Timeline 2001-2002

Sept. 11

The majority of Harvard’s schools suspend classes and other business after the morning’s terrorist attacks, though many remain partially open to provide the community with a gathering place. In the evening, more than 3,000 gather in front of Memorial Church for a University-wide vigil.

Sept. 12

Harvard comes under fire as a recipient of the bin Laden family’s money. Sheik Bakr Mohammed bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s brother, made two gifts totaling $2 million to the University to fund fellowships for the study of Islamic culture. Since the attacks, Harvard officials have stressed the University would cease using the funds if any explicit link to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization were found.

Sept. 13

Harvard follows the lead of most professional and collegiate teams and cancels all of its intercollegiate athletic contests through the weekend.

Sept. 19

University President Lawrence H. Summers pledges $1 million to higher education for families of the Sept. 11 victims. Officials later day it will be administered by the Families of Freedom Fund.

Sept. 20

In a rally organized by the newly formed Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice, about 500 students demonstrate outside Widener Library for a peaceful response to the terrorists attacks.

Sept. 26

Harvard announces the value of its endowment slipped in the last fiscal year for the first time in 17 years, from $19.2 billion to $18.3 billion. Harvard Management Company, the organization that invests the endowment, cites the economic downturn and decline of the stock market as causes for the drop.

Sept. 27

Approximately 2,400 students vote in Undergraduate Council representative elections, marking the largest voter turnout in the five years since the introduction of online voting. Nearly half the first-year class voted.

Sept. 28

A Muslim Harvard graduate student was verbally and physically harassed at the Harvard Square T stop in the only reported hate crime at Harvard after the terrorist attacks. The victim, who was wearing a traditional Muslim headscarf, was on her way to weekly congregational prayers.

Oct. 1

The Fly Club gains official tax-exempt status from the Cambridge City Council. The council’s vote was delayed for more than a year because of the Fly’s all-male membership—but the council’s lawyer advised them that withholding approval would be ineffective. Donors can take advantage of the exemption as long as the money goes toward improving the Fly’s building.

Oct. 4

Vice President Al Gore ’69 speaks about the effects of Sept. 11 before a packed house at the Kennedy School of Government. This is only his second public address since he lost the 2000 presidential election.

Oct. 10

House masters extend the hours of official parties in House dining halls by one hour, to 2 a.m., on Friday and Saturday nights, as long as alcohol is not served.

Oct. 12

Summers is officially installed as Harvard’s 27th president at a grand academic ceremony in Tercentenary Theatre, before 5,000 people. In his inaugural speech, Summers emphasizes the importance of undergraduate education and the development of a campus in Allston. The installation ceremony was the capstone to two days of festivities.

Oct. 16

In an investigation into whether he is proselytizing gay students to change their sexuality, Harvard’s United Ministry concludes that Annenberg cook Larry Houston, who considers himself ex-gay, is not under its jurisdiction.

Oct. 18

Harvard Hillel’s Rosovsky Hall is evacuated and two of its employees sent to the hospital after an employee finds a white powder while opening a mail package. It reopens on Oct. 22 after the powder tests negative for anthrax.

Oct. 19

In response to the recent anthrax mailing around the country and anthrax scares at Harvard, the University continues developing plans in the event of an attack.

Oct. 22

Professor of Economics Caroline M. Hoxby ’88 resigns from the Katz Committee after accusing it of having a pro-living wage agenda. The committee, officially known as the Harvard Committee on Employment and Contracting Policies (HCECP), is charged with investigating the University’s wage and employment polices in the wake of the Mass. Hall takeover last spring.

Oct. 29

Filling the vacancy left by last spring’s resignation of Provost Harvey V. Fineberg ’67, President Summers announces Steven E. Hyman as the University’s next provost. His appointment is seen by many as reinforcing Summers’ priorities on science—Hyman was the director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Oct. 30

Harvard discloses it is in the process of acquiring the Rowland Institute for Science. Located in Cambridge, this institute offers Harvard a large increase in available research space.

Nov. 7

Incumbent Kenneth E. Reeves ’72 edges out neighborhood activist John Pitkin by 59 votes for the ninth and final seat on the Cambridge City Council. After a preliminary count on election night, Reeves had held only a 12-vote lead.

