1996 1997 Year in Review

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Enter to Grow in Wisdom

September

9 - U.S. News and World Report announces that Harvard dropped to third in its annual rankings, giving up the first spot to Yale after six years at the top.

21 - Pellegrino University Professor Edward O. Wilson, recipient of two Pulitzer prizes and an Audubon Medal, announces he will retire at the end of the academic year.

23 - Steven T. Driscoll, who struck Sarah T. Craig '99 and three other Harvard students on May 22 while driving drunk, fatally injuring Craig, pleads guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the Litchfield, Conn., Superior Court. Driscoll is sentenced to ten years in prison on Nov. 15.

October

1 - Theodore J. Kaczynski '62 is indicted by a grand jury in Newark, N.J., for a mail bomb attack in 1994. Along with his earlier indictments in California, Kaczynski is now charged with all the murders attributed to the Unabomber.

20 - The Head of the Charles Regatta is canceled for the first time in 32 years due to heavy rain and powerful winds, disappointing spectators and competitors from around the world.

29 - The University announces that Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Microsoft executive vice-president Steven A. Ballmer '77 will donate $25 million for a new building and professorship in computer science and electrical engineering. Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 celebrates with a case of sparkling cider for his class, Computer Science 121: "Introduction to Formal Systems and Computation."

30 - Twelve members of the Queer Action Group, some dressed in glittering gowns and holding signs, are removed by police from a speech at the Institute of Politics Forum after refusing to stop kissing each other and heckling Christian Coalition Director Ralph Reed.

November

6 - On Election Day, Massachusetts Governor William F. Weld '66 narrowly loses his bid to become the junior Senator from Massachusetts to incumbent Yalie John F. Kerry.

20 - The Kennedy School of Government announces that Sheila Burke, former Chief of Staff for Bob Dole, will become its Executive Dean on Dec. 2.

24 - Harvard beats Yale in The Game for the second year in a row, 26-21.

December

11 - By an overwhelming margin, Lamelle D. Rawlins '99 becomes the second popularly elected Undergraduate Council president and the first woman ever to lead the council. On Dec. 15, a council referendum on budget allocations, moved to a separate date to prevent candidates from influencing the results, fails due to insufficient turnout.

13 - Capping a series of computer network problems, the HUSC e-mail server crashes, irretrievably losing more than 3,000 e-mails. In February, computer worries continue as one-third of the 900 first-years in Expository Writing must re-section after the program malfunctions.

January

2 - Cabot Science Library remains open 24 hours a day for the first time ever during reading period. The library gets substantial use and rave reviews from students. The experiment is repeated in the spring.

7 - Joseph Goldstein '18-'19, the oldest participant in the 1996 Commencement Exercises, dies at 101.

17 - The Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) comes to terms with the University, successfully winning renewal of full-time-worker benefits for part-time workers. HUCTW members replace their picket signs at Mass. Hall with Hershey's Kisses for students on their way to exams.

21 - A demonstration in the Adams House dining hall honors House Maintenance Chief Joe Hickey, one of the Facilities Maintenance Organization (FMO) workers who agreed to accept an early retirement or severance package. On Feb. 3, UNICCO Service Co. workers replace FMO workers in Quincy and Cabot Houses, the Loeb Drama Center and Lamont and Pusey Libraries.

27 - Hasty Pudding Theatricals names Julia Roberts and Mel Gibson as Woman and Man of the Year.

29 - As spring term classes begin, the percentage of female students at the Harvard Business School (HBS) drops below 25 percent, the lowest level this decade. HBS officials launch a referral and recruiting program in order to prevent further gender disparity.

February

8 - Kathleen I. Kouril '82, sends out surveys after being hired as a consultant for Loker Commons, the struggling student cener and restaurant area in the basement Memorial Hall. In early January, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III cut back Loker hours to save money. Survey results announced in April suggest students want a TV lounge and brand-name fast food to bring them and their money back to Loker Commons, according to an analysis by Kouril, a former Crimson editor.

11 - Two anonymous satirical columns in the Harvard Law Record, printed under the name of Fenno, are attacked in a letter signed by 42 professors calling the articles "repugnant and mean-spirited." Fenno refuses to apologize and new columns get Fenno and the Record into further trouble as Weld Professor of Law Charles R. Nesson '60 takes the Record to the Administrative Board for defamatory statements. On Feb. 25, Nesson agrees to drop charges and the Record promises to print an apology and a humorous retraction follows.

16 - Crew racer Angus R. MacLaurin '00 sets a world record in the two kilometer lightweight race at the World Indoor Rowing Championships. The same night another first-year rower is treated at University Health Services for blood poisoning that developed after rowing on the Charles River, the second such case this year.

