Tulane Frosh Get UC Support

In its meeting Sunday night, the Undergraduate Council (UC) adopted a position paper advocating that the eight visiting freshman students from Tulane University—who came to Harvard after Hurricane Katrina forced Tulane to shut down for the semester—be allowed to apply to transfer to Harvard permanently.

If Harvard administrators agree to allow the students to apply, the decision would renege on an earlier agreement between Harvard and Tulane, stipulating that all 25 visiting Tulane students, including the eight freshmen, would return to Tulane at the end of the fall semester.

But now, three months after their arrival, five of the eight freshmen have appealed for permission to stay at Harvard—and have received official UC support.

In Sunday night’s meeting, UC members adopted the position paper with a 31-7-4 vote.

“These freshmen, whose entire college experience is Harvard, should have the option to apply,” said UC President Matthew J. Glazer ’06 at the meeting.

Several visiting freshmen have said they now feel integrated into the Harvard community and do not wish to return to a school they have never attended.

“I don’t feel any identity with Tulane,” said visiting freshman Chelsea M. Grimes. “I just feel like it’s a terrible burden to place on us. We’ve adjusted to college life here at Harvard. Both schools are at fault. They are playing off each other. Both talk about the contract and not about us as people.”

Amy C. McClendon, another visiting freshman from Tulane, said, “I want to stay at Harvard because all of my friends are here. I don’t know anybody at Tulane besides the other visiting students I’ve met here.”

Explaining the Tulane visiting students’ appeal to the UC for support, visiting freshman Julie W. Hall said, “If other students are expressing interest in Tulane students staying here, it shows the Harvard administration that we are a part of the community—not just visiting students.”

Yet Hall acknowledged the complex implications of Harvard’s administrative decision.

“There is a policy problem with us staying any longer,” she said. “It would be the downfall of the Tulane class of 2009. If Harvard allows us to stay, then other schools will allow us, too.”

Thus far, the Tulane students have written letters of appeal to University President Laurence H. Summers, Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby, Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71, and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67.

Hall described the administrators’ response—a letter and an e-mail saying they would not be allowed to stay—as “very distant communication.”

Grimes said a logical next step would be to involve the Tulane administration in the debate.

“Everyone’s writing letters to Harvard, but I think we need to start writing letters to Tulane,” she said.

Not all UC members present at the meeting endorsed the position paper.

“Last week, we passed legislation asking Harvard to honor its specific promises with janitors,” said UC member Ryan M. Donovan ’07. “Why shouldn’t we want to honor the explicit promises we made with other schools?”

In response, UC member Ryan A. Petersen ’08, who co-wrote the position paper, said, “It is a collegial courtesy on this issue. It is not an original contract or a legally binding thing. There are some ethical issues with the idea of Harvard and Tulane making decisions on the freedom of movement and freedom of education of visiting Tulane students without their consent.”

As UC support for the visiting Tulane freshmen mounts, parental pressure builds for students struggling to figure out their second-semester plans.

“My parents want me to go back to Louisiana,” said McClendon. “My dad feels like if I don’t go back I’m letting down the state in a time of need. My mom says, ‘Do what you think is right.’ I want to keep my options open.”

Grimes said she, too, was apprehensive about returning.

“My mom does not want me to go back to Tulane,” she said. “It is not just the school, but the terrible environment. Tulane is not the same school that I decided to go to.”

In spite of the uncertainty of her situation, Hall said she was appreciative of Harvard’s efforts to welcome her and her peers into the community.

“I came to Harvard, and I have never felt so welcome at a school before,” she said. “Harvard gave us blankets. They took us to Target. I have had a lot of fun integrating with students in my dorm.”