By Sidni M. FrederickWhile Harvard overhauled its sexual assault policy in 2014, the following year saw many of those efforts scrutinized as the University grappled with continued criticism and harrowing data on the prevalence of sexual violence on campus.
Harvard in particular has felt acute pressure as federal oversights of anti-sex discrimination law Title IX continue to influence how colleges address cases of sexual misconduct. Harvard Law School agreed to alter its sexual harassment policies after the government found the school in violation of Title IX in late 2014. Months later, federal investigators arrived on the College’s campus to interview students for a separate and ongoing probe into the College’s Title IX compliance.
But the federal government has not been the only source of criticism about Harvard’s policy and efforts to address the issue. Harvard’s new central office for investigating sexual assault remained understaffed for more than nine months after its formation. As of October, that office had heard a record number of cases—between 25 and 30—since its formation, according to University Title IX Officer Mia Karvonides.
At the Law School, faculty criticism of Harvard’s new approach—which professors charge lacks due process rights for the accused—precipitated a breach from the University-wide framework and a challenge to centralized policymaking. After federal review and approval, the Law School became the only of Harvard’s 12 schools to roll out a separate set of Title IX procedures.
In the fall, a campus climate survey conducted by the Association of American Universities— in which Harvard posted the highest response rate of the 27 schools involved—revealed that 31 percent of senior undergraduate females experienced some form of sexual assault during their time at the College, prompting students, faculty, and administrators to call for immediate action. University President Drew G. Faust called the results “deeply disturbing” and Harvard’s response to sexual assault “completely insufficient.”
Undergraduates organized town hall discussions and rallies over the course of the semester, and Harvard released a guidance document on Title IX policies, appearing to respond to some critiques from Law School faculty. Still, some undergraduate activists slammed the document as “totally inaccessible.”
{timeline num=9 date1='December, 2014' event1="Harvard Law School adopts a new set of procedures that, if
approved by the federal government, would break significantly from the
University’s centralized model." date2='December, 2014' event2="The
federal government finds Harvard Law School in violation of Title IX,
resulting in a resolution agreement between the two entities."
date3='Late March' event3="Two Law School professors pen an op-ed
in the Chronicle of Higher Education criticizing \"cadre of high-level
administrators\" and the central administration." date4='Late April' event4="Attorneys from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office
for Civil Rights interview undergraduates as part of the government’s
ongoing probe into the College’s Title IX compliance." date5='Beginning
of Fall' event5="The Law School rolls out its new student Title
IX procedures." date6='September 21' event6="Climate survey
results show that 31 percent of senior undergraduate female respondents
said they had experienced some form of sexual assault during their time
at the College. Faust calls the results \"deeply disturbing.\""
date7='October 12' event7="Harvard’s central Title IX office
releases a 10-page Frequently Asked Questions document about the
University’s sexual assault policy and procedures." date8='Mid-November' event8="A group of Harvard Law School professors criticize the
depiction of the school’s sexual assault grievance processes in \"The
Hunting Ground,\" a documentary film about sexaul assault."
date9='November 19' event9="More than 80 undergraduates gather in a
rally outside Massachusetts Hall to call on the College to commit more
resources towards the prevention of sexual assault." }
By Jennifer Y YaoThe school’s unrecognized social organizations saw a year of unprecedented scrutiny and tumult, with two formerly male final clubs adding women to their ranks and top administrators becoming increasingly vocal about the clubs’ membership policies and place in Harvard’s history.
In March, one of the groups that would eventually integrate women, the Spee Club, became the subject of controversy and condemnation after members sent a party invitation that many deemed sexist. Just months later in September, however, the club drew praise for becoming the first of the all-male final clubs to invite women to participate in “punch,” the annual process in which students compete for club membership. The move was widely praised, though some were less laudatory.
Although he frequently met behind closed doors with final club leaders, Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana refused to comment on what role, if any, he had in the Spee’s decision to integrate women or whether Harvard would consider prohibiting undergraduate affiliation with unrecognized social clubs. Students, meanwhile, hosted multiple off-record meetings about the stratification of the College’s social scene.
Not all of the College’s unrecognized social organizations responded positively to administrative pressures. A graduate member of the A.D. Club circulated a memo in late October outlining a potential legal defense. A vast majority of undergraduate members of the A.D. Club, meanwhile, signed a letter to graduate board leaders indicating that they “strongly” opposed membership changes.
