Heavyweight Crew Member Hospitalized

Heavyweight crew team member Malcolm F. Howard ’05 remains hospitalized after being severely injured Saturday night in an incident whose details remain unclear.

According to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), Howard was found at the corner of JFK St. and Memorial Drive, and was transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center around 11 p.m. with “severe facial injuries.”

Howard, along with his teammates, was attending a Habitat for Humanity charity auction scheduled to last from 8-12 p.m.

“I didn’t recognize him at first,” said Jennifer L. Shaw ’04, a rower who was present at the scene.

“He was lying by the side of the road. It was upsetting,” she said.

“There was a fair bit of blood,” said Harvard heavyweight captain Michael J. Skey ’03, who arrived on the scene after Shaw.

There are conflicting accounts as to the cause of Howard’s injuries.

“Apparently he took a slip on the ice,” said Skey.

But Harvard varsity crew Coach Harry Parker said he thought that a slip on the ice was unlikely.

“The indications are that he was hit in some manner,” said Parker, adding that it was “not a car accident.”

Parker said it was possible Howard had been in a fight, but that he was “just plain assaulted is more likely.”

Parker said that Howard is “not an aggressive or belligerent kind of guy,” which made it “unlikely he would initiate a fight.”

Teammates Grant W. Devine ’05 and Alexander U. Chastain-Chapman ’04 said that nobody knows what happened.

“Everything is up in the air,” Devine said.

Parker said the team is waiting to see how permanent Howard’s injuries are.

HUPD is not investigating the incident, a spokesperson said.