Harvard Yard performances highlight, embrace diversity
With music, dance and spoken word, a small group of Harvard students animated an educational display on diversity last Friday, opening up the conversation and bringing new life into one of the more intimate public spaces in Harvard Yard’s Tercentenary Theatre. Billed as “Defending Diversity: A Timeline of Affirmative Action and Race-Conscious Admissions,” the afternoon event drew students and passing tourists into “Autumn (Nothing Personal),” Teresita Fernández’s colorful outdoor installation. In the center of the piece’s concentric circles, the hosting organizations — the Task Force on Asian and Pacific American Studies (TAPAS) and the Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights (EMR) — had posted a series of placards noting court cases and the ensuing laws that have defined race-related decisions in U.S. education history. These, as well as the sunny orange-yellow artwork, limned a space that was both intimate and open, perfect for small-scale performances within the wider scope of Harvard...