Elimination of Gen Ed Pass-Fail Will Not Affect Current Students, HUA Officer Announces

A proposal to phase out the pass-fail option for the General Education program will only go into effect starting with the Class of 2029, Harvard Undergraduate Association Academic Team Officer Matthew R. Tobin ’27 announced at the HUA’s general body meeting Tuesday evening.

Currently, undergraduates are allowed to take one of their four General Education classes pass-fail. However, The Standing Committee on General Education passed a proposal last spring to eliminate that option.

Tobin, a Crimson Editorial Editor, said he spoke with representatives from the General Education office, and that the standing committee’s proposal would only apply to newly admitted classes, starting with the Class of 2029.

“Anyone currently in the school, you would still be able to take Gen Eds pass fail, including next year, the year after,” he said. “So that was good to hear.”

Tobin also said that the HUA’s Academic Team is analyzing Harvard’s academic calendar to determine the feasibility of a fall break and having Veterans Day off. Students have criticized Harvard holding classes on Veterans Day.

“We’re going to try and see, what could Harvard do realistically to make its calendar better? Perhaps Veterans Day, Election Day as a holiday, having a fall break, stuff like that,” Tobin said.

HUA Co-President Ashley C. Adirika ’26 also announced at the meeting that she and Co-President Jonathan Haileselassie ’26 met with representatives from the Harvard Board of Overseers — the University’s second-highest governing body — last week to discuss “challenges and opportunities that exist on this campus.”

“Jonathan and I were really intentional about focusing on some of the challenges that the HUA has faced — namely the SAF fee stuff, the lack of space that exists on campus for student orgs — that’s feedback that we received — as well as what it’s like to interact with admin in order to push forward some of our agendas collectively,” Adirika said.

“We think that it was a really productive conversation, and we’re looking forward to seeing what comes out of that,” she added.

During the meeting, the HUA’s Well-Being Team and Inclusion Team passed a finals week care package initiative, allocating $1,500 from the Well-Being Team’s budget and $500 from the Inclusion Team’s budget to provide pens, notebooks, stress balls, and snacks for students.

HUA Well-Being Team Officer Sarah Bellagat ’27 said the HUA plans to distribute the care packages on the Science Center Plaza the week before reading period.

In a separate initiative, the HUA’s Residential Life Team allocated $1,570 toward a Thanksgiving gratitude event this Friday. The HUA will offer students a free Zinneken’s waffle if they write a card expressing gratitude to someone in their life while they wait in line for food trucks on the Science Center Plaza.

“While people are waiting in line for the food, they can write a Thanksgiving card,” HUA Residential Life Team Officer Sophia F. He ’27 said.

The HUA also voted to allocate $500 to provide finger food for the Academic Team’s upcoming annual recognition event for teaching assistants, teaching fellows, and course assistants.

“Everybody who is nominated will be invited to the reception and recognized there, in addition to the select few who will be given a special distinction,” Tobin said.

During the meeting, the HUA passed a proposal from the HUA’s Finance Team for the team to allocate $1,000 of its budget toward a feedback survey in which treasurers of student organizations can provide feedback to the HUA’s Finance Team on how to improve the club funding application process for the spring semester.

Ten club treasurers who fill out the anonymous survey will be randomly selected to receive $100 for their club.

“We’re going to raffle out 10 times $100 for the club that applied or for the club that submitted the feedback,” said HUA Co-Treasurer Tobias Elbs ’27.

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.

—Staff writer Adithya V. Madduri can be reached at adithya.madduri@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @adithyavmadduri.