Scrutiny
Making Harvard Great Again
As Harvard came to represent the excesses of a liberal elite, its conservative students began building up campus momentum of their own. With Trump in office, their efforts are finally paying off.
Volume XXXVI, Issue II
Dear FM, With not one, not two, not three…but FIVE dinosaurs in this closeout, it’s safe to say that FM is in its Mesozoic Era. First, I’d like to shout out FM legends and multi-scrut extraordinaires KT and JKW, whose scrut was originally slated as the cover story for this issue. This dynamic dino duo wrote about MCI-Norfolk, a prison founded in 1927 by Harvard alumnus Howard B. Gill. Gill wanted Norfolk to be a place of rehabilitation rather than punishment. With this goal in mind, he created the Norfolk Inmate Council, a governing body of incarcerated people that advocates for the needs of other Norfolk residents. Though it still exists, today, the NIC finds itself at odds with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. Sourcing from NIC reports, DOC policy documents, and conversations with the current board of the NIC, KT and JKW place the tensions between the NIC and DOC in context of a broader struggle for prison reform in the United States. Their thorough reporting raises the question of whether Gill’s rehabilitative vision can ever become a reality. KT and JKW, thank you for your diligent sourcing (CorrLinks! Support groups! Public records requests!), for staying two steps ahead of every deadline, and for your beautiful, empathetic prose. It’s been an honor to learn from you as a writer and edit you as a chair. Thankfully, we had another dinosaur claw his way out of the fossil record to save us from scrutlessness. In this week’s actual cover story, EJS takes us inside Harvard’s Conservative and Republican Student Conference. Drawing upon interviews with conference organizers, Harvard Republican Club presidents past and present, and Steve Bannon (?!!)(this is not a joke)(EJS literally went to Steve Bannon’s hotel room), EJS examines the ascendance of Harvard’s conservative movement. EJS, thank you for your comprehensive reporting, your colorful line-work that had MTB and I cackling in the FM office all of Tuesday night, and your dedication to turning around a 4,000+ word story in less than two weeks. We’re glad you came out of retirement to bring us such a banger of a piece. And thank you to fellow dino SSL for coming to us in our hour of need and accidentally editing a scrut. We even had a dinosaur on one of our weeklies! DRZ wrote about Professor Michael M. Desai’s 16,000 generation yeast, which he and his lab group feed weekly in a “choreographed 30-minute routine” (we promise it’s not a cult). Leaving the Mesozoic era, NSK takes us to The Million Year Picnic, an underground comic book haven hidden in Harvard Square. Our lovely introspections editor RCG talks to Professor Christina Maranci about Armenian architecture, coffee, and Kim Kardashian. This week’s issue also marks the official resurrection of COLUMNS! In her first installment of her column on form, CL dissects the art of the pregame. AJBS writes about Target self-checkout as part of her column on technology and isolation. The rest of our columns will make their debut in next week’s issue — stay tuned! Finally, we close out the issue with two beautiful introspections. XSC writes about her experience going through U.S. customs as a Chinese international student. And in this week’s endpaper, MEL writes about the loss of her father, showing us how grief can serve as proof of love. Thank you to BHP, JHC, and KHL for filling our issue with your team’s wonderful photos. Thank you to CHF, XCZ, SFL, KHL (again!), and OWZ for the creative designs. Thank you to all of our FM execs, and particularly to our EALS ESKS and VWR and wonderful AME CEK, for our second successful week of in-person production. And, finally, thank you to MTB for our 12.5 hour Tuesday night hangout (with cameos from NHS and MNA), for adminning this issue even though it’s my week (I owe you), and for holding me back from many a crash-out with your unbreakable calm. I couldn’t ask for a better co-chair. FMLove, MTB+YAK
Volume XXXVI, Issue I