About a month after the Spee’s announcement, the undergraduate leadership of the Fox Club announced to their graduate board that they would be extending membership to a pre-selected group of women, claiming that Harvard had “forced [their] hand.”
The Fox decision created a rift between supporters and opponents of integration, prompting a special meeting of graduate members in November. The divisions in the graduate board, along with a controversial party, prompted the shuttering of the club’s JFK street house. Meanwhile, the newly-minted female members of the Fox currently enjoy only “provisional” membership, pending confirmation by a graduate board vote in the spring, according to internal club correspondence.
{timeline num=9 date1='March 5' event1="The Spee Club apologizes for circulating a controversial party invitation that some students and Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana later criticized."
date2='March 30' event2="\“The College continues to support the idea that…single-gendered organizations are not appropriate for the College,\” Khurana says in a feature on the College’s precarious relationship with final clubs."
date3='May' event3="Following a year of administrative scrutiny, the Fox club adopts a no guest policy in an effort to reduce liability."
date4='September 8' event4="University President Drew G. Faust puts final clubs on notice, saying in an interview that she is weighing options to address issues of exclusivity, sexual assault, and alcohol use that she associated with the clubs."
date5='Mid-September' event5="In a historic move, The Spee Club invites some women to its annual punch process."
date6='October 25' event6="Officers of the Fox Club announce in an email to prospective initiates that they have invited a group of women to join the organization."
date7='Late October' event7="In a letter to graduate members, Fox club officers say they feel that Harvard had \“forced\” their hand when it came to admitting women."
date8='Mid-November' event8="Undergraduates of the A.D. club send a letter to graduate board leaders indicating that a vast majority opposed any changes to membership policies."
date9='November' event9="The Fox’s graduate board shuts down the club following a controversial party there and more prolonged pushback about undergraduate officers’ move to admit women into the organization. Dozens of internal correspondences show deep rifts between club members over the co-ed decision."}
By Jennifer Y YaoMore than five years after the creation of the College’s current General Education program, a committee tasked with reviewing the curriculum laid out its findings in stark terms: Gen Ed was “failing on a variety of fronts.”
Last spring, when the committee released its findings in a report, members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences began a heated and prolonged discussion of the College’s core curriculum, a program whose form took shape hurriedly during a time of administrative change and national economic downturn. The reports’ critiques were incisive; course sizes were too large, the program lacked necessary administrative and financial support, and, most damning of all, Gen Ed“occupi[ed] no place in the College’s identity.”
Now—at the turn of the new year and after months of town hall style meetings to debate what shape the program should take—the review committee has a new proposal to overhaul the program, slated for Faculty vote sometime in the spring.
The proposed program would require students to take fewer general education courses in new, consolidated categories; courses from across the three FAS divisions—arts and humanities, the natural sciences or the applied sciences, and the social sciences; and one quantitative course, a requirement University President Drew G. Faust has emphasized.
Professors on the whole have praised the proposal, which also recommends increased funding and administrative support for Gen Ed. FAS Dean Michael D. Smith said he will begin speaking with donors more specifically about fundraising for Gen Ed as part of Harvard’s ongoing capital campaign. Still, Smith said he expects it “would be difficult” to roll out a new program by the fall of 2016, even with a Faculty vote in the spring.
{timeline num=6 date1='February' event1="The committee tasked with reviewing the College's General Education program internally circulates a report of preliminary findings for discussion among faculty." date2="Early May" event2="The report, released publically, states the current Gen Ed program is \“failing\” to achieve its initial goals and \“occupies no place in the College’s identity.\” "
date3='May 5' event3="At the final monthly meeting of the semester, member of the FAS criticize Gen Ed, denouncing the program's numerous requirements, inclusion of departmental courses, and what they consider lackluster financial and administrative support. "
date4='Fall' event4="Faculty attend town hall and FAS meetings to vet proposals for Gen Ed. In the town hall meetings, many faculty members recommended decreasing the total number of Gen Ed requirements and extracting departmental course from the program."
date5='October 6' event5="At the Faculty`s monthly meeting, University President Drew G. Faust shares her thoughts about reforming the beleaguered program, calling for it to remain a symbol of liberal arts education."
date6='December 1' event6="The review committee presents a preliminary proposal to Faculty members, which details an overhaul of the program's requirements. FAS Dean Michael D. Smith says the Faculty will most likely vote on a new program in the spring."
