Yasmeen A. Khan, 152nd Guard Chair:

am not exaggerating when I say the person I admire most on this campus is Yasmeen A. Khan. YAK is fiercely loyal to the things she believes — she throws herself into tough conversation and challenging stories, wielding a mythical vocabulary, unmatched journalism (and Crimson) knowledge, and years of experience getting excellent prose on the page.

YAK is a brilliant writer, and I’ve spent the last year unable to contain myself from constantly gushing about her work to compers. From captivating ledes to brilliant pitches and incisive angles, reading her articles has been my true school of journalism. I waited for her Harvard Magazine articles to drop with more anticipation than she had for the Geese concert … and I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit to scouring the internet quite thoroughly for the fiction she published in high school.

Beyond her writing, YAK’s vibes are endlessly admirable and equally unreplicatable. Dark academia has never looked better (and neither has wearing sunglasses indoors at night). She’s always ready with a winter break reading recommendation or a meme reference more outdated than the dinosaurs. And when YAK has a hot take, it’s so well-argued it will leave you reconsidering everything you thought you knew. This marathon-running, mono-recovering chair will sorely be missed. Yasmeen, your positive impact on this organization will be felt for years to come. I can never fill your shoes, but I hope to make you proud.

— KJK

Maeve T. Brennan, 152nd Guard Chair:

hile the word “icon” may be slightly overused in today’s vernacular, for Maeve T. Brennan, the title is wholly deserved.

MTB first joined the magazine in her freshman year and was quickly one of the most prolific writers on the team. From insightful retrospections to explosive investigations, Maeve’s writing has always been brilliant, weaving together the past and present with a precision and thoughtfulness that’s uniquely her own.

Looking back, it’s hard to believe she never planned to become a leader of this great magazine. And yet, it’s true! After famously editing “literally one piece,” MTB was unexpectedly swooped up to co-chair FM alongside her now self-described “work wife” YAK.

Thrown into the deep-end, any decent man would have surely floundered. But not the iconic MTB. Her brilliance as a writer translated seamlessly to her edits, strengthening every piece writers were lucky enough to have her work on. As an editor, she does not get the credit she deserves for how transformative her commitment to FM, her writers, and the other editors on this board have been.

There is still much missing from this short letter (how genuinely hilarious MTB is and how welcomed she makes us all feel, as short examples) but I hope to at least convey how much we all have looked up to this Oreo-loving, Yale-flu catching, writer, editor, and leader of our team.

Maeve, the FM icon that you are, you have done more for this magazine and the author of this letter than you know. Thank you for your dedication, your passion, and your endless support.

And just as KJK wrote to YAK, though I will never fill your shoes, I hope to make you proud.

I miss you already.

– AJBS

Aurora J. B. Sousanis, 153rd Guard Chair:

met AJBS when she was a staff writer, working with other editors on her character-driven Cambridge local news scrutiny and inquiry column on technology. But I truly got to know AJBS when she became an exec, and showed everyone in the Crimson just how ambitious, creative, and vision-driven she is with Office Hours. She created an entire live event and content category from scratch, fostering cross-board collaboration and capturing Harvard’s campus music scene.

I also had the privilege of editing her on a scrutiny, and spending long, long hours together in the Quincy Dining Hall agonizing over sentences. It was a chaotic editing process, filled with last-minute interviews and frantic phone calls, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. AJBS was level-headed and attentive, paying attention to details in every profile — not just her own. The end piece was better because of it.

Aurora, you’re going to do an incredible job. I cannot wait to see what you’re going to do with this magazine, and what impossible new heights you’ll dream up. I’ll be cheering you on every moment.

–MTB

Kate J. Kaufman, 153rd Guard Chair:

n my 20th birthday, I was assigned to edit KJK’s first story for FM. That year, my friends treated me to dinner in the North End and cake in the Eliot Grille, but the best gift I received was the opportunity to work with KJK. Right away, I was impressed by her thoughtfulness and tenacity. She was profiling a student filmmaker. Many compers would have interviewed their subject and written a piece off of the transcript. KJK shadowed the student during a game of chess, watched several of his short films, and spent hours with me in the FM office, fine-tuning every sentence of her draft. That story was included on a Gen Ed syllabus as an example of strong profile writing. My predecessor, HD ’25, called it “such fire.”

Since then, KJK’s writing has consistently stood out. She’s built her own beat on the magazine, publishing reported stories and cultural criticism about life on the Internet. She’s written two of our most-read scrutinies, reporting on her peers with sensitivity and grace. She also happens to be hilarious, penning a Patrick Bateman-esque ode to Panopto and bringing gonzo journalism back to The Crimson with her dispatch on Internet-free cafés.

In addition to her skills as a writer, KJK is an exceptional leader. She and XSC ’27 redesigned FM’s training materials and recruited two semesters of historically large comp classes. She’s warm, welcoming, and perpetually positive, all while managing to stay on top of the constant demands of her job. Everyone I know who has met KJK — from compers to Crimson leadership — has had only positive things to say about her. And you can CQ me on that.

Kate, there is no one I would rather have leading FM this coming year. With your drive and dedication, you’re going to take this magazine to new heights. I can’t wait to see what you accomplish.

