Size Matters

Twenty-five years from now, when the Class of 2004 returns to Cambridge for its College reunion, its members will be greeted by an unfamiliar campus. According to an upcoming report from the Undergraduate Life Task Force, science labs might not be the only buildings set to be relocated across the Charles. At least four, and up to eight, undergraduate Houses may end up anchoring Harvard’s Allston campus, a move that could shift the center of gravity of undergraduate life across the river.

The report suggests that the large number of proposed Houses, however, would only become part of the University’s overarching Allston proposal if the College decides to expand the student body. So far there has been little open discussion of such an expansion, and we look forward to further campus-wide debate.

But, as of yet, we oppose increasing the size of the undergraduate classes because having more students will dilute any advances made in the quality of undergraduate education without proportional benefit—we don’t think admitting more students is even the best way to diversify the College’s student body. Crafting a more internationally and socioeconomically diverse group of undergraduates doesn’t require larger class sizes.

When University President Lawrence H. Summers was installed, he made undergraduate education his priority, saying at the ceremony: “We will need in the years ahead to ensure that teaching and learning are everything they can be here.” Specifically, he proposed increasing Faculty size to ensure that undergraduates have ample one-on-one access to their professors. And now, just as this Faculty expansion is getting underway, we are hearing about a possible expansion of the student body, a move that would undermine many of the advances made by the Faculty increase, at least for undergraduates.

Four new Houses mean at least 1,500 new undergraduates. Imagine what this will mean for academics. More mediocre Teaching Fellows (TFs) will assume teaching duties, professors will be less accessible and intro-course class sizes will balloon beyond Sanders Theatre’s capacity. On the plus side, Harvard athletics will get a boost when Ec 10 students stay after class—now held in the Harvard Stadium—and actually sell out a home football game. Scraping the bottom of the barrel for TFs and sending class sizes higher and higher does not sound like a way to better undergraduate education. Harvard has a proud tradition as a mid-sized institution. Just maintaining current levels of academic quality will be extremely difficult if Harvard’s student body resembles the University of Pennsylvania’s more than Williams’.

The most compelling argument made in favor of growing the College is the possibility of adding more international students to give undergraduates more diverse perspectives on culture and scholarship. This is a laudable goal, but there must be a fine balance at Harvard between learning from your professors and learning from your peers. Striking that balance should take precedent over further “improving” the student body through internationalization.

We also question Harvard’s definition of diversity. While more international students will undoubtedly bring certain benefits, it is also important that the admissions office do a better job of getting applications from international students of more socioeconomically diverse backgrounds. The prospect of applying to an expensive, far-away U.S. university just seems too out-of-reach for poorer international students, thus the College tends to attract many well-off students from abroad, but proportionally fewer from disadvantaged backgrounds. The College should tout its excellent financial aid program and step up international recruiting to get a more socioeconomically diverse group of students from overseas, not throw more undergraduates at the issue.

Harvard should be the most academically and socially exciting college in the world. The wholesale addition of new students will accomplish neither goal. College officials should stick to improving our academic experience with more faculty and our social experience with a proportionally more diverse student body.