Crimson Key Society Celebrates 50 Years of School Spirit

The Crimson Key Society, famous for its campus tours and ubiquitous red t-shirts during Orientation Week, celebrated its 50th anniversary last week with a gala celebration at the Harvard Club of Boston Friday night.

Despite initial concerns over low turnout, both event coordinators and attending alumni hailed the black-tie banquet a success.

"I think it was a great event," said Crimson Key President Jamil Ghani '99. "It allowed current members to meet the founders of the organization and...it gave alums the opportunity to see what the Crimson Key is doing for the campus today."

Kenneth W. MacCormac '56 journeyed from Hartford, Conn., to attend the gala.

"It was the first Crimson Key event that I attended since I graduated," MacCormac said. "I hope that they hold another anniversary [party] before another 50 years has passed."

More than 1,200 invitations were mailed out, to all current Crimson Key members and to all graduates of the Society.

The initial response did not meet expectations, however, prompting organizers to consider scaling back or even canceling the event.

"We were worried about whether we would be able to cover costs," said event coordinator Erica S. Simmons '99. "But then we got a slew of responses, and a couple of alums were very generous, and we were able to cover them no problem."

Fifty-three of the 75 current Crimson Key members attended, as did 57 graduates. "Having less people was actually a benefit; people could mingle and have meaningful conversations without a swarm of people," Ghani said.

MacCormac said he appreciated the large number of current members who attended. "Having so many undergrads to interact with made it special," he said.

The price of the tickets, $85 for alumni and $43 for undergrads, may have lowered turnout, according to Ghani. "It was a fancy affair, more than some recent undergrads were willing to pay," he said.

Still, event coordinators said those who attended got their money's worth.

"I know that people who ended up coming were thrilled to pay that price," Simmons said. "We tried to keep costs down as much as we could."

Ghani said he hopes that the success of the banquet will prompt similar events in the future.