Vote Yes on Calendar Reform

For a list of dates, Harvard’s academic calendar has an immense impact on the lives of students, professors, and staff alike. Undergraduates particularly are dealt a raw deal—it influences travel plans, stress levels, relationships with friends and family, and more. But now, thanks to the Undergraduate Council’s online referendum, you can add your voice to the chorus calling for Harvard’s anachronistic calendar to change. Today through tomorrow at noon, log on to the UC website and vote yes on this important proposition.

The UC’s proposal calls for beginning the 2008-2009 school year 13 days earlier in September and ending the fall exam period on Dec. 22. The proposed calendar also preserves reading period and ends the academic year earlier in May, bringing Harvard in line with peer universities. The highlight of the plan is an extended winter break that lasts until Jan. 19—thus eliminating the stress of looming papers and exams during vacation. These changes would also, according to the UC’s research, have such diverse yet salutary effects as helping ameliorate mental health concerns on campus, decreasing the University’s energy consumption, and improving athletic scheduling.

Though ultimately the decision to change the College’s calendar is in the hands of the administration and governing boards, we hope that this referendum will highlight the broad student support for such reform and push University and Massachusetts Halls into action. So students, don’t let this real chance to bring about a long overdue calendar reform slip away. Vote yes in the UC’s calendar reform referendum.