Vandals Paint Widener; Color Them Dartmouth

The bright green colors of summer returned to the Yard last Friday, leaving a curious residue of enamel paint on walls, bushes and stairways. But Harvard Buildings and Grounds reacted so quickly that the colors of autumn were restored before many students could notice the change.

The damage was inflicted by a group of six Dartmouth students who had purchased three spray cans of "Hunter Green" spray paint in Hanover, New Hampshire, Friday afternoon. They wandered through the Yard spraying large D's, "Dartmouth," and illegible squiggles on stairways and cornerstones of University, Harvard, Massachusetts, and Emerson halls. They also sprayed three freshman dormitories, and the yellow signs on the front of Johnson and Meyer gates.

Four of the vandals were discovered at 1:45 a.m. spraying the left side of Widener steps. A guard posted on the steps chased them through the Yard, but they split up and escaped over the fence in front of Wigglesworth and out the gate at Lamont Library.

Repair crews were called immediately, and were on the job in full force by 3 a.m., Cecil A. Roberts, Director of Buildings and Grounds, said yesterday. When repairs are completed later this week, the damages will be between $500 and $1000, he said.

The Dartmouth students had originally intended to spray John Harvard's statue, one of the organizers told the CRIMSON last night, but the statue was too heavily guarded. Three of the students attempted to divert Yard police, but they were unsuccessful.

Vandalism Never So Widespread

"To my knowledge, vandalism of this kind has never been so widespread" Roberts said yesterday. But because the University acted so quickly, much of the paint was easy to remove, he said. As a result, it will not be the costliest such prank in recent years.

Two years ago a group of Yale students painted "Beat Harvard" in eight foot letters on the columns of Widener. They required extensive blasting with water jets to remove, and the damages exceeded $1000, Roberts said.

The organizer, who had heard about the Yale incident, was undaunted. "Too many of the Ivy League schools are apathetic about sports," he said. "I wanted to enliven the interest."