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Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898

May-June 2022

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Letters

“Shopping week,” workplace culture, solace, and other reader views

President Bacow on maintaining University values while adopting the best lessons learned during the pandemic 

The gains and losses from changes in Commencement and “shopping week”

The College Pump

Historic portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photograph in public domain

Emerson’s oratory backstory, somber reunion notes, and happier days

Treasure

Blanche Calloway spreading her arms during a performance

Blanche Calloway, in her element

Photograph courtesy of the Harvard Theater Collection

The success and struggles of a pioneering musician

In this Issue

Gary Jones with the truck he learned to operate at East Mississippi Community College

Photograph by Matthew G. Wood

Most Americans earn less than their parents did. Can community colleges bridge the gap?

Portrait of Lorna Myrtle Hodgkinson, ca. 1922

Portrait of Lorna Myrtle Hodgkinson, ca. 1922

Photograph courtesy of Harvard University Archives

Brief life of a dauntless educator: 1887-1951

Pierre Dupont standing in pediatric surgical research lab at Boston Children's Hospital

Pierre Dupont in his pediatric surgical research lab at Boston Children’s Hospital

Photograph by Jim Harrsion

Engineering advances in surgery, mobility, and patient care

Three TikTok screenshots of Abigail Mack

After receiving her Harvard acceptance, Abigail Mack ’25 went from dozens of views per TikTok video to tens of thousands.

Screenshot courtesy of Abigail Mack’s TikTok videos

How students make videos for a world fascinated by Harvard

Letters

“Shopping week,” workplace culture, solace, and other reader views

President Bacow on maintaining University values while adopting the best lessons learned during the pandemic 

The gains and losses from changes in Commencement and “shopping week”

Right Now

Illustration of an eye superimposed on iconography from the national flag of China

Illustration by Taylor Callery

Unfettered access to personal data may give Chinese companies an edge in artificial intelligence.

Illustration showing different quality masks with different levels of exposure to pathogens indicated by red dots on the masks

Illustration by Giovanni Da Rae

COVID-19’s toll on black patients extends to those who never got the virus.

Illustration of a floating particle of the virus that causes Eastern Equine Encephalitis, the mosquito vector, and bird, horse, and human hosts

Illustration by Davide Bonazzi

New research identifies the cellular receptors for Eastern Equine Encephalitis and two related viruses.

Harvard Squared

tree branch with pinkish-red blossoms

Ruby Red horsechestnut (Aesculus x carnea ‘Briotii’)

Photograph by William “Ned” Friedman/The Harvard Arnold Arboretum

Lesser-known plants with tricks up their sleeves (or, rather, stems)

The lower halves of two women stylishly dressed in bright colored skirts and high heels

Untitled, c.2000

Photograph  ©Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks/Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

How the artist saw community—and the world 

view from water of island holding giant steel eggs and wind turbines of wastewater treatment plant

Deer Island’s giant steel eggs and wind turbines

Photograph by Mark Nassal/Alamy Stock Photos

The strange, haunting magic of Boston Harbor's Deer Island

Harvard undergraduates standing happily in Commencement regalia

Celebratory students at Commencement 

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Speakers, ceremonies, and celebrations

Brattle Square Florist tulips

New businesses arrive in the neighborhood—and old ones take on new life. A Harvard2 Local Business Roundup

John Harvard's Journal

Ukrainian flag flying at University Hall

Ukrainian flag flying at University Hall

Photograph by Jennifer Carling/Harvard Magazine

Harvard responses to the war on Ukraine

Sabrineh Ardalan

Sabrineh Ardalan

Photograph by Jessica Scranton

Sabrineh Ardalan directs Harvard’s Immigration and Refugee Clinic.

Photograph of February 14 Harvard student protest about harassment

Demonstrators gathered outside the Science Center on February 14 before marching through the Yard.

Photograph by Niko Yaitanes/Harvard Magazine

Lawsuit claims the University downplayed sexual misconduct allegations against anthropology professor John Comaroff.

