First-Year Poses as Homeless

While his classmates prepared for their finals, Rudd W. Coffey '97 spent the last four days posing as a panhandler in Harvard Square.

As part of his research for a paper for his first-year seminar, Coffey begged for spare change from passersby and handed out copies of the coupon book, "Square Deal."

"I was scared and lonely," said Coffey, who spent about two hours panhandling. "[It did not matter that] I was pretending; at that moment, I felt all alone, like there was no one who cared."

Coffey shared his experiences with his classmates yesterday as they ate brunch at the Union.

Standing on a chair in front of an almost full Union, Coffey said people in the Square pretended as though he did not exist and looked right through him.

He said the experience of posing as a panhandler was demeaning, and he learned from "the humiliation I had to go through, the loss of self-respect."

Almost 200 people passed by him within a span of 10 minutes, he said, but most of them ignored him.

"I felt like the invisible man in Ralph Ellison's book [Invisible Man]," he said.

Coffey, who upon entering the Union announced himself as a mem- ber of the Undergraduate Council's FreshmanCaucus, was doing field research for his finalpaper for a first-year seminar "City and UrbanLife: Literature of the Urban Conscious," led byTeaching Fellow Thomas J. McCarthy.

First-years eating at the Union were skepticalat the beginning of Coffey's speech but listenedwith increasing interest.

"It was touching," said Ramy M. Tadros '97. "Hemanaged to capture everyone's attention."

"Harvard students needed a jolt, which isexactly what Coffey gave them," Tadros said.

Coffey intended his speech to be a "wake-upcall" for Harvard first-years, he said in aninterview following the speech. "Most studentshere are in an ivory tower," he said. "We don'tkeep up with current events, we don't deal withproblems that face our society. If anyone can comeup with a solution, it's Harvard students--we'recapable of so much.

Coffey said he wanted the students to realizethat their attitudes and actions in their dailylives matter, and to overcome their reluctance tospeak to strangers.

Jeremy L. Lizt '97 said Coffey's speech lackeda specific remedy to the problem.

"He should have offered some kind of solution[to the apathy]. Maybe the Undergraduate Councilcould do something."

Yannis Dosios '97 said Coffey's speech waseffective but that it would not "make a differencein the long run," because it aroused emotion butno action.

"People will think about it now but willforget. [It's of] no good in the long run."

Dosios said Coffey should have suggested waysin which first-years could get involved.

Coffey said a dining services worker asked himto cut the speech short, and he was thereforeunable to reach the end, which suggested possiblesolutions.

He said people should try to buy and read"Spare Change" at least once a week. "It's nottrash, it's someone's efforts," he said.

He said volunteering at a homeless shelter wasalso a good way for Harvard students to help.

"People have their eyes on us," he said."Harvard is a breeding ground for tomorrow'sleaders. I think we should be leaders today aswell. I think we could be if we decided to.

First-years eating at the Union were skepticalat the beginning of Coffey's speech but listenedwith increasing interest.

"It was touching," said Ramy M. Tadros '97. "Hemanaged to capture everyone's attention."

"Harvard students needed a jolt, which isexactly what Coffey gave them," Tadros said.

Coffey intended his speech to be a "wake-upcall" for Harvard first-years, he said in aninterview following the speech. "Most studentshere are in an ivory tower," he said. "We don'tkeep up with current events, we don't deal withproblems that face our society. If anyone can comeup with a solution, it's Harvard students--we'recapable of so much.

Coffey said he wanted the students to realizethat their attitudes and actions in their dailylives matter, and to overcome their reluctance tospeak to strangers.

Jeremy L. Lizt '97 said Coffey's speech lackeda specific remedy to the problem.

"He should have offered some kind of solution[to the apathy]. Maybe the Undergraduate Councilcould do something."

Yannis Dosios '97 said Coffey's speech waseffective but that it would not "make a differencein the long run," because it aroused emotion butno action.

"People will think about it now but willforget. [It's of] no good in the long run."

Dosios said Coffey should have suggested waysin which first-years could get involved.

Coffey said a dining services worker asked himto cut the speech short, and he was thereforeunable to reach the end, which suggested possiblesolutions.

He said people should try to buy and read"Spare Change" at least once a week. "It's nottrash, it's someone's efforts," he said.

He said volunteering at a homeless shelter wasalso a good way for Harvard students to help.

"People have their eyes on us," he said."Harvard is a breeding ground for tomorrow'sleaders. I think we should be leaders today aswell. I think we could be if we decided to.