It was the spring of 1981 when Chrysta Castañeda, a math wiz from a nothing-much town in Kansas, opened her Harvard acceptance letter. This not only felt like her winning ticket out of her family’s paycheck-to-paycheck existence, but the beginning of the life she had always imagined for herself — one lived alongside other rising stars on the cusp of changing the world.
And for a while, it was. Until the spring of her sophomore year, when her parents called with devastating news: Her father’s sudden salary cut, combined with the looming cost of sending three younger siblings to college, meant the family could no longer afford the tuition. Chrysta took on multiple jobs, the school increased its financial aid, but it wasn’t enough. No matter how deserving she was, no matter how hard she worked, she was stopped short by the very thing she went to Harvard to escape — her class.
She withdrew, packed her bags and finished her degree at Kansas State University on a full scholarship. Six years later, she earned her law degree from Southern Methodist University.
This isn’t a story about a life gone sideways because a young woman had to leave the Ivy League: Chrysta went on to do big things, including representing T. Boone Pickens, Wall Street raider-turned-environmentalist, in the final and most high-stakes trial of his life. She wrote a book about it.
Now, 40 years later, Chrysta wants to go back to Harvard — not as a do-over, but to finish what she started. But the University has said no. Twice.
Initially she petitioned the school in February 2024, thinking her candidacy was assured. Even by Harvard’s own records she’s in good standing, on a leave of absence. “I thought I only needed to demonstrate that I had used my time wisely in the interim years,” said Chrysta. But when Harvard promptly denied her request, she appealed again, one month later, filing an evidence-based legal argument. That appeal was also denied.
Harvard’s 1982-1983 and 2025-2026 student handbooks limit undergraduate enrollment to those without bachelor’s degrees. But both handbooks also leave wiggle room: “Exceptions to the rules may be made only by special vote of the Administrative Board of Harvard College (hereafter referred to as the Administrative Board) or by those administrative officers or committees to which the Faculty, for certain matters, has delegated authority to act on its behalf.”
So why is Harvard a hard “no”? I contacted the university and they pointed me to the handbook without any further explanation.
It’s hard to know what’s really behind this steadfast refusal. Limited space? Cases like Chrysta’s are rare, it’s highly unlikely that the school will be overrun with requests from 60-year-olds seeking to join the class. Transfer credits that could dilute the prestige of a Harvard degree? Chrysta isn’t asking to apply any of her credits from Kansas State towards her class standing. She’s seeking a place as a junior, exactly where she left off. Financial aid? She’s not requesting any. All she wants is a seat in the classroom.
To Harvard it’s about precedent. To Chrysta, possibility.
With life expectancy increasing, one’s seventh decade is no longer a walk into the sunset. Instead, many like Chrysta are using their personal and professional experiences to create new business ventures. (Like how none other than Katie Couric started KCM.) If admitted to the University, Chrysta intends to study how AI can be shaped by our lived experience. “We can’t expect our machines to help us, if they don’t know our life story,” said Chrysta.
Frankly, Harvard could use a redemption arc of its own: Recent headlines have been almost exclusively mired in the school’s fight with Trump. The university is still reeling from the Claudine Gay ouster as well as charges of anti semitism and Islamophobia. A story about a 62-year-old woman getting a second chance at a Harvard diploma feels like a gift from the PR gods.
Harvard has the opportunity to champion a woman in her 60s, twice told by the school that she didn’t belong. A win for Chrysta Castañeda is a rallying cry for any of us who’ve ever wondered, Are we done, or just getting started?
