UC Creates Health Services Information Week, Issues Statement Condemning Sexual Harassment

The Undergraduate Council passed legislation to establish an information week about services at Harvard University Health Services and to release a statement on addressing sexual harassment at the University on Sunday.

The information week, titled “HUHS N’ U,” will teach students about the student health fee and the insurance services provided by HUHS.

“There is a general lack of knowledge on what is and is not covered under the student health fee and/or HUHS health insurance,” the legislation reads. “Harvard has an obligation to ensure and oversee the health and wellbeing of its students, faculty, staff, and associates.”

The educational programming will begin on Sunday, April 25 and will run through Friday, April 30.

The legislation, which was sponsored by Elm Yard Representative Anant P. Rajan ’24 and Crimson Yard Representative Jane J. Oh ’24, passed unanimously.

The Council also passed legislation endorsing a statement supporting survivors of sexual assault on campus and around the world.

“The threat of being sexually harassed and assaulted on Harvard’s campus is real and imminent,” the legislation reads. “It is all too common for our own undergraduate population to feel scared to walk around campus by themselves out of fear of being harassed.”

The statement cites a survey of Harvard students suggesting the rate of sexual violence on campus is “largely unchanged” since 2015.

“We are deeply outraged that, after four years, the levels of campus sexual violence remains largely unchanged since 2015,” the statement reads. “We must do more, together, to find ways to prevent sexual harassment and assault from occurring in the first place.”

The statement professes allyship with survivors of sexual harassment, and demands that Harvard make “geniune systemic change” in its culture.

The statement also lists the demands of Our Harvard Can Do Better, a student organization opposing sexual violence, and provides resources for those experiencing sexual violence.

The legislation was inspired by an effort to raise awareness of sexual and gender-based violence following the sexual assault and killing of Sarah Everard, a young woman in London. A police officer has been charged with murder in her death.

The legislation to release the statement, sponsored by Mather House Representative Yousuf Bakshi ’23, Ivy Yard Representative Tarina K. Ahuja ’24, Adams House Representative Jordan H. Barton ’23, and Crimson Yard Representative Shreya P. Nair ’24, passed by a vote of 43-0-0.

—Staff writer Lucas J. Walsh can be reached at lucas.walsh@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Mayesha R. Soshi can be reached at mayesha.soshi@thecrimson.com.