Looking Back Through The Years: The Class of 2004's Time at Harvard

September

Newly arrived first-years are surprised when the ceiling of Stoughton Hall North 29 collapses causing three minor injuries and forcing the evacuation of both Stoughton and Hollis Halls. Although residents of the bottom three floors are able to return to their rooms that evening, first-years living on the fourth floor of Stoughton are housed overnight in Loker Commons.

The harvard endowment reaches a record of $19 billion, an increase of 30 percent. “It was a great year,” says Elizabeth C. “Beppie” Huidekoper, vice-president for finance.

Harvard announces that it will not block access to Napster. Daniel D. Moriarty, assistant provost for information technology, will send a letter to Dr. Dre and Mettallica attorney Howard E. King informing him that Harvard has refused his request to restrict access to the music-sharing service.

October

After months of negotiation, Harvard acquires the Hasty Pudding building owned by the Institute of 1770. Harvard hopes to be able to renovate the theater for use by other student organizations. The annual Hasty Pudding burlesque will continue to be staged in the theater, for at least the immediate future.

After taking police on a high speed chase through Brookline and ending near the Malkin Athletic Center, Wilson J. Hunt Jr. ’65-’69 assistant director of the Office of Career Services is arrested and charged with assault with attempt to murder. Please see related story.

November

Institute of Politics (IOP) Director Sen. David Pryor announces the dissolution of the group’s Student Advisory Committee to the shock of many members. He desires to change the IOP to attract a more diverse group of undergraduates.

Members of the Class of 2004 vote in their first ever presidential election and witness the television networks first call Florida for Gore then for Bush. The final result of the election was drawn into the courts and thirty-six days later Gore concedes defeat.

Despite a valiant effort by the Crimson, Harvard falls to Yale 34-24 in the 117th Harvard-Yale Game. A strong Eli defense and turnovers sealed the Crimson’s fate.

December

In their first major protest of the year, the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) living wage campaign stages a mock Christmas pageant entitled Neil Rudenstine‘s Christmas in Jail to protest Harvard’s lack of a living wage.

Harvard College announces a ban of alcohol kegs at future Harvard-Yale tailgates parties and inside the Harvard Stadium.

Paul A. Gusmorino ’02 and Sujean S. Lee ‘03 win the presidency and vice-presidency respectively of the Undergraduate Council after defeating four other tickets.

Shira Palmer-Sherman, Class of 2002, is struck by a car and critically injured while crossing Eliot Street across from Charlie’s Kitchen. Palmer-Sherman, a history and literature concentrator in Pforzheimer House, dies at Mt. Auburn Hospital five days later.

January

The search to replace outgoing President Neil L. Rudenstine edges closer to conclusion as Harvard narrows the number of presidential candidates from over 450 to between 30 to 40. Removed from consideration were prominent political figures including Vice President Al Gore ’69 and President Bill Clinton.

A man walks into an exam at the Science Center and threatens to set off a bomb. He says he is “declaring war on the [expletive] United States of America.” Students are able to flee safely and the man is arrested. The man does not possess a bomb (Please see related story).

Dean of Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles announces the planning of a new science museum that would pull from the collections of four of Harvard science museums. The new museum, whose price tag could run in the hundreds of millions, would help to alleviate the space crunch throughout Harvard museums.

February

Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield ’53 states his belief that an influx of black students in the 1970s was tied to increases in grade inflation. The Black Student Association organizes a protest of around 60 students to peacefully sit-in during one of his government classes.

Despite the support of the Undergraduate Council, Masters deny 24-hour universal keycard access to the houses.

The Harvard presidential search committee meets with University of Michigan President Lee C. Bollinger, one of the top four finalists, in New York.

Following a financial aid increase by Princeton, Harvard announces an extra $2,000 increase in need-based-assistance.

March

Harvard Graduate School of Education receives a $12.5 million donation, the largest in school history, from the film star Jane Fonda. The money will fund a study on how gender affects child development.

The Faculty Council votes to recommend to the Faculty an increase in the termbill fee from $20 to $35. The optional fee goes to fund student groups supported by the Undergraduate Council.

