Harvard Undergraduate Association Discusses Campus Accessibility and Security at General Meeting

The Harvard Undergraduate Association discussed ongoing initiatives and reviewed funding for a campus-wide laundry accessibility project at its general meeting Sunday.

The initiatives included HUA’s Blue Bikes subsidy program and an upcoming Declaration Day event. HUA Co-President Travis Allen Johnson ’24 also presented campus safety concerns raised in town hall meetings held last week.

HUA Co-Presidents LyLena D. Estabine ’24 and Johnson kicked off the meeting by announcing the pair had been selected to serve on the search committee for Harvard’s new Dean of Students. Katherine G. O’Dair vacated the role in August when she was appointed University Marshall.

During the meeting, Estabine and Johnson solicited student feedback on the search, offering gift cards to those who attend a session with the advisory panel.

Estabine lauded the HUA’s free headshot project, which provided headshots to 180 undergraduates this month. She said she hopes for institutional assistance through Harvard’s Student Employment Office at the next iteration of the initiative later this year.

The HUA leaders also confirmed they were working on an order form for their Blue Bikes subsidy program, which aims to provide single-ride passes for students at a reduced price of $1.

At a freshman town hall last Wednesday, students raised concerns about campus safety and security, which ranged from poor campus lighting to unsafe walking conditions between Harvard Yard and the Quad. At Sunday’s meeting, Johnson announced the HUA will meet with Harvard University Police Department Chief Victor A. Clay to address the criticisms.

Officers and attendees at the meeting also voted unanimously to allocate $250 to an accessible laundry initiative introduced by well-being officer Hana Rehman ’25. The project, which was piloted in Lowell House, will place tactile silicon markers on laundry machines throughout campus to better accommodate visually impaired students.

“This college accepts students without considering all of the accessibility needs they might need to complete basic chores like completing their laundry each week by themselves,” Rehman said at the Sunday meeting.

—Staff writer J. Sellers Hill can be reached at sellers.hill@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @SellersHill.

—Staff writer Mert Geyiktepe can be reached at mert.geyiktepe@thecrimson.com.