Director Barreira, Release the Health Survey Results

The University community learned on Sep. 27 that Director of Harvard University Health Services Paul J. Barreira had decided to delay publishing the results of a health survey sent to all undergraduates last spring. Instead, Barreira indicated that he intends to host interactive forums meant to engage and inform students on interpretations of the data.

We disagree with the decision to delay publication of the survey results and call on the University to release the data. If the data have been collected, analyzed, and are ready for presentation, as Barreira states is the case, then the student body has a right to access this information — particularly because the survey concerns public health and our own physical safety. The University should still hold Barreira’s proposed in-person forums, but as a way to discuss the findings of the survey and its subsequent analysis — not as a way to release the information to students. With this approach, those who are able or willing to attend the forums will be able to deepen their understanding, and those who are not will not be left in the dark.

If the University is concerned about its image, it should release the data anyway. The very fact that the University is withholding these data may suggest that it is hiding disagreeable data from the community. If this is not the case, HUHS ought to release the data immediately to dispel these concerns; if it is the case, HUHS ought to release the data to inform students of any health problems in our community. Above all, the University should prioritize the health of its students. Therefore, if the data depict a grim picture of student health at Harvard, the University should have even more reason to release them. The community should be aware of any serious public health issues that the University is confronting. At the same time, the proposed public forums can be used to fully explain the data, and perhaps give full context to any disagreeable data.

Additionally, it is especially important that the University release these results given Harvard’s difficulty with handling issues of mental health in the past and the renewed focused on the issue recently.

Ultimately, all that we ask is that the University be transparent about student health statistics. Regardless of whether or not there exist serious population-level issues, the community has a right to be immediately aware of any prominent public health trends. Consequently, we call on Barreira and HUHS to release the full and unfettered results of the survey.

This staff editorial is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.