By Caroline S. Engelmayer and Michael E. Xie

In many ways, the Class of 2020 had a Harvard experience that was far from normal.

Between the Harvard University Dining Services strike just weeks into freshman year and a sudden evacuation in senior spring as a result of the novel coronavirus, the graduating class’s time at Harvard was marked by one unusual event after another.

But in one important respect, the cohort’s time at the College mirrored that of previous classes: around 43 percent of survey respondents reported undergoing the ultimate transformative experience — having sex for the first time — during their years in Cambridge. Another 21 percent of respondents said they have not had sex either during or before their time at Harvard.

Many seniors also experimented with alcohol and marijuana during their four years in college, but like their predecessors most avoided hard drugs.

Sex and Dating

A plurality of Harvard seniors — just over 19 percent — reported not having any sexual partners during their time at Harvard. On the other end of the spectrum, 5 percent said they had 20 or more sexual partners during their time at the College.

Members of male final clubs reported having a median of 9 sexual partners, while members of female final clubs reported having a median of 4 sexual partners. For survey respondents not in any club, the median number was 2.

Even with all the sex, survey respondents reported relatively few relationships. The plurality — 34 percent — said they had dated one person at college. Roughly a quarter said they did not date anyone.

Drugs and Alcohol

As undergraduates learned that they would have to “de-densify” Harvard’s campus in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, students flocked to the liquor stores in Harvard Square and rushed to parties around campus.

For many seniors, it was not the first time they had turned to the bottle.

• Fifty-six percent reported having one drink or more per week over the past year, while 7 percent said that they never drank.
• GPAs were not the only thing that was high this year — roughly 54 percent of respondents said they had used marijuana within the past 12 months.
• Other types of drugs, however, remained much less popular. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they had never done hard drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, while 91 percent reported that they had never taken unprescribed study drugs like Adderall.
• Ten percent of respondents who reported that they had never been in an off-campus social group said they did not drink. By contrast, just 3 percent of female final club members and roughly the same number of male final club members reported never drinking. Final club members also reported higher than average hard drug use: roughly 19 percent of female final club members said they had done hard drugs, along with roughly 53 percent of respondents who identified as members of all-male clubs.

The Three Things

Most members of the class of 2020 failed to complete the trifecta of the three extracurricular activities all Harvard seniors “must” complete before graduation — running Primal Scream, urinating on the John Harvard statue, and having sex in the Widener stacks. Only 9 percent of seniors reported taking home the Triple Crown during their time at the College.

• Similar to previous graduating classes, roughly one in three respondents stripped for a lap around the Yard before their finals at least once during their time as an undergraduate.
• Twenty-two percent of respondents said they peed on the John Harvard statue, whose golden foot is rubbed by thousands of tourists passing through Harvard each year.
• Compared to last year, a greater proportion of this year’s seniors — 18 percent — reported getting busy, but not with studying, in the Widener stacks. Only 10 percent of students in the class of 2019 reported doing the deed.

Technology and Social Media

Members of the class of 2020, as in past years, continued to shun former Harvard College enrollee Bill Gates’s products, as Apple phones and laptops once again dominated students’ pockets and backpacks. Around 83 percent of respondents said they owned a Mac and around 89 percent of respondents said they owned an iPhone.

• Roughly 85 percent of respondents who reported a combined parent or guardian income of under $250,000 said they owned an iPhone and around 79 percent said they owned a Mac. In comparison, roughly 94 percent of respondents reporting a combined income of over $250,000 said they owned an iPhone and around 90 percent said they owned a Mac.
• Apple products were more popular among students who reported social media as being “very important” or “somewhat important” to their lives compared to those who said social media was “unimportant.” Around 87 percent of respondents in the former category reported owning a Mac and around 91 percent reported owning an iPhone. In the latter category, 76 percent reported owning a Mac and roughly 82 percent reported owning an iPhone.
• A significant majority of graduating seniors — 82 percent — have Facebook accounts, whereas newer apps like TikTok have yet to sweep the school. Only 20 percent of respondents reported having accounts on the popular video app.