Nov. 11

A fire at the Eliot House grille forces the evacuation of hundreds of students from Eliot, Kirkland and Winthrop Houses. Though the fire causes significant smoke damage in the basement and closes the grille until February, there are no injuries.

Nov. 14

Nathan M. Pusey ’28, Harvard’s 24th president, dies at the age of 94. Serving during the 1950s and 1960s, his administration led the University’s first major fundraising campaign and also focused on undergraduate education. His presidency ended in controversy as a result of the 1969 bust of a University Hall takeover.

Nov. 16

Don C. Wiley, Loeb professor of biochemistry and biophysics, is declared missing after police find his abandoned rental car on an Interstate 40 bridge over the Mississippi River near Memphis. Wiley was last seen on Nov. 15 at a dinner at the Peabody Hotel, where he was attending the annual meeting of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientific advisory board.

Nov. 17

For the first time since 1913, the Harvard football team finishes its season with a perfect record, defeating Yale 35-23 in New Haven to win the Ivy League championship.

Nov. 18

The University announces that, despite a 2.7 percent decrease in the endowment, the top five HMC money managers earned a total of nearly $55 million. Four of the top five earners received increased compensation compared to their earnings for the last fiscal year.

Nov. 19

Former President Clinton stresses the need for greater awareness of the dangers of interdependence in the modern world in a speech before 6,000 at the Gordon indoor track and tennis facility.

Nov. 26

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles announces the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will receive $4 million in new financial aid funds for next year. The money, which follows an aid increase of $12.8 million over the past five years, will go to increasing graduate students’ stipends.

Nov. 28

Dean of the Kennedy School of Government, Joseph S. Nye, says the school plans to close its Washington office, restrict administrative budgets and decrease new faculty hirings in response to the recent economic downturn and the events of Sept. 11.

Dec. 5

Despite the conviction of University donor A. Alfred Taubman over price-fixing at Sotheby’s, the University says it does not plans to remove his name from the Kennedy School’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government. Taubman gave $15 million in 1988 to found the center.

Dec. 9

A year after being shut out of the Rhodes Scholarship competition for the first time since 1930, Harvard nabs five of the 32 spots awarded this year—the most of any college. This brings the total number of Harvard Rhodes Scholars to 300.

Dec. 12

Sujean S. Lee ’03 is elected president of the Undergraduate Council. Lee’s victory, along with running mate Anne M. Fernandez ’03, marks the first time an all female ticket has won a popular presidential election since they were instituted seven years ago.

Dec. 19

HCECP releases a report recommending substantial pay hikes for Harvard employees, specifically suggested the University boost wages for the school’s 1,000 lowest-paid service employees to at least $10.83 to $11.30 per hour. These figures exceed the $10.25 rallying cry of last spring’s Progressive Student Labor Movement sit-in and the then-$10.68 living wage established by the city of Cambridge.

Dec. 20

Five weeks after he vanished, police find Professor Wiley’s body floating in the Mississippi River, 320 miles downstream from the Memphis bridge on which his abandoned car was found.

Jan. 3

Summers meets with Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West ’74 in an effort to mend a rift that threatens to send the prominent member of the Afro-American studies department to Princeton. West’s allegation that Summers questioned his scholarship at an October meeting makes national news.

Jan. 7

Michael A. Sullivan, a member of one of the city’s oldest political families, unseats Anthony D. Galluccio to become the new mayor of Cambridge in the first vote of the 2002-2003 city council.

Jan. 11

Randy J. Gomes ’02 and Suzanne M. Pomey ’02 are charged with grand larceny after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals last spring. Pomey was the producer of last year’s show and Gomes assistant directed the high-profile Man and Women of the Year awards. The indictment is unsealed the week of Jan. 27.

Jan. 11

The Enron controversy spread to Harvard as Corporation member Herbert S. “Pug” Winokur ’64-’65 receives a subpoena from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Senate’s Government Affairs Committee for his connection with Enron’s collapse. He was the chair of Enron’s finance committee.

Jan. 15

Professor Wiley’s death is ruled accidental and not a suicide, as police had previously speculated, by Memphis medical authorities.

