Columns
The Discussion Missing From Affirmative Action Conversations
With Harvard in the news and affirmative action on the chopping block, it makes sense why discussions about admissions are focused on race. But we should not forget that Harvard’s current admissions process falls short of providing diversity in college and equity during the admissions process. Regardless of the SFFA case outcome, we can call upon Harvard to admit more low-income students.
Why I’m Not Latinx
It has been a longstanding fear of mine that I will become disconnected from my Hispanic family. Matriculating to Harvard has only amplified these concerns. The Ivy League bubble only serves to complement my other non-traditional Hispanic qualities. Latinx, at times, feels like the final straw. The last step to the top of the Hispanic Ivory Tower. It’s one I just cannot take.
Gaslighting and Gatekeeping: the Literary Canon
Art gets made every. Single. Day. And although some critics and academics may be horrified to hear this, good art — whatever that may be — can, in reality, be found anywhere and from anyone. (You can read my latest piece to see what I mean about that). All of this means that erecting a canon of the so-called “greatest” art flies in the face of everything art should really be.
How Pandemic Era TikTok Bolstered the Neurodiversity Movement
Two years later, I still have TikTok. I’ll be the first to admit that the app was my introduction to the neurodiversity movement and broader disability justice. It allowed me to find solace and solidarity with my own neurodiversity and identity. It let me know that I had a community, both online and off.
Grade Inflation: What Goes Up Must Come Down
The damage of grade inflation has largely been done as there’s no hope of returning to a grading scheme where a C is average. But we can still resolve the growing threat of grade compression before it wreaks further havoc on Harvard’s education. Maybe it’s time for another “Committee on Raising the Standard” — 128 years later.
Our Well-Being is Paying For The Attention Economy
It’s not you, it’s your phone. It’s not your lack of self-control, it’s systems that are designed to keep you coming back based on algorithms that are tracking your subconscious behavior.
One More Day
I’m drafting this piece on my phone as I lie in bed, straining to see against the rising sun’s glare. This place has amazing strawberry pancake wraps, but still, a stay in a psych ward is not the vacation I was hoping for.
YOLO Revisited
As Jews, we believe each moment can be made holy through following Halacha, or Jewish law, and fulfilling mitzvot, or commandments. When I began to observe these rules more strictly, I was overwhelmed and scared by how much was demanded of my time. Each moment was to be important, and contained in it an opportunity to do something of monumental significance. How could I live up to that?
Bigotry is Bigotry: Fulton v. Philadelphia
It is people of color, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, and women who suffer whenever these exemptions are invoked, and these groups will continue to suffer unless the laws designed to protect them are allowed to fulfill their full purpose. Bigotry is bigotry, and if we do not fight it wherever we see it, we are not fighting it at all.
Who Wants to Bike in Boston?
Boston and Cambridge are some of the most bikeable cities in the United States, yet the region’s relationship with cycling remains polarizing. It is more crucial than ever to strengthen our cycling infrastructure.
A College Student’s Guide to Shopping Sustainably
Creating a more sustainable world means making changes that are sustainable for you. No one has to do everything, but everyone has to do something. Take the time to buy pieces you’ll wear and care for the clothes you already own. If a beauty queen can be a proud outfit repeater, I have faith that you can too.
Harvard’s Liberal Arts Program is Exclusively Liberal
The blinkered liberal hold on Harvard’s academics must be relaxed if the school hopes to promote an honest and open discussion of ideas. Our future citizen leaders are here — it is now time to begin educating them.
Reflections on Friendship, Wealth, and College
College has created new and more subtle social barriers, all of which are predicated on wealth. Friendships are formed in a new, more particular, manner. People no longer bond over pick-up basketball and biking to classes. Instead, we choose friends by using subtle cues about background, political affiliation, and socioeconomic status, curating social groups that reflect our carefully selected priorities.
Before the Bombs Fall
Our future is a work in progress, and we cannot wait for the bombs to rain upon us.
Increasing Financial Aid is Not the Best Way to Make Harvard More Diverse
We should not pretend that Harvard is a socioeconomic equalizer. Instead, we should recognize that Harvard mostly admits rich kids who proceed to make a lot of money and that increasing financial aid won’t do a lot to change that. The solution lies mostly in greater low-income student recruitment.
Let’s Not Ruin BeReal
Something about BeReal is not quite fun anymore — perhaps the loss of genuine connection with friends, or the strangeness when a group simultaneously pulls out their phones to “be real.” In any case, I’m holding out for a change for the better, or at least, holding out for December, when I can collect and post my year of unfiltered, real moments for the world to see.
A Moment of Eternity
I didn’t choose to be disabled, to be mentally ill, to be queer, to want time to stop. But that’s how I am, and I’d like to be proud of that. So at this moment, I want to understand how to move on from uncertainty, regret, and pain, within the limits of this world; how we define and accept ourselves through the smiles we choose.
Hi, Mom. Does it Scare you that I’m Writing this Column?
Hi, Mom. If you’re reading this, does it scare you that I’m writing this column? It’s honestly too late now since it’s now the start of the second semester of my writing it, and it’s basically public information that I have ADHD. Even if I may have been able to hide it, it’s a path that’s now foreclosed, no matter how much ableism and judgment I face.
The Bravery of Faith
Those who remain religious don’t do so because it’s the easy thing to do, or because they are familiar with it and leaving is scary. They do so because they are brave.
God in the Public Square: Shurtleff v. City of Boston
A small, reactionary subset of hardline Christians see the loss of absolute supremacy for Christianity in America’s religious landscape and view it as discrimination.
Why I Care About Climate Change, and Why You Should Too
If places like Puerto Rico are ground zero, then we are ground one. Any of us can be on the frontlines of climate change. And whether you get your turn on the frontlines or not is entirely dependent on the actions you and your communities take today.
We Deserve Better Than a Dysfunctional MBTA
Right now, the MBTA is inspiring confidence in nobody. For that to change, the agency needs funding and support from initiatives like the Fair Share Amendment. Harvard, let’s work to make sure the T is no longer an embarrassment.
Announcing The Crimson Editorial Board’s Fall 2022 Columnists
The Editorial Board is pleased to announce its columnists for the upcoming fall semester. Columnists will publish on a bi-weekly basis, each focusing on a theme of their choice. We are also proud to continue our reported columns initiative, piloted in 2020, which incorporates both journalistic research and interviews, as well as editorial commentary.
Let’s Cancel Cancel Culture
Listen to your conservative peers, don’t just shut them down. Take classes with professors that challenge your beliefs. Read widely.
The Irony of Our Selling Out Discussions
For many low-income students and their families, Harvard is a vessel for financial success, not a flowery exploration of the liberal arts. Let’s encourage everyone to work in socially beneficial roles, while also acknowledging that financial comfort is a reasonable goal for all students.