18 - Jose Torres is arraigned in Middlesex County district court on 16 counts of theft and malicious destruction of $750,000 worth of rare books from Harvard libraries. On Apr. 17, Torres is arraigned on 15 additional counts of larceny, receiving stolen property and destroying library materials. Torres allegedly cut out the pages of some of the books and sold others to antique dealers in Grenada, Spain.

19 - Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III releases a letter criticizing final clubs, citing drug deals and numerous complaints of sexual harassment as reasons to stay away.

23 - Alex S. Myers '00, a transgendered student, aids in passing an Undergraduate Council resolution to include transgendered people in the non-discrimination clause of the council's constitution.

March

4 - Harvard women's basketball finishes the Ivy League season undefeated with their victory over Dartmouth, 85-67. On Mar. 14, the Ivy League champions are ranked a heartbreaking 16th in the NCAA East Regional and are defeated by top seed North Carolina, 78-53.

6 - Provost Albert Carnesale is confirmed as chancellor of the University of California at Los Angeles. On Apr. 3, Dean of the School of Public Health Harvey V. Fineberg '67 is announced as Harvard's next provost.

10 - A coalition of students unveils the Alternative Senior Gift Fund, an escrow account to be donated to the College once a specified number of female and minority Faculty members are hired.

24 - Loh-Sze Y. Leung '97 helps the FBI apprehend three suspected kidnappers in Daytona Beach, Fla., during spring break, ending a four-day nationwide search for two young girls missing from Galesburg, Mich.

April

1 - Harvard is blasted by an unseasonable nor'easter, dropping a record 24 inches of snow. Despite Governor Weld's declaration of a state of emergency, Harvard-Radcliffe College classes continue to meet.

5 - Chelsea Clinton visits Harvard over the weekend, staying in the Yard and partying at a final club. On the 28th, Clinton announces she will attend Stanford.

6 - In a year marked by hate crimes against both homosexuals and ideological conservatives, Dunster residents find G-entry scrawled with anti-gay graffiti during the Harvard Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgendered Students Association's first Queer Harvard Month.

7 - The University names Ted A. Mayer, the current director of dining services at Middlebury College, as head of Harvard Dining Services. Lenny D. Condenzio served as acting director this year, following the departure last June of acclaimed Director Michael P. Berry.

10 - Katherine Park '72 is appointed Samuel Zemurray Jr. and Doris Zemurray Stone Radcliffe Professor, becoming the second tenured professor in Women's Studies. The Wellesley College professor will be jointly tenured in Women's Studies and the History of Science.

18 - Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 celebrates his 50th birthday at a party with family, friends, the Harvard Band and the Krokodiloes at the Harvard Club of Boston.

25 - Following the Supreme Court's Hopwood decision restricting the use of race as a factor in admissions, President Neil L. Rudenstine heads a nationwide coalition of universities that places a large advertisement in the New York Times calling for a commitment to diversity in education.

30 - Fifteen prominent female professors from across the University send President Neil L. Rudenstine a protest letter, questioning his decision not to offer tenure to Associate Professor of Government Bonnie Honig. As the letter and responses from Rudenstine and Associate Dean for Affirmative Action Marjorie Garber come to light, the controversy grows into a national issue and the New York Times runs an article highlighting the apparent contradiction between this decision and Rudenstine's vocal support of diversity.

May

3 - A plaque in memory of Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck and other members of the Class of 1665 at the Indian College is dedicated on the side of Matthews Hall during the third annual Harvard University powwow.

4 - The Office for the Arts denies funding to the one-man drama performance by Mark R. Talusan '97, "Dancing Deviant," citing its sexually explicit material. The show goes up during Arts First weekend despite its omission from the official program.

6 - Making national headlines, Gina M. Ocon '98 wins custody of her 10-month-old daughter, Bailey, allowing her to leave Long Beach, Calif., and return to Harvard against the wishes of the baby's father.

9 - Radcliffe alumnae criticize Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles for authoring mailing to graduates on the lack of women leadership in the University's capital campaign. Alleging that Knowles proceeded without consulting them and disregarded Radcliffe's own fundraising efforts, they request a meeting with Rudenstine.

20 - The Faculty of Arts and Sciences reforms the core, voting to add a Quantitative Reasoning course requirement, mandating six courses per Core Curriculum area per term and allowing high-level departmental courses to join the Core after the conclusion of a curricular review of the Core headed by University Professor Sidney Verba '53.

20 - Federal officials suspend a $14 million contract with the Harvard Institute for International Development after government inspectors find possible improprieties in the administration of projects in Russia. Accusations focus on Professor of Economics Andrei Shleifer, who allegedly "abused the trust of the United States government by using personal relationships...for private gain," according to federal officials.

22 - Ivy League champions, the Harvard baseball team upsets fourth-ranked UCLA, 7-2, at the Midwest Regional in Stillwater, Oklahoma. On May 24, Harvard also beats Stetson before losing to both Oklahoma St. and UCLA, which knocks them out of the double-elimination tournament.

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