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Warren Zhu ’26 trekked to the Science and Engineering Complex early in the morning last week to do work with a cup of free coffee. But when he arrived at the SEC Café, he noticed that the free refreshment was no longer offered.
“One of the reasons I come over early is to get coffee,” he said. “I was like, ‘It seems like they don’t have the ‘free’ sign anymore.’”
“I was like, ‘Oh, god,’” he added.
Zhu is not the only student who is mourning the loss of their daily brew. Departments across campus have eliminated their free coffee following extensive budget cuts and financial strain.
SEC Café, the Kempner Institute, and the Digital Data Design Institute in Allston — as well as the Math Lounge, Pierce Hall, and the Harvard Kennedy School — have all walked back their free coffee services this year.
At Pierce Hall and the SEC, only students and faculty willing to pay can access coffee services. Both facilities replaced popular coffee and hot chocolate offerings with new digital dispensers requiring payment. The SEC also put a price on the coffee in the Cafe, which was previously available for free until 10:30 am.
“The decision to discontinue free coffee in the SEC and Pierce Hall was made by SEAS leadership in response to financial changes,” a SEAS spokesperson wrote in a statement.
Anastasia Yefremova, a spokesperson for the Math department, wrote in a statement that the change was a “business decision based on faculty and student feedback.”
The espresso machines in the Math Lounge were for years a popular destination for students seeking caffeine between classes in the Science Center, but Yefremova wrote that the “tea and coffee were never intended for indiscriminate use” and are still available to department affiliates.
The changes are part of a broader wave of cutbacks taking place as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences tightens its belt after the Trump administration froze more than $2.7 billion of Harvard’s funding. FAS leadership told professors to develop “contingency plans” for budget shortfalls in each department — and just last month, the Arts and Humanities division cut nearly $2 million from its budget.
The FAS also closed the Barker Center Cafe and laid off its employees at the end of last semester, citing financial strain.
Harvard is not the only institution trimming office perks. National tax deductions for office snacks are set to expire after the end of the year, thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill. Starting next year, institutions will be taxed for their office snacks — and coffee.
Students across the University said that even though the changes are small, the feeling of loss is significant.
“They’re cutting small bits across the school,” Jerwin A. Tiu, an HKS student, said. “It seems like the school is shaving those costs off.”
“I think that students are feeling it, and it just feels a lot bigger than maybe it is because it’s from these small groups.” Tiu added.
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Josh S. Kim ’28 said that though he is not a Math concentrator, he would frequently study in the Math Lounge as a freshman because of the free coffee.
“The coffee would be free, which was great, because I would be able to save money,” Kim said. “For college students, coffee is so important for us to stay focused in class.”
Vishnu S. Kulkarni, a Harvard Business School researcher who frequents the SEC, said that the free coffee offered an easy way to build connections and get to know his peers.
“One of my colleagues was joking that the only reason he’d come into the office sometimes was for free coffee, the free snacks, and the free drinks,” said Kulkarni.
But now that those resources have been taken away, Kulkarni says he hasn’t “seen him around much.”
Kim also said he has noticed a distinct absence of students spending time together in the different lounges and cafes.
“Obviously, we have Board Plus to use in other cafes — but having this facility was really convenient to me and I’m sure for other students as well. It was a great space to socialize and study with my friends,” Kim said. “It’s kind of sad to see almost no one here.”
—Staff writer Harmony G. Fisher can be reached at harmony.fisher@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at darcy.lin@thecrimson.com.
