CollegeBoxes Contract Puts Property In Jeopardy, Again

To the editors:



We were very disappointed to read in The Crimson (“CollegeBoxes to Return”, news, May 4) that Harvard has decided to award a contract to a company with proven ineptitude at logistical performance and customer service, despite the administration being urged by undergraduates to not submit our property to the mercy of incompetent hands for a second consecutive year.

The stories of scores of students whose belongings were mismanaged by CollegeBoxes last summer attest to the company’s disregard for its own policies and for the customer’s needs. Knowing this, student leaders privately and publicly (including in an Undergraduate Council resolution and a Crimson editorial) called on Harvard to show better judgment than to be taken in by the racket again. Thanks to Harvard’s apparent gullibility to the salesmanship of CollegeBoxes, our only university-supported summer storage option is to gamble with our physical possessions.

Earth to Harvard: In a competitive marketplace, you’re not supposed to reward incompetence.



MATTHEW R. GREENFIELD ‘08

BENJAMIN W. MILDER ‘08

Cambridge, Mass.

May 6, 2007



The writers are the Undergraduate Council representatives from Mather House and Dunster House, respectively.