Rain on the Parade

The Institute of Politics or the Grape Coalition--which political or social action group was more "outstanding" this year? Which was the concert of the year--the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra or Kuumba, or the Pitches' and Krokodiloes' Valentines' Day Jam? And which is the House of the year? Cabot, Dunster, Kirkland, Leverett or the write-in of your choice?

These are among the 24 questions on the ballots now circulating in dining halls for the Parade of Stars, an awards ceremony for Harvard's extracurricular activities scheduled for this Thursday.

Last week, the Parade of Stars came under fire, especially by members of the arts community. A number of nominal sponsors--including the Undergraduate Council, which signed on when the club was created in the fall--reconsidered their support, and with good reason. The fact is, Harvard does not need the Oscars, and the good intentions of a few students have created quite a mess.

The organizers of Parade of Stars claimed in recent e-mail that it will be "a truly exciting event" and that it was intended as "an end of year "party." The organizers plan to distribute awards in the categories of sports, drama, dance, community service and media/publications. Nominations were made by students. Still, the awards have rightly drawn criticism for being, in practice, poorly executed and, in theory, antithetical to the spirit of extracurricular activities at Harvard.

For the voting to have any merit, the organizers should have publicized the nomination process much more strongly, giving an opportunity for more students to be involved and represented. Moreover, Parade of Stars organizers should have solicited responses from the appropriate community. For the arts, for example, producers, performers and critics should have been consulted; ticket sales, revenue and the opinions of the whole student body--among the actual criteria Parade of Stars will use--seem less credible measures of achievement.

But the greatest mistake, perhaps, was in initially conceiving of the Parade of Stars as an awards show. From the Start, the idea was attacked by members of the arts and community service communities as causing competition and taking away from the communities' various achievements. A number of productions have boycotted the voting and say they will boycott the awards. Indeed, if the intent was to have a celebration for all of the various student groups on this campus--their participants driven by the love of their craft, sport or program--the Parade of Stars committee should have held a party, not an awards ceremony. In attempting to recognize student groups, a noble effort on a campus that passes by too many of its great opportunities, it has succeeded only in creating conflict.

An awards ceremony is inherently competitive and suggests that Harvard's students groups--groups that often share resources as well as members--somehow want to best one another. The controversy this idea has caused is actually a testament to the sense of fraternity already present among Harvard's student groups.