laptops, they began what would become a technological revolution on Harvard’s campus.

The Administrative Board—the primary disciplinary body of Harvard College—came under fire in 1986 after the Board handed down punishments in two separate cases that were perceived by students as unduly harsh given the nature of the offenses.

Although numerous suites in Mather House continue to share adjoining bathrooms, Lorelee S. Stewart ’86 recalls an instance in which the dorm room design was deemed unacceptable: a room of straight male students refused to use the same facilities as their gay neighbors for fear of being exposed to AIDS.

In a preface to the guide, the editors contended that a Harvard official had pressured them to make revisions to criticisms of several instructors, such as the deletion of words such as “arrogant” and “condescending.”

Economist and Princeton professor Cecilia E. Rouse ’86 wanted to become an engineer when she first came to Harvard, but her academic path took a quick turn when she enrolled in the popular freshman course Social Analysis 10, better known as “Ec 10.”