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Elite Universities Face Turmoil Over Antisemitism Concerns


At Harvard, students, faculty, alumni and donors debated today over the future of the school’s leadership. Claudine Gay, the university’s president, was facing calls to resign after widely criticized comments she made last week about antisemitism on campus.

As Harvard’s governing body met today, hundreds of faculty came to Gay’s defense in several open letters. One, from Black faculty members, called the attacks on the school’s president “specious and politically motivated.” Another letter that was gaining traction, from students and alumni, called for her firing, saying “she does not represent our collective values.”

The uproar mirrors the situation at another Ivy League school, the University of Pennsylvania, where its president, Elizabeth Magill, resigned on Saturday after losing the support of the school’s board of trustees. My colleagues wrote about the path to her downfall, which began as far back as August.

At Yale, university officials condemned what they called the desecration of a public Hanukkah menorah after a protester hung a Palestinian flag from it.

Top Israeli officials warned that further Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel carried out from Lebanon could prompt a powerful response.

“Heightened aggression and increased attacks by Iranian-backed Hezbollah on Israel demand of Israel to remove such a threat,” Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet and former defense minister, told the U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in a phone call, according to a statement by Gantz’s office.

Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting Donald Trump on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, asked the Supreme Court today to rule on the former president’s argument that he is immune from prosecution. Trump had appealed the trial judge’s ruling rejecting his claim that he had “absolute immunity” from the charges because he was in office at the time.

The request was unusual in two ways: Smith asked the justices to rule before an appeals court acted, and he urged them to move with exceptional speed. The trial is currently scheduled to begin on March 4 in Washington.


Kate Cox, whose medical exception to have an abortion in Texas was put on hold after an appeal by the state’s attorney general, decided to leave the state to have the procedure. Cox, whose fetus had received a fatal diagnosis, was believed to be the first person to seek a court-ordered exception since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. It is not clear how her decision to leave will affect the case.


The Golden Globes are considered neither a true marker of artistic excellence nor an accurate predictor of Oscar success. Yet they capture the attention of millions of viewers, making them a crucial marketing opportunity.

This year’s nominations, announced this morning, highlighted the film “Barbie,” which led the way with nine nods, followed by eight for “Oppenheimer.” In television, “Succession” had the most with nine.

There were also a few notable snubs and surprises: “The Color Purple” was left out of the best musical category, while voters found a way to invite Taylor Swift to the ceremony.


We know — the year isn’t over yet. There are still many holiday parties and family dinners on the calender. In an effort to better prepare you for those events, we thought that we would share with you all the recipes that Times readers obsessed over most in 2023.

In this newsletter, we try to bring you stories, recipes and things to do to help you wind down in the evening. As we head into the busy holiday season, we’re looking for advice: Do you have a unique way of unwinding during the holidays?

If you’d like to share your tips, you can do that by filling out this form. We may publish your response in an upcoming newsletter.

In the 1970s, NASA went looking for a branding upgrade. The space agency had been to the moon and back, but its logo felt amateurish. That’s how “the worm” was born — a clean logo with N-A-S-A spelled out in bold, sinewy, orange-red letter forms.

The agency moved back to its original logo — “the meatball,” which features a blue circle, stars, an elliptical orbit trail and a red swoosh — in the 1990s after a stretch of low morale. But the iconic worm never quite went away. And now, as NASA embarks on a push to go back to the moon, it is celebrating the futuristic design once again. It’s now featured prominently on NASA’s most advanced rockets.

Have a nostalgic evening.


Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew

We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.



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