This story is much bigger than it sounds. Imagine that you went to Harvard. You’re proud of that accomplishment, and now you’re told you can’t have the same kind of email address as those before you.
The Harvard Crimson reports:
New Harvard Graduates No Longer Eligible For Alumni Email Addresses As University Explores Alternative ServicesThe Harvard Alumni Association discontinued the ability to create new @alumni.harvard.edu email forwarding accounts last month, leaving this year’s graduates unable to obtain the email handle which many say is important to job searches and networking.HAA announced the change on its website in recent weeks, citing a number of technological issues related to phishing, spam, and email loss as reasons for the change. The email service — which will still be accessible to users with existing accounts — allows alumni to create an email alias in the format name@alumni.harvard.edu, which permits users to receive forwarded communications but not send their own messages.Harvard plans to establish a working group in the fall semester composed of IT personnel, administrators, and students to determine other ways of using technology to support alumni while taking into account cost, security, and liability, according to Prashanth “PK” Kumar ’21, the Second Marshal of the College’s Class of 2021. In the meantime, graduates may continue to access their existing school email accounts — such as the @college.harvard.edu account for undergraduates — for an additional 365 days.Mena W. Ahmed, the outgoing president of the Graduate School of Design’s student government, said the termination of alumni forwarding emails is the opposite of what she and other students hoped for.
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