Harvard professors cancel classes to let students ‘recover’ from Election Day, report says

Professors at the prestigious Harvard University canceled classes the day after the election and postponed deadlines to allow students to “recover,” the school’s student newspaper reported.

The Harvard Crimson spoke to multiple students about their reactions to the presidential election results. Many expressed grief over President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, with one student telling the newspaper they “cried for like an hour.”

“Being at Harvard, I was surrounded by a lot of people who were very pro-Harris, so in my mind it was already a decided election,” student Samantha M. Holtz said. “It was a little bit shocking to me.”

Harvard professors appeared to share in the emotions, as several decided to cancel classes, extend assignment deadlines and make attendance optional for Wednesday, according to the Crimson. Courses affected by the decisions reportedly included Sociology 1156: Statistics for Social Sciences, Math 22a: Solving and Optimizing and 1111: Popular Culture and Modern China.

Maxim Boycko, an economics lecturer, reportedly chose to make the typical in-class quizzes for Economics 1010a: Intermediate Microeconomics optional. The lecturer told students in an email to “feel free to take time off if needed,” according to the Crimson.

“As we recover from the eventful election night and process the implications of Trump’s victory, please know that class will proceed as usual today, except that classroom quizzes will not be for credit,” Boycko wrote.

Physics professor Jennifer E. Hoffman reportedly also designated her office as “a space to process the election” for students and faculty.

“Many in our community are sleep-deprived, **grieving once again for glass ceilings that weren’t shattered, fearful for the future or embarrassed to face our international colleagues,” Hoffman wrote. “I stress-baked several pans of lemon bars to share.”

The approaches taken by Harvard professors are similar to those at other schools. Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy made a “self-care suite” available to students on Election Day, according to the Free Press.

The suite reportedly featured milk and cookies, coloring books and Legos for students looking to alleviate anxiety about the election.

The Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City, a pre-K through 12th grade private school, reportedly also gave students the option to skip classes. The school wrote in an email to families that any students unable to “fully engage” could skip without penalties, noting it “may be a high-stakes and emotional time for our community,” according to the New York Times.