}
By Helen Y. WuIn the fall, students at Harvard and across the nation challenged alleged racism on their campuses and demanded better treatment for minority students, impelling administrators to respond.
After students demonstrating against alleged racism at Yale and the University of Missouri at Columbia seized national headlines in November, dozens of Harvard students expressed their solidarity on social media and in a rally, where they were joined by top administrators including University President Drew G. Faust and Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana.
The morning after the students’ rally, the College released a 37-page report on diversity at Harvard, which, at times critical, advocated wide-ranging reforms to better the experiences of students and faculty of color and bolster diversity training. In an email to Harvard affiliates, Faust wrote that she would create a University-wide task force in accordance with the report’s recommendation.
Faust also met with a group of Latino students that morning, where the group issued a list of recommendations for improving the experiences of minority students on campus. One such request—that Harvard rename the College’s House master position, which some criticized for its associations with slavery—was publicly adopted shortly thereafter. A new title remains pending.
On the same day the diversity report was released, people entering the Law School’s Wasserstein Hall found black pieces of tape stuck across the portraits of black professors, an incident that Harvard Police are currently investigating as a hate crime. The vandalism incident prompted some Law students to speak out against what they called a sometimes unwelcoming environment, and many continued a movement begun earlier in the semester to change the Law School’s seal, the crest of a former slaveholding family. The Law School is currently reconsidering its seal.
In December, the Law students issued a series of demands to a receptive but reticent Martha L. Minow, Dean of the Law School. Minow’s perceived inaction was met with more protests to the commendation of some Law School faculty members.
And as the semester neared its close, College administrators distributed placemats designed to encourage family discussion about race and diversity. Some students sharply criticized the placemats and days later, administrators apologized for what they called a broach of academic freedom. In an interview, Faust called the placemats “a really bad idea.”
{timeline num=10 date1='October 23'
event1="Activists kick off \“Royall Must Fall\” campaign, advocating for
the removal of the Law School’s seal—the coat of arms of a former
slaveholding family." date2='November 18' event2="Top administrators
join Harvard students as they rally and march in solidarity with student
protestors at Yale and the University of Missouri at Columbia."
date3='November 19' event3="Students and faculty find portraits of black
professors at the Law School defaced with slashes of tape in
Wasserstein Hall; police later begin investigating the incident as a
hate crime." date4='November 19' event4="A College task force releases a
report on diversity at Harvard, identifying areas of inequity
and recommending wide-ranging reforms. University President Drew G.
Faust writes in an email to Harvard affiliates that she will create a
University-wide task force in accordance with the report’s
recommendation." date5='November 19' event5="A group of Latino students
meets with Faust to discuss issues students of color face on campus."
date6='Late November' event6="A Facebook group purporting to represent a
\“union\” of white Harvard students surfaces, accompanied by flyers
advertising the group around campus. Law School administrators,
meanwhile, appoint a committee to reconsider the school’s controversial
seal." date7='Late November' event7="Student activists coordinate to form a
coalition of students of color at the College, gauging interest in
presenting collective demands to administrators." date8='December 1'
event8="Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana says that Harvard’s
undergraduate House masters unanimously agreed to change their title,
which some had criticized for its associations with slavery."
date9='December 4' event9="At a Law School meeting, students issue a
series of demands to improve the experiences of minority students,
gathering in protest the next week after the demands were not
immediately met." date10='December 16' event10="Harvard administrators
apologize after installing placemats with advice for discussing race, which some students criticized as one-sided and dogmatic." }
By Nayab AhmadBy Melanie Y. FuPerceived inequalities in resources devoted to BGLTQ advising across Harvard’s 12 houses came to a head in 2015 as some student and tutors said that Dunster House in particular was less welcoming to BGLTQ students.
In a meeting of tutors—many of whom who serve as residential advisers in Harvard’s upperclassman Houses—early this year, Currier resident tutor Jim Pautz ’06 raised concerns about the lack of BGLTQ tutors in Dunster House. At the time, there were no resident tutors in Dunster whom students could identify as BGLTQ, further fueling a widespread perception—going as far back for some to at least 2004—that the House is generally less welcoming to BGLTQ students than other Houses.
Administrators swiftly responded to the allegations, sending a confidential email about “a serious concern” and beginning an investigation in which they contacted at least one of Dunster’s designated BGLTQ tutors. At the time, Dunster had lacked any sort of formalized budget for BGLTQ programming for at least two years, which differentiated it from other Houses that allocated specific budgets to such advising.