Jan. 16

House Masters vote to extend universal keycard access to 2:30 a.m. in all the Houses on a trial basis for the spring term, despite some Masters’ lingering reservations about safety.

Jan. 25

K. Anthony Appiah, a leading member of the Afro-American studies department, turns in his resignation to University officials and will leave Harvard for Princeton next fall, raising concerns that other stars of the department will follow his lead. Appiah cites personal reasons.

Jan. 31

Summers announces he will accept the significant pay hikes recommended by HCECP in its report on wages.

Feb. 5

Randy Gomes and Suzanne Pomey plead not guilty to charges of felony larceny from the Hasty Pudding in their arraignment in Middlesex Superior Court.

Feb. 7

Sarah Jessica Parker is honored as the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Woman of the Year with a rowdy parade and the traditional “pudding pot” award. Parker is the star of HBO’s “Sex and the City.”

Feb. 11

Dean Knowles announces he will step down from his position as FAS dean at the end of this academic year to return to teaching. He has served as dean for 11 years.

Feb. 13

Dunster and Mather House dining halls close for breakfast and lunch after an outbreak of a stomach illness that hospitalized at least 16 students who had eaten in the two dining halls.

Feb. 16

Associate Professor of Linguistics Bert Vaux alleges he is being illegitimately shut out of the tenure process due to lack of respect within FAS and the linguistics department for his field of specialty, and e-mails “two or three dozen” students.

Feb. 19

Contract negotiations regarding wages and benefits for custodial workers reach a stalemate, according to representatives of the workers’ union. The talks are the first conducted since HCECP issued its December wage report.

Feb. 21

Nearly 200 protesters gather in Harvard Square to demonstrate against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Counter-protesters show support for Israel.

Feb. 26

Nine supporters of higher wages for Harvard’s janitors—including two undergraduates—are arrested for blocking traffic during a carefully choreographed protest intended to show support for increased wages for University workers.

Feb. 27

Harvard and its janitors union reach a contract settlement that would pay all janitors at least $11.35 an hour and raise wages steadily over the next three years. Under this agreement, by October 2005 all janitors will earn at least $13.50 an hour. Both sides claim success with the agreement that brings to a close six weeks of heated negotiations.

Feb. 28

Ten months after students occupied Mass. Hall, administrators release a statement clarifying the University’s sit-in policy. They call for stricter and more consistent punishment for participants in any future takeover of University buildings and also recommend that students who cause a disruption while occupying buildings be suspended.

March 3

Despite the approval of a new contract for janitors, members of the Progressive Student Labor Movement call the new wages inadequate.

March 7

Two leaders of Latino student groups say they are upset after meeting with Summers during his office hours to discuss the future of Latino studies at Harvard. They allege Summers was unwilling to actively discuss the future of Latino studies. The University strongly contested the accuracy of the students’ account of the meeting.

March 11

Susan G. Pedersen ’81-’82 says she will step down as dean of undergraduate education at the end of the academic year, citing personal reasons. She will take an academic leave of absence to pursue her research next year, after which she said she plans to return to Harvard as a professor of history.

March 12

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences unanimously approves reducing the number of Core requirements by one, from eight to seven, to give students more freedom to take electives, including freshman seminars.

March 16

The men’s hockey team earns a trip to the NCAA tournament after winning the ECAC championship game for the first time since 1994. The team beats Cornell 4-3 in the longest game in ECAC championship history.

March 18

Undergraduate Council President Lee says the allegation that Summers is opposed to hip-hop artists headlining Springfest is unfounded. Rather, Lee says Springfest planners want music suitable for all ages since the event is now for the entire University community, with co-sponsorship by the Office of the President.

March 21

Harvard nears an agreement about its financial obligations to Watertown, where Harvard purchased a 30-acres office complex in 2001. Under the agreement, Harvard would pay Watertown over $3 million annually. Watertown leaders were initially upset because Harvard’s purchase could take the complex off the property tax rolls.

March 25

The Cambridge City Council approves a petition to the state legislature urging the state to extend voting rights to 17-year-olds in Cambridge municipal elections. If approved by the state, Cambridge would be the first city in the country to allow those under 18 to vote.