Dear FM, Love is in the air. And we have the stats to prove it. In this week’s scrut, the talented OGP immerses us in the eclectic Community Church of Boston and the archive on its third floor, dedicated to their self-proclaimed “martyr patron saints” — Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti. OGP searches for meaning in this painstaking preservation, exploring the afterlives of the Sacco-Vanzetti case throughout Boston. There are bombmaker manuals and fake funerals, guitar serenades to Harvard Law grads and scrupulous anarchist-archivists. Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s Twitter habits even make an appearance. You don’t want to miss it. Elsewhere, FM debuts its Harvard Love Map — over 50 stories detailing where Harvard students have found, lost, and rediscovered love on campus. Our geographic survey has led us to three conclusions: 1) Contrary to common belief, love is not dead at Harvard 2) If you want to find that love, head to Weeks Bridge 3) At all costs, avoid Currier House In the spirit of love, and lust, and loss, I have mapped out the rest of FM’s charming first edition: Missed connections: KJK unplugs for a moment to visit the tech-free world of Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous. Her Around Town takes an introspective turn, as she ponders her own techno-sober-curiosity. Breaking up: CL revives the Venn Diagram with a pressing question — what’s worse, running into your ex or running into your PAF? Finding love: DCB pens an ode to senior sales and Spy Kids (2001). Memorable dates: AM — visiting us from Ed — writes a stunning endpaper on contingency and our tenuous environmental futures. And in the all-encompassing Other category: JP, our newfound crossword extraordinaire, brings us a puzzle with a special Valentine’s Day twist. CB chats with geneticist David A. Sinclair about immortal mice and anti-aging. EMK talks coffee shop AUs and medieval fanfiction with Assistant Professor Anna Wilson. ESKS discusses bikes and deep history with Professor Daniel L. Smail. This closeout cannot end without a thank you to FM execs and FM staff, for a wonderful first week. A special shoutout to EMK, RAD, RCG, and XSC for pulling off our return to in-person production night, to VWR for diligent scroofing, and to KJK for donut reinforcements. You all have my heart. And to the brilliant YAK — we did it. FMLove, MTB + YAK
They Won’t Let Sacco and Vanzetti Die
Sacco and Vanzetti are interred, not in a tomb — their bodies were cremated shortly after their executions — but in an archive, a testament to a radical tradition and the first Red Scare which sought to disrupt it. In the Community Church of Boston, their memory has found a temporary resting place.
Volume XXXV, Issue XX
Dear FM, Things are coming to an end — finals season, the semester, 2024, and, as much as I hate to say it, HD’s and my chairdom. We’re finishing this one strong with our beloved 15 Superlative Seniors issue. Read here about our Renaissance Person, profiled by KLM; Most School Spirit, by MTB; Most Chill, by the very chill IYG; Biggest Flirt, by the very flirtatious CES; the person with the Most Interesting Thesis (it’s about poop), by AHL; Most Whimsical, by the very whimsical EMK; Most Likely to Be President, by VRW; Life of the Party by SEW, life of the FM party; Most Mysterious, by the also slightly mysterious and elusive GRW; Best Dressed, by the slayest JKW; Most Iconic Duo, by DRZ; Class Clown, by MG; Best Advice Giver, by the very sage SSL; Most Chronically Online, by JL; and Unsung Hero, by one of FM’s unsung heroes, KJK. These are our standout seniors. Now it’s time to shout out the standout people who have made this year of FM (and even the ones before!) so indescribably special. To our execs: Thank you all for your hard work, for being here throughout the year, for reminding me when the going gets rough of why I do FM and what makes it all worth it. CJK, you have been such an asset to FM — intelligent, honest, no-bullshit, and a compelling writer, with editing skills to match. DRZ, our pre-med queen, you have always had the coolest biology pitches, of course, but you have also been a wonderful social chair, experienced and wise editor, and warm presence on FM. ESKS, I wish I got to work more with you because you are an incredibly sharp writer and so on top of your shit!! Thank you for being a steady presence in FM. I feel so lucky we get to have you as an EAL next year — we know you’ll be spectacular. GRW, my biggest FM hype man, my Harvard-mental-health-beat-sharer, editing with you and becoming friends with you has been such a joy; thank you for always cheering me on! JL, you have been the definition of reliable and grounded. Thank you for literally holding down the fort this past year with YAK; your calming presence will always be unmatched! JKW, JEM SLAY WILLIAMS, you have literally carried this magazine for years now. I cannot thank you enough for all you do, from comp directing, to writing killer scruts almost every semester, to being on top of editing, to being Honorary Funny Person and Town Drunk on FM! It is always a Jemininomenon. Scrut together next sem? Other JL, our pre-med king, thank you for also being so on top of your stuff and such a considerate editor and mentor to those you work with. KLM, we missed you while you were abroad and are so happy we’ve had you back — you brighten up FM with your jokes and laughter and your very blonde hair. MTB, thank you for your dedicated