Banning Uber on campus has left me no choice but to follow the set schedule of the commuter rail and Alewife shuttles. As a boarder, one of the biggest disadvantages to living on campus is the lack of freedom. Now that the administration has banned the use of Uber, I find myself even less mobile, as I have to follow the set schedule of the commuter rail and alewife shuttles to get off campus. Watching day students make spontaneous trips to Boston or to their homes in their cars was somewhat equalized with the use of Uber. However, now that it has been banned on campus due to a change in their terms and conditions, it makes it harder for users under 18 to ride; least to say boarders are up in arms. They have nowhere to go and this makes the boarder day divide more explicit as day students seem much more mobile than their peers.
With the use of Uber, boarders had the capability to travel without needing day students to drive them or the school providing a shuttle to the nearest t-stop (Alewife). Now that there is no convenient way to travel for boarders, we are stuck on campus while we watch our day student counterparts hop into their cars and drive away.
As a senior who has attended CA for all four years, I have grown accustomed to utilizing Uber and Lyft to get off of campus. This is because boarders are often stuck with little to do. As a head of house, it is difficult for boarding council to make an event every weekend. Even when teachers host smaller events such as a movie or apple picking; they can only serve a small population of the boarding community. With the usage of Uber we are able to escape the lull that often comes with the weekend and go to Walden pond, Boston or even Mcdonalds.
Another piece to the ban is that the underclassmen will be the most affected. I will be 18 soon and many of my other friends will be as well. This eases the ban on juniors and seniors who are more likely to have a friend who is 18. For freshmen and sophomores Uber will be perceived as an upperclassmen privilege.