On Friday, November 13, a delegate representing Dartmouth at the 10th Annual Latinx Ivy League Conference was slammed against a wall, handcuffed, and detained by a security officer at Brown University.
The conference that was supposed to be about our identity as Latinx students at an Ivy League institution became a mobilization towards keeping the Brown administration accountable. This also forced me and the other Harvard students attending this conference to face the institutional problems at our own university.
We contacted the dean of Harvard College and the president of Harvard University the day after the event. We had responses almost immediately. They both agreed to set up meetings with us to talk about the weekend and the broader implications of incident.
Walking through the white hallways, my footsteps were audible as my shoes made contact with the hardwood floors. The floors were adorned with ornamental rugs and the overall elegance of the hallway reminded me the truth about the school I attend. This building, Massachusetts Hall where the President’s office is housed, is exactly what everyone pictures Harvard to be. Elegant, wealthy, and pristine. This is what Harvard is like, but not always and not uniformly across all aspects of the college experience.
Our reason for being led down this hallway by the President of Harvard University was rooted in the fact that Harvard as an institution is not always the shining example it strives to be. Along with some of my Latinx brothers and sisters, we attempted to voice the collective struggle of making this place our home.
At this point I began to wonder about their swift response. One part of me credited their responses to the fact that they wanted to ensure our well-being and to reassure us that our voices and experiences would be heard. While my generally optimistic mindset wanted to keep this as the only explanation, I had a greater sense that things weren’t that simple.
With the student protests happening at Yale, Mizzou, and at countless other campuses, I couldn’t help but think that they were afraid that our concerns would grow into a larger protest. The pessimistic side of me, which I try so often to suppress, was telling me that their swiftness was an attempt to protect the integrity and image of this university.
Regardless, we met and President Faust listened.
She listened to our concerns and acknowledged that there were some institutional problems. She highlighted the diversity report that was being released later in the morning and called for actions to fix immediate problems surrounding race on campus. Hours after the meeting, we were given information about staff demographics that we had requested. President Faust was definitely looking to work with us, which was reassuring. What still remains troubling is that, although she may support us as individuals, she represents an institution that may not always hold their students at the center of its priorities.
President Faust was not able to give us any direct promises or responses to our demands, and while this was slightly frustrating in the moment, I realize it's indicative of a bigger problem with Harvard as an institution. When we brought up the need for a “Harvard Center for Students of Culture” or similar multicultural space on campus, President Faust referenced a philosophy that Harvard picked up in the 1960s.
This idea basically decided that there would not be separate physical spaces for minority groups because it’d stop people from learning from each others’ differing perspectives. While I understand the worries, they are completely misguided. A center for students of color is needed that will cater specifically to students of color because Harvard, as a baseline, reflects a world that is not our own. The majority of proctors I’ve come across freshman year have all been white. The mental health services on campus are made up of staffs that are predominantly white. When I look around at the people who have taken the role that my family members back home have previously played, they don’t represent me or the majority of students of color on Harvard’s campus. The center for students of color, staffed by professionals and administrators of color, would help to remedy this sense of misrepresentation that runs down into the roots of this institution. Establishing institutions with the rights and perspectives of people of color is the only effective way to help fight the systematic racism that is ingrained in every aspect of our modern American society.
Calling upon a philosophy from decades ago as explanation for resistance to the demands made is disheartening. The demographics of Harvard as an institution has changed. In the 1960s, Harvard was still completely male. There were very few minority students and even less from low-income backgrounds. Running an institution that is now completely different on its historical precedent is dangerous and can marginalize groups of students. The recent student activist moments across college campuses are important. They’ve proved that with enough noise, passion, and desire to keep administrations accountable, change will come. I’m critical of this institution because I care about it, and student activists are always working to help create inclusivity in the communities they do love being a part of.
Asking for change is something we must continue to do. We’ve started asking to be listened to, and I have optimism that tells me that we will eventually be heard. We will face opposition and we will struggle through a lack of actions by those in position, but if we keep whispering, speaking, and shouting, we will be heard.
