To be among the selected 40% of Harvard undergraduates living on-campus this semester, you had to agree to abide by the Residential Community Compact, as released by the Dean of Students Office. These guidelines have been shaping the lives of students currently in residence, as the administration strives to maintain a low infection rate. Recent conversations have revealed that students’ ability to connect with their peers has been significantly curtailed, with the most affected demographic being first-years, who comprise the majority of students living on-campus. This transition to a new community, campus, and course load are generally experiences first-year students adjust to together.With the conservative COVID-19 rules Harvard has been enforcing, however, social interaction has been seriously impacted.
But what comprises a community compact, anyway? The compact is split into six main categories: required testing, isolation, physical distancing, hygiene, travel, and security.
Guidelines request several COVID-19 courtesies: masks in public, no groups larger than 10, no groups larger than four when eating, and no students in rooms that are not their own. So far, it’s clear that the guidelines and the students’ adherence to them is working: as of September 23, the Harvard University-wide COVID-19 Testing Dashboard reports a total of nine total undergraduate student positive cases and a 0.02% positivity rate for the University. At some point, though, students may inevitably become frustrated by a lack of obvious “reward” for their continual efforts, especially given that the benefits of compliance cannot be seen. On top of that, \ COVID-19 has no end in sight, and Harvard has yet to release a timeline addressing eased restrictions. Students could get antsy,these boundaries may be tested. Not to mention, there are a wide range of so-called boundaries. When you know other students have been hosting parties in their rooms, the thought of sitting unmasked in the Yard eating with five people rather than four really doesn’t seem too detrimental, much less dangerous. It can be easy to forget, especially when you’re off-campus, that first-years are merely eighteen—we are young and can be stupid.
So whose responsibility is it to ensure community members are abiding by these regulations? Due to emerging requests from students who complained that there was not a way to “report” classmates for violating guidelines, there is now a handy page on the Harvard website purely for the purpose of notifying the administration of your peers’ wrongdoings. On September 9, students received an email from Dean O’Dair, notifying them of the community council email address that could be used for “about a potential violation of the Residential Community Compact”. On September 17, in the “Weekly Update” email sent out to undergraduates, whether they lived on campus or not, students received additional information on the reporting platform, including a new webpage that provided descriptions of how cases might be handled. Additionally, there was the Community Compact Violation Form, with specific spaces for location, names, time, and even an upload section for photo evidence of the event of the violation.
In the interest of creating community, a tip line is not going to generate a close-knit “bond” between classmates; this tip line may only further incentivize students to be exclusive and find ways to party and socialize in more dangerous ways. “The snitch line creates a separation amongst the student body,” expresses first-year Grace Coolidge. Nothing screams, “spread the virus!”, like off-campus parties filled with way too many unmasked kids; while I understand how problematic this may seem, it’s obvious that these kids are simply desperate for normal social interaction. “It’s no secret that there’s plenty of off campus parties,they’re happening because those are the only places people can gather because we cant be in each other’s dorms,” shares a first-year, who prefers to remain anonymous. The desire to be liked, to be cool, and even more basically—to have friends—has not disappeared because of COVID-19. These students are just trying to find their people like every first college Instagram post suggests.
This idea to create a “safer” community by allowing students to “notify” administrative deans about rule violations may seem beneficial. However, it’s likely that the overall impact will be a net negative for school culture as a whole. The possible social repercussions are staggering: think about a student reporting a group, and that group then finding out who that student was! If a student doesn’t want to break any of the COVID-19 rules—don’t—but, is it really a student’s responsibility to police the situation? One student remarked, “They should just leave it up to people of authority.” Chances are, if a rule is violated seriously enough, the students involved will in fact get caught, as displayed in the on-going community council cases that are in progress currently. The same student continued, saying, “It ruins the sense of community between students; it makes us feel like we’re out to get each other, rather than to support each other.”
We have all been through this pandemic—there is no way to remove oneself from it. Nevertheless, students should not feel as though they should take it on themselves to be disloyal to their peers. Harvard may consider releasing a timeline for its rule easing,even if it’s tentative. Students have now been on campus for about a month, and to have essentially the same rules as at the time of arrival is frustrating. Why create a culture of secrecy and exclusivity if it can be avoided? The tip line does just that; there is a reason we are students here and not administrators. Kids need to be kids.
Plenty of college campuses have closed around the country for COVID-19 spikes. The nation watched as the University of North Carolina (UNC) was the first major university to shut down only a week after classes had resumed. The student test positivity rate reached 13.6%, 177 students had tested positive, and nearly 400 others were in quarantine, as reported by CNN. The fear that a similar f outbreak could happen at Harvard is very grounded. Even so, Harvard’s initial campus COVID-19 plan was far more conservative than that of UNC, and included one single class cohort on-campus and no in-person classes. Harvard’s current testing statistics reflect these aggressive COVID guidelines, as the current positivity rate on campus is only 0.03%, with just 5 new positive cases out of 15,908 tests in the last 7 days. Given students are being tested three times a week, there is reason to believe that any risk posed would be mitigated very quickly. The rules on campus, paired with the tip line incentivize off-campus partying especially, and with schools like Boston College showing higher rates of COVID-19, there should be a goal to keep students on campus, without fear of being ratted on. There’s no need for an eighteen-year-old to be acting like “big brother.” This tip line does far more damage than good and will create a divide between students,if it has not already.
I am not suggesting that Harvard students break campus COVID-19 regulations and social distancing guidelines. After all, Harvard has a responsibility to help keep the spread of COVID-19 from impacting its outer communities of Cambridge and Boston. I don’t think students should be hosting massive parties indoors, but that is currently just as “reportable” as having your mask off in the Yard. My prevailing point is this: college is weird enough as it is with a pandemic. Making friends, maintaining relationships, and even finding productive spaces to work is difficult. But, the violations of COVID-19 regulations will be handled by administrators, and students should not feel as though, nor be given the opportunity to police the situation by reporting peers they will know for the next four years. While this tip line is well-intentioned , there is no doubt that the snitch culture it has already generated will negatively impact the values and bonding of the Class of 2024.
The Independent is respecting the author’s request to remain anonymous, in light of the current climate.