Commentary

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

Trump Administration Appeals Order Restoring $2.7 Billion in Funding to Harvard

The appeal, which had been expected, came two days before the deadline to file.

by Jonathan Shaw

Zoom and the zero commute

“The biggest obstacle to our collective learning is the elephant in the room: a global pandemic, taking place amid existing inequalities,” writes Drew Pendergrass ’20. 

by Drew Pendergrass

The Undergraduate on power and the denial of scholarship

A student scientist contemplates power and the denial of scholarship.

by Drew Pendergrass

Ways to cope with the federal debt

The politics, policymaking, and public consequences of mounting government debt—and how to cope with it

by Karen Dynan , Douglas Elmendorf

David Cutler on trimming U.S. healthcare costs

Administrative costs, greed, overutilization—can these drivers of U.S. medical costs be curbed?

by David Cutler

The College Pump

Houseboating in Boston Harbor, Apthorp North, and clothing counts

by Primus VI

Letters from our readers

Authoritarianism, labor law, climate change, and more

The View from Mass Hall

President Bacow on encountering—and coming to terms with—COVID-19

by Lawrence S. Bacow

On faculties and longer-range planning for Harvard

Faculty governance and long-range intellectual planning for Harvard

The End of Spontaneity

Lauren Fadiman ’21 on being away from college, where one is never alone

by Lauren Fadiman

A Harvard Senior’s Call to the Home Front

“We are the generation that is coming of age in the COVID-19 crisis,” writes Lauren Spohn ’20. “What can we build? What can we sacrifice? What risks can we take?”

by Lauren Spohn