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 Seal of "The Harvard Crimson" | |
 Front page ofThe Harvard Crimson on September 8, 2017 | |
| Type | Student newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| School | Harvard University |
| Owner(s) | The Harvard Crimson, Inc. |
| President | McKenna E. McKrell |
| Managing editor | Tilly R. Robinson Sally E. Edwards (Associate Managing Editor) Cam E. Kettles (Associate Managing Editor) |
| Business Manager | Jack D. Jassy |
| Founded | January 24, 1873; 152 years ago (1873-01-24) |
| Headquarters | Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| ISSN | 1932-4219 |
| Website | thecrimson.com Archives: 1873–present |
The Harvard Crimson is thestudent newspaper atHarvard University, anIvy League university inCambridge, Massachusetts. The newspaper was founded in 1873,[1] and is run entirely byHarvard College undergraduate students.
The Harvard Crimson was one of many college newspapers founded shortly after the end ofCivil War. The paper describes itself as "the nation's oldest continuously published daily college newspaper", although this description is contested by other college newspapers.[2]The Crimson traces its origin to the first issue ofThe Magenta, published January 24, 1873, despite strong discouragement from the Dean. The faculty of the College had suspended the existence of several previous student newspapers, including theCollegian, whose mottoDulce et Periculum ("sweet and dangerous") represented the precarious place of the student press at Harvard University in the late 19th century.The Magenta's editors declined Dean Burney's advice and moved forward with a biweekly paper, "a thin layer of editorial content surrounded by an even thinner wrapper of advertising".
The paper changed its name toThe Crimson in 1875 when Harvard changed itsofficial color by a vote of the student body—the announcement came with a full-page editorial announcing "magenta is not now, and... never has been, the right color of Harvard." This particular issue, May 21, 1875, also included several reports on athletic events, a concert review, and a call for local shopkeepers to stock the exact shade of crimson ribbon, to avoid "startling variations in the colors worn by Harvard men at the races".[citation needed]
The Crimson included more substance in the 1880s, as the paper's editors were more eager to engage in a quality ofjournalism like that of muckraking big-city newspapers; it was at this time that the paper moved first from a biweekly to a weekly, and then to a daily in 1885.[3]
The paper flourished at the beginning of the 20th century with the commission of its own building in 1915, located at 14 Plympton Street inCambridge, which remains the paper's headquarters, and its purchase ofHarvard Illustrated Magazine and the establishment of an editorial board in 1911.[4] TheIllustrated's editors becameCrimson photographers, and thereby established the photographic board. The newspaper's president no longer authored editorials single-handedly, and the paper took stronger editorial positions.
During 1930s and 1940s, reduced financial resources and competition from a publication established by ex-editors represented serious challenges to theCrimson's viability. In 1943, the banner on the paper readHarvard Service News, and the stories focused almost exclusively on Harvard's contribution toWorld War II. Under the authority of so-called wartime administrative necessity, alumni discouraged theService News from editorializing. The paper was administered during the war by a board of Harvard University administrators, alumni, and students.[citation needed]
In 1934,The Crimson defended a proposal byAdolf Hitler's press secretary,Ernst F. Sedgwick Hanfstaengl, to donate to Harvard a prize scholarship to enable a Harvard student to attend aNazi university. TheHarvard Corporation voted unanimously to refuse the offer: "We are unwilling to accept a gift from one who has been so closely identified with the leadership of a political party which has inflicted damage on the universities of Germany through measures which have struck at principles we believe to be fundamental to universities throughout the world."The Crimson defended it, "That political theories should prevent a Harvard student from enjoying an opportunity for research in one of the world's greatest cultural centers is most unfortunate and scarcely in line with the liberal traditions of which Harvard is pardonably proud."[5]
The paper returned to its traditional civilian version in 1946, and it grew larger, more financially secure, more diversified, and began more extensive coverage of the world outside the campus during the earlyCold War era.
While financially independent and independent of editorial control by the Harvard University administration, the newspaper remained under the university's administrative control with its student staff subject to university rules and discipline.Radcliffe women on staff were forced to follow curfews to which Harvard men were not subject, and that interfered greatly with the late hours required in producing a newspaper. Throughout the 1950s,The Crimson and various university officials exchanged letters debating these restrictions.Crimson editors pushed for later curfews for their female writers, who grew increasingly involved in the newspaper's daily operations. Under president Phillip Cronin ('53), women became staff members rather than Radcliffe correspondents.
Crimson writers were involved in national issues, especially when anti-communist investigative committees came to Harvard. FuturePulitzer Prize–winning writerAnthony Lukas' stories, including an interview withHUAC witnessWendell H. Furry, were sometimes picked up by theAssociated Press. Not even a staff writer yet, Lukas had arrived at the university withJoseph McCarthy's home number in his pocket. His father was an opponent of McCarthy's and a member of theAmerican Jewish Committee, the group that producedCommentary magazine.
In 1966, The Harvard Crimson, Inc. was incorporated as a nonprofitMassachusetts corporation. The incorporation was involuntarily revoked, then revived, in 1986.[6]The paper's key leadership include a president, managing editor, and business manager.[citation needed]
In 1991, student reporters forThe Crimson, including Josh Gerstein, who decades later would break the news of the Supreme Court's plan tooverturn Roe v. Wade, were the first to break the news that Harvard had selectedNeil Leon Rudenstine, thenPrinceton University's provost, to succeedDerek Bok as the university's president. The reporters, who had learned of a secret meeting in New York City, got their confirmation when they approached a surprised Rudenstine on his plane ride back toBoston. The story appeared in an extra bearing the dateline "Somewhere Over New England".
Throughout the 1990s, there was a great deal of focus on making the staff of the paper more inclusive and diverse. Over time, a financial aid program was instituted to try to address the problem of a lack of socioeconomic diversity. Today, some 90 editors participate in the financial aid program every semester.
