Keeping Iranians Out of the Red

What do you do if the money for your term bill is lost somewhere in Iran? Until a week ago, when Harvard announced that it would allow Iranian students without funds to finish the term, there was nothing to do but worry.

The worrying is over now for many of the University's 42 Iranian students--at least for a little while. "There's no general policy that everyone is going to get paid for," Jennifer Stevens, director of the International Office, said yesterday, but, the University will postpone payment deadlines and may assist students with loans and other kinds of aid while Iranian students wait for funds.

The University decided to take action to help Iranian students eight weeks ago. Daniel Steiner '54, general counsel to the University put the problem in the hands of the International Office, who found that a good many" of Iranian students were indeed having trouble paying bills.

So the University devised its policy, a step that came just in time for students like Parviz Khalili '82, who went to registration in January without tuition funds. An official sent him to Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, who signed a piece of paper and told Khalili he could go to classes while he waited for the money to arrive.

But for others, the new policy came a bit late. Aziz Banayan, a student at the Graduate School of Design, said Monday that his lack of tuition funds, had forced him to work his way through this year. And he is very worried about next year, something the University hasn't started thinking about yet.

"We haven't discussed next year," Stevens said." We're hoping things in Iran calm down a bit so we won't have to face that decision."