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1 of 3 | Photograph: Colin Binkley / AP / TT
The famous John Harvard statue on the Cambridge University campus also received a mouth guard. Stock Photography.
What’s the value of Harvard without a campus to network? Less than usual, at least the hundreds of students who have postponed their studies at America’s elite school seem to be reasoning. With the pandemic, teaching takes place primarily online.
The first thing Janet Hernandez did when she arrived on the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus, was look for a white tent. There she was tested for covid-19 for the first time as a student at Harvard. So what the elite American university calls phase 1: isolation awaited.
Hernandez was not allowed to leave his room for 24 hours, if he had not received a negative result before that. During phase 2, she was allowed to take half-hour walks, collect mail and food from the dining room. After three negative tests, she was able to move on to the last phase: free movement on the university campus and the opportunity to socialize with up to five people at the same time.
“The new normal”
But 90 percent of the time is spent in his room, where he participates in teaching in front of the computer. This fall, with a few exceptions, digital studies will be applied at Harvard.
– Before covid, I really wanted to sit in classrooms and talk with teachers and participate in seminars where it is possible to meet people one by one, says Hernández to the Insider media company.
– But I still feel that we have made the most of the situation. It’s sad, but this is the new normal.
Living and studying in prestigious schools like Harvard is seen by many as a ticket on the journey to a successful future. Life on campus offers the opportunity to network with influential friends and professors in an environment that can open important doors. Years of hard work are often behind every positive admission letter.
Stop mixing
But the pandemic has pierced the dreams of many people, at least temporarily. The mix is largely limited to chat rooms at Harvard, as well as other elite universities such as Princeton, Stanford and Johns Hopkins, which have largely been transformed into virtual universities during the fall.
Great uncertainty and lack of close contact has led many to postpone their studies at Harvard. Twenty percent of first-year students – about 340 people – chose sabbaticals before beginning their elite education in the midst of a pandemic. Many former students have made the same decision.
In all, the university estimated that just over 5,200 students will enroll for the fall semester, about 1,400 fewer than usual.
This means that the campus is emptier than expected. The plan was to let about 40 percent of the students live there, all new and people who might need special resources. However, the school’s selection process about who should or should not be able to live on campus has caused concern to spread, especially among students who rely on scholarships and other supports to fund their education.
Must-have mouth guard
And in late August, when the campus lawn is usually packed with late-summer tourists, the confused new students and the reunited students weren’t business as usual. Instead, the masked people took their seats in the student hallways in silence.
According to the university, only about 25 percent of all students have moved onto campus.
– We must wear mouth guards. Of course we cannot meet. And we’re not allowed to invite anyone into our rooms, then we get a red card and then we’ve gotten into trouble, Angela Dela Cruz, 24, tells student magazine The Harvard Crimson.
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