Overwhelmed Students

In 2002, The Boston Globe reported that Harvard students were less satisfied with their campus social life than students at rival institutions. Since then, the College administration and Undergraduate Council (UC) have tried to address the ‘fun gap.’ The UC’s latest solution involves reforming the Campus Life Committee (CLC) and creating an independent social programming board. Although taking the UC “out of the social programming business” might be a step in the right direction, it will not lead to any significant difference of satisfaction with campus social life, because the actual root of students’ dissatisfaction is their over-commitment and high stress levels.

The new programming board will add little to the quality of campus social life. By changing the name of the group that plans campus-wide activities, some expect a cure-all for the problems of satisfaction with social life. The new College events board boasts that it will throw five big events a year; however, these plans are strikingly similar to what was accomplished without a College events board in the past year. Although efforts to institutionalize the success of the Harvard State Fair and the Harvard-Pep rally are commendable, these events will hardly have a dramatic impact on students’ opinions of campus social life. A name change and a shift of finances are simply not enough.

There are more opportunities to have fun at Harvard than at many other colleges. On campus, student groups compete to draw crowds to their events each week. Between the bulletin boards around campus, the house-open lists, the Institute of Politics events lists, and the athletic-events calendar, students can find some interesting social activity almost every night of the week. Furthermore, the House system allows dorm room parties and social gatherings in ways that many other colleges do not. And, off campus, there are eight major universities, a lively bar, and music scene, as well as a city full of history to explore.

The real root of Harvard students’ dissatisfaction with their social experience is the tremendous amount of pressure that exists on campus. Most Harvard undergrads were the best of the best in high school and continue to strive for perfection. One of the most difficult transitions after entering Harvard is finding a new niche of excellence amongst a field of overachieving peers. Although numerous social opportunities exist on and off campus, the pressure to succeed prevents many students from enjoying them. Our very own Richard Kadison, chief of mental health at University Health Services, reports that 94 percent of College students reported “feeling overwhelmed by all that they had to do.”

While the College and the UC struggle with the details of social programming, they would do well to consider some of the principles espoused in this semester’s popular Positive Psychology course. Lecturer on Psychology Tal D. Ben-Shahar ’96 speaks directly to the incapacitating perfectionism on campus with simple, but powerful ideas like “learn to fail or fail to learn.” Over 800 Harvard undergrads are actively learning how to give themselves the “permission to be human,” how to pursue excellence amidst the competitive atmosphere that exists at Harvard, as well as how to have a happier social life. There is something to be said for the fact that last year’s CUE guide noted that 23 percent of students claimed the course “improved the quality of one’s life.”

The problem at Harvard lies in students’ attitudes, not in the availability of events. Increasing the number of campus-wide events is hardly the solution to students’ dissatisfaction with campus social–life. What we need is not to do more but to do less. As Ben-Shahar mentions in his class, quantity of activities affects quality of life.

Incorporating practical classes like positive psychology—courses that teach students to enjoy their college experience—into the new core curriculum might be a step in the right direction. Unless they change their mindset, Harvard’s stressed out students are unlikely to suddenly wake-up and appreciate the amazing opportunities available on campus and in the Boston area. While a creative social events board might produce activities that are interesting to undergraduates at Harvard, students whose plates are full with other obligations will surely not be in attendance.

John F. Voith ’07 is a special concentrator in biology and public policy concentrator in Winthrop House. He was the chair of the Campus Life Committee.