Row

From the California Post: Claire Prindiville wakes up not knowing if this will be the day. The day that her symptoms come back. The day that her legs betray her again. The day that her vision falters, or her ability to use the bathroom is out of her control. Doctors have told her there’s a 60% chance that she’ll have to battle these same despicable conditions again, and if they return they might be worse than the first bout. Somehow, none of those possibilities crosses the UCLA rower’s mind as she rises at 5:28 every morning except Sunday thanks to an alarm that beats the roosters...

When Prindiville was a junior in high school, persistent headaches landed her in the emergency room. Doctors just sent her home with medication. Her pediatrician diagnosed her with a stiff neck, and she started acupuncture, thinking nothing of it.

Eventually, [after a major attack, her familly] learned that Claire was suffering from a rare neurological autoimmune disorder called myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease, or MOGAD. There is no known cause or cure for the disease in which the immune system attacks the protective coating of nerves in the central nervous system, impairing their ability to send signals from the brain to the rest of the body...

Having rowed for Gonzaga, Matt Prindiville told his daughter that his old sport might be an option at [UCLA]. Even though she clocked an exceptional time on a rowing machine, coaches felt her form was too raw and she was too prone to injury. They cut her. Devastated, she wrote an email asking for another chance to prove herself. Her coach called two hours later, accepting the offer. “With Claire,” her father said, “there’s a strong component of just advocating for herself.”

Showing continual improvement, she not only made the team but eventually landed a scholarship. Combining superb strength, endurance and a relentless pursuit of mastering proper technique, she’s now one of the top rowers on [the] team... 

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/05/16/sports/why-ucla-rower-claire-prindiville-isnt-disheartened-by-rare-disease/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 351

From Reuters: A longstanding diversity and inclusion requirement for U.S. law schools is teetering amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration and Republican states. The American Bar Association council that oversees law school accreditation voted... to eliminate a ​rule that requires law schools to demonstrate their commitment to diversity in recruitment, admissions, and student programming. The ‌rule has been suspended since February 2025, after Republican President Donald Trump returned to the White House and began cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts...

The change would not become final until the ABA's House of Delegates begins ​to consider it as early as August and then debates revisions. That approval process could push the diversity rule's elimination to sometime ​in 2027...

Full story at https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/american-bar-association-votes-eliminate-dei-rule-law-schools-2026-05-15/.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 164

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss the Department of Justice’s lawsuit accusing the University of failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students, arguing that the Trump administration’s claims are outdated and legally deficient. In a 49-page motion filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, Harvard’s lawyers argued that the government failed to plausibly allege a continuing violation of Title VI, which bars discrimination in programs that receive federal funding. They also contended that the Justice Department cannot use the lawsuit to claw back nearly $1 billion in already spent federal grant money. The motion is Harvard’s most forceful response to the DOJ’s March lawsuit, which alleged that the University was “deliberately indifferent” to antisemitic and anti-Israeli harassment after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The government has asked the court to impose sweeping remedies, including the appointment of an outside monitor, a bar on future federal funding, and restitution of federal grants issued during the period of alleged noncompliance. Harvard’s lawyers rejected that account..., writing that the complaint relies on “a snapshot in time that does not exist today” and ignores a long list of steps the University says it has taken to combat antisemitism...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/5/19/harvard-doj-antisemitism-dismissal/.

Life around Harvard Square

Seen on the bulletin board of an ice cream shop.

Straws in the Wind - Part 350

From the Yale Daily News: This year’s graduating seniors were first years when OpenAI released ChatGPT. As the first class with the opportunity to use large language models like ChatGPT during every year of their college career, most seniors have now incorporated artificial intelligence into their lives to assist them for various purposes, from aiding with problem sets to researching theses. According to an anonymous survey conducted by the News and filled out by 172 seniors, 91 percent of the class of 2026 have used AI for schoolwork. Only 9.1 percent of students surveyed said they had never used AI for schoolwork. A majority of students — 67.5 percent — reported using AI sometimes, often or very often. 

More than 75 percent of respondents said they have used AI in a problem set. About 64 percent of respondents said they have used AI to write a paper, while 48.5 percent of the surveyed seniors said they used AI to write their senior theses — slightly less than the 51.5 percent that said they did not...  Male respondents were more likely to report that they used AI for schoolwork than female respondents. While 16.7 percent of male respondents said they used AI “very often” for schoolwork, only 1.6 percent of female respondents said they did. According to the survey results, students majoring in the sciences were most likely to report AI use for schoolwork, followed by those in the social sciences, those in interdisciplinary majors and those in the humanities...

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/articles/91-percent-of-senior-class-has-used-ai-for-schoolwork-news-survey-finds.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 163

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard reported $126.6 million in legal fees in its Form 990 filing released Friday, up from roughly $80 million in fiscal year 2024 — a 58 percent increase. The spike marks a dramatic rise from recent years, when Harvard’s legal expenses hovered around $20 million. The University spent $19.5 million on legal fees in fiscal year 2023 and $20 million in fiscal year 2022. The total is reflected in Harvard’s Form 990 filing for fiscal year 2025, which ran from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, and includes program service, management and general, and fundraising expenses...

The heightened legal expenses came as Harvard faced broad financial pressures, with University officials warning that costs across Harvard are rising faster than revenues. Harvard reported an operating loss of $113 million in fiscal year 2025 — its first budget deficit since the pandemic — on $6.7 billion in total revenue. Harvard has been at legal odds with the White House since the spring, when the Trump administration conditioned billions of dollars in federal funding on a list of demands to the University. When Harvard rejected the conditions, the administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding, prompting Harvard to sue nearly a dozen federal agencies and their leaders...

The legal fees reported in the filing capture only the early months of Harvard’s escalating fight with the Trump administration. Later lawsuits — including two filed by the Department of Justice this year — will not be reflected until future filings...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/5/16/harvard-legal-fees-surge/.

I Never Promised You a Rose Bowl? - Part 18

And yet more on former CFO Agostini's involvement in the planning to move UCLA from the Rose Bowl to SoFi stadium:

From NBC Sports: ...In August 2025, Rams and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment president Kevin Demoff texted this to UCLA vice chancellor Steve Agostini: “good luck tonight, next year at SoFi!” The court filings also show text messages from February 2025 between Demoff and Agostini regarding a tour of SoFi by UCLA officials “to see how we would make next season work.” Said Demoff, “Yes will make whatever work.”

Demoff’s employer, and SoFi Stadium, eventually were added to the ongoing lawsuit under the theory that these outside parties intentionally interfered with the contractual relationship between UCLA and the Rose Bowl. The argument is simple; it’s impermissible to induce someone to break a valid and binding agreement. UCLA has a lease that runs through 2043. That lease must be respected by anyone who would be tempted to persuade one of the parties to violate its terms. The concept applies throughout American business. Any contract between two parties must be respected by the rest of the world. That means not saying “see you next year” but “see you when your contract ends.” ...

Full story at https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/rose-bowl-litigation-shows-kevin-demoff-was-trying-to-lure-ucla-to-sofi-stadium.