Around 3 p.m. London time, CES sent an e-mail to several of its students in London, asking them to “please take a few seconds to let us know how you are.”
Trisha Craig, the executive director of CES, said that “happily, we have heard from almost everyone [in London], at least the people who will be able to get to e-mail.”
Craig said her office was tracking 12 undergraduates and seven graduate students, and had contacted the students’ places of work or study in addition to sending them personal e-mails.
Leslie M. Hill, an assistant director at the OIP, said she sent two e-mails to Harvard students in London, at around 4 and 10:30 p.m. London time. In the second e-mail, Hill asked students to “send me a reply to let me know that you are safe and well.”
Throughout the day yesterday, The Crimson received dozens of e-mails from College students who were in London during the attacks. Many lauded University administrators for their concern and responsiveness, and one student noted that Harvard’s response to the attacks had been “great” in comparison with that of the London School of Economics, where he is studying this summer.
But four students, all working or living in London for the summer, contacted The Crimson after the OIP sent out its first e-mail, saying they had not yet received any communication from Harvard.
Officials at the Secondary School Program (SSP) confronted problems of a different kind yesterday—several British students, with families potentially in London, are currently taking classes on the Harvard campus through the SSP.
SSP Director William Holinger said that he had discussed the London attacks at the daily meeting of SSP deans, and Summer School proctors had been directed to talk immediately with British SSP students about their family situations. If students were unable to contact their families due to the stress the emergencies placed on the London telephone network, Holinger said that the SSP was ensuring that students had access to international phone lines.
Another component of the Summer School—study abroad—had scheduled a month-long session of classes at Oxford University beginning July 24.
In an e-mail sent at around 9 p.m., London time to students registered for the Oxford program, Robert Neugeboren, a Summer School assistant dean, wrote that “we are not aware of any [Summer School] students having been in London at the time of the incident. We are following the situation closely and will keep you up to date on any foreseeable impact” on the upcoming program.
Neugeboren said that there are currently no plans to cancel the program. Several Harvard students who are currently living in London said that they had made no changes to their summer plans because of the attacks, and intended to stay in London for the completion of their programs.
But for others, the attacks have changed plans completely.
Erik C. Belz ’08, who had been taking a class at the London School of Economics, wrote that “my parents do not feel comfortable with me continuing to study here this summer and so I will be returning to Boston tomorrow.”
—Material from the Associated Press was used in the reporting of this story.
—Staff writer Natalie I. Sherman contributed to the reporting of this story.
—Staff writer Brendan R. Linn can be reached at blinn@fas.harvard.edu.