Crimson editors repeated their scoop of Harvard's presidency in 2001, beating out national media outlets to report thatLawrence Summers would succeed Rudenstine, and again in 2007, being the first to reportDrew Gilpin Faust's ascension to the presidency.[7]
On January 12, 2004,The Crimson printed its first color edition after obtaining and installing four new Goss Community color presses. The date also marked the unveiling of a major redesign of the paper itself.
In 2004,The Crimson filed a lawsuit against Harvard University to force the Harvard University Police Department to release more complete records to the public. The case was heard before theMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in November 2005. In January 2006, the court decided the case againstThe Crimson and in favor of the university.
In November 2005,The Crimson had its records subpoenaed byConnectU in relation to its lawsuit againstFacebook.The Crimson challenged the subpoena, stating that it would not comply with ConnectU's demands for documents.
On April 23, 2006,The Crimson was the first to allege that portions of Harvard studentKaavya Viswanathan's highly publicized debutyoung adult novelHow Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life had beenplagiarized from two bestselling books by novelistMegan McCafferty.[8][9][10] Further allegations were later made that Viswanathan's novel had drawn inappropriately from other novels as well.[8][9][10]
In 2019,The Crimson came under fire from some Harvard student groups after an article on a campus protest calling for the abolition ofU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The article included the fact that ICE did not respond to a request for comment, leading to backlash from Harvard student groups who said that reaching out to ICE endangered Harvard students. TheCrimson stood by its reporting and received support from journalistic ethics experts.[11][12]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic,The Crimson abruptly switched to an internet-only format in March 2020. Paper editions were later restored during the fall 2021 semester. In July 2022, the paper announced that it was changing from daily to weekly issues that fall as part of a shift to digital-first journalism.[13]
On April 29, 2022, the paper editorialized support for theBDS movement.[14] In a May 1, 2022 editorial, the editors wrote, "We are proud to finally lend our support to both Palestinian liberation and BDS — and we call on everyone to do the same." The paper's editorial board admitted that where it previously held a "skeptical" stance on the matter, it has now shifted to fully supporting the BDS campaign, insisting that, "The weight of this moment — ofIsrael's human rights and international law violations and of Palestine's cry for freedom — demands this step".[15]
In 2024,The Crimson scooped national outlets to the news thatClaudine Gay would be resigning her post after a tumultuous semester in office.[16][17]
In May 2024, the newspaper announced it has raised $15 million through acapital campaign launched in 2020. The goal was to get $6 million for innovation, $6 million for its financial aid program and $3 million for building renovations, which had not seen a major renovation in 35 years. The funds will be stored in an organizational trust managed byCrimson alumni.[18]
The Crimson commissioned its headquarters building at 14 Plympton Street in theHarvard Square area in 1915. It was designed byJardine, Hill & Murdock, and has been called "stolid, institutional and boring. All the things theCrimson isn't."[19]
Any student who volunteers and completes a series of requirements known as the "comp" is elected an editor of the newspaper.[20] As such, all staff members ofThe Crimson, including writers, business staff, photographers, and graphic designers, carry the title of editor. If an editor makes news, they are referred to in the paper's news article as a "Crimson editor", which, though important for transparency, also leads to characterizations such as "former PresidentJohn F. Kennedy '40, who was also aCrimson editor, ended the Cuban Missile Crisis." Editorial and financial decisions rest in a board of executives, collectively called a "guard", who are chosen for one-year terms each November by the outgoing guard. This process is referred to as the "turkey shoot" or the "shoot". The unsigned opinions of "The Crimson Editorial Board" are decided at triweekly meetings that are open to anyCrimson Editorial editor (except those editors who plan to write or edit a news story on the same topic in the future).
The Crimson is one of the only college newspapers in the U.S. that owns its own printing presses. At the beginning of 2004The Crimson began publishing with a full-color front and back page, in conjunction with the launch of a major redesign.The Crimson no longer prints in-house but used to print over fifteen other publications on its presses.
The Crimson has a rivalry with theHarvard Lampoon, which it refers to in print as a "semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine."[21][22] The two organizations occupy buildings within less than one block of each other; interaction between their staff has included pranks, vandalism, and romance.[23]
Currently,The Crimson publishes two weekly sections in addition to its regular weekly paper: an Arts section on Tuesdays and a magazine calledFifteen Minutes on Thursdays. Issues ofFifteen Minutes come periodically in the form of glossies.
The Crimson is a nonprofit organization that is independent of the university. All decisions on the content and day-to-day operations of the newspaper are made by undergraduates. The student leaders of the newspaper employ several non-student staff, many of whom have stayed on for many years and have come to be thought of as family members by the students who run the paper.
The Crimson is composed of 10 boards: Arts, Business, News, Sports, Editorial, Blog, Design, Magazine, Multimedia, and Technology.[24]
Former editors include twoU.S. presidents,Franklin D. Roosevelt andJohn F. Kennedy, and many journalists, government officials, and academics.
After the Civil War ... on almost every campus a publication was established which modeled its form, content, and purpose on regular daily newspapers. TheYale Daily News, first to be founded, is still in operation. TheHarvard Crimson began in 1873 as a more newsy rival ofThe Advocate. Ten years later, it merged with a competitor to become a daily.
WhenThe Crimson went daily, its editorial content became the express domain of its president, which lasted until 1911, when President Daniel Nugent, Class of 1911, established a separate editorial board, which has been a key fixture in the Harvard and local Boston community ever since. To be perfectly honest, it should be said that even in 1911 theCrimson's higher executives had a much more influential voice when it came to staff editorials; by the mid-1930s, formal editorial meetings, open to the entire staff, were held regularly as they are today.
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