reporting and your willingness to mini-shoot for exec this past summer. We are so excited to see you more on FM next year! MG my FM twin :’) thank you for growing up in FM with me. First Scrut co-writer, then co-EAL, and through it all, one of the sweetest, warmest, most dedicated people I know. I love you so very much. RCG, thank you also for hopping on the exec team this semester and becoming one of our introspection queens, both with your thoughtful editing and your own writing. SSL, social chair extraordinaire!! Thank you for being on the weird beat and for taking such care to look out for compers and new writers. SEW, please keep writing about psychedelics. You are such a sharp, witty, and fun person, a talented writer and editor, and the enthusiasm you bring to FM is infectious. STB, since the day you came in as a comper, you have had some of the most carefully thought-out pitches and pieces. We will miss having you as an exec but will definitely be scouring for your writing elsewhere. Last but not least, special shoutout to AHL and IYG for your guidance and wisdom for HD and me as we stepped into chairing. Thank you also for the year spent being my chairs as I EALed under you. I feel so grateful to have been able to not just work with you guys as the incredibly smart, grounded journalists and editors you are, but also become close friends with you both. I love you both so much! To Design: Thank you, XCZ, OWZ, JND, SET, and LJPE for your dedication and absolutely killer graphics this year. Thank you for productive and fun maestros; I’ll miss talking about silly FM pitches with you guys! Thank you for always handling last-minute requests with so much grace and design talent, and thank you for making our glossies possible. You guys are an incredible team, and I truly feel so so lucky to have been able to work with you guys this year. You’ve really helped change the FM vibe and tone with your visuals this year. Thank you! To Multi: Thank you, LLL, BHP, JJG, and AYL for the slayest photos. Thank you guys also for handling so many last-minute requests and un-picked-up pitches, especially LLL and BHP! It is incredible how hard you guys work and how on top of things you are. You guys have also helped change the FM vibe and tone for the better with your creative portraits and scene-setting shots. Thank you so much for your support and your visual creativity! To the trio: Thank you, MJH, CY, EJS, for riding every high and low with us — and you’ve ridden many a low with us! Thank you for your editorial wisdom and guidance, for your thorough checking of comment requests and potentially libelous statements (sorry!!), and of course, your proofing. I know things have been bumpy here and there, and we have not always agreed on everything, but you have looked out for FM and sought to shape it into a strong publication, and I am grateful for that regardless. To my co-chair: HD, my co-chair better half. Where do I even begin? Thank you for weathering all the storms and celebrating all that we’ve had to celebrate with me. You continually inspire me with your intelligence, wisdom, and creativity and, most of all, your unending kindness and patience. I could not have gotten through this year without you, nor could I have asked for a better co-chair. Thank you, thank you, for everything! To the future of FM: YAK, YAK, YAK. YasQUEEN! You have been such an asset to FM since you were a comper. Thank you so so much for your incredible EALing, your intelligent writing, your compassionate and productive editing, your listening and ranting (very cathartic + wise always), your unhinged jokes, and, of course, your comprehensive and thoughtful visions for FM. You are truly the gift that keeps on giving, and you inspire me always. FM is so lucky to have you as chair next year. Future execs, I know you all will do well to support YAK and make FM an even better-oiled machine and an even warmer space next year. Compers, you have been such a great group! I have been truly so impressed by the writing you have done this year. I hope I have made FM a good experience for you guys, and I hope you guys will continue writing — I sure would love to read more of your writing, hear more of your pitches, and laugh more with all of you during writer’s meetings next semester! With that, I rest. FM has been the most special part of my college experience, and I am so, so beyond grateful for every single one of you for making it so. Dinoing out, with so much FMLove always, HD + KT
The Mayor of Cambridge Has Seen It All
When people speak about E. Denise Simmons, who has been an elected official in the City for more than 30 years, they speak about Cambridge: how it’s shifted, how it’s stayed the same, and how she’s borne witness to all of it. But the question seemingly no one can answer is where, exactly, Simmons fits in today.
