HUA Officers Lobby Administrators for Changes to Leave of Absence Policy

The Harvard Undergraduate Association convened for its weekly general assembly meeting on Sunday to discuss support for students who have taken leaves of absence and the return of last semester’s Uber voucher program.

At the meeting, Well-Being Team Officer Sarah Bellagat ’27 said she and Academic Team Officer Matthew R. Tobin ’27 have had conversations with the College’s Director of Leaves Chris Scanlon about how to improve students’ experiences during and after their time away from Harvard.

One of the main topics Bellagat pointed to from a series of meetings with Scanlon was a change to email list membership for students placed on leave from the College. According to Bellagat, students have provided feedback that after their leaves, they remained on an email list intended for those on leave — despite attempts to unsubscribe.

She said the students placed on involuntary leave saw the continued emails as “an unnecessary means of continuing to have this sort of scarlet letter.”

Bellagat said that as a result of their advocacy so far, students can now effectively remove themselves from this list once they no longer want or need to be on it.

“If you unsubscribe, you unsubscribe,” she said. “You wouldn’t continue to be getting these very intrusive emails that reminded you of some sort of horrible time in your life.”

Tobin added that he has advocated for undergraduates to retain access to their Harvard emails and other websites for Harvard affiliates during their periods on leave.

“Students have talked about not being able to access certain websites when they’re on leave — such as the housing plans, for example — which makes it difficult for them to plan their return to campus,” he said.

Tobin also said he has suggested changes to the process by which students return from leaves of absence, which he said is currently “somewhat long” and involves coordination between several College offices. He said he hopes to create a “clear pathway back to Harvard” that is “more student-focused and streamlined.”

“Currently, there is a professional relationship between CAMHS and the office that administers leaves of absence. Something that we are looking at is seeing ways that we can refer students to other resources before necessarily escalating it to a mental health professional,” he added.

Tobin pointed to the Harvard Chaplains’ office, the Ombuds office, and peer support groups like Room 13 as possible alternatives for students.

The Well-Being and Residential Life Teams also proposed the allocation of $1,000 for the return of last semester’s Uber voucher pilot program.

As in previous semesters, the program will provide up to $20 to 50 people for Uber rides within a seven to 10-mile radius of campus.

According to Bellagat, the vouchers are intended to facilitate student safety by providing rides to campus between the hours of 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., and promote well-being by delivering students to off-campus therapy or doctor’s appointments.

The vote to allocate money for the Uber voucher program passed unanimously.

The HUA also voted on the allocation of $1,000 from the Social Life budget for an ice skating outing to Kendall Square on Saturday, which will be free for the first 50 people to register.

Co-President Ashley C. Adirika ’26 presented the allocation of $220 from the Executive Team budget for a game night event this Friday.

“The function of this game night is to cultivate unity within HUA but also to invite members of the student body to a study break. We’re in the middle of midterms, just so people can relax, get together,” she said.

—Staff writer Nina A. Ejindu can be reached at nina.ejindu@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @nina_ejindu.

—Staff writer Claire L. Simon can be reached at claire.simon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @ClaireSimon.