As students, alumni, and community members, we are disappointed and frustrated by Harvard’s and MIT’s lackluster response to the pandemic. They love to talk about being strong community partners when it benefits them during more prosperous times, but in the middle of a global pandemic they are totally letting us down. But it’s never too late to do the right thing, and we call on MIT and Harvard to step it up and respond to this crisis with the scale and speed that is needed and that their resources allow. We call on each university to:

1. Open up all available dormitories, cafeterias and other unused spaces to provide food and shelter for those who need it.

2. Donate at least $5 million each to the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund.

3. Dedicate all available laboratory, staff, faculty and student resources to work on vaccine development, antiviral drugs, and other pandemic response tools that will help us recover from this crisis and prepare for the next one.