Dunster House masters pledged to increase support for BGLTQ students by allocating a “generous budget” toward BGLTQ programming, and hired two tutors who openly identify as BGLTQ. Still, many students criticized the departure of former designated BGLTS tutor Avik Chatterjee ’02, who served as a resident tutor in Dunster for two years and won an award for BGLTQ advocacy. Chatterjee did not receive a renewed tutor position in Dunster, prompting at least 160 students to sign a petition calling for the reinstatement of his post. Currier House administrators later appointed Chatterjee as a resident tutor beginning in the fall.
In October, some students lauded what they said was Dunster’s revamped BGLTQ programming and the work of new BGLTQ tutor Gregory K. Davis, who said he received the impression from students last year that BGLTQ support and resources “were lacking in Dunster.”
{timeline num=7 date1='January 22' event1="A tutor raises concerns about a House’s lack of BGLTQ resources, particularly tutors who openly identify as BGLTQ, in a meeting for the College’s residential advisers. He later confirms to The Crimson that he was referring to Dunster House." date2='January 23' event2="Dean of Student Life Stephen Lassonde sends a confidential email to tutors and proctors, writing that administrators take the concerns \"very seriously\" and will investigate the matter."
date3='May' event3="Dunster House masters inform The Crimson that they have hired two residential tutors who openly identify as BGLTQ and will allocate a \“generous budget\” for each of the House’s \“specialty tutor activities.\"”
date4='May 5' event4="Dunster House masters hold a confidential \“Conversation about BGLTQ at Dunster\” where students raise concerns about the departure of Avik Chatterjee, whom Dunster House administrators did not rehire." date5='Mid-May' event5="At least 160 students sign a petition calling for the reinstatement of Chatterjee, whom many students praise for his role as a BGLTQ advocate and ally." date6='Early fall' event6="Chatterjee begins serving as a residential tutor in Currier House." date7='October' event7="Student praise what they say is revamped BGLTQ programming in Dunster House and the work of new BGLTQ designated tutor Gregory K. Davis."}
By Jake FreyerBy Alana M SteinbergAs students at Harvard and across the country rallied against perceived racial injustices on their campuses, a quieter—but no less consequential—battle was playing out in parallel in Boston courtrooms. In question: Harvard’s use of affirmative action in its undergraduate admissions processes, which the plaintiffs of a lawsuit against Harvard claim set illegal quotas on applicants of Asian descent and target percentages for underrepresented minorities. While anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum filed the lawsuit in November 2014, Harvard stepped up its defense this year, categorically denying all allegations of discrimination and reaffirming its commitment to a diverse student body.
Echoing Blum’s allegations, sixty-four Asian American groups in May filed a complaint also accusing Harvard of discriminating against Asian applicants. The Education Department dismissed the complaint, citing its similarity to the ongoing lawsuit. Meanwhile, a group of pro-affirmative action students and prospective applicants moved to intervene in the lawsuit as a third party in support Harvard in April. The group argued that its opposition to the College’s use of legacy status, standardized test scores, and early action applications sufficiently separated it from the College’s interests, but an appellate court ruled otherwise, resigning the group to amicus status.
The lawsuit is currently on hold as the U.S. Supreme Court hears Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin—another high-profile affirmative action case spearheaded by Blum—but the debate over the use of race in Harvard admissions is far from over. Asian students have voiced both fervent opposition and cautious praise towards the lawsuit, while both Harvard University and Harvard Law School Dean Martha L. Minow have submitted amici briefs to the Fisher case, supporting affirmation action.
{timeline num=8 date1='November, 2014' event1="Anti-affirmative action group Project on Fair Representation files a lawsuit against Harvard, alleging that the College discriminates against Asian applicants in its undergraduate admissions processes." date2='February 8' event2="Harvard files a response to the lawsuit, denying \"each and every allegation, statement, and matter.\" " date3='April 29' event3="A group of pro-affirmative action current and prospective students moves to intervene in the lawsuit as a third party." date4='May 15' event4="Sixty-four Asian American groups file a similar complaint against Harvard alleging race-based discrimination; the complaint is later dismissed." date5='July 6' event5="Anticipating the return of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin to the U.S. Supreme Court, Harvard asks to delay the lawsuit." date6='September 2' event6="University President Drew G. Faust pledges a \"vigorous defense\" against the lawsuit during morning prayers at Memorial Church." date7='Early November' event7="Lawsuit stalled, Harvard files an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin articulating an impassioned defense of affirmative action." date8='December 9' event8="A panel of judges reject the motion to intervene filed in April, resigning the students to amicus status in the lawsuit."}
By Savannah I. WhaleyIn April, The Crimson broke news that a group of students from Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was planning an effort to unionize, a move that could drastically alter the working relationship between Harvard and many of its teaching fellows and Ph.D. seekers. Graduate student teaching fellows have long charged they are overworked and underpaid, but the unionization movement marks a new effort to rally for better living and teaching conditions and follows similar efforts at peer universities like Yale and Columbia.