— YAK

Ellie S. Klibaner-Schiff, 152nd Guard Editor-At-Large:

his semester, ESKS edited my scrutling about a possible Hoover Institution at Harvard, and I was immediately impressed with the level of dedication and attention to detail she pours into every sentence. Working with her in the Leverett Dining Hall feels less like an editor-writer relationship, and more like a wise friend, debating vocabulary in the lede as much as we chatted about everything from recent fire alarms to the magazine as a whole. I couldn’t be more excited to step into ESKS’s remarkable footsteps, and I only hope that I can be a mentor to others in the way she was to me.

—CGH

Vivian W. Rong, 152nd Guard Editor-At-Large:

ore often than not this past semester, I found myself sitting next to VWR on Monday evenings during writer’s meetings, where I got to bear firsthand witness to her openness, steadiness and ability to see potential in every idea. These are qualities that I admire so deeply, and ones I hope to emulate going forward as EAL.

Vivian, I have loved exchanging ideas, splitting outlets, and complaining about having to sit on the ground with you. I hope that next year brings you so much joy, relaxation, inspiration, and above all, a nice chair to sit on during Monday night meetings in the new Crimson building.

— SG

Sophie Gao, 153rd Guard Editor-At-Large:

hether it’s a hilarious piece on the new Taylor Swift album or a heartfelt introspection outlining the power of science research and her family's journey with it, I am so lucky to have known SG. Not only is she a fantastic writer that FM is so lucky to have, but our queen is also multi-talented, with involvement in science research herself.

We’ve gotten to know SG through her extensive sticker collection on her laptop and her witty jokes in meetings. We’ve gotten to know SG through the news expertise she provides us with and the enthusiasm with which she takes on every story. And I’ve gotten to know SG through long chats deep into Monday nights and through living in the same house. (Kirkland best house!)

There’s no doubt in my mind that SG will absolutely kill it as EAL. FM wouldn't be the same without you!

— VWR

Caroline G. Hennigan, 153rd Guard Editor-At-Large:

consider myself lucky to have never sat down across from CGH for an interview. Her questions are persistent and disarming, gently probing forward until a source hands over the one detail that pulls the story together. As a reporter and a writer, CGH holds together the warmth to talk down the most worked up spokespeople and the perspective to artfully weave together disparate strands of a narrative.

It’s been a joy and honor to edit CGH’s writing, to see her curiosity take shape into an angle, and to witness her witty wordsmithing.

Caroline, FM is so so so lucky to have your brilliance, rock-solid intuition, and steady grace. I can’t wait to read the pieces you bring into the world.

— ESKS

Sunshine Chen, 152nd Guard Comp Director:

C is not the reason I comped Fifteen Minutes, but she is the reason I learned that you could not only write Quirky Features but also Serious Journalism with the magazine, and thus the reason I decided to take it seriously, and thus the reason I am now taking over her role as (Not Actually That Mean But Compared to Your Partner Who is Preternaturally Nice) Bad Cop comp director.

Like any good comper, the first thing I did was investigate my superiors. You can find a lot about SC online, including the fact that she won a major middle school debate championship in 2018, that she recently became an investment partner for something called the Dorm Room Fund, and that “the 1989 sci-fi/comedy Back to the Future 2” was her favorite movie when she was seven.

You can also find her entire Crimson corpus, where, interspersed among such blasé news articles as “Yale Ends CS50 Partnership With Harvard,” is that Serious Journalism she’s so adept at: a startling honest endpaper on navigating an “Asian non-American” identity, a meticulously reported scrutiny on what it means to have a real college conversation about Israel-Palestine, and an incisive inquiry into the creepiness that is the fact that many of us (myself included) voluntarily give dozens of our closest friends people the ability to track our location 24/7.

Sunshine, thank you for showing me the best of FM, of its writing and its community. Thank you for the endless office hours and Zoom calls that let me pass comp despite not being able to make a single writers’ meeting. If my own compers experience even a fifteenth of the awe you inspire, I will consider my tenure a success.

— MK

Kate J. Kaufman, 152nd Guard Comp Director:

hen KJK paused our editing session to declare that we should visit the CVS, I knew this girl was the real deal. We returned to the office carrying a small haul of snacks and sticky notes feeling fully energized. 30 minutes and a pack of Post-Its later, a year’s worth of scattered sourcing finally cohered into a structured, compelling piece. From comp director to writer to editor to unofficial techie, KJK has poured her heart and soul into this magazine in every possible capacity.

Kate, your warmth and excitement and commitment are infectious, and I know you will help tell some amazing stories as FM’s next chair. You are more than ready and qualified, and I can’t wait to see all that you’ll do.

— CJ

Claire Jiang and Megha Khemka, 153rd Guard Comp Directors:

e can’t wait for our marvelous, middle-initial-less new comp directors to welcome the next guard of magazine editors.

CJ’s endless optimism will lift the spirits of compers — even in a long editing session or a late-night meeting, she is always ready with a kind word and cheerful outlook. Not to mention her perseverance: CJ spent nearly a year working on a scrutiny, and she maintained her diligent reporting and commitment to precise and empathetic prose throughout.

MK will know just how to guide compers to true magazine style: over the past year, her pitches and writing have shown a beautiful balance between serious, sensitive reporting and pure fun. MK can somehow flip a switch into a level of locking-in that is truly unrivaled, and she has saved many an article in the eleventh hour through sheer force of will.

These two execs embody everything we want future members of the magazine to aspire towards: grit and generosity, commitment and compassion. Claire and Megha, it has been a pleasure to watch you both embrace this role through your hard work on GEs this past month, and we can’t wait to see all that you accomplish in 2026.

— KJK and SC