Class means more than the terms more fortunate and less fortunate can convey, says Ourania R. Tserotas '97, who grew up in inner-city Chicago. Different class backgrounds result in "different ways of organizing one's world. Differences mean a lot more than paycheck," she says.

But if class quietly pervades almost every aspect of student life--leisure, friendship, extracurriculars, academics--then why isn't it discussed more?

Unlike the often openly-political discourse surrounding issues of race, gender and sexuality, class at Harvard is still an uncomfortable topic for many, to be discussed only in intimate settings.

"It's really wild that we've come to be able to talk about gender, certainly, and race and ethnicity, but not about class yet. I think it's the next thing we have to address," says Lee A. Warren, associate director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning.

"It has to deal with the whole American culture. We try to imagine ourselves as a classless society and we definitely don't have a history of talking about this. And I think it's embarrassing to people, maybe less so for working-class [people] in some ways, although maybe not at Harvard," Warren says.

Summer concurs, conjecturing that the numerous negative stereotypes of wealthy people prevent real discourse of class on campus.

"I think a lot of times [wealthy students] feel they should carry this burden of guilt, or it's not comfortable for them to talk about [it]."

"I think it only comes up between close friends and roommates, when you get to know someone well enough that you feel comfortable that it won't be accusations or curiosity just for the sake of novelty or voyeurism," Summer says.

"The environment that Harvard creates doesn't allow it to come up," Tserotas says. "Everything is provided for us here. There isn't an instance that would make class such a blatant issue. It's kind of sugarcoated." Tserotas says the reluctance to tackle class issues headon is both a boon and a curse.

"It definitely makes it more comfortable for working-class people, because we're not dealing with it, but it creates a false sense," she says. "People don't realize that beyond Harvard people don't all live this way, which ultimately is really hurting a lot of working-class people."

Conformity or Transformation?

Class background certainly affects students' Harvard experiences. Simultaneously, Harvard effects students' socioeconomic futures.

Some assert that the prospect of wealth and social respect was one of their main incentives for attending Harvard. Others hesitate at the notion of class transformation--and what some see as the abandonment of culture and past.

Julissa Reynoso '97 grew up in the South Bronx. The daughter of parents who immigrated illegally, she currently supports her mother and sister, and helps to pay for her college education.

As a Latina woman, she says that her ethnic and class identities, differing markedly from those of other students, are inevitably being shaped by Harvard, whether she likes it or not.