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More than 40 current and former Environmental Science and Engineering concentrators demanded that the dean of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences rehire Bryan Yoon, a lecturer and student adviser for the concentration.

The students and alumni leveled their demands in a Thursday letter obtained by The Crimson, after Yoon and 29 other employees were laid off in October. The layoffs are a part of the cost-cutting measures to ease financial pressure on the school.

Yoon currently oversees advising for first-years and concentrators as ESE’s Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies — a role which the signatories said was crucial to the concentration.

“We strongly believe that eliminating Yoon’s position as ADUS of ESE will result in the concentration contracting and losing the remarkable growth he helped it achieve over the past few years,” current and former students wrote in the letter.

“For all of us, Dr. Yoon was the most — and very often the only — reliable source of support and guidance throughout our time at SEAS. We urge you to reverse this decision immediately,” the students added.

In particular, students claimed that “other faculty listed as holding positions within the concentration are habitually absent from concentration events and advising” and were often “ill-informed regarding university programs and classes” in contrast to Yoon.

According to a SEAS spokesperson, the concentration is transitioning to a faculty-led model for advising. Faculty advisers have been provided training on concentration-specific requirements to provide course-level advising to students, the spokesperson wrote.

This advising model is consistent with the approach used in SEAS’ largest concentrations, which include Applied Math and Computer Science, according to the spokesperson.

SEAS launched the ESE concentration for students pursuing Bachelor of Arts degrees in fall 2018, and the number of students concentrating in the program has ranged from 11 in its first year to 23 students in the 2019-20 academic year, according to Harvard’s concentration handbook. As a small interdisciplinary concentration, ESE comprises faculty and courses across several different departments and Harvard schools.

Yoon said that he is the “front line of advising and curriculum management, meeting new students and teaching in different capacities” in his role as a student adviser.” In addition to advising students, he currently teaches ESE 6: “Introduction to Environmental Science and Engineering” alongside ESE professor Steven C. Wofsy.

Emil R. Massad ’25, a joint concentrator in ESE and environmental science and public policy, was one of the alumni who led the initiative to write the letter, which was addressed to SEAS Dean David C. Parkes and Applied Physics professor Lene V. Hau, the school’s academic dean of education.

Massad said he and fellow ESE alumni and students began drafting the letter as soon as they found out on Oct. 15 that Yoon’s position was being eliminated.

“We think it’s a huge loss for the university and for any other student that comes into Harvard wanting to study environmental engineering,” Massad said. “If you’re SEAS, you’re kind of shooting yourself in the foot with this decision, if you ask us.”

“Handicapping ESE will drastically reduce the technical skills that have benefitted the Salata Institute, MethaneSAT, the Harvard-China project on energy, economy, and environment, and so many more,” the students wrote. “We view the termination of the ADUS role for ESE as a serious misstep that will undercut the educational mission of not only the concentration, but of SEAS as a whole.”

The termination of advisers like Yoon in student-facing roles has also surprised other faculty and staff given their involvement in student’s development outside of academic advising and commitment to understanding the Harvard system.

“It’s very hard to actually know all the corners of the Harvard catalog and advise you to take this math or that math,” Marko Loncar, a professor of electrical engineering, said. “It’s hard. So that is an extremely important role.”

Last week, two open houses were hosted for ESE concentrators by Scot T. Martin, director of undergraduate studies for the course, with the aim of supporting students with the advising transition. According to a SEAS spokesperson, ESE concentrators will meet individually this week with their new faculty advisors.

Beyond their worries about academic support for concentrators, the students — 14 of whom are alumni — noted Yoon’s personal impact in inspiring students “to work for the benefit of the university and the world.”

“We believe his continued work strongly aligns with your interest in maintaining the success of your students, the ESE concentration, and the ongoing support of your alumni,” the students and alumni wrote.

—Staff writer Stephanie Dragoi can be reached at stephanie.dragoi@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Thamini Vijeyasingam can be reached at thamini.vijeyasingam@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @vijeyasingam.