The Crimson breaks the news that Lawrence H. Summers will become Harvard’s 27th president.

The Cambridge City Council criticizes Harvard for ignoring Cambridge while it awards a $5 million dollar grant to Boston schools. Councilors are angered that they were not informed of Harvard’s plans.

April

The popular Crimson Sports Grille will have its alcohol license suspended for 18 days for repeatedly violations of serving alcohol to minors. The suspension follows five fines over the past decade for alcohol violations by the Grille, and the bar ultimately closes for good.

Nearly 50 members of the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) begin a sit-in at Massachusetts Hall to protest Harvard’s lack of a living wage. They want the university to adopt a wage floor of $10.25 an hour. The sit-in garners the attention of the national media and attracts support from prominent labor leaders. Daily protests were held outside Mass. Hall including the largest Yard rally in six years.

May

After 21 days, the sit-in ends with Harvard agreeing to form a new committee to study labor issues at Harvard. This committee will include two undergraduates selected by the Undergraduate Council.

In an effort to increase first-year interaction with faculty members, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences will double the number of Freshmen Seminars offered next year. Also the report by the Faculty suggests that a number of structural changes be made to the seminars such as allowing seminars to count for concentration or core credit.

Summer

Summers begins his first day as the 27th Harvard president on July 1.

Robert Scalise is named the new director of athletics.

2001-2001

September

The majority of Harvard’s schools suspend classes and other business on Sept. 11 after the morning’s terrorist attacks, though many remain partially open to provide the community with a gathering place. In the evening, more than 3,000 gather in front of Memorial Church for a University-wide vigil. Harvard follows the lead of most professional and collegiate teams and cancels all of its intercollegiate athletic contests through the weekend.

In a rally organized by the newly formed Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice, about 500 students demonstrate outside Widener Library for a peaceful response to the terrorists attacks.

Harvard announces the value of its endowment slipped in the last fiscal year for the first time in 17 years, from $19.2 billion to $18.3 billion. Harvard Management Company, the organization that invests the endowment, cites the economic downturn and decline of the stock market as causes for the drop.

October

House masters extend the hours of official parties in House dining halls by one hour, to 2 a.m., on Friday and Saturday nights, as long as alcohol is not served.

Summers is officially installed as Harvard’s 27th president at a grand academic ceremony in Tercentenary Theatre, before 5,000 people. In his inaugural speech, Summers emphasizes the importance of undergraduate education and the development of a campus in Allston. The installation ceremony was the capstone to two days of festivities.

Harvard Hillel’s Rosovsky Hall is evacuated and two of its employees sent to the hospital after an employee finds a white powder while opening a mail package. It reopens on Oct. 22 after the powder tests negative for anthrax.

November

Nathan M. Pusey ’28, Harvard’s 24th president, dies at the age of 94. Serving during the 1950s and 1960s, his administration led the University’s first major fundraising campaign and also focused on undergraduate education. His presidency ended in controversy as a result of the 1969 bust of a University Hall takeover.

Don C. Wiley, Loeb professor of biochemistry and biophysics, is declared missing after police find his abandoned rental car on an Interstate 40 bridge over the Mississippi River near Memphis. Wiley was last seen on Nov. 15 at a dinner at the Peabody Hotel, where he was attending the annual meeting of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientific advisory board.

For the first time since 1913, the Harvard football team finishes its season with a perfect record, defeating Yale 35-23 in New Haven to win the Ivy League championship.

Former President Clinton stresses the need for greater awareness of the dangers of interdependence in the modern world in a speech before 6,000 at the Gordon indoor track and tennis facility.

December

Sujean S. Lee ’03 is elected president of the Undergraduate Council. Lee’s victory, along with running mate Anne M. Fernandez ’03, marks the first time an all female ticket has won a popular presidential election since they were instituted in the council seven years ago.

The labor committee releases a report recommending substantial pay hikes for Harvard employees, specifically suggested the University boost wages for the school’s 1,000 lowest-paid service employees to at least $10.83 to $11.30 per hour. These figures exceed the $10.25 rallying cry of last spring’s Progressive Student Labor Movement sit-in and the then-$10.68 living wage established by the city of Cambridge.

