However, as many Harvard buildings, including virtually all of Harvard’s housing, are without air conditioning, such news provided little comfort to staff and faculty.

As a result, many students decided to abandon their dorm rooms and instead try to take advantage of what air conditioning was available.

“Air conditioning has now become my top priority in deciding what I’m going to do with my day,” said Sarah E. Hallenbeck, a student in Harvard Summer School’s Secondary School Program.

However, some summer school students took the hot weather in stride.

“I think [the hot weather] is a small price to pay for the privilege of studying here,” said April J. Anderson, a student a student in Harvard Summer School’s Secondary School Program.

Concerns about this week’s heat also extended well beyond Harvard’s campus. The heat wave caused Cambridge City Manager Robert W. Healy on Tuesday to put the city’s “heat protocol” into effect through this afternoon.

Under the emergency plan, the city opened two of its senior centers as “cool shelters” for the elderly and babies—two populations particularly susceptible to heat-related injuries.