Those Left Out by J-Term

To the editors:

We are deeply troubled by the administration’s recently announced decision not to offer January term programming and to require students who wish to remain in Harvard housing to submit an application demonstrating a “need to be on campus.” Foremost, we’re concerned that requiring students to justify their presence on campus will subject students to real hardship. It will be easy enough for athletes, international students, and thesis writers to present their cases; it will be considerably harder for students who have no readily identifiable reason to be on campus, but very real reasons not to be home. Many students will relish the chance to hang out at home for a month, but others are not so lucky. Some students come from troubled homes; others are estranged from parents and relatives. And others have simply agreed with their families that going to college means leaving home for good. It’s unrealistic to expect all students in such circumstances to be able to come up with jobs and places to live for three weeks in the middle of January. Is there a provision in the new system to accommodate those who can’t? If so, will such students be required to list the details of their personal lives on an application to demonstrate their need? How will they even know to apply?

On a personal level, we’re also worried by Dean Hammonds’s refusal to say whether some Houses will be closed over January. Asking students and tutors who remain on campus to relocate for a month involves a slew of complicated adjustments. Will students in the Houses to remain open be required to pack up and store their belongings before winter break to enable J-term students to move in? Will tutors —the vast majority of whom live at Harvard year-round, with school and work commitments that require them to remain at Harvard during January—also be required to relocate?

At other schools, J-terms are successful because they give students the chance to pursue on-campus experiences that depart from their normal academic routines. Such opportunities free students to explore different interests and to get to know different sides of their college community. As proposed, Harvard’s J-term will do precisely the opposite. By restricting student access to housing for three weeks in January, Harvard may save money, but it will exact a high cost by disrupting students’ lives and diminishing their college experiences. We urge the administration to reconsider its plan.


THE RESIDENT TUTORS OF MATHER HOUSE
Cambridge, Mass.
April 7, 2009