April 1

Black and Latino student groups from throughout the University gather more than 400 signatures urging West to stay at Harvard. West was then considering an offer by Princeton to join its faculty.

April 2

Nearly 80 first-year Harvard Law School students find an anonymous flier with a swastika, profanities and anti-Semitic statements stuffed in their mailboxes.

April 4

Leading international economist Jeffrey D. Sachs ’76 says he will leave Harvard this summer to accept a teaching appointment at Columbia University. In his new post he will direct Columbia’s Earth Institute, which focuses on economic development without environmental damage.

April 5

Pug Winokur announces he will resign from the Harvard Corporation at the end of June. As a result of the Enron scandal Winokur, in a letter to Summers, says he feels the scandal is diverting attention from Summers’ agenda for Harvard and from the work of the Corporation and University.

April 7

Former Secretary of the Treasury Robert E. Rubin ’60 is confirmed by the Board of Overseers as the newest member of the Harvard Corporation. He will assume his post when Robert G. Stone Jr.’45, steps down after 27 years of service on the University’s highest governing board.

April 12

West announces he will leave Harvard for Princeton at the end of this academic year. West’s decision to leave ends months of speculation about his future at Harvard, after his highly publicized disagreement with Summers.

April 17

After learning that its budget deficit will be twice what it had expected, the Kennedy School plans major cuts in programs. Dean Nye says some employees will have to be terminated to deal with the $5.6 million deficit.

April 18

The appointment of five new senior tutors for Cabot, Currier, Dunster, Kirkland and Lowell Houses is announced. They will start next year.

April 21

Undergraduate Council President Lee informs the council that hip-hop group OutKast will not perform at Harvard at a proposed May concert, despite the efforts of the Harvard Concert Commission. Lee cites the band’s recent increase in booking rate and the short notice for the concert date. College administrators later canceled the concert, at which Wyclef Jean and Jurassic 5 were to perform, citing concerns that not enough tickets would be sold in the limited time period. The delay in ticket sales was caused by a delay in the signing of the contract with the bands.

April 23

Defying the mandate of the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Cambridge School Committee narrowly approves the elimination of the Massachusetts Comprehension Assessment System test as a high school graduation requirement. Cambridge is the second school district to defy the state.

April 24

Suzy Wetlaufer ’81 announces her resignation from the Harvard Business Review after two months of controversy surrounding her affair with former General Electric CEO Jack Welch. Wetlaufer was profiling Welch for an article in the Review.

April 25

The Harvard Student Telephone Office announces it will offer undergraduates free phone service next year. This means students will be able to make local, University and 800-number calls at no cost next year—the College will foot the bill. In following years, these fees will be included as part of tuition.

April 29

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) searches the rooms of Brian M. Wan ’05 and Michael D. Wang ’05 after the were accused of several thefts from Greenough Hall. HUPD could not comment on an ongoing investigation. Wan leaves Harvard after the incident and Wang moves out of his Greenough residence into a room in Canaday, according to several students.

May 6

Thrity-nine Harvard professors have joined a petition calling for the University to divest from investment in Israel. The joint Harvard-MIT petition argues that universities should not invest in Israel until Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian territories and stops human rights abuses.

May 7

The Faculty unanimously approves major changes to study abroad requirements, easing the process of applying. The Faculty also approves an Administrative Board policy that requires corroborating evidence to launch an investigation of peer disputes—including sexual assault cases.

May 20

The Corporation approves the selection of Geisinger Professor of History William C. Kirby as the next Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He will replace Dean Knowles.

May 20

Renowned evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, who was Agassiz professor of zoology and professor of geology, dies of cancer at his home in New York. He was 60.

May 21

The Faculty unanimously adopts a new 4.0 grading scale and restricts the proportion of honors awarded each year to 60 percent of the graduating class. The change goes into effect starting with the Class of 2004 and 2005, respectively. The change is part of an effort to combat grade and honors inflation.

May 22

Commencement speaker Zayed M. Yasin ’02 becomes the center of controversy after The Crimson reports he would speak about the concept of jihad, as applied to the graduating seniors’ lives. More than 600 persons sign a petition protesting Yasin’s selection as an orator. Yasin has since changed the title of his speech from “The American Jihad,” and is still scheduled to speak.