Volume XXXV, Issue XIX
Dear FM, Happy (almost) thanksgiving. Just in time for the holiday, we’re back with our penultimate issue. This week’s scrutiny — the last of the year and perhaps my favorite — is a profile of Cambridge’s Mayor. Everyone appears to respect E. Denise Simmons. The same facts permeate every discussion about her: her three-decade tenure as an elected official, her stubbornness, the way she champions affordable housing and advocates for the city’s Black community. Yet seemingly no one can agree on who, exactly, she is — or where she fits into Cambridge’s changing city politics. MHJ spent three months doggedly researching and reporting on Simmons, and you can tell. The resulting story gets to the heart not only of Simmons as a person but of Cambridge politics as a whole: its past, its present, and its future. The rest of the issue is brimming with fresh bylines. SEY and JK talk to Sara Jane Ho, the founder of a finishing school in China that teaches “Western” etiquette to its wealthy, primarily female students. JL (notably not either of the two seniors with those initials!) looks back on the history of Leavitt & Pierce, the tobacco shop that served as a quasi-social club for Harvard students in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In a particularly rhythmic introspection, NSK explains her fraught relationship with multiples of four, which have fascinated and tormented her since childhood. AJBS quits coffee for a week with exceptionally amusing results. Over in Allston, NSK and JK visit Looney Tunes Records, an eclectic store with an even more eclectic owner. If you’re looking to make friends, Cambridge native Alex Chueh has talked with a new stranger every day for over three years, and he tells MH all about it. ASM reflects on how counterfactual thinking shapes her life. CS, one of our steadfast Canaday compers, provides us with a guide to disposing of the pests that lurk in (River and Yard) dorms. CJ and AJBS attend a “Sip’n’Sniff” candle-making experience at Boston’s Sniffs of Adventure. Finally, in this week's endpaper, introspection queen RCG recalls the shock and wonder of experiencing Gabriel Orozco’s untitled piece of pinched and rubbed paper in an exhibit at MoMA. This being my last closeout and almost thanksgiving, I am feeling an exceptional amount of gratitude. Thank you to JND, OWZ, XCZ, LLL, BHP, for making Maestro such a blast and making our magazine so gorgeous. Special shoutout to SET & LJPE for making our dreams (glossies) come true. Thank you to MJH, EJS, and CY, for supreme dedication and helping us through our missteps over and over. FM Execs, thank you for making 14p my favorite community (if not physical space) on campus for the last 3 years. Thanks to everyone in previous guards who brought us up (particularly SSL & MVE). To KT, thank you for sharing this year with me, for dazzling me with your edits and dragging me along when I was falling behind, for being, in short, an incredible co-chair. Get some soup — you deserve it. Finally, I am grateful for the future. To our compers and all our new execs, I am so proud of you already. To YAK, you are our guiding light. I can’t wait to see what you make of this magazine. Read the issue here! FMLove, HD + KT
Harvard Wants To Talk About Israel-Palestine. Can It Succeed?
After over a year, the University still struggles with fostering dialogue on Israel-Palestine. Where does the problem lie?
