A “Long History of Exclusion” Continues
 January 2, 2024 Hey Meteor readers, Happy New Year to you all! May we all enter 2024 with the same energy as Survivor icon Parvati Shallow, who ended 2023 by coming out and hard-launching her relationship with comedian Mae Martin. Congratulations on finally flirting with women for real this time, Parv. Not to steal anyone’s thunder but I also had a monumental entrance into this new year—I spent two days playing board games and beating my mom at our new favorite two-player, Qawale.  In today’s newsletter, we ease back into everything with a quick tour de news and, of course, a few resolutions. New year, new knitting, Shannon Melero  WHAT’S GOING ONStepping down after six months and two days: Claudine Gay, the first Black person and second woman to serve as president of Harvard, announced today that she would be resigning after only six months—the shortest tenure in Harvard’s 388-year history. Gay’s time in office was marred by a Congressional hearing on anti-semitism—in which she was criticized for an answer about freedom of speech—and accusations of plagiarism in her earlier work. (Although 800 Black alumni wrote a letter in support of Gay after her Congressional testimony, many donors, predominantly white and wealthy, had called for her ouster.) Representative Elise Stefanik, who led the charge on questioning Gay, took joy in the resignation, writing on Xwitter today that she “delivers results” and calling Gay’s responses during the hearing “morally bankrupt.” (It’s worth noting that Rep. Stefanik is not exactly an objective party here: After January 6, she was removed from the advisory committee of Harvard’s Kennedy School for her 2020 election conspiracy theories.) While the plagiarism charges against Gay are still unfolding, one struggles to find justice in her departure, especially on the heels of the Supreme Court’s death blow to affirmative action. Harvard itself lamented the “repugnant and in some cases racist vitriol” Gay had faced after the hearings. And most likely some of that vitriol came from within the college community: As the old saying goes, you can’t put out a fire from inside the house, and Harvard’s old “long history of exclusion,” as Gay said in her inaugural address, runs centuries deep. As for Gay, she put it this way: “When my brief presidency is remembered, I hope it will be seen as a moment of reawakening to the importance of striving to find our common humanity — and of not allowing rancor and vituperation to undermine the vital process of education.” If only. AND:
 IN 2024 WE RESOLVE TO…Everyone’s making their lists of things they hope to do in the new year. Here’s what your favorite newsletter writers are aiming to accomplish: This year, I will: Let love destroy me. Listen, time is imaginary and separating it by years is arbitrary. We all know this. That said: 2023, you were an evil little prick, and I’m so glad your career is over. Last year took my dad, took my nephew, took my health, almost took my life—and more! And with each new loss, as I bravely and nobly held myself up on my own two feet, I thought, “This sure would be easier with more feet.” So fuck it. This year, I’m not waiting to “be in a good place” before finding someone. I’m opening myself to love, and when it finds me, I’m gonna let it hit me like a semi-truck. Basically, what I’m trying to say is: You can DM me on Twitter. (References available upon request). –Bailey Wayne Hundl. This year, I will: Stop questioning my own judgment. You would think by now, I’d have more faith in my thoughts and reasonings, but despite having been a journalist for almost 20 years, I sometimes question myself to the point where I find it challenging to make decisions. My boyfriend says my love language is processing. And yes, I think having conversations and weighing options and other opinions is extremely important (especially in my line of work). But this year, I’m going to try something new. I’m going to make a judgment and believe in myself. (I guess this is also my way of saying, I’m usually right so you should stop trying me!!) – Samhita Mukhopadhyay This year, I will: Touch grass. For my entire life, the great outdoors has been presented to me as a “white people” thing. We don’t camp or hike or snowboard or fish or enter the woods—only white people do that. But over the last few years, I’ve been deprogramming the belief that as a person of color, I should be relegated to only one kind of outdoor space (the beach). So in 2024, you can literally catch me outside hiking more, teaching my baby how to walk in the woods, learning outdoor skills, and prepping for my 2026 goal—I’m a Taurus, we plan ahead—of hiking across three states on the Appalachian Trail. –Shannon Melero    CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO GET YOUR UNIQUE SHARE CODE TO SEND TO A FEW FRIENDS. IF FIVE OF THEM SIGN UP FOR THIS NEWSLETTER, YOU GET A METEOR TOTE! ALREADY HAVE A CODE BUT CAN’T FIND IT? NO WORRIES, IT’S WAITING FOR YOU DOWN BELOW ⬇️
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