University President Drew G. Faust has firmly opposed the prospect of unionization, saying that such a relationship would fundamentally change the dynamic between faculty and students from one based in mentorship to one based on labor. The Graduate School’s dean, Xiao-Li Meng, also affirmed his opposition to the union movement in an October message to colleagues. Another document sent to administrators included a list of guidelines on how to respond to the effort: by encouraging discussion but avoiding hostility.
During the fall semester, the students pushing for unionization amped up their efforts to recruit new members. They created a website, and students involved in the movement gained the support of the Graduate Student Council. The movement also partnered with the United Auto Workers Union.
It remains to be seen whether the graduate students’ unionization efforts will bear fruit. For now, they have no legal precedent.
{timeline num=5 date1='Early April' event1="The Crimson breaks the news that a group of students at Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is planning an effort to unionize." date2='September' event2="Graduate students amp up efforts to recruit new members for their unionization movement." date3='Late September' event3="Graduate student union effort partners with United Auto Workers Union." date4='October 14' event4="In a message to colleagues, GSAS Dean Xiao-Li Meng affirms opposition to unionization and includes guidelines on how to respond to the effort." date5='November 4' event5="Graduate Student Council votes to support students involved in the unionization movement."}
By Alana M SteinbergIn the spring, environmental activists demanding that Harvard divest its endowment from the fossil fuel industry attempted to disrupt University business for a week by blockading Harvard President Drew G. Faust’s office in Massachusetts Hall in an effort they called “Heat Week.”
The group responsible for the blockade, Divest Harvard, had been building momentum for nearly two years—in spring 2014, protesters blockaded Mass. Hall, resulting in the arrest of an undergraduate. In February, protesters from the group occupied the building. Faust condemned the February occupation and maintained her stance that Harvard should not sell its investments in the fossil fuel industry lest such a move politicize the University’s multi-billion dollar endowment. Emphasizing Harvard’s role in producing scientific research to combat climate change, Faust instead hosted a climate change panel the week of the blockade.
During their April “Heat Week,” Divest Harvard blocked the doors of Mass. Hall for six days, camping out overnight and forcing Harvard’s top administrators to work elsewhere. Crowds of alumni and supporters, including prominent former Harvard professor Cornel R. West ’74, flocked from across the nation to attend rallies the group held.
Divestment supporters did not restrict their activities to Mass. Hall. On multiple occasions, the group blocked the doors to University Hall, where top Faculty of Arts and Sciences administrators work. Led by environmental activist and former Crimson president Bill E. McKibben ’82, Harvard alumni in support of divestment occupied the offices of the Alumni Association for about two days. Some Harvard faculty, too, talked about divestment in their classes that week.
Many administrators remained quiet throughout the week, though Faust offered an ultimatum to protesters: end their blockade, and she would meet with them. Members of Divest Harvard did not meet with her and continued their protest.
Though the “Heat Week” protest put the national spotlight on the divestment movement in the spring, Harvard’s environmental activists significantly quieted down during the fall semester, focusing their efforts on appealing the dismissal of a lawsuit that urges Harvard to divest from fossil fuels.
{timeline num=8 date1='February 12'
event1="Members of Divest Harvard occupy Massachusetts Hall."
date2='Late March' event2="In an interview, University President Drew G.