Five weeks after he vanished, police find Professor Wiley’s body floating in the Mississippi River, 320 miles downstream from the Memphis bridge on which his abandoned car was found. His death is later ruled accidental and not a suicide, as was originally suggested by authorities.

January

Summers meets with Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West ’74 in an effort to mend a rift that threatens to send the prominent member of the Afro-American studies department to Princeton. West’s allegation that Summers questioned his scholarship at an October meeting makes national news.

Randy J. Gomes and Suzanne M. Pomey, both of the Class of 2002, are charged with grand larceny after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals in 2001. Pomey was the producer of 2001 show and Gomes assistant directed the high-profile Man and Women of the Year awards.

House Masters vote to extend universal keycard access to 2:30 a.m. in all the Houses on a trial basis for the spring term, despite some Masters’ lingering reservations about safety.

K. Anthony Appiah, a leading member of the Afro-American studies department, turns in his resignation to University officials and will leave Harvard for Princeton in the fall of 2002, raising concerns that other stars of the department will follow his lead. Appiah cites personal reasons.

February

Knowles announces he will step down from his position as Dean of the Faculty at the end of this academic year to return to teaching. He has served as dean for 11 years.

March

Two leaders of Latino student groups say they are upset after meeting with Summers during his office hours to discuss the future of Latino studies at Harvard. They allege Summers was unwilling to actively discuss the future of Latino studies. The University strongly contests the students’ account of the meeting.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences unanimously approves reducing the number of Core requirements by one, from eight to seven, to give students more freedom to take electives, including freshman seminars.

Harvard nears an agreement about its financial obligations to Watertown, where Harvard purchased a 30-acres office complex in 2001. Under the agreement, Harvard would pay Watertown over $3 million annually. Watertown leaders were initially upset because Harvard’s purchase could take the complex off the property tax rolls.

April

Black and Latino student groups from throughout the University gather more than 400 signatures urging West to stay at Harvard. West was then considering an offer by Princeton to join its faculty. He eventually decides to leave Harvard for Princeton.

Undergraduate Council President Lee informs the council that hip-hop group OutKast will not perform at Harvard at a proposed May concert, despite the efforts of the Harvard Concert Commission. Lee cites the band’s recent increase in booking rate and the short notice for the concert date. A replacement concert is later cancelled as well.

May

Thirty-nine Harvard professors join a petition calling for the University to divest from companies that do business in Israel. The joint Harvard-MIT petition argues that universities should not invest in Israel until Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian territories and stops alleged human rights abuses.

The Faculty unanimously approves major changes to study abroad requirements, easing the process of application and approval. The Faculty also approves an Administrative Board policy that requires corroborating evidence to launch an investigation of peer disputes—including sexual assault cases.

Commencement speaker Zayed M. Yasin ’02 becomes the center of controversy after The Crimson reports he would speak about the concept of jihad, as applied to the graduating seniors’ lives. More than 600 persons sign a petition protesting Yasin’s selection as an orator. Yasin has since changed the title of his speech from “The American Jihad,” and is still scheduled to speak.

Summer

A new Administrative Board sexual assault policy sparks the U.S. Department of Education to investigate after a student files a complaint arguing that the policy violates Title IX gender discrimination policies.

2002-2003

September

Harvard agrees to pay Watertown $3.8 million annually with a 3-percent increase in each of the next 52 years. The payment will compensate the town for the loss of tax money resulting from Harvard’s purchase of the 30-acre arsenal site.

For a second year in a row, Harvard’s endowment loses value, having fallen $800 million during the 2002 fiscal year. The endowment reportedly stands at $17.5 billion.

October

Randy J. Gomes and Suzanne M. Pomey plead guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. Gomes is sentencecd to five years probation and Pomey two. The pair is later dismissed from the College by a vote of the full Faculty.

Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby announces plans to have students preregister for classes a semester in advance.

Because of an error with the new payroll system, known as PeopleSoft, dozens of student workers do not receive checks for their first several weeks of work. They are eventually paid later in the semester.

