Image 01 Image 03

Petition Calls on Harvard to Use Empty Dorms to House the Homeless

Petition Calls on Harvard to Use Empty Dorms to House the Homeless

“free housing and meals to all homeless persons”

Let’s find out just how committed Harvard really is to social justice.

Campus Reform reports:

Will Harvard turn empty dorms into homeless shelters?

When Harvard told students to leave its dorms for the rest of the spring term earlier in March, most would have expected that they would be empty until the fall. But if some students have their way, the dorms will soon be filled with a new kind of resident.

A petition calling for Harvard to house homeless people in its residential properties has gained serious momentum, having already amassed over 1,000 signatures.

The petition doesn’t only call to house homeless individuals but calls for the Ivy League university to provide both “free housing and meals to all homeless persons” in the Boston suburb of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The author of the petition, Masters of Divinity candidate at Harvard’s Divinity School Christopher Diak also told The Harvard Crimson that he thought that because “there will be thousands of vacant dorm rooms on campus” they could be “converted into a homeless shelter, at the very least for the residents of Cambridge.” The Crimson also noted that Diak had told them that he had sent a letter to Harvard’s President, Lawrence S. Bacow, making suggestions similar to those which he requested in his March 17 online petition.

This attempt to pressure Harvard’s administration to house homeless people during the coronavirus outbreak isn’t completely original, however. Rather, it hinges on actions by the City Council to lessen the impact of the pandemic on the homeless population. The petition references a recent policy order by City Councilor Marc McGovern, to encourage private institutions to work with the local government in order to house and feed homeless people.

DONATE

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.

Comments

Morning Sunshine | March 26, 2020 at 10:22 am

I say, go for it. Then make sure to house the students who signed that petition in the same dorm rooms that had housed the homeless.

The Friendly Grizzly | March 26, 2020 at 12:09 pm

Free? Who pays? Who cleans up after them?

They’ll wreck the dorms, some of which are newer structures, but many of which (like the ones adjacent to Harvard Yard) are historic buildings.

Typical of SJWs. They never think beyond the first step—like how much damage can be done to historic buildings that were never designed for this kind of use. Fire hazard? Vandalism? Naw—we mean well: what could possibly go wrong?

Mass General probably needs the space more for Covid cases.