Parachutes
Page 32
It remained peacefully buried until 2014, when I read the op-ed in the Boston Globe in which Harvard Law professors argued against Harvard’s stricter policy for sexual misconduct. Some of the professors who signed the op-ed were the same professors who ruled on my case. “We believe that [the stricter] sexual harassment policy adopted by Harvard will do more harm than good,” they wrote.6 Reading their words was like reopening a wound.
Then, later that year, the Department of Education found that Harvard Law School was “in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 for its response to sexual harassment, including sexual assault.”7 In response, Harvard Law School issued a statement: “Harvard recognized that we could and should do more.”8
Tears streamed down my face when I read these words: they are the closest to an apology that I’d ever gotten from the institution that I felt wronged me, an institution I had admired since I was a little girl.
While I can’t get back those three years of law school, I hope that through writing Parachutes, more schools will prioritize protecting the students, not the brand.
Acknowledgments
This book would not exist if it were not for the complete, unwavering love and support of my literary agent Tina Dubois. Tina, thank you for getting this book from the very beginning. Thank you so much for believing in me. This book took a colossal amount of courage for me to write; knowing that you were on the receiving end of each draft was the only way I could do it. I am enormously grateful to have you as my agent.
To my editor Ben Rosenthal, thank you for seeing the potential and pushing me with each draft. Your sharp editorial instincts and feedback transformed this book. Thanks for your bravery and willingness in allowing me to tackle hard topics and letting me take risks, and supporting me always. I treasure the trust you’ve placed in me; it is an honor being one of your authors.
To my publisher Katherine Tegen, thank you so much for publishing Parachutes and being such a staunch in-house advocate for this book. It means the world to me to be a Katherine Tegen author and I thank my lucky stars every day. To my greater HarperCollins team—Jacquelynn Burke, Ebony LaDelle, Valerie Wong, Tanu Srivastava, Laura Mock, Amy Ryan, Kathryn Silsand, and Mark Rifkin, it is such a joy working with you! Thanks for bringing my girls Dani and Claire to the world!
To my dear friend Lucy Fisher, your support and thoughtful feedback meant everything to me. Thanks for helping me have this baby. I am so crazy-happy excited to go on this wild journey with you! To Doug Wick, thank you for entertaining us all at dinner; it contributed greatly to the editorial process. Many thanks as well to Lucas Wiesendanger and everyone at Red Wagon.
To my agent John Burnham, thank you for championing me and my work every day and working tirelessly on my deals. To my greater ICM team, Ava Greenfield, Alicia Gordon, Lia Chan, Roxane Edouard, Bryan Diperstein, Ron Bernstein, Tamara Kawar, Morgan Wood, and Alyssa Weinberger—thank you so much for being on my team and supporting Parachutes! I love you guys!
To my dear friend and attorney Richard Thompson, thank you so much for your guidance and wisdom over the years. You’re so much more than a lawyer to me and I cherish our friendship immensely.
Many thanks to my colleagues John Chew and Paul Smith at the Kelly Yang Project and to all my students that I taught for thirteen years—you inspire me beyond words. To my mentors and professors Bruce Cain and Paul Cummins, how I treasure our long, thought-provoking conversations on all aspects of academia, including how schools struggle to tackle sexual misconduct.
A million thanks to all the students, host families, parents, teachers, and members of the community I talked to while doing research for Parachutes; thank you for opening up and sharing your experiences with me.
Finally to my family—a huge thank-you to my parents for not freaking out when I told them I was writing a #MeToo book about sexual assault in schools. To my kids, Eliot, Nina, and Tilden, thanks for being patient with Mommy while I drafted this book. To my husband, Stephen, who met me when I was still a law student at Harvard and encouraged me to go to the administrative board—thank you for believing me from the start. And for believing in me all these years.
Special thanks to the Orinda Library, where I wrote this book. Those of you who know me know that libraries are dear to my heart. After my assault, I took refuge in the Harvard Law School library. It was the only place on campus where I felt truly safe. My deepest thanks to the librarians all over the nation who provide much needed comfort and safe spaces to patrons—I would not be where I am today without you.
About the Author
Photo credit Harold de Puymorin
KELLY YANG is the New York Times bestselling author of Front Desk, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature. She went to college at age thirteen and is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She is the founder of the Kelly Yang Project, a leading writing and debating program for children in Asia and the United States. She is also a columnist for the South China Morning Post and has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. Kelly is the mother of three children and splits her time between Hong Kong and San Francisco. Please find her online at www.kellyyang.com. Parachutes is her YA debut.
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Copyright
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
PARACHUTES. Copyright © 2020 by Yang Yang. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Cover art © 2020 by Chung-Yun Yoo
Cover design and hand lettering by Laura Mock
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019951312
Digital Edition MAY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-294113-8
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-294108-4
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2021222324PC/LSCH10987654321
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1. Chris Fuchs, “Report Finds China Sends Most International Students to U.S. High Schools,” NBC News, August 14, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/report-finds-china-sends-most-international-students-u-s-high-n792681.
2. Robin McDowell, Reese Dunklin, Emily Schmall, and Justin Pritchard, “AP Uncovers 17,000 Reports of Sexual Assualts in Schools Across US,” Boston.com, May 1, 2017, https://www.boston.com/news/national-news/2017/05/01/ap-uncovers-17000-reports-of-sexual-assaults-at-schools-across-us.
3. Barbara Goldberg, “U.S. Cracks Down on Female Teachers Who Sexually Abuse Students,” Reuters, April 21, 2015, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-teachers/u-s-cracks-down-on-female-teachers-who-sexually-abuse-students-idUSKBN0NC14H20150421.
4. Erin B. Logan, “Without Warning System, Schools Often ‘Pass the Trash’—and Expose Kids to Danger,” NPR, April 6, 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/04/06/582831662/schools-are-supposed-to-have-pass-the-trash-policies-the-dept-of-ed-isn-t-tracki.
5. Elizabeth A. Harris, “At Hotchkiss School, Sexual Misconduct and ‘Missed Opportunities’ to Stop It,” New York Times, August 17, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/nyregion/hotchkiss-school-sexual-misconduct.html.
6. “Rethink Harvard’s Sexual Harassment Policy,” October 15, 2014, http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/bartholet/Boston-Globe_Op-Ed_Sexual-Harassment.pdf. Matthew Q. Clarida, “Law School Profs Condemn New Sexual Harassment Policy,” Harvard Crimson, October 15, 2014, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/10/15/law-profs-criticize-new-policy/.
7. “Harvard Law School Found in Violation of Title IX, Agrees to Remedy Sexual Harassment, including Sexual Assualt of Students,” US Department of Education, December 30, 2014, https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/harvard-law-school-found-violation-title-ix-agrees-remedy-sexual-harassment-including-sexual-assault-students.
8. Jake New, “Settlement at Harvard,” Inside Higher Ed, December 30, 2014, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/12/30/law-school-reaches-agreement-education-department-do-more-protect-victims-sexual.