Effect on Extracurriculars

Reading period has come under criticism at the College for extending each semester beyond those of other schools, limiting student opportunities to find summer employment and spend time with family and friends during Winter Recess.

Sanborne dislikes the system but says the break in classes is definitely worth the sacrifice of a few days of vacation.

"[Reading period] does make it harder for students to connect with their families over Christmas and for students on financial aid to find jobs come summer, but it also allows many students to get more out of their extracurriculars," Sanborne says.

"In the long run those type of activities end up being as enriching as classes," she says.

Extracurriculars which require large time commitments often force students to postpone work until reading period.

Both Epps and Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 stressed the importance of extracurriculars--including athletics and public service--and the necessity of reading period for a healthy system of clubs on campus.

"We have such an active student body, we would be in a situation without reading period for them to cram," says outgoing Assoc. Dean of Freshman Burris Young '55, recalling how a former roommate used reading period to accomplish work shelved during his football season.

Goodman says eliminating reading period would remove the motivation for many students to hit the books.

"If they were to give us the time over Christmas break, my impression is that no work would get done. It's very hard to take books home and actually get stuff accomplished," Goodman says.

But Young says that many students establish job contacts ahead of time, taking into account the weeks lost in their job search due to reading period studies.

"If you put your mind to it, you can always get a summer job," Young says. "If you go from classwork straight smack into exams without a chance to switch gears, the tension would be unimaginable," he says.

A Rowdy History

But reading period is not simply a glorified study session. Once punctuated by house parties, campus pranks and general rowdiness, administrators and librarians say that reading period has become a true time to study in recent years.

Primal Scream, the midnight steak across the Yard that consecrates exams and ends reading period each year, began as a Radcliffe tradition that migrated from the Quad to the Yard as the College began to hold joint classes after World War II. Prior to that, Young says, Harvard men observed the pagan ritual from a distance.