A new internal report shared with GBH News on Friday paints a concerning picture of student life at Harvard University, revealing that many undergraduates are anxious, disengaged and hesitant to speak openly – both in class and beyond.
The report, from the university’s Classroom Social Compact Committee, raises an existential question: what’s the purpose of a Harvard education? It goes on to say that the goal is to build “a community of academically excellent, curious, and engaged students who are eager to learn.” However, the findings suggest that the university, in many ways, is falling short of that mark.
Among the findings, the report says many students prioritize extracurricular activities over academics, finding them more fulfilling, while only one-third of graduating seniors feel free to express personal beliefs on controversial topics and fear being socially shunned. Professors, too, shared similar concerns.
Maya Jasanoff, a history professor and co-chair of the committee, said students and faculty at Harvard and across many other universities are really struggling.
“I deeply empathize with that,” Jasanoff said. “We’re getting a bunch of students who are arriving on campus having really run a gauntlet to get in in the first place, and then very quickly feel a set of pressures about where they’re going to go next.”
Jasanoff dismissed the notion that the report casts Harvard’s classrooms in a negative light, but described it instead as “forward-looking.”
Among the report’s key recommendations are changes to classroom norms and reducing the pressure that many students feel to constantly succeed. One major suggestion is the university-wide adoption of anonymity protections in classroom discussions, inspired by the well-known Chatham House Rule used by Harvard Law School and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Another recommendation encourages both students and faculty to feel assured that their class performance won’t be judged based on their social or political views.
“People are anxious,” said Jasanoff, who teaches the history of the British Empire. “They’re anxious that if they share material that seems at odds with certain perspectives that they might get in trouble on social media or get talked about or get pulled up before a dean.”
The full faculty will review the report, including changes to the student and faculty handbooks, next Tuesday with final approval as early as March. Hopi Hoekstra, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, commissioned the report and is expected to consider and endorse the recommendations.
