<p>I want to email this to Harvard. I asked my son’s opinion and he said it was very sarcastic. I asked my wife to edit it (I never took an English course) and she emailed me back ’ are you nuts?’
Well, what do you think? I would appreciate all opininios and particularly some opinions from parents. Thank you and feel free to copy, modify into your own version and email this to harvard. Just do not use voulgar language</p>
<p>Re: No 2008 transfer admissions</p>
<p>Dear Sir/Madame,</p>
<p>My son, a 1st year engineering student in a top 20 engineering school, was applying for sophomore transfer to Harvard, because of your physics department’s reputation. He invested a significant amount of time in applying and he had to reveal his plans to his current teachers. He has an e-mail from a professor who plainly states that an undergraduate summer research position cannot be offered to him if he does not plan to stay in his current university. This response was despite the fact that he has an A+, 4.0 GPA and he officially ranks 2/169 in his year and department. So to refund his application fee, hardly addresses the pecuniary and non pecuniary costs of his Harvard transfer application. What a disappointment for my son and the 1300 or so transfer applicants was your unexpected ‘post-the-fact’, ‘post admissions deadline’ cancellation of transfer admissions for 2008… Furthermore what a lesson about life this is. I am not proclaiming that an unmitigated life altering catastrophe has happened here, or that the applicants will need long term therapy to alleviate the symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome. I save my pity and sympathy for all the victims of war, genocides, epidemics, starvation, and lack of opportunity to exist with dignity. </p>
<p>However, the fact that these applicants are enormously more privileged and fortunate than a young soldier who suffered brain damage and multiple amputations, or a young child set to fire by terrorists, or another child orphaned by HIV, it does not excuse Harvard’s lack of tact and decorum here. Harvard College simply reneged on their contract with the transfer applicants to at least evaluate their submitted applications and decide if any should be offered admission. Nowhere in the application process is clearly stated that Harvard reserves the right to unilaterally break that implicit (some will argue that it was explicit) contract and be exonerated by apologizing and simply refunding the application fee. Even if there was such a disclaimer, it only discharges legal (and not always) but not moral obligation. I do not have a legal education, I am merely a retired MD, and I do not even propose that the transfer applicants should waste anymore of their valuable time pursuing such a lost cause. But I think that this incident (so uncharacteristic of Harvard’s past treatment of applicants and without a doubt a stain on Harvard’s stellar reputation) was perhaps the result of an ill-advised decision, irrespective of how much time and effort was invested in reaching that decision. </p>
<p>There were alternatives that Harvard could have afforded. For example, a few years back, when Ontario eliminated grade 13, a double cohort of students graduating from high school was created in the province of Ontario by 2003. The government offered Universities incentives for expansion of teaching facilities, new faculty hiring, etc., but did not fully cover all capital expenditures. The University of Toronto, which also has high admission standards and every year regretfully rejects many qualified applicants, responded to that social responsibility challenge and increased the freshmen class in all of its three campuses. However, although new residences were built (the University of Toronto, although a public university, guarantees residence accommodations for all first year students and also covers 100% of unmet financial need), the downtown campus in the centre of Toronto could not build fast enough all the residence capacity needed for the over a thousand extra students it agreed to admit. If the University of Toronto had planned as poorly as Harvard did in this instance or was as reckless with its reputation, it could simply have reneged; but it did not. Now, the University of Toronto is one of the best endowed public universities, but its endowment fund is less than a tenth of Harvard’s endowment fund. But that did not stop them from keeping their word. They went ahead and purchased a luxury downtown hotel, and transformed it into a true residence with dons, tutors and all that is needed for a successful residential experience. Not only they managed to accommodate all their extra first year students, but they increased their ability to accommodate large conferences in the summer months, banquet and catering capabilities, ball room facilities, etc. Furthermore, they hired most of the hotel’s former employees. This was a win-win investment for the University of Toronto, its students (Canadian and international) and Ontario. And yes, the purchased property has appreciated significantly in value.</p>
<p>The argument that Harvard could not have foreseen the present shortage of residential housing space is not acceptable, unless we are willing to accept and tolerate incompetence from those trusted with overseeing the management of such a National treasure as Harvard is for USA (and the world). Need I remind you that this shortage did not develop overnight through an act of god (Katrina hit New Orleans, not Boston or Cambridge) nor an act of war and terrorism? This shortage happened out of shear incompetence and lack of planning (or the wrong planning because of incompetence). Game theory would suggest that Harvard’s solution to the problem was perhaps the most expedient and least costly solution for Harvard College (the transfer applicants cannot inflict any significant punishment on Harvard, nor is there a second round of play). However, such an approach heavily discounts and marginalizes future costs. You see, the future societal cost is in the powerful lesson learned from the transfer applicants and the current Harvard (and other Universities) students who observe Harvard act in such an arrogant self-righteous, ‘might is right’ way and get away with it. Let us hope there will be no future Enron style industry leaders that will be inspired by Harvard’s current example of ‘bending’ ethics and reneging on a contract. Let us hope that one day we will not have yet another governor (or even president) who feels they can preach one thing and practice something opposite, and get away with it. </p>
<p>Harvard College, wake up! It is not too late to reverse this egregious decision and seek more positive and innovative solutions. If any freshman or transfer applicant had demonstrated such a lack of planning, mental and moral catatonia when faced with a problem, lack of respect for contracts and sensitivity towards others in their applications, they would be outright rejected. Equally, I think Harvard should reject their aberrant behavior in this instance, live up to their responsibility and reopen the transfer application process for this year. They owe that not to their transfer applicants, but to Harvard itself, the USA and the world. </p>
<p>Sincerely
XXXXX XXXXX, M.Sc., M.Eng., M.D.</p>