Crimson opinion writer
Joseph W. Hernandez
Latest Content
Harvard Is Inevitably Political
The question should not be “how can we remove ourselves from politics,” but rather, “what is the right thing for our institution to do?”
Biting the Hand That Feeds Us
Being “the one who made it” doesn’t mean I should turn a blind eye to every decision Harvard makes and act as if there’s no room for improvement.
Title IX Is Broken. How Do We Fix It?
So long as issues of sexual harassment persist on campuses nationwide, universities must be the ones to fund both investigations and the protection of survivors — even going so far as to provide legal aid.
Graduating Public School Doesn’t Make You an Imposter
Currently, at every level, the American educational system seems to leave disadvantaged students behind, while praising the most privileged students for making the most of opportunities only they can access.
Gifted and Talented, or Left Behind: The Educational Inequality of Exam Schools
Rather than telling students what they deserve solely on the basis of deeply flawed standardized tests that only measure prior academic experience, an equitable schooling system would divide students not by privilege, but instead by their individual academic needs.
Dissent: Don’t Donate to Harvard, Reprise
The Editorial Board's satire is well-taken, but the Board missed a chance to investigate mega-donations to Harvard. Our verdict is quite simple: They should never occur.
We Built the Harvard Bubble. It’s Time to Pop It.
It’s long past time for us to pop the Harvard bubble. By establishing relationships with the local communities we’ve ignored for far too long, we can begin to deconstruct the ivory tower we’ve built, brick by brick.
Does Harvard Really ‘Defend Diversity?’
Any one of these actions could begin to show students that Harvard treats diversity as more than a statistic. But as we wait for Harvard to take its students of color seriously, remember: Without action to back it up, “defend diversity” is just a slogan.
The Supreme Court Killed Campus Diversity. What Now?
Unable to consider a student’s race, admissions offices will be forced to compare students’ resumes without the full context of the privilege and inequality that informed them. The Court’s conservative justices have crafted a college admissions landscape effectively stacked against students of color. Today, the Supreme Court has sent an abundantly clear message: College is for the privileged.
All Europe, All the Time — How Harvard is Failing Ethnic Studies
While the promise of new Ethnic Studies hires is a start, we need more than promises — we need an Ethnic Studies department where professors are afforded the same degree of job security and basic respect as their colleagues in other departments via tenure. Further, to recognize the intrinsic value of ethnic studies, Harvard College should create an ethnic studies course requirement, stamping it as essential to an undergraduate education.