We already know Harvard University treats certain students one way, and others another way. It comes down to this: there’s a Harvard for the haves, and another Harvard for the have nots. It’s about where you come from, what you look like, what your parents did or do for a living. It’s if you’re the kid of a wealthy donor, or “just” the kid of factory worker or nurse or janitor.
ENTER: A Tale of Two Harvards, a project to shine light on this unfair (and often illegal) treatment that students from minority backgrounds, those of working-class “stock,” or any other student not born with a silver spoon in their mouth get at America’s “most prestigious university.”
I used to think it was just me. 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.
This project is about telling those stories, the ones I’ve: experienced first-hand, witnessed, or learned about by talking to other regular students of underrepresented backgrounds–whether those identities are related to their ethnicity, national origin, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and more. And, in many cases, some combination of those categories.
So what’s the goal? To help re-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.”
It’s about turning “A Tale of Two Harvards” into a tale of ONE Harvard–for everyone. Will we succeed? Not alone. But, with you help, I know we can make Harvard–and other “elite” places like it–a better place.
The first step: to spread the word, and secure justice and fairness for the many students who are like me at the Harvards of the world.
