Undergraduate Column

First-person essays and opinion pieces from Harvard College students.

Vivian W. Rong sitting on bench outdoors.

Highlighting Harvard Magazine’s Fellows

The 2025-2026 Ledecky and Summer Undergraduate Fellows

Colorful illustration of woman multitasking with laptop, baby bottle, toy, and checklist.

Motherhood and Ambition in a Pronatalist World

Gen Z is confronting the age-old question of balance—with a new twist.

by Yasmeen Khan

A color illustration of students from a diversity of backgrounds eating and talking together at a long dining hall-type table

How Harvard Students Handle Political Disagreements

The Undergraduate asks if intellectualism is really on life support.

by Serena Jampel

Illustration suggesting how technologies may influence undergraduate writing

“AI Anxiety”

The Undergraduate on the uneasy collision of technology and writing

by Serena Jampel

Illustration of a woman holding a key, standing in front of a large bust statue surrounded by flowers on a college campus during autumn.

Feminist Spaces on the Harvard University Campus

On seeking feminist spaces on campus

by Yasmeen Khan

Person seated under a tree in a garden with a view of distant hills and a blue sky.

Villa I Tatti: How Donors Influence Harvard's Art, Culture, and Academic Experiences

How gifts shape student experiences, in often unseen ways

by Serena Jampel

Colorful metal chairs arranged in a circle on the grass under trees in Harvard Yard. Red brick buildings in the background.

Quiet Conversations that Defined Harvard During a Viral Year

The quiet conversations that defined Harvard during a viral year

by Isabella Cho

illustration of a man with backpack approaching a open green lawn with holes in the lawn shaped as thought bubbles with University Hall in the distance the the silhouette of protesters on either side of the building

How Political Tension on Campus Creates Risk Aversion

How overheated political attention warps campus life

by Aden Barton

Blue and yellow illustration of a young woman writing at a desk and lost in thought

Why Study the Humanities at Harvard?

The purpose of the humanities, at Harvard and in the world

by Isabella Cho

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AWOL from Academics

Behind students' increasing pull toward extracurriculars

by Aden Barton

A conceptual illustration of a student seated in a classroom facing an imagined image of herself in a different environment with flowers and rocks

Is Pedagogy About Us?

Questioning the intellectual rigor of bringing identity into the classroom

by Isabella Cho