Faust condemns the February occupation." date3='April 12'
event3="Members
of Divest Harvard begin their blockade of Mass. Hall and set of
demonstrations, an effort they call \“Heat Week.\"” date4='April 13'
event4="Faust
moderates a climate change forum, which covers topics from national
energy policy to divestment at Harvard." date5='April 13' event5="A
group of Harvard alumni begin their occupation of offices of the
University’s Alumni Association, demanding divestment." date6='April 14'
event6="Divest protesters block the doors to University Hall, a
building that houses the offices of top Faculty of Arts and Sciences
administrators, for about four hours." date7='April 16' event7="Faust
offers to meet with protesters if they end their blockade. Members of
Divest Harvard do not meet with her, and continue their blockade."
date8='April 17' event8="Members of Divest Harvard deliver a petition
demanding that Harvard divest its endowment from fossil
fuels to Loeb House, an administrative building. They end their
blockade."}
By Zara ZhangJust two years into its public phase and with more than $6 billion already raised as of mid-September, Harvard’s University-wide capital campaign is well on its way to setting a higher education record.
A historic $400 million gift to Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences fueled much of the year’s progress, though its size and donor—hedge fund magnate John A. Paulson, after whom SEAS is now named— attracted outside criticism. Paulson’s gift is the third nine-figure, record-setting donation the University has received since the fundraising drive’s public phase launched in September 2013 and marks the second time Harvard has sold the naming rights to one of its schools. SEAS has now far surpassed its monetary goal of $450 million.
While many of Harvard’s graduate schools reached fundraising milestones this year, University President Drew G. Faust has said she has no plans to raise the campaign’s overall target of $6.5 billion.
But not every school or priority has neared its individual goal. Some initiatives, like House renewal, the “Leading in Learning” priority for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ campaign, and the fundraising drives at the Graduate School of Design and the Divinity School are being outpaced in the rate of fundraising.
Since fall of 2014, four school deans—from SEAS, the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard Medical School—announced they would step down. It is unclear how such administrative turnover will impact Harvard's relations with its philanthropic base and its fundraising momentum in 2016.
Despite its fundraising success, Harvard has continued to see lackluster returns on its endowment; this year it returned 5.8 percent, less than half that of Princeton and MIT, a rate that has prompted Faust’s concern. The question of whether Harvard can maintain its dominant financial footing looms.
{timeline num=6 date1='Early February'
event1="Total value of gifts and pledges to Harvard’s capital campaign
reaches $5 billion." date2='Late May' event2="Administrators announced
that the Harvard College deanship will be renamed in honor of alumni Ami
K. Danoff ’84 and William A. Danoff ’82, who donated to the campaign."
date3='June 3' event3="Harvard announces its School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences has received a record-breaking gift of $400 million
from hedge fund magnate John A. Paulson, who the school is then named
after." date4='September 8' event4="In an interview, Faust says that
despite the campaign’s progress, she has no plans to raise its overall
target of $6.5 billion." date5='September 17' event5="The campaign has
raised more than $6 billion, with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’
campaign at $2.2 billion, according to documents obtained by The
Crimson." date6='September 22' event6="Harvard reports lackluster
returns on its endowment—5.8 percent, less than half that of MIT and
Princeton."}
By George J LokBy Y. Kit WuThe College implemented its highly anticipated honor code to much fanfare at the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, though it remains to be seen whether the policy will have the impact administrators intended.
The honor code—along with a new body charged with adjudicating academic dishonesty cases—made its debut this semester after more than four years of planning, and three years after a massive cheating scandal at the College. In the wake of the scandal, which prompted the College to investigate more than 100 students for cheating on Government 1310’s final take-home exam, professors and administrators questioned whether there was a cheating problem at Harvard and advocated the creation of a policy to enact a “cultural shift” among students.
In the spring, members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to approve legislation that now asks undergraduates to make an affirmation of integrity at the beginning of each semester and on final papers and examinations. At the end of the fall semester, many students were thus required to add a signature to their assignments and acknowledge the existence of the honor code.
The Honor Council, the newly-convened body of students and faculty, began its work hearing academic integrity cases in the fall semester. Often clad in matching t-shirts, members of that body publicized the honor code over the course of the semester, speaking to students in course lectures and dining halls.
{timeline num=5 date1='May 6, 2014'
event1="The Faculty of Arts and Sciences votes to create the honor code
and the Honor Council, a body that would adjudicate cases of alleged
policy violation." date2='April 7' event2="Harvard faculty approve
a measure that asks students to affirm their acknowledgement of the
honor code at the beginning of each semester, as well as on final
papers, assignments, and examinations." date3='April 27'
event3="The College hosts an honor code panel, addressing questions and
concerns about the policy." date4='September 2' event4="With the
start of the fall 2015 semester, the Honor Code and the adjudicatory
council go fully into effect." date5='December'
event5="Undergraduates sign affirmation of integrity statements on final
exams and assignments." }