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

empty basketball court

“My Time in the Paint”

An athlete contends with injury and identity.

by Rachel Levy

Letters from our readers

That COVID cover, fracking, Radcliffe's welcome

Aerial photograph of Allston, site of Harvard’s commercial enterprise campus

Strategy—and a Celebration

The Corporation’s role in communicating University strategies—and the magazine’s 125th

Portrait of Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow

The View from Mass Hall

The extraordinary promise of Harvard’s libraries

by Lawrence S. Bacow

illustration showing multiple hands dismantling a rifle

The Parkland Generation

Coming of age in an era of gun violence

by Swathi Kella

Letters from our readers

Imposter syndrome, AI and authoritarianism, shopping week

Admissions Agenda

Thinking about how Harvard conducts admissions, as the Supreme Court prepares to weigh in

by John S. Rosenberg

The illustration shows an empty rowboat floating away and a woman wading toward it, in chest-high water.

The Need for Communal Healing

Coming to terms with personal and pandemic grief

by Rebecca E. J. Cadenhead

Photograph of boats at anchor on the approach to Boston’s Logan Airportn

A Multiverse of Might-Have-Beens

A 2021 graduate returns to campus for a belated Commencement that feels more like a reunion.

by Meena Venkataramanan

Efficiency and Productivity in the Academy

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