Alejandra Iglesias Harvard University freshman student posts on twitter Ivy League lockdown will leave both homeless and unemployed as school is taken to task.
A Harvard college junior student is living America’s collective worse nightmare when she took to social media to post that the prestigious school’s upcoming lockdown in response to the novel coronavirus will leave her homeless as well as unemployed.
Alejandra Iglesias, 20, took to Twitter Thursday claiming that she and her mother would be effectively left homeless following the Ivy League university’s decision to close down its campus from this weekend.
‘Harvard told me to leave campus,’ the ethnic studies major posted.
‘My mom and I are homeless and I no longer have my term-time job I use to support my family. I’ve led the student group asking others to help first gen low income students like myself. Now I’m asking for help for me,’ she wrote.
Iglesias’ tweet came two days after Harvard President Lawrence Bacow announced the school would transition to virtual classes for spring semester and advised students to leave their campus dorms by Sunday.
The university says they have implemented the action in a bid to stop an outbreak of COVID-19 on campus, where tens of thousands of students and staff gather every day.
Harvard has repeatedly stated that students who have no other place to go will be accommodated by the school, and college residents have been supported in the process by their Resident Deans.
However, Iglesias’ income from three term-time jobs will now evaporate, leaving her without funds to support her mom, who lives in New Jersey the dailymail reports.
Iglesias added her Venmo details to her tweet so that anyone who saw the message would be able to donate money.
Social media responds to freshman’s appeal for help:
Within hours, the freshman had received more than 400 comments on the post.
Many came from Twitter users who donated to help Iglesias with her plight, while others offered useful tips and points of contact.
One Harvard employee wrote: ‘English dept faculty here. Please DM if you want me to speak w higher-ups. Harvard *says* it has channels for ppl in your situation and I’m happy to check if that’s true & they work, or whether they promise money that’s never delivered, or what’.
The following day, Iglesias responded, saying she was ‘shocked but so grateful’ for the support.’
However, she added: ‘I am also getting many emails from [Harvard] admin who are not happy with my tweet.’
She also shared a lengthy statement, in which she ‘With Harvard’s decision to forcibly remove students, there was no acknowledgement that this disproportionately affected students who identify as first-generation and low-income (FGLI).’
Iglesias revealed that the uncertainty about her situation left her in tears.
‘I felt – and still feel – the weight of the world on our shoulders,’ she wrote, adding that she feels Harvard ‘took her home and security’ away from her.
‘For those saying Harvard does not owe its students anything, they do. In every recruitment ad, in every email in the past, we have been assured that Harvard is a home for each and every one of its students, now and always,’ she wrote.
I work at a University and I oversee work study students. By law, students with work study will be paid until the traditional end of a semester. You need to contact your work study supervisor to get more information.
— Julia Downing (@DowningJulia) March 13, 2020
And where was Harvard in all this?
Iglesias also stated that college administrators are now working with students who need alternative accommodation, but only at the behest of those who raised their voice in the days since Tuesday’s announcement.
‘I do not know what the future holds… I will continue with my classes remotely, while seeking a job and continuing to serve my community,’ Iglesias reiterated.
‘I am just one students out of the hundreds Harvard displaced, and the thousands around the country… We must continue to fight for others’.
The coronavirus crisis is worsening across the United States, with the number of people testing positive to the disease surpassing 1900 on Friday.
Welcome to a brave new world….
Just donated. Will share! I’ve never been a more disappointed @harvard alum. That school is heartless and you all deserve so much better. Sending strength. 🖤
— Amber Ashley James (@amberashleyj) March 13, 2020
I think the University with a $40 billion endowment and an alumni made up of some of the richest people in the world should help before they have to.
— RD1066🇪🇺🇮🇪🇹🇼 (@RD10661) March 13, 2020