Volume XXXV, Issue XVIII
Dear FM, I’m in denial. I’m in denial that the semester is ending, that this is the last regular issue I will ever admin (???!?!?! :”””))))) ), that my dinoship is approaching. I will save my sappy note for my last closeout, which I am also in denial about having to write so soon! What is *un*deniable, however, is how good this issue is. Chief among the pieces we have is first-time (!!!) scrut writers XSC and WCM’s incredible deep-dive into campus dialogue efforts on Israel-Palestine. It’s the story we have all been waiting for, journalists and readers alike. Thoroughly reported, with openness and tact and a critical eye, XSC and WCM explore why talking about Israel-Palestine has been so difficult. As they note, Tarek E. Masoud, the HKS professor who leads the Middle East Dialogues, appears to have it down when it comes to fostering these conversations. Yet efforts to replicate his event have failed, and the campus environment remains fraught with tension. Why is this? What is the University getting wrong or overlooking? And what does the way forward look like? This phenomenal scrut may not hold all the answers, but it tackles the job The Crimson hadn’t yet done in elucidating the obstacles Harvard faces in building bridges (pun intended). Sometimes, though, dialogue just isn’t the goal. With impressive reporting chops, YAK and SEY capture the absurdity and the gravity of the National Men’s March to Abolish Abortion that was met with fierce(ly hilarious?) counterprotesting from the Clown March. KJK speaks to HLS instructor Alejandra Caraballo about LGBTQ rights and activism in the incoming Trump presidency. In a 15Q, carrier of FM JKW talks to Government professor Theda Skocpol about the election results, campus protest, and how Harvard’s campus may change in the next four years. Taking a step from the politics/election theme, SEY explores the goals of and ethics surrounding Future You AI, a chatbot that “impersonates” your future self, which you can talk to about decisions you want to make in your life. In a thoughtful and cogent inquiry, CS reflects on how interactions he has had since coming to college have revealed the ways in which queerness, even on a liberal campus, can be constrained by labels and heteronormativity. Finally, pulling the issue to a close, RZN reflects on the experience of viewing his admissions file and how that reminded him that what he has really been looking for has always existed outside of grades and medals and application essays. As always, many a thank must be expressed for all those who made this issue happen! Thank you XCZ, JND, OWZ, SET, and LJPE for rapid, high-quality graphics and another beautiful glossy. Thank you BHP, LLL, JJG, and AYL for being on top of it with amazing photos as always, even with pitches disappearing from the Notion! Thank you MJH, EJS, and CY for good judgment calls. Thank you FM execs for holding down the fort with editing, proofing, and 15 seniors-ing, and special shoutout to ESKS for scroofing even while abroad at a conference! Last but most certainly not least, thank you HD — for being on the same wavelength, for commiseration, for making chairing Fun! FMLove, HD + KT
Violet Barron portrait
Violet T. M. Barron '26, an organizer with Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine and a Crimson Editorial editor, says that having a “conversation with a Palestinian person, then conversation with a Zionist person” incorrectly implies that both views are “equally legitimate.”
Masoud cover portrait
Harvard Kennedy School professor Tarek E. Masoud has faced hate mail, threats to his safety, and the occasional cold shoulder from his colleagues for hosting the Middle East Dialogues, a series of conversations between Masoud and people with varied — and often extremely polarizing — viewpoints on the war in Gaza. Does he understand something about dialogue that the University should follow?
Volume XXXV, Issue XVII
Dear FM, It has been brought to my attention that I will face severe consequences for graduating this spring. No longer will I be able to rely on the Mojo Marinated or Miso Roasted or Red Spiced chicken that HUDS so generously provides me. Subsequently, I’m told, the quality of my nourishment will depend chiefly upon my ability to secure employment and my aptitude for cooking. As a hyper-coddled man-child, I find this pretty troubling. Luckily, for the moment I have sustenance far better than HUDS: a steady stream of thoughtful longform stories called FM. Here’s another issue — so delayed, but finally complete — bon appetit. In this week’s cover story, news-FM dream team CNS and MTB delve into the renowned yet oddly decentralized world of Harvard’s postgraduate fellowship advising. For the sixth year in a row, Harvard had more Rhodes Scholarship winners than any other American University. Yet Harvard’s winners are not evenly distributed across the 12 Houses — and not without some cause, some sources suggest. As the dust settles on the current crop of Rhodes Scholars, this scrut provides an essential look into the institutional machinery (and inequalities) that help some of Harvard’s brightest earn fellowships abroad. (You’ll even get to hear from 14p’s own TB3 before he won the big prize!) But there’s so much more to college life than scholarships. Just ask YAK and MH, who attend Sex Week events to learn about the organizers’ vision for sex education at Harvard. Or talk to AWA, who inquires into what belonging looks like in freshman friend groups. Or even take a look at MEL’s Venn Diagram, which compares two places I’d shudder to enter: the Chamber of Secrets, and the showers in Canaday Hall. Next up, ASM and CJ profile Nina Howe-Goldstein, a senior with a hilarious Substack, a budding Mather newsletter empire, and a novel in the works. DLJK asks what life looks like through the prism of “Deal or No Deal.” In a refreshing antidote to election coverage, SG imagines what cold emails to laboratory principal investigators would look like if they borrowed the language of campaign fundraising. Finally, in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton hitting her hometown of Tampa, AJM questions how to reconcile the storm’s catastrophic force — and sensational portrayals of it online — with her community’s relative sense of normalcy. Thanks to JND, OWZ, and XCZ, for late-night graphics on demand and to LLL, BHP, JJG, AYL, for capturing just what we needed. MJH, EJS, and CY are incredibly helpful, and this issue was no exception. IYG deserves a shout out for her scrut proofing (and accompanying me and AHL in our Gen Ed journey), and FM Execs always have my heart. Finally, to KT: you’ve done the most, and you deserve the most. FMLove, HD + KT
Harvard Gets More Rhodes Scholars Than Any Other School. Why Do Some of Its Houses Get So Few?
