Harvard’s newspaper will be led by first Black woman in 145-year history

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Harvard University campus. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Newsmakers)

For the first time, Harvard’s newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, will be led by a Black woman who was named as President of the news outlet, a first in its 145-year history.

Kristine E. Guillaume, class of 2020 with a concentration in African American Studies and History and Literature has been a reporter for the The Crimson covering Harvard’s administration.

“I’m definitely proud to be a part of making the Crimson a more welcoming place, and to step into this role as the first black woman,” Guillaume said. “If by taking this role, I help affirm another Crimson staffer’s sense of belonging and ownership over the work that they do, I think that makes all of the hard work worth it.”

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Guillaume’s historic appointment was celebrated by school officials.

“I have the utmost confidence in the 146th Guard’s ability to carry on our proud mission of covering and informing Harvard and its affiliates,” said current Crimson President Derek G. Xiao ’19 said. “I could not be more excited to see the direction the next President, Managing Editor, and Business Manager will take The Crimson in 2019.”

Guillaume, had previously made a name for herself covering the two former University Presidents — Drew G. Faust and Lawrence S. Bacow. She was also key in covering Harvard’s 2018 presidential search.

According to The Crimson, Guillaume is also one of three Chairs of The Crimson’s Diversity and Inclusivity committee. She lives on campus in Lowell House and will begin serving in her role as President on Jan. 1, 2019.

News writer and designer Angela N. Fu ’20 will serve as Managing Editor.

Surely the upcoming school year will be chock-full of groundbreaking news that Guillaume will tackle head on. For one, the admissions program at Harvard is now under fire in a federal district court in Boston.

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Students for Fair Admissions, a group of Asian-American students, alleges they have been systematically discriminated against by Harvard’s holistic admissions policy. The group is led by a conservative activist named Edward Blum, who has also supported prior efforts to defeat affirmative action.

Holistic admissions is a comprehensive process where more than one reviewer considers factors beyond academic merit, including but not limited to race.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

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