Portraits of Sherrilyn Ifill, Merrick B. Garland, Tracy K. Smith, and Jacinda Ardern, Harvard Commencement and alumni speakers 2022

Clockwise from top left: Sherrilyn Ifill, Merrick B. Garland, Tracy K. Smith, Jacinda Ardern

Clockwise from top left: Photograph courtesy of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; United States Department of Justice; Photograph by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard University; Photograph by the New Zealand Government/Office of the Governor-General

Jacinda Ardern, Merrick Garland, and other lead speakers at Commencement and alumni events

Illustration of 2022 Commencement with movie camera for first time

Illustration by Mark Steele

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Harvard Business School hybrid classroom for in-person and remote learning

A hybrid classroom at Harvard Business School, created to enable in-person and remote instruction during the pandemic. The new task force report assesses innovations like this, and their application to residential, hybrid, and remote teaching and learning in Harvard’s future.

Photograph by Hensley Carrasco/Harvard Business School

The future of teaching and learning at Harvard—and beyond

Penny Pritzker elected senior fellow, climate-change investments, Allston expectations, undergraduate academics, and the reformed tenure track

Portrait of Ketanji Brown Jackson, then awaiting confirmation as a Supreme Court associate justice

Ketanji Brown Jackson 

Photograph by Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/Pool/Alamy Images

Associate Justice-in-waiting Jackson, the College class of 2026, and more University news

Ethnically diverse students are shown as ingredients tossed together in a metaphorical salad bowl.

Illustration by Kimberly Morris

Exclusion and belonging in undergraduate cultural organizations

Illustration by Alice Yu Deng

Thoughts on a perennial undergraduate complaint

In a standout season, the Crimson defeated Boston College 5–4 to win its fifteenth Beanpot—and first since 2015.

Photograph courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

A legendary basketball coach retires, and Crimson teams excel.

Montage

Anna Soltys Morse (red shirt, gray pants) performing hand-to-hand acrobatics with other cast members of the outdoor show Branché

Photograph by Christopher Duggan

Anna Soltys Morse and the art of hand-to-hand flying

Photograph of pioneering Wexner Center for the Arts

The Wexner Center for the Arts, at Ohio State University, signaled large shifts in culture—and architecture.

A comprehensive examination of avant-garde architecture

As a singer and songwriter, Claudia García performs mariachi-inspired Latin fusion music.

As a singer and songwriter, Claudia García performs mariachi-inspired Latin fusion music.

Photograph by Javier Vela; courtesy of mariachimusic.com

How Claudia García got “mariachi fever”

Giuliano da Sangallo’s fine hand applied to both Roman ruins and his own designs: here, San Lorenzo, in Florence

Image Scala/Art Resource, NY

Recent books with Harvard connections

British soldiers and local police searching homes to interrogate subjects during Mau May rebellion, c. 1954

Members of the Devon Regiment and police, searching homes during the Mau Mau rebellion, round up local people for interrogation c. 1954.

Photographs by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images

A new history indicts the British imperium.

Illustration depicting social fissures during pandemic by tearing of the U.S. Constitution

Montage by Jennifer Carling/Harvard Magazine; images from istock

Danielle Allen on America’s broken social contract

Alumni

Phil Caruso with two Afghan translators

After struggling to secure a U.S. visa for an Afghan informant, Phil Caruso has helped others navigate this complex process. 

Photograph courtesy of Phil Caruso

The U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are over—but promises remain unfulfilled.

Portrait of Alumni Association executive director Philip W. Lovejoy

Photograph by Will Halsey/Courtesy of the Harvard Alumni Association

Philip Lovejoy to retire as Harvard Alumni Association executive director

The Board of Overseers and Alumni Association elected director slates

The College Pump

Historic portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photograph in public domain

Emerson’s oratory backstory, somber reunion notes, and happier days

Treasure

Blanche Calloway spreading her arms during a performance

Blanche Calloway, in her element

Photograph courtesy of the Harvard Theater Collection

The success and struggles of a pioneering musician