Looking ahead to this upcoming fall semester, the Editorial Board of the Harvard Crimson has published an article calling on students to help build a “new normal” once they return to campus. Students, parents, and teachers know better than anyone else the toll that pandemic lockdowns have taken on young people’s academic and social lives. Understanding that returning to campus life will occasion a “hard reset,” the Editorial Board suggests taking the the opportunity to build a better campus culture. They offer two suggestions: turning “transactional relationships” into “genuine relationships” and “canceling cutthroat culture.”
Build Authentic Relationships
Most people will be craving in-person social interaction when they come back to campus, yet the Editorial Board notes that being surrounded by hundreds of peers can be lonely due to the transient and transactional nature of relationships. “Too often,” they are “based on what one person can offer another: help with problem sets, access to elite social circles, and networking opportunities in the future.” Instead, the Board suggests, students should draw upon the “authenticity, compassion, and true friendship” taught to them by the pandemic. Since students were isolated in their respective social distancing locations, many found they were better able to tell others about the impact of the pandemic on them and better equipped to be a compassionate ear for others who were struggling. In the coming semester, the Board encourages students to pursue more genuine interactions with others while making the effort to reach out to those in distress or need.
Turn Down the Pressure
At a school like Harvard (and indeed countless other colleges), hyper-competition and challenging academics often combine to create a mental health maelstrom. Day in and day out, many students struggle to keep up mentally and emotionally. Absent the proper outlets for spiritual refreshment and healthy, authentic relationships, students may struggle in silence. The Board writes that the pandemic elicited softer deadlines, generous extensions, “understanding and care” from professors and administrators. While standards and deadlines should not be completely lax, we concur with the Board that struggling students should not feel ashamed to ask for an extension if they are facing personal crises. We would add that while students should make every attempt to complete their work in a timely manner, they should not be so invested in achieving the perfect GPA that they will sacrifice their sanity.
Recover Traditions, Restore Trust
To become a more united campus, Harvard must help recover the cherished traditions of institutional memory. The Board points out that only the Class of 2023 has experienced a semester of freshman year on campus. The Classes of 2024 and 2025 will be experiencing campus anew, and it is up to students, alumni, and the administration to uncover the longtime traditions that lend campus its distinctive flavor. After more than a year in isolation and absorbed by Zoom calls, students would profit from face-to-face time in physical space. The Board entreats the College to “make an effort to reweave the social fabric with events and gatherings, and help the senior class preserve the quirky traditions that characterize Yard and House life.” Bringing back age-old traditions after a long hiatus may feel awkward at first, but students can share in this awkwardness together in a way that might actually restore trust.
Refresh the (Re-)Orientation Process
If Harvard is to get this campus “re-orientation” right, it should emphasize that true community can only come about through holding things in common. This means that each community member is valued for their contributions, however challenging. It means no one is vilified and ostracized for holding to the “wrong” opinion, or uttering the “wrong” words. No one should be sacrificed on the altar of ideological conformity only to obtain a false sense of peace. Furthermore, re-orientation efforts should recognize transactional relationships in all their forms, especially when it comes to the hookup culture. No one should be subjected to the atmosphere of use and distrust it creates among friends and acquaintances. In order to achieve the hard, cultural reset based on “humanism and compassion” imagined by the Board, students will need to accept the reality that sex is more than just personal prerogative, a means of pleasure, or social or academic gain. In keeping with the fundamental uniqueness of each human person and the respect they deserve, Harvard College should offer orientation programming that calls students to greatness in friendship, camaraderie in suffering, and heroism in love as part of a true education.