As a result of student complaints about his teaching ability, Economic Lecturer Robert H. Neugeboren ’83 agrees to step down from teaching Economics 1010a, “Microecononomic Theory” for three weeks in order to spend time preparing his lectures.

November

Nick A. Will, the editor of Harbus—the student newspaper of the Business School—resigns after the school threatened him with disciplinary action for publishing a cartoon that criticized the school’s Office of Career Services.

The English department cancels a poetry reading by poet Tom Paulin after over 100 students and faculty members expressed concerns over Paulin’s anti-Israeli views, but he is reinvited one week later. Paulin ultimately never comes to speak.

December

Ending months of speculation that he might leave Harvard, Chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. announces that he will remain at the University. It was thought that he might leave after two fellow members of his department, former Carswell Professor of Philosophy K. Anthony Appiah and former Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West ’74, departed for Princeton.

January

Winthrop House resident Marian H. Smith, Class of 2004, dies in what was later ruled a suicide. Smith was an anthropology concentrator known for her vibrancy, warmth and sense of style.

Rohit Chopra ’04 and Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’04 are elected president and vice-president of the Undergraduate Council by a wide margin. The election attracts the largest ever voter turnout in the eight years that popular elections had been held.

Summers announces a $14-million increase in graduate student financial aid to students seeking traditionally low-paying public service careers.

Harvard officially gives up plans to build a tunnel under Cambridge Street to connect the future Center for Government and International Studies buildings. After months of negotiating, Harvard failed to overcome strong neighborhood opposition to the project.

February

Over 1,250 students sign a petition arguing against the proposed preregistration plan. The signed petitions are then given to Kirby and the Faculty.

Members of the men’s crew team build a nine-foot-tall snow penis in Tercentenary Theater. Two women destroy the icy phallus shortly after its erection, prompting a heated debate over the right to free speech.

March

Nearly 200 students sign a petition urging the creation of an alternative class for Social Analysis 10—commonly known as “Ec 10”—the introductory economics course led by Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein. Students assert that Ec 10, which is required of all economics concentrators, has a conservative bias. Barker Professor of Economics Stephen A. Marglin offers to teach the alternative class.

Kirby’s proposed preregistration plan meets unexpected criticism at a Faculty meeting. Several professors voice concerns that the plan would ruin the great educational benefit of shopping period. Kirby subsequently withdraws his proposal.

The U.S. military attacks Iraq with tomahawk cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs, beginning the conflict which continues to this day.

Kirby ousts Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68. Lewis’ removal is part of a planned merger of the positions of dean of the College and dean of undergraduate education. Shortly after this announcement, Kirby offers the new deanship to then-Dean of Undergraduate Education Benedict H. Gross ’71.

Harvard bids $75 million for 91 acres of land in Allston owned by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. The land is covered by railway tracks, and the turnpike bisects the parcel. The land increases Harvard’s Allston holdings by a third.

April

Elena Kagan is appointed the next dean of Harvard Law School, becoming the first woman to occupy the post. Kagan came to Harvard in 2001 from Washington, D.C., where she worked in the Clinton Administration with University President Lawrence H. Summers as the deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Graduate student of Slavic studies Alexander Pring-Wilson is arrested for allegedly stabbing and killing 18-year-old Michael Colono of Cambridge in an early morning fight outside Pizza Ring. Pring-Wilson said he was acting in self-defense.

Harvard bans travel to areas affected by SARS, including several east Asian nations and Toronto, Canada, affecting students’ summer and term-time study abroad plans.

May

The Core Office approves a version of Marglin’s new introductory economics class for Core Social Analysis credit. The class, however, will not take the place of Ec 10 for economics concentrators.

The Faculty approves the sexual assault policy proposed by the Leaning Committee, including the creation of a new office for sexual assault prevention and the use of an independent fact finder in Administrative Board investigations into accusations of sexual assault.

Summer

Harvard rescinds its offer of admission to Blair Hornstine. Hornstine gained national media attention after she sued her high school to become its sole valedictorian. She later was caught plagiarizing articles she wrote for a local newspaper.

Former Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III dies at 66, and former dean of the Faculty and history professor Franklin L. Ford dies at 82.

