Commencement 2012
Beautifying Harvard Square
For the Class of 2012, the banging of heavy machinery and the dust of construction have been a part of everyday life in Harvard Square. Since this year’s graduating class arrived on campus, the Square has received a series of drastic face lifts.
BREAKOUT TEAM OF THE YEAR: Men's Tennis
For the second straight year, the Harvard men’s tennis team defeated Dartmouth, 4-3, to close out Ivy League play. This time, though, the Crimson was not playing for a third-place finish—it was going for the title.
MEN'S WATER POLO: Harvard Makes CWPA Eastern Tourney
For the last three seasons, the Harvard men’s water polo team had missed out on the CWPA Eastern Championship. The season-ending tournament had been just out of reach for this year’s senior class, but they were determined to make this year different.
MEN'S SOCCER: Talent-Heavy Crimson Disappoints
After an impressive accumulation of talent, the Crimson seemed poised to realize the high expectations from the previous season, when they occupied a spot in the Top 25.
Seeing Through the Haze
The pervasive silence raises a number of troubling questions about the rites of passage taking place behind closed doors—and what power administrators have to preserve student safety if they cannot collect honest accounts of the rituals.
Ding, Dong, the Core Is Dead
With the graduation of the Class of 2012, the Core is officially dead. But students have not quite grasped how the 56 percent of the senior class that chose Gen Ed is differently educated from their peers who stuck with the old formula.
PARTING SHOT: Finding the Story Beyond the Story
Somewhere in a half-asleep doze from Boston to Providence, I realized I was being driven by someone who’d had a very real role in the music industry.
COMEBACK GAME OF THE YEAR: Men's Tennis vs. Dartmouth
For the first time all match, the Dartmouth fans were not screaming at the top of their lungs. All that could be heard were the thwacks of the racquets and the umphs from freshman Denis Nguyen and the Big Green’s Michael Laser.
MEN'S GOLF: Progress, as Crimson Remains in Contention All Year
Down 15 strokes and closing in on the lead on the final day of the Ivy League Championships, the Harvard men’s golf team hadn’t felt this type of pressure in a long time.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Second Place Again for Harvard
A two-point victory had never tasted so sweet for the Harvard women’s basketball team. The Crimson ran out and celebrated, forming a huddle directly over the “H” of Hofstra on the opposing team’s midcourt.
MEN'S HOCKEY: Crimson Comes Within a Game of ECAC Title
Where to start with the 2011-12 Harvard men’s hockey team? The Crimson set an NCAA record with 11 ties, skated at Fenway Park, the TD Garden, and Atlantic City, made it all the way to the ECAC Championship game, and—at one point in the season—had the most effective power play ever.
MALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, RUNNER-UP: Denis Nguyen
Playing singles on the No. 2 court at any point in college signals that you are one of the most skilled players on the team. As a freshman, it’s almost unheard of—and just that much more impressive.
THE ROAD EDNEYS HERE
Defender Sarah Edney turned in a strong rookie campaign for the Harvard women’s hockey team, recording seven goals and 13 assists.
UPSET OF THE YEAR: Women's Basketball Stuns Red Storm
Dec. 22, 2003 was the last time the Harvard women’s basketball team had beaten a Big East opponent. Eight years, to the date, had passed. Two thousand nine hundred and twenty-two hours had gone by. Seventy thousand one hundred and twenty-eight minutes had ticked off the clock.
WOMEN'S HOCKEY: After Strong Regular Season, Harvard Exits Early
The Harvard women’s hockey team turned over a new leaf this season. Despite losing two of its top four scorers, the squad squeaked out its highest win total since setting an NCAA record for consecutive wins in the 2007-08 season.
SKIING: Nadler, Tofte Lead Way for Ski Team
On the last weekend of the season, the Harvard ski team finally broke its ninth-place streak in EISA competition thanks to strong performances by sophomore Rebecca Nadler and junior Alena Tofte.
NGU KID ON THE BLOCK
Playing at the No. 2 position for Harvard, Denis Nguyen had a stellar rookie year and was named to the All-Ivy Second Team.
PARTING SHOT: Not Just the Numbers
Harvard is all about the numbers. Number one school in the country with 6,400 undergrads, 3,500 courses, three million volumes in Widener, 12 undergraduate houses, and 41 Division I sports teams. One basketball NCAA tournament run, two Winklevii, three women’s soccer Ivy League championships in the past four years, and a handful of 2012 Olympians.
STEIN CLUB
Harvard freshman Alex Steinroder downed Dartmouth’s Chris Ho in three sets, evening the men’s tennis team’s match with the Big Green at 3-3.
PARTING SHOT: BAC in the Game No Longer
I came back to 14 Plympton Street to write this parting shot because it seemed appropriate. What I didn’t expect was to be enveloped one last time in the legendary LoveSac, a humongous blue beanbag, here for storage, that has been passed on between generations of Sports editors.
Q&A with Larry Summers
Former Harvard University President and current economics professor Lawrence H. Summers sat down with The Crimson to discuss Harvard’s 375th birthday, the importance of virtual learning, and changes the University might face soon.
Welcome to Harvard.com
EdX represents an opportunity to advance pedagogy by encouraging research and collaboration between institutions of higher learning, with the support of the influential Harvard and MIT brands.
CHRIST-MAS COME EARLY
Sophomore Christo Schultz and the Harvard men’s tennis team earned sole possession of the Ancient Eight crown with six wins in seven Ivy contests. Ranked in the top 25 at the end of the regular season, the Crimson advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Florida.
FENCING: Both Men And Women fail To Capture League Title
Despite last year’s Ivy League title for the men’s squad and the NCAA individual foil title for sophomore Alexandra Kiefer, another successful year was never a certainty for the nationally-contending Crimson fencing team. But with a second-place finish by the men’s squad in the Ivy League Championship, a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, and individual silver medal for outgoing co-captain Valentin Staller in the saber, Harvard was nonetheless able to remain in the upper echelons of Ivy and national fencing.