We already know Harvard University treats certain students one way, and others another way. Being a Harvard student isn’t being a Harvard student isn’t a Harvard student. There’s one for the haves, another for the have nots. It’s about where you come from, what your parents did or do for a living, whether your the kid of a wealthy donor. ENTER: A Tale of Two Harvards, a project to shine light on the unfair (and even illegal) treatment that working-class and other students born without a silver spoon in their mouth get at America’s “most prestigious university.”
I used to think it was just me. But I was wrong. Talking to other people–current and former students of Harvard, and other so-called “elite” universities–I’ve learned that my stories are all-too-familiar. Maybe I’ve gotten a bit more of them at once, but I’m definitely not alone.
So this campaign and project is about telling those stories, the ones I’ve: experienced first-hand, witnessed, or learned about by talking to other regular, middle- and working-class students. In other words: the great majority of us. Want to know the worst part? This difference barely, if at all, exists between the students. We don’t care. That’s a line the University draws–all in service of its brand, which it jealously protects, at any cost.
By telling these stories, my own and others’–stories Harvard does everything in its power to try to keep quiet and secret–I hope to accomplish something important for all of us. Embarrassing my University? Nope. Why would I want to–even if you think of it selfishly (which it’s not)–lower “the value” of my degree, and those of my friends and colleagues? Shaming individual administrators or faculty? Also no. This problem is bigger than a single person, or even a small few. It’s a culture. It’s a tradition. One of many Harvard traditions, except one that isn’t talked about.
So what is my/our goal? To help claim Harvard as a place for all of us, because it is. This University, and others like it, are places where send our “best and brightest.” If I, with your help of course, can make it so that–irrespective of where they came from, and how they EARNED their place–can rest assured they will be treated with dignity, equality, and respect then I (and we) have done our job.
So that’s why. A Tale of Two Harvards, with the aim of making it one. Will we succeed? Probably not completely. After all, this place is going on 400 years old. But can we make it better? I know we can.
So help me do our part, to get justice and fairness for students like me at the Harvards of the world.