2003-2004

September

After serving as the second main undergraduate library, University Hall and Harvard College Libraries announce a plan to convert Hilles Library into a student activity center with a small mini library and study space.

Harvard Medical School opens the largest University building at a cost of $260 million.

Kennedy School of Government Dean Joseph S. Nye announces that he will step down at the end of the academic year.

D. Ronald Daniel, University treasurer for more than 15 years, announces he will step down at the end of the academic year.

October

Cantabrigians and Harvard students are forced to step outside for a smoke at Cambridge restaurants and bars after a new smoking ban goes into effect.

Harvard reaches an agreement with the Cambridge City Council over the development of its land in the Riverside neighborhood. The city allows the University to build taller buildings than the local residents wanted after Harvard guarantees to provide affordable housing and open space for the community.

William E. Gienapp, Harvard College professor and professor of history dies, of cancer at the age of 59.

University President Lawrence H. Summers announces the general makeup of the new Allston campus will include undergraduate housing, new science facilities and two graduate schools.

November

A ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court allows same-sex marriages in Massachusetts.

Four Harvard students are arrested while participating in a protest at the Free Trades Area of America conference in Miami. They were observing the protest as part of the class before they decided to join in.

December

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, the third-highest-ranking Chinese official, speaks at Harvard as part of his first trip to the United States since he was appointed in March.

Matthew W. Mahan ’05 and Michael R. Blickstead ’05 are elected president and vice president of the Undergraduate Council on a student services platform of later party hours and expanded keycard access.

Harvard adds a New Zealand forest to its holdings after the Harvard Management Company buys a forestry estate for $650 million.

January

A majority of the faculty of Harvard Law School file a friend-of-the court brief to federal appellate judges arguing that the Pentagon misinterpreted the 1996 Soloman Amendment. The Pentagon claims that under the statute, the secretary of defense can restrict federal funding for schools that limit access to military recruiters.

Geremias Cruz Ramos, a Harvard custodian, admits to groping around 100 people in the Square prior to his arrest for allegedly groping a graduate student at the intersection of Mt. Auburn and Holyoke Streets.

February

Thefacebook.com arrives on the Harvard social scene. This popular online college networking site created by Mark E. Zuckerberg ’06 soon expands to more than 30 colleges.

Harvard starts a new campus escort program in the wake of the rash of gropings in the Square and the disbanding of the Safetywalk escort program.

Anthony Fonseca, a member of the Class of 2004, dies in an apparent suicide in Winthrop House. He was 21. Friends and family mourn Fonseca at a memorial service at St. Paul’s Church several weeks later.

The Student Mental Health Task Force recommends that University Health Services Mental Health Services and the Bureau of Study Counsel report to a single administrator.

Summers announces that, starting in September, students from families with income of less than $40,000 will no longer have to contribute to their educational expenses.

March

Six protesters, including one Harvard student, are arrested after a nude protest against animal cruelty in Harvard Square. The protest was part of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) “rather go naked than wear fur” campaign. One of those arrested was Dan Matthews (pictured at left), vice president of PETA, who had been invited to speak in Religion 1529, “Personal Choice and Global Transformation.”

April

For the first time in the history of Harvard College, Harvard offers admission to more women than men. Of the 19,750 applicants to the College this year, 1,016 of students accepted were women, while 1,013 were men.

Former member of the Clinton administration and Harvard economist David T. Ellwood ’75 is appointed the next dean of the Kennedy School.

Harvard creates a new center to study stem cells.

After several months of study by four committees, administrators unveil the formal report of recommendations from the College’s Curricular Review. The report calls for an increased international focus, eliminating the Core and allowing for later concentration choice.

Students narrowly approve increasing the termbill Student Activities Fee that supports Undergraduate Council and student groups grants from $35 to $75. A proposal to make the fee mandatory for all students and thereby have financial aid cover it goes down in defeat.

May

Cambridge gains international attention as the first city in the nation to allow same-sex marriages. City Hall opens its doors at midnight to allow couples to immediately file for marriage licenses.

H Bomb magazine hits Harvard as the campus’ first student-run sex magazine.

June

The Class of 2004 enters the company of educated men and women.