Hockey Etiquette

To the Editors of The Crimson

I recently attended a hockey game at Harvard University. Though I lived in Massachusetts for more than 16 years, I had never before had any contact with Harvard. This particular evening was Friday, January 4, 1985. The game was against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

I will not even get into the stories about my experiences with the Harvard Stadium staff. Let it suffice to say that they were the rudest group of employees I have ever encountered. And I have attended many hockey games at many different colleges. What I would like to address with you is the issue of the Harvard fans; primarily students, or so it appeared; probably some alumni; possibly a few locals.

Are the Harvard students fully aware of the reputation that their school carries, a reputation which they can either uphold or destroy? My experience on January 4 told me that either they are not aware or that they don't care. Chanting that RPI students are MIT rejects, and then putting down MIT, shows independent observers a few things about those who attend Harvard. First, it shows that those at Harvard are a little behind the times in terms of their knowledge about the country's leading technological universities. Second, it shows that for some reason Harvard fans don't think enough of their own hockey team to cheer for them, but instead that they settle for cheering against the opposing team, the team's school, and the school's students. And third, as I wrote in a letter to Derek Bok, it appears that Harvard students have some funny ideas about the superiority of a Harvard degree.

In the eyes of the "Innocent bystander," these attitudes displayed by the Harvard faithful only pull down the lofty image of the most renowned Ivy League school and kill the respect than most of us previously had for the university.

How unfortunate it is that so many people have been so turned off by a single incident, as I have. How much more unfortunate it is that the students of Harvard University don't give a damn. Kelly A. Jefferson, RPI '87