Commentary

In-depth perspectives and critical analysis from faculty, editors, and readers on public affairs, higher education, and Harvard’s evolving mission.

Harvard football player runs with the ball, pursued by opposing players on the field.

Harvard Football: Villanova 52, Harvard 7

The Crimson’s inaugural playoff appearance is nasty, brutish, and short.

by Dick Friedman

Harvard Endowment, Criminal Justice, and Settler Colonialism

Readers’s views on road safety, protests, settler colonialism, and responding to the Trump administration’s actions against Harvard

Alan M. Garber in a room in Massachusetts Hall with a red banner "The View from Mass Hall"

Increasing Access

President Alan M. Garber on enhancing financial aid and extending education beyond Harvard’s campus

by Alan M. Garber

Cryptocurrencies are forms of digital assets stored on blockchains; image depicts hand holding representation of bitcoin over chain

Crypto—To Regulate or Not?

The former director of Harvard’s fintech lab reflects on the future of digital assets.

by Olivia Farrar

Harvard Medical School

At Risk

Severe threats to Harvard’s finances—and academic mission—in the new political landscape

Illustration suggesting how technologies may influence undergraduate writing

“AI Anxiety”

The Undergraduate on the uneasy collision of technology and writing

by Serena Jampel

Supersonic test pilot Chuck Yeager

Essays from Edward Tenner

Essayist Edward Tenner on technology’s pitfalls

Cambridge 02138

Correspondence about caregiving, football, feminism, free speech, and more

The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial at sunset, with stone sculptures, commemorative plaques, and flags among bare trees.

“The World Right Now Cannot Afford Indifference”

Lawrence S. Bacow represents Harvard at the Auschwitz Liberation Observance.

by Lawrence S. Bacow

Letters to the Editor Harvard Magazine January-February 2025

Correspondence about housing affordability, athletes’ success, antisemitism, teaching reading, and more

Who Should Define Campus Free Speech?

Skirmishing about what it means to protest