We Should Love, Even When the World is Decaying.
“We accept the love we think we deserve.” I vividly remember the moment I heard those words while watching the television screen. I hated Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” but that sentence stuck, even more than a big spoonful of honey when sick: slow, heavy, impossible to swallow. Those words dwelled because, […]
10 Things I “Love” About Harvard
Dear Harvard, Given that it’s Valentine’s Day and all, and we have this entire season devoted to love, I figured it was an appropriate time to write this letter to you. Others are writing love letters to crushes and situationships, but you—arguably my most intense relationship—deserve one too. After all, I’ve given you more time, […]
The 2026 Super Bowl Recap
After a two-week break, National Football League fans and players gathered for the final game of the season: the Super Bowl. More than a decade after their last match-up, the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks competed again for a chance to earn another Super Bowl ring. Both teams have definitely changed from that […]
Boyfriend or Foe?
Some love it; some hate it. Either way, this time of year is unavoidable: shop windows become crowded with roses and chocolates, reservations are made in the blink of an eye, and couples and singles alike begin to prepare for the fated holiday of Valentine’s Day. As Feb. 14 creeps closer, the question on my […]
The Perfect Match
Our favorite athletes, champions of clubs and nations, sometimes meet their lifetime partners through the sporting community. Whilst this may seem coincidental or convenient, it reflects the importance of finding and leaning on people who deeply understand and support your life ambitions, daily habits, and energy. Sports are not typically associated with romance, but rather […]
Point/Counterpoint: Club-cest
*Both of the long-term club-cest relationships referred to throughout the piece have (sort of) ended at the time of this publication. Homie Hopper: I’m a firm believer in club-cest. I’ve dabbled across most of my clubs, but one of the most egregious of my club-cest violations occurred within this very organization. Retired Rizzler: Unfortunately, Homie […]
The “Chase” for Love
As our generation gradually realizes that love cannot be determined by dating-app algorithms, and that potential lovers are more than just profiles in an endless stream of matches, hopeful romantics have turned to new ways of finding “the one.” Enter: run clubs. As a weekly ritual where dozens of young, sporty, and often single people […]
“What Punishments of God Are Not Gifts?”
In a 2019 interview, Anderson Cooper asked Stephen Colbert if he really believed a statement he had previously quoted from a letter by J.R.R. Tolkien: “What punishments of God are not gifts?” Colbert, after a brief pause, replied “Yes” with a smile on his face. The interview between the two is heartbreaking, wholesome, and everything […]
A Love Letter to the Sport that Made Me Who I Am
For the first time in my life, I draw a blank when simply asked, “What do you do in your free time?” I can no longer talk about the sport that shaped me into the person I am today. Skiing was never just a hobby or winter activity for me—it was the structure of my […]
Dear Harvard Administration,
My name is Hayden Brackeen. I am a junior at Harvard College writing to register my staunch opposition to the new grading policies as proposed in Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh’s recent email. I will not mince words in the interest of brevity. It is ridiculous for a school that primarily admits undergraduates based […]
Love, All: Racism in Sports Media Makes Everyone Lose
It’s unusual for someone to be reprimanded for being in the right. But for certain athletes, criticism will follow them regardless of their conduct. On Jan. 22, the second-round 2026 Australian Open match between Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion and former world No. 1, and four-time titleholder Sorana Cîrstea turned sour. Osaka’s […]
Silly Love Songs
BY: ELLIE GUO ’29 Legend has it that John Lennon accused his former bandmate Paul McCartney of only writing “silly love songs” shortly after the embittered breakup of the Beatles in the early 1970s. Allegedly, McCartney released “Silly Love Songs” as a single in 1976 in direct response. As the title suggests, the song is […]
Love in Greece
In Jewish culture, באַשערט, or bashert, is the idea of finding your destined soul mate. Similar to the invisible string theory, meeting the love of your life is attributed to fate. People across time abandon mere coincidence as an explanation. My grandparents, Dena and Leon Hilfstein, met in the summer of 1971, far from their […]
Kitchen Sink No. 3
Professor Hendricks didn’t introduce himself in the usual way. He walked into the lecture hall five minutes past ten, late enough that all but the last few students had taken their seats, yet early enough that none had debated leaving. He strode down the aisle, a gauche gait with a limp in his left leg—noticeable […]
Jeff Buckley and the Art of Yearning
Listening to Jeff Buckley feels like being trapped in purgatory, suspended between heaven and hell. Waiting defines his album “Grace,” lingering in the space after love ends but before the ache fades. More than 30 years after its 1994 release, “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” has surpassed 440 million Spotify streams. In 2026, it entered […]
Love Issue
Constructed by Harvard Independent using PuzzleMe’s online cross word creator
I’m Batman.
On Friday, Feb. 6, Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals hosted their annual global premiere of their new, entirely student-written and produced show, “Salooney Tunes.” Preceding the performance, “Batman” and “Beetlejuice” star Michael Keaton was welcomed to the stage to be honored as HPT’s 59th Man of the Year—a ceremony which included a celebrity roast, press conference, […]
Writing Love Poems
Staring at a blank page this week with Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I find myself drafting a love poem. This is hard work for me; I actually tend to avoid it. I can’t recall the last love poem I wrote that had not left me embarrassed by how quickly my words curdled into cliché metaphors. […]
On the Word “Partner”
“Thank you to my partner of three years. Thank you for our foundation. I love you.” Celebrity Timothée Chalamet captivated the star-studded crowd of the 2026 Critics’ Choice Awards with these words on Jan. 4. Accepting the award for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy for his role […]
Harvard Grading Policy Proposal and Students’ Responses
Last Friday, on Jan. 6, Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh shared an email with Harvard College students and faculty titled “Grading Policy Proposal.” In the email, she suggested a new grading policy that will be implemented with the College faculty’s approval. The plan suggests a 20% cap on A-grades given, with the instructor’s discretion […]
How Students Navigate Dating, Commitment, and Ambiguity
The “Harvard Independent” 2026 Love Survey offers insight into the common romantic dynamics, or lack thereof, on Harvard College’s campus. The survey points to a campus that doesn’t reject intimacy, but approaches it cautiously and strategically. Respondent Demographics The “Independent” collected 107 responses across all four undergraduate class years and residential houses. Of all respondents, […]
What HKS Students Lose by Not Having Physical Newspapers and Magazines
Walk into any public library in Boston, Cambridge, or Somerville—or in most cities across the country—and you will find physical copies of the “New York Times,” “Washington Post,” and “Wall Street Journal,” alongside a few magazines. But walk into the Harvard Kennedy School of Government library, and you will not find any print periodicals—to access […]