Depart To Serve Better Thy Country

While job opportunities in the private sector were more scarce for the Class of 2003 relative to previous classes, opportunities in the public sector became more available.

According to Kim Ainsworth, executive director of the Greater Boston Federal Executive Board, nearly 40 percent of the federal workforce will become eligible for retirement over the next five years, creating a “huge push” to bring new blood into the bureaucracy.

Harvard has been front-and-center in this push, as 21 government agencies attended OCS’ Career Forum in October—accounting for nearly a quarter of all firms present.

And this increase in public sector and public service jobs was matched by an increased demand from this year’s graduates.

“The economic downturn means that students are being more creative in job prospects,” says Adams House pre-law and public interest tutor Rebecca D. Onie ’97-’98. “Students feel liberated because they can think outside the box, because the traditional boxes are smaller.”

Teach for America, a national program in which graduates commit to two years of teaching in low-income public schools, is one program that has been particularly popular among seniors.

According to Crystal D. Brakke, New England recruitment director for Teach for America, 66 Harvard seniors applied for the program this year, up from only 30 members of the Class of 2001.

The program accepted 32 Harvard graduates into its ranks this year and Brakke expects roughly 25 to take the position.

Fulfilling an interest in education policy, Brittny-Jade E. Saunders ’03 will be spending the next two years teaching in the South Bronx through Teach for America.

While Saunders says that she has been interested in applying for the program for several years, particularly after spending her summer three years ago working in a public-service job in East Harlem, she notes that the weak economy made her friends more understanding of the decision to forgo a more traditional career path.

Brakke notes that fewer employment opportunities has dramatically widened interest in the program, as many of those she speaks to at job fairs indicate they are considering both Teach for America and private sector jobs.

During the boom years, the draw of lucrative job options had a powerful ability to overcome the altruistic desires of Harvard students, according to Pforzheimer House Co-Master James J. McCarthy.

“The interest in public service was there [in past classes], but it might have come out later,” he says.

Adams House Co-Master Judith Palfrey ’67 adds that this increased interest in public service cannot be disconnected from the “profound effects” Sept. 11 had on the members of the Class of 2003.