Harvard University

Cambridge, MA
4-year | Private
Enrollment: 30,391

Academic years of attempts: 2018-19, 2020-21

Classification: ongoing student-led cancellation effort

Academic calendar

2018-19

Student newspaper: Close Harvard on Election Day

2020-21

Petition: Make Election Day a Harvard University Holiday

Student newspaper: Students Petition Bacow for University Holiday on Election Day

Student newspaper: Harvard Kennedy School Affiliates Petition HKS Dean Elmendorf for School Holiday on Election Day

Boston Globe: College students make a last-ditch effort to make Election Day an academic holiday

James Mathew, Student Body President, signed onto a fall 2020 letter calling for the suspension of classes on Election Day. Yale campus leaders and a coalition of student body presidents drafted the letter, which argued class cancellation was necessary “to ensure that all members of our community—including students, faculty, and employees—are prioritizing efforts to empower our fellow Americans to vote.”

Student newspaper: Bacow ‘Comfortable’ With Not Designating Election Day a University Holiday

Student newspaper: Several Harvard Classes Adjust Election Day Attendance Policies

Proposal for Democracy Day at Harvard

Student newspaper: Hundreds Sign Letter Asking Harvard to Designate Election Day as University-Wide ‘Democracy Day’