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THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 7, 2020
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Out of Funds, Classroom to Table Suspended to get to know them,” Kane wrote. “I hope they bring the program back. In the meantime, I am still inviting students to lunch but, sad to say, on a Preceptor’s salary, it is not easy,” he added. Dane wrote in an email that Classroom to Table is a “valuable program” and added that the College sees “high participation rates” as indicative of student and faculty interest. Melody Wang ’22 wrote in an email that she was “disappointed” to hear about the program’s hiatus. “For me, that was one of the few opportunities to closely interact with professors who taught massive lecture classes, and it was such a meaningful experience to connect with these professors on a personal level,” she said.
“I hope it will be able to make its return as swiftly as possible,” Wang said. This fall marked the first semester in several years when the program ran the entire term without stopping. The program has skyrocketed in popularity since its pilot in 2015, driving administrators to implement increasingly stringent usage restrictions to allow more students to participate. Starting in spring 2017, the Office of Undergraduate Education set a cap of four meals per student for each semester. In spring 2018, the cap was reduced to the current limit of two meals per student. But funding issues persisted, leading the College to suspend the program mid-semester for another three straight terms.
Classroom to Table has allotted increasing sums of money for outings over the past several years. At the program’s inception, the College subsidized $20 per student per meal, which increased to $25 in 2016 and $30 in 2017. In the past, the College has repeatedly declined to disclose funding sources for the program. Senior Gift — an initiative encouraging graduates from each class to donate to financial aid in addition to an “unrestricted fund” — has contributed to the program’s funding in the past. An Office of Undergraduate Education website notice invites Harvard affiliates to share suggestions with the review committee via email. joshua.fang@thecrimson.com
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Winthrop Town Hall Students Call to Keep Interim Deans unimportant to them. I really feel that they listen.” Outside the town hall, some Winthrop students have turned to other forums to advocate for Gearan and Herlihy-Gearan’s selection. A group of Winthrop residents circulated a petition urging the administration to permanently install the pair as permanent faculty deans. In response to student questions about Gearan and Herlihy-Gearan’s eligibility for the permanent position, Dingman pointed to a College requirement that faculty deans hold a tenured professorship, preferably in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “It’s been an understanding that the stronger, more permanent faculty we can attract, then we can have this five-year initial term renewable for another five years. With tenure,
you’re sure of a role for life,” he said. “Also, it says something about living and learning in that these houses are not retreats from the academic life of institutions but are led by senior faculty members.” Hartman said the College should prioritize a faculty dean’s ability to make a house feel like “home” over “academic prestige.” She also argued that Gearan’s role as the director of the Institute of Politics — which primarily engages with undergraduates — equips him to connect with Winthrop residents intellectually. Winthrop tutor Benny Goldman said Gearan and Herlihy-Gearan’s attentiveness to student interests is reflected in the number and diversity of faculty members they have invited to speak with students in the
house. “Mark and Mary have fostered an incredible environment that students who have a variety of interests can thrive in,” Goldman said. “Even though they’re not tenured faculty, they still know what’s going on broadly and what the students are interested in and they’ve done a fabulous job facilitating events around that.” College spokesperson Rachael Dane wrote in an emailed statement that Gearan and Herlihy-Gearan were announced as interim deans who would serve only for the year, referring to an announcement made in the fall about the impending search for new deans. The College will soon convene a search advisory committee for new deans. Thimba said during the discussion that the College hopes to conclude
Winthrop House affiliates gather for a town hall on faculty dean search in the Winthrop Junior Common Room on Wednesday. AMANDA Y. SU—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
its search by the end of April and announce the new faculty deans before the summer. In ad-
dition to Winthrop, the College will also fill faculty dean posts in Quincy, Kirkland, Cabot, and
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Eliot before the year is out. amanda.su@thecrimson.com
