Law Schools

Harvard Law Tells Concerned Students To 'Rent Office Space' To Study During Online-Only Semester

This is completely tone deaf.

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Harvard University logo — since they’ve junked the Royall crest.

Earlier this month, Harvard Law announced that thanks to the pandemic’s uncertainties, the elite school was planning to go fully remote for the Fall 2020 semester. During this time, tuition will remain flat at $65,875 for 2020-2021 academic year, and the school will be eliminating the pass/fail grading used during height of the coronavirus outbreak, resuming regular grading. Needless to say, many students are less than pleased with Harvard’s choices.

In fact, during a webinar the school hosted yesterday about how students can have a successful online semester, in response to concerns about inadequate spaces to study due to home environments unsuitable for remote work, a member of the administration reportedly advised students to take out extra loans and “rent office space” to study from. The school, of course, has no plans to lower tuition to accommodate this ridiculous suggestion. Harvard may be one of the best law schools in the country, but telling students who will be graduating with upwards of $200,000 in debt to take out more loans to rent office space so they’ll be able to do work during a pandemic is absurd. How are students taking this COVID-19 studying advice?

They obviously found it “tremendously insensitive and tone deaf,” and in response, they’ve drafted a petition to appeal Harvard Law’s decision to host an online-only semester, in favor of implementing a hybrid semester. We’re told that more than 400 students have signed on to the petition thus far. Check it out, below.

We reached out to Dean John Manning for his thoughts but have yet to hear back.

Best of luck to all Harvard Law students in search of safe spaces to study this fall. Unfortunately, with options like this, it may now cost you even more to do so.

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Earlier: Harvard Law School To Hold All Fall 2020 Classes Online Due To Coronavirus

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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