For the first time in four years, The Game came home to Cambridge on November 19th, sparking anticipation and excitement among Harvard students, alumni, faculty, and family. While students scrambled to make their celebration plans with each other and the large number of visitors, Harvard’s failure to announce a viable tailgate proved yet again our obsession with exclusivity—and subsequent difficulty to celebrate.
While the weekend was ultimately a success, the Harvard Dean of Students Office was no help in providing or hosting a platform to preserve The Game’s historical holiday.
Yet again, the 2022 Harvard-Yale Game perpetuated the preference for the annual Game to be hosted in New Haven. Students remembered last year’s Game at Yale more fondly, although this could perhaps be attributed to the adventure that comes with traveling to Connecticut.
Elisha Thornton ’25, a Harvard sophomore, put it succinctly: “If Harvard-Yale at Yale was like a crisp hundred dollar bill, then Harvard-Yale at Harvard was like a crumpled up ten you found in your pocket.”
This year, first-years were eager to experience their first Harvard-Yale, while sophomores, juniors and seniors hoped this would beat their adventures to New Haven last year or in 2019. Among undergraduates, only super-seniors, those who have taken time off since their freshman year, remembered a Harvard-Yale hosted here in Cambridge. Even non-Harvard affiliates who simply sought to spectate the football rivalry and its festivities were in attendance, cheering on either side in Harvard’s ultimate loss.
The weekend festivities typically begin on Friday, the day before the game. Yale students arrived in full force in the afternoon, finding Harvard friends or tagging along to any Harvard student that could host them in dorms. Many students settled for a piece of common room floor.
The largest parties Friday night were off-campus, hosted by student social clubs at venues in Boston. While most attendees reported having a good time, the reality was that tickets sold out early on, or many students refused to pay the spiked up prices from second-hand sources. While plenty of opportunities to celebrate ended up crystallizing on campus, some students were greatly disappointed to not be able to participate in these club events, while Yale students were surprised and frustrated by this subsequent exclusivity.
The University did nothing to aid social inclusivity: house officials announced they would not approve events in common spaces or even in suites. Alternatively, Harvard proposed the hosting of an “Official Tailgate” to be the only tailgate allowed on Harvard property. Entry would be restricted to only Harvard and Yale students, with those of age getting a pass for three drinks. This was poor planning.
With the bulk of undergraduates under 21 but certainly expecting to drink, as well as countless non Harvard or Yale affiliates, the Official Tailgate did not seem like a viable option. It failed to provide a space for students to drink safely, instead encouraging students to be more covert, and therefore more able to get in trouble by non-Harvard authorities.
Jude Herwitz ’25 explained “until they are willing to accept the fact that students will drink, and then try to construct a social scene accordingly, we are never going to be able to look to the administration for support.”
Students were always going to find a way to party. They set up a tailgate in a field south of the river, before being shuffled along by police twice on Saturday morning. Speakers, drinks, and entire tents were carried to the riverbank in front of Winthrop House and eventually to the MAC lawn, where they remained until the Game was well underway. In comparison with the previous night’s elusive ticketed parties, this was a very open, collective celebration. “Harvard-Yale showed the best that the social scene can be at Harvard, and felt like the most inclusive it’s been during my time here. Everyone was all together, everyone was outside, and it was a beautiful thing,” Herwitz continued.
While the Game itself had the potential to top off the weekend beautifully, Harvard instead suffered a 14-19 defeat to Yale. Our football team fought hard, keeping the scoreline close, but we will have to wait another two years to see a home victory.
As the exhaustion from 24 hours of excitement kicked in, students headed to bed for the evening. I personally enjoyed the loveliest nap of my life between 4 and 9pm, before making the tough decision to go out once more on Saturday night rather than do my CS test.
Andrew Spielmann ’25 (andrewspielmann@college.harvard.edu) dislikes American football.