The Foreign Student

The University has long been famed for the great amount of individual freedom it grants. The University has also gained renown as a "melting pot" of nationalities. But when the two are combined, in the case of the foreign student, the result is often academic and social bewilderment.

To any student enrolled at Harvard for the first time, the opening months are hectic. But for the foreign student, who must adjust to a change in cluture, the confusion is compounded. The main problems exist on the graduate school level, since most foreign students in the college have spent several years getting "Americanized" before they enroll. Although some of the graduate schools, such as the School of Public Health with its 40 per cent foreign enrollment, have worked out good advisorial systems, others, notably the GSAS, have tended to leave the burden on the student.

In academic matters, the difficulties are immediately apparent. In GSAS, a student is assigned an advisor through his department. Most department heads have tended to treat the foreign student just like any other student, on the theory that he will thus be better integrated into the community rather than made to stand out as "different." But the foreign student soon gets into difficulty just because he is different. The usual advisorial system, which makes the student take the initiative in discussing problems with his advisor, is bound to fail. In a poll taken last year, several foreign graduate students claimed they knew nothing about an advisor. Others professed great difficulty in choosing their courses and getting oriented academically.

The obvious solution would seem to be a special advisorial system to treat foreigners as distinct men with their own particular problems. Advisors could be assigned to make periodic checks on each foreign student. Such a system would not be "babying" the foreigner, but merely providing for his special needs.

Perhaps the best answer, however, lies in some form of "big brother" system. Many problems which confront the foreign student are more easily discussed with a contemporary than with a member of the faculty. Moreover, an interested student could show the foreigner how to use the libraries, how to get around in Cambridge, and a host of other things for which a faculty member is less suitable.

A "big brother" would have the additional advantage of being able to ease the foreign student's social adjustment. To date, the University has done almost nothing for the social life of its foreign students. Although the International Student Center at 33 Garden St. can introduce the foreigner to American families in the area, only Harvard can ease the student's social life within the University.

An abortive attempt in this direction was made last year by the Student Council. An International Activities Committee was set up to investigate the problems of the foreign student, but for several reasons, including the usual political machinations and the lack of a serious foreign student problem on the undergraduate level, the committee has been allowed to stagnate.

If it could be revived, or if some similar group could be set up in the GSAS, the foreign student might be integrated into the Harvard community more successfully. Such a group could interest the various clubs with any international flavor, such as the Harvard-Delhi project, the World Federalists, or the language clubs, in extending special invitations to foreign students. It could also interest individual American students in dropping in at 33 Garden Street for an evening, or in making a special effort to meet the foreigners. The foreign student problem at Harvard is one of missed opportunities, opportunities which could be realized with very little effort.