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Grinding Out Lawyers—by Grinding Down Students
Judge Learned Hand recalled that his Harvard Law School professors taught him the Spartan ethic which helped make him a legal giant. “In the universe of truth,” he said in 1958, during a public lecture, “they lived by the sword: they asked no quarter of …
Issue: January-February 2021
Harvard College Delays General-Education Curriculum
Harvard undergraduates resuming classes for the new semester today may be surprised by the announcement, contained within College dean Rakesh Khurana's welcome-back message , that the revised General Education curriculum, scheduled to begin in the fall of …
Rethinking Libraries for a Digital Future
Harvard is rethinking libraries, librarians, and collection priorities, as described in this magazine’s May-June feature article Gutenberg 2.0. And it is actively digitizing its holdings to make them available to audiences within and beyond the Harvard …
Harvard COOP’s Major Makeover
Taking advantage of the pandemic-induced reduction of activity in Harvard Square, the Harvard Coop has closed its main store to accomplish a major renovation in one concerted effort. “We’re bringing it back to its bones,” said Coop president Jerry Murphy …
Songs of Past and Future
When Julia Riew ’22 was growing up, everyone around her knew that she would write musicals. In elementary school, she turned recess into drama class, directing her friends in made-up plays like High School Moosical . After school, she sang in the St. …
Issue: September-October 2025
Wendy Lesser's "Threepenny Review"
Wendy Lesser ’73 is hesitant to say very much about the new book she’s been working on. “It’s a tiny little embryonic thing at the moment,” she demurs. But she’s clearly excited by the idea: a collection of essays about 15 now-dead writers who were her …
Issue: July-August 2022
A Wildlife Painter's Fantastic Beasts
When the conversation turns to frogs, wildlife artist Bradley Scott Davis ’97 starts talking faster. “Now, this guy right here,” he says—pointing to a recently completed painting on his studio wall, loosely abstract and thickly textured, depicting a …
Issue: March-April 2022
Pudding Pots & Parody
Five years after the founding of the Hasty Pudding Club in 1795, in the dorm room of Nymphas Hatch, A.B. 1797, the then-secret society staged its first performance: a courtroom drama in which a club member was charged with “insolence.” This proved so …
Issue: January-February 2020
Football: Harvard 53, Brown 27
Memo to the Brown University football team: When it’s the third quarter, you’re facing a fourth down and 50 yards to go, and you snap the ball out of the end zone for a safety that raises your deficit to 39-0—it might not be your night. In a game that was …
"I can no longer support the president"
Conrad K. Harper resigned from Harvard’s senior governing board on July 14. In an interview following the official announcement two weeks later (“Harper concludes service on Harvard Corporation”), he said, “I have reached the judgment that I can no longer …
Issue: September-October 2005
Blake Alexander Lopez ’24, Latin Salutatory: “Distantia Propinquior” (“A Nearer Distance”)
As prepared for delivery. Distantia Propinquior ORATIO SALVTATORIA CANTABRIGIÆ NOV-ANGLORVM IN COMITIIS ACADEMICIS HABITA A. D. X. KAL. IVN. ANN. DOM. MMXXIV. REIPVB. AMERICANÆ CCXLVIII. COLL. HARV. CCCLXXXVIII. AVete, Praeses Garber, clarissimi decani, …
Sharpening your skills
Back to school doesn’t just mean a return to the classroom: Autumn brings plenty of opportunities for learning in the kitchen, the garden, or maybe even on stage. Looking to spice up your culinary repertoire? Take a dumpling- or noodle-making class with …
Issue: September-October 2022
Stephanie Gil Helps Robots Work Better Together
Stephanie Gil’s first exposure to robot teams didn’t even happen on this planet. During her freshman year at Cornell, she interned with NASA and participated in the agency’s Mars Exploration Rover mission. NASA sent two robots named “Spirit” and …
The Upward Mobility Problem
“When I started, I couldn’t even drive a stick, and now I’m shifting a ten-speed,” says Gary Jones with the sort of smile you hear before you see it. From eight in the morning to about four in the afternoon, the 31-year-old Jones is on the road, training …
Issue: May-June 2022
An Auspicious View
The effect takes a moment to sink in: a double-sided folding fan, opulently painted in gold, silver, white, and azurite blue. On one side, the instantly recognizable profile of Mount Fuji, with its long, snow-covered slopes sweeping up toward the …
Issue: November-December 2020