College Pulls Plug On Prefects

The 20-year-old Prefect Program will be abolished effective this fall, the new Associate Dean of Advising Programs Monique Rinere said yesterday in an interview.

The program will no longer exist in its present form but will be “morphed into something else,” Rinere said.

Rinere, who is just six days into her new post after arriving at Harvard from Princeton University, said the Prefect Program may be replaced with a peer advising system that matches upperclassmen with incoming freshmen the summer before they enter the College.

Last night, members of the board of the Prefect Program issued an e-mail statement to prefects, proctors, and some freshmen declaring that they now harbored “serious concerns about the future of the freshman experience at Harvard” because of the planned change.

“We’re worried that the social and community building aspects of freshman year, that we worked so hard to foster through the Prefect Program, will be de-emphasized,” prefect Sandy L. Ullman ’07 said.

A Student Advisory Board (SAB) of 15 to 25 undergraduates will be established this spring to determine the shape of the new advising program, Rinere said.

“I have invited the members of the prefect board to join us on the Student Advisory Board (SAB), and I’m hoping that they’ll accept my invitation so that they can help shape the peer advising program,” she said.

Last night, prefect board members decided to take Rinere’s offer of positions on the SAB, but Ullman said board members are concerned that the new group, once formed, may not have enough time to make effective recommendations.

Students interested in applying for posts on the SAB must submit an online application by this Friday and will be screened by Rinere as well as members of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) of the Undergraduate Council, Rinere said.

Prefect Shaan K. Hathiramani ’08 said the board first learned about the disbanding of the organization at a meeting with Rinere on Sunday. He added that Rinere told the board that the decision to dissolve the program was issued by top College administrators.

Prefect Chris W. Lawton ’07 said the prefects should have been consulted before the decision to terminate the program was finalized.

“There’s definitely going to be a big void to be filled in terms of the resources that we are providing,” he said.

Prefect Caitlan L. McLoon ’07 said the new advising system does not seem like it will adequately replace the Prefect Program.

“[Eliminating the program] will hurt the freshman experience in that they won’t have friendly upperclassmen that come and answer questions and help them with their transition,” she said. “The prefect program may need to be revised but getting rid of the program entirely is a mistake.”

Aaron D. Chadbourne ’06­—a prefect for three years—said freshman life could improve if aspects of the Prefect Program are maintained within the new advising system.

He added that the Prefect Program currently does not have substantial institutional support from the College.

“I am hopeful that the new advising system the College is to implement will receive more funding, more training, and greater support,” Chadbourne said.

This year, 158 upperclassmen are assigned to freshmen entryways as prefects.

The program is currently administered by the Freshman Dean’s Office.

The Curricular Review’s Report on Advising and Counseling, released in December, calls for the institution of peer advisers that would “replace and augment the integration and introductory function performed by participants in such existing programs as the Prefect Program.”

Chadbourne, who is the former chair of the SAC, said the decision to terminate the Prefect Program did not come as a surprise to him because of the recommendations in the report.

According to the document, the new peer advisers will start corresponding with freshmen even before they arrive in the Yard.

“Peer advisers can describe how to shop, when to buy books, how to think about concentrations and courses, and many other matters, along with giving advice about social life and extracurricular activities,” the document states.

—Staff writer Ying Wang can be reached at yingwang@fas.harvard.edu.