Last year, if Leverett House had been its own university, it would have ranked second in total recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship, just above Yale. Meanwhile, houses like Currier, Winthrop, and Kirkland have only seen one or two U.S. Rhodes Scholars in the last decade.
Is the Next JD Vance Sitting in Your Philosophy Seminar?
Ask them, and they might insist that theirs is not so much a political project as is a philosophical one. But this same insistence on deep questions has also informed a rising conservative political movement — the so-called “New Right” — which eschews traditional Republican party politics in favor of more philosophical, and often more radical, views.
Volume XXXV, Issue XVI
Dear FM, Some of my friends bought two costumes for the double halloweekend. Here at FM, I decided we could do better. That’s why this issue is dressing up the magazine with not three, not four, but nine stylish articles. In our cover story, SJ takes us on a voyage Herman Melville could hardly have dreamt up: a journey to understand the language of whales. Project CETI, a massive interdisciplinary initiative with roots at Harvard, has spent the last four years collecting, processing, and now uncovering hidden linguistic structure in sperm whale clicks. But what would having another species as communicative and intelligent as humans mean for us? SJ guides us through the project and its striking implications with clarity, elegance, and wit. The articles don’t get any less eclectic from there. AAK and ASM experience the “gleeful absurdity” of Harvard’s undergraduate whistling society, the completely unserious club that has also performed at Yardfest. The prolific KJK pens an irreverent ode to Panopto’s 2x speed function. In keeping with the season, MEL and NFLL look back on the “more refined” Halloweens of Harvard’s past. Out in Harvard Square, ASA and NSK chronicle the real-life rom-com that led Rachel Kanter to create Lovestruck Books, an upcoming local bookstore specializing in romance novels. RZN and KEH check in with the Square’s street performers and how they’re navigating the location’s changing character. Back indoors, MRD and CDT get an exclusive look into a day in the life of Harvard’s most paparazzi-shy microcelebrity — a Mouse in Kirkland Dining Hall. CS stops by History 10, a revamped introductory course taught by three department all-stars aiming to showcase how broad a discipline history can be — and reverse declines in humanities concentration numbers. Finally, CJK closes out the issue with a somber and exquisite endpaper on incarceration, the killing of Marcellus Williams, and choosing love. Special shoutout to FM Compers for absolutely killing it — you make our jobs easy. Thanks to SET, LPE, JND, OWZ, XCZ, for color and wonder, and to LLL, BHP, JJG, AYL, for grounding our words. MJH, EJS, and CY have been handling so much, and I’m thankful they shouldered us on top of it all. All FM Execs deserve some thanks too, especially SEW for excellent scroofing (and letting me sneak into Lev library). Finally, I am once again indescribably grateful for KT, whose presence by my side (in Lowell, for countless hours) made all the difference this week. FMLove, HD + KT
Are Whales Trying to Tell Us Something?
Project CETI, an interdisciplinary initiative consisting of over 50 scientists, is working to uncover — and eventually decode — patterns in whale “speech.”