113 Years of Harvard Olympians
A history of Harvard Athletes at the Winter Olympic Games
When the National Hockey League announced it wasn’t sending any athletes to the Olympics this year, Sean Farrell ’24 and Nick Abruzzese ’23 of the Harvard men’s ice hockey team stepped up to the plate. Their student-filled team finished as the top seed from the qualifying round, although they eventually lost to Slovakia in a […]
A River Runs Through It
A history of rowing—Harvard’s first sport—and the buildings that harbored it
2/22/22, otherwise known as “Two’s Day,” was more than just a lucky date—it marked the very first strokes back in the water for Harvard and Radcliffe rowers since the Charles River froze back in December. The states of the Charles River mark the seasons for rowing: icing over in winter and driving the oarsmen inside, […]
Vox Populi
An experiment in direct democracy
Direct democracy—that libertarian pipedream—has entered the political scene at Harvard College. Since 1982, the undergraduate student body has been led by a group of 54 elected representatives known as the Undergraduate Council (UC). The Council’s responsibilities include representing students from each of the College’s first-year dorms and upperclassmen residential houses and interfacing with University administrators […]
Taking a Walk on the Wild Side
Mount Auburn Cemetery is a place for reflection on my own history.
Months after starting to write for the Independent last spring, I learned from my mother that my father had once written for the publication. Searching for his work among the yellowed pages of the Independent’s archives, I found his article from 1979: “Take a Walk on the Wild Side,” a plea to his fellow students […]
Of Harvard Women
How Harvard slowly opened its gates to Radcliffe women
In the late 1960s, Harvard was marked by the tumultuous political activity taking place across the country. Male students at Harvard were feigning high blood pressure to flunk their physicals and prevent being drafted into the Vietnam War, while final exams were canceled due to anti-war protests. In 1968, Coretta Scott King took the stage […]
Climate Change Advocacy, from 1983 to 2021 
Professor James Stock on the development of climate perception and policy
The youth movement to confront climate change continues to grow at Harvard and across the world. This September, 80 Harvard students participated in Divest Harvard’s protests, a movement committed to removing Harvard’s financial investments in the fossil fuel industry. No one understands the years of research and education that empowered the climate movement better than […]
Synesthetic: Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia Concert
A return to togetherness, via the senses
Pop idol Dua Lipa brought screaming color and breathtaking sensuality to Boston’s TD Garden last Friday, after her tour was previously postponed due to the pandemic. Street vendors waved around t-shirts bearing her face as brightly-dressed fans lined up, vaccine cards and masks in hand. We piled into the dimly lit arena with a sea […]
