HPRgument: Safe Spaces

On March 21, Judith Shulevitz published an op-ed in the New York Times criticizing the rise of “safe spaces” on college campuses across the United States. Shulevitz writes that the rise of safe spaces and other institutionalized support systems “may be exacerbating students’ ‘self-infantilization,’” causing students to become insular beings too fragile to handle the reality … Read more

In Defense of Safe Spaces

Anyone who’s taken an introductory psychology class knows about confirmation bias—the tendency that humans have to focus on evidence that confirms their existing views instead of evidence that disproves them. In her recent article, New York Times columnist Judith Shulevitz argues that college students fall into this trap and try to block out ideas that … Read more

Music Culture at Harvard: Journey of the Non-Classical Musician

I walk into Cambridge Queen’s Head just as The Intrinsics take the stage. I’ve never seen Queen’s Head, located in the basement of Harvard’s Memorial Hall, so packed before. The crowd cheers enthusiastically as the soul-funk band, composed entirely of Harvard students, erupts into an energetic rendition of The Beatles’ “Day Tripper.” I am one … Read more

Balancing Act: Harvard’s Military Students

There are students among us who have to balance the dual desire of protecting one’s country and pursuing an education.  After serving as a UN Peacekeeper in South Sudan during part of his service to South Korea, Jason Kwon ’14-’16 returned to Harvard as a junior to find that his freshman-year roommates had already graduated. After … Read more

The Case in Defense of the Humanities

In 2010, only seven percent of college graduates nationally majored in the humanities, down from 14 percent in 1966. Colleges throughout the United States are currently experiencing a shift in emphasis from the humanities to more pre-professional areas of study, which are widely viewed as stepping stones to lucrative careers. Economics, for example, often leads … Read more

An Analysis of Student Activism at Harvard

  “I was told once that if I wanted to go protest something I should have gone to UC Berkeley and not Harvard,” said Karely Osorio, member of the Student Labor Action Movement. Despite housing a student-led non-profit with eighty-six programs and its own center dedicated to politics and public service, Harvard is not known … Read more

Harvard Should Fix Its Gender Gap

  Harvard College’s Math 55a is known for being difficult and time-consuming. Its students must be talented, capable, and willing to put in endless hours per week to complete fiendishly difficult problem sets. This year, they share another trait: they are all male. This is just one sign of a gender balance problem that has … Read more

Caught Red-Handed: Political Diversity at Harvard

Harvard College’s mission statement reads: “Harvard strives to create knowledge, to open the minds of students to that knowledge, and to enable students to take best advantage of their educational opportunities. To these ends, the College encourages students to respect ideas and their free expression, and to rejoice in discovery and in critical thought. …” … Read more

HPRgument: Primal Scream #BlackLivesMatter Protest

A few short minutes before midnight on December 10, hundreds of Harvard undergraduates gathered in the center of Harvard’s campus to partake in a semiannual tradition called Primal Scream. This year the tradition, which involves students taking a naked lap through campus in order to relieve end-of-semester stress, was interrupted by a much smaller group … Read more