In the recent movie Ivory Tower, a father warily articulates the anxieties of many parents: “Is my daughter going to have a job … and not going to be coming back home after [college] is done?” He’s not alone in asking it: the perceived link between college and upward social mobility is as old as … Read more
For college freshmen, August is move-in season. New comforter and desk lamp in tow, students move into the communities they have prepared for, and in some cases desperately envisioned, throughout their high school careers. Yet, after they are dropped off and left to enjoy the fruits of their hard work, students frequently lose their sense … Read more
A former member of the faculty at Yale, William Deresiewicz spends much of his most recent article discussing the “anxious, timid, and lost” student bodies of elite institutions, comprised of individuals with “little intellectual curiosity and a stunted sense of purpose.” He faults the schools that educated these individuals, admonishing them for equipping their students … Read more
In response to multiple complaints filed with the Office for Civil Rights, a heart-wrenching personal account of sexual assault on campus, and a formal Title IX investigation, Harvard released its new sexual assault policy on July 2. A collaboration of a policy task force and its freshly appointed Title IX officer, Harvard’s new policy is evidence … Read more
This article is an op-ed submitted to the Harvard Political Review by members of the Responsible Investment at Harvard Coalition and does not reflect the views of the HPR. The Responsible Investment at Harvard Coalition held a week of action in early April that we called the SHAME Tour—“Stop Harvard’s Argentine Mismanagement and Exploitation.” Two organizers from … Read more
Though debate persists about its origins, the phrase “Ivy League” is usually traced to sports. Coined by a Boston journalist in the early 1930’s, the expression first referred to a loose coalition of amateur football programs, all of which hailed from the northeast region of the country. Falling to reinterpretation over the years, the name … Read more
While any leadership change should shepherd in an exciting period of anticipation and buzz surrounding the potential of the new leader, the appointment of Maggie Williams to the directorship of the Institute of Politics this Thursday is particularly significant. As an African-American woman, Williams is the first person of color and only the second woman … Read more
The practice of protesting commencement speakers is nothing new, but rarely in recent memory have these protests been as widespread and as solicitous of public attention as they have been this spring. It all started April 8, when administrators at Brandeis University, acting under pressure from undergraduates and faculty members, rescinded a commencement invitation to Ayaan … Read more
Last year, I read an opinion piece that criticized the Harvard student body for a lack of everyday empathy. In the well-received “Surviving in Oz,” my HPR colleague Zak Lutz called out Harvard students for demanding institutional compassion while forgetting personal kindness. Lutz wrote, “We rally to complain about University Health Services, but ignore our … Read more
“I woke in bits, like all children, piecemeal over the years. I discovered myself and the world, and forgot them, and discovered them again. I woke at intervals.” —From An American Childhood, by Annie Dillard In May 2011, the Quantified Self community held their first international conference. The movement is based on the premise that everything … Read more