The university closes Harvard Yard to the public every evening until mid-October and requires affiliated companies entering the yard to show their Harvard ID to security personnel between 5:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. Only Johnston, Thayer, Widener and Solomon Gates are open during this time.
College spokeswoman Rachael Dane wrote in a statement emailed that the closings – which began for this academic year after freshmen returned to campus in August – “support the safety and health of our student body for the first few weeks ” should.
“We appreciate your help with this as we give the freshman community the opportunity to adapt to campus life while following appropriate public health guidelines,” said an email from the Yard Bulletin posted on Monday morning Freshmen was sent.
While the college hasn’t prevented students from placing non-Harvard members – who are not subject to the university’s vaccination and testing requirements – in their dormitories, the closure effectively prevents non-Harvard members from visiting yard dorms in the evenings.
The directive was first implemented last autumn and will be repealed on October 11th per Dane.
Several students interviewed at the yard Monday night said the policy created confusion and a variety of inconveniences.
“I was actually back from shopping with my parents and they said, ‘Oh no, [your parents] I can’t come in, the yard is closed, ‘”said Niyah M. Lockett ’25 of her experience moving to Canaday. “So I had to take all the stuff I bought at the local Target with me – I had to carry it myself.”
The closure of 21 gates around the courtyard after 5 p.m. has also increased walking time for many students.
“It’s such a force, mostly because I live in Pennypacker which is not in the yard,” Maia Patel-Masini said in ’25. “It just takes a lot longer and then I’m outside longer than I want to be.”
L. Tania Soerianto, a graduate student at the Graduate School of Education, added that the closings will also affect graduate students.
“Because we don’t live in this area – we live in the student dormitory – it’s honestly just a long way for us,” said Soerianto. “It’s kind of confusing where to go.”
Despite the inconvenience, Patel-Masini said the closings made her feel safer when walking at night.
“At night, when hardly anyone is outside, I’m happy to know that the people on campus are just people who go or belong here,” she said.
Lockett said the changes didn’t make her feel more secure.
Several students said they would like the college to provide more information about the closings and the reasons behind them.
“Please let us know what happens,” said Lockett. “It’s not necessarily good or bad because we don’t really know a lot about it, but it would just be nice to have that communication and transparency.”
She added that the closing times seem arbitrary to her.
“It’s not that Covid goes off work and then decides to come to Harvard campus,” she said, referring to the 5pm closing time.
—Author Noah J. Caza can be reached at [email protected].
—The employee Vivian Zhao can be reached at [email protected].
