Moving Beyond Our Harvard Privilege

Sitting in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, waiting to hear a talk on the future of diplomacy, I quietly scanned through the day’s news. Suddenly, a flood of people filled the seats around me. They seemed to be discussing the study group that had just ended at the Institute of Politics. I noticed a man saying, “We’ve talked about that in class,” to a bunch of twenty-somethings. Maybe, I thought, the group was a class from the Kennedy School or a seminar from the College. But why, then, was one of the students commenting on the building’s architecture?

I was too curious to sit through an hour-long forum without asking. Enthusiastically, one of them informed me: “We’re students studying political science at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire.” New Hampshire? Yes, that’s right. These students drove an hour and a half to experience what is less than ten minutes from where we sleep.

While moments of clarity exist, we as Harvard students often find ourselves unconscious of the frequency with which we receive unparalleled privileges. The forum I was attending and the access it represents is one of them. Rather than passively accepting this reality, I believe that, as Harvard students, we should strive to make these privileges accessible to those who do not attend our university.

There are few places in the world with such a high concentration of knowledge, resources, and connections. These benefits make Harvard an attractive place to study and can make trips into Boston feel like wasted hours. Students work tirelessly to build strong and inclusive communities and student organizations on campus. Every hour they spend has a positive impact on our community and helps make Harvard what it is. But, when looking to make an impact, we should keep in mind that our contributions can reach beyond the gates of Harvard Yard. So, if we’re unwilling to leave the Harvard Bubble, let’s bring in other people to use and disrupt it.

Harvard is a community resource. Public access to many events at the Institute of Politics as well as Harvard Model United Nations’ work with secondary-school students, for example, are great steps toward working for the broader community instead of just working in it. The University, student organizations, and individual students should embrace this responsibility. This doesn’t require us to block out extra hours on our calendar, just to reassess the work we already do to determine how it can best serve all of our communities. Instead of a team-building activity in Sever Hall, for example, bring your organization’s membership to a local soup kitchen. Harvard strives to produce “citizen-leaders” — and that can start right now, right here. Students’ leadership abilities will prove inadequate if they form in a bubble. Without understanding how privileged communities can interact with less privileged communities, without the perspective of other communities, the education of citizen-leaders falls short.

These students from Franklin Pierce University also made clear that many students here fall short in terms of spontaneity. How often do we see an event that we want to go to less than 48 hours in advance, say to ourselves “I have too much work,” and spend another hour in Lamont Library? And how often, when your friend texts you about an event happening that night, do we say “I’d love to come” and follow through? That level of spontaneity is something I’ve encountered less and less among my first-year classmates as we’ve become more and more a part of the Harvard community. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve been no better: I added that event at the JFK Jr. Forum to my calendar a week in advance. But that doesn’t change the fact that an entire class of New Hampshire undergraduates was willing to spend most of the day on something that some Harvard students find unthinkable: an activity that can’t be put on a resume.

We should learn from these students. Let’s add spontaneity into our personal and extracurricular lives. Let’s go to that show in Boston on Saturday night, even though we have a paper due next Wednesday. And let’s bring local high schoolers to our organization’s training event. Expanding our reach and impact outwards will help us develop as leaders and understand what makes Harvard special.

None of my criticisms characterize all Harvard students. They don’t even characterize some Harvard students 100 percent of the time. But we should reflect on how we spend our time here. Let’s learn, but without setting unrealistic expectations for ourselves. Let’s support, but without worrying how we weren’t productive for an hour. And let’s lead, but without forgetting to participate.

Noah D. Secondo ’22, an inactive Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Pennypacker Hall.