Scrutiny
Can Hopi Hoekstra Have It Both Ways?
As Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra has found repeatedly, it’s hard to simultaneously serve Harvard, the corporation churning through the news cycle, and Harvard, the collective of researchers and students filling its classrooms and labs.
The Fight to Keep Cambridge Local News Alive
The fragility of Cambridge’s media ecosystem raises questions of what a sustainable model for local journalism looks like — and what the city loses when local news disappears.
Volume XXXVI, Issue IV
Dear FM, In this week’s scrutiny, AWA and AJBS examine the state of local news in Cambridge. Their story illustrates the patchwork of outlets, published in church basements and Vietnamese coffee shops, that cover a city of over 118,000 people. They find that Cambridge’s media ecosystem is alive — for now — but that it’s stricken by the resource problems plaguing local news outlets across the nation. With incisive, colorful prose, AWA and AJBS explore the creative solutions journalists across the city are taking to ensure Cambridge news survives. Making her return to FM, NYS profiles Professor Michael J. VanRooyen, a physician working to build a better form of humanitarianism. And in a delightful 15Q, XSC chats with Professor Leslie J. Fernandez about techno-orientalism, Blade Runner, and BMO from Adventure Time. In this week’s columns, CS interrogates our instinct to close-read queerness. CJ deconstructs the immigrant-child lunchbox story — weaving olfaction, TikTok, and Disney’s “Ratatouille” together in the process. And last but never least, KT closes us out with a beautiful endpaper on overcoming guilt. Thank you to BHP, JHC, KHL CHF, XCZ, SFL, and OWZ for the gorgeous visuals filling our issue. Thank you to all of our FM execs — but especially KJK and XSC, for welcoming our compers to their first writers’ meeting! And, finally, thank you to MTB — for your intelligent edits, clear-eyed proofing, and endless dedication. There’s no one I’d rather be doing this with. FMLove, MTB+YAK
Thomas A. Dichter Portrait
Thomas A. Dichter ’08, lecturer on Hist & Lit; 2015-20, extended 2020-25 via taking on an administrative role
Leslie J. Fernandez Portrait
Leslie J. Fernandez, program director of the Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights; lecturer on Asian American Studies, formerly under time cap, 2023-24
Nicholas F. Bloom Portrait
Nicholas F. Bloom, lecturer on the Committee on Degrees in History & Literature, 2023-26
Andi T. Remoquillo Portrait
Andi T. Remoquillo, lecturer on the Committee on Degrees in History & Literature, 2024-27
How to Be a Humanities Concentrator
In qualitative humanities disciplines, an “introduction” is not as straightforward as gaining a set of agreed-upon foundational facts and formulas. Key texts and methods are debated — and some feel that their field’s status as a discipline is debated too.
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. In this week's 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, 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
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.
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 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
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.