Game Shirts Make Fun, Money

Rarely are the name and colors of Yale a regular sight in Harvard Yard. But the impending gridiron struggle of The Game has spawned a small cottage industry among Harvard's student groups: anti-Yale T-shirts, in a variety of colors, sizes and degrees of good taste.

The first to appear were the gray shirts made by the Crimson Dance Team. Bearing the slogan, "Yale--

Helping Rejects Feel Like Athletes Since 1701," the shirt has enjoyed runaway success.

According to member Maritess F. Panlilio '02, the Dance Team has "surpassed our goal [for sales] by twice, at least."

The Dance Team, which Panlilio said was in its third year of selling shirts, will use the proceeds to fund a trip to a national dance competition in the spring.

At $7, the Undergraduate Council fields the least expensive shirt on the market, while others cost between $10 and $15.

But unlike the other organizations, the council does not sell to raise funds, according to Campus Life Committee member Melissa A. Eccleston '04. Instead, the Council provides them at a reduced cost as a "service for students" to facilitate school spirit.

Eccleston said that in previous years the council had engaged corporate sponsors and distributed the shirts free of charge.

This year's shirt claims to list Yale's "new" Internet address: www.safetyschool.org.

In fact, an enterprising council member acquired that domain name, Eccleston said, and the council plans to develop the website as a satire on Yale to provide a tie-in to the shirts. When shirt sales began yesterday, the site was still undeveloped.

The council's shirt has drawn criticism from its competitors--such as the Harvard Independent-- for its "kind of bland" design.

The Harvard Independent's T-shirts, created by their design staff, depict a crimson-clad man staring down the Yale bulldog, but some students have seen a less wholesome image when coupled with the motto, "Yale Sucks."

Sales have been brisk, with approximately 550 of the 650 sold or expected to sell, according to Alexander P. Nyren '02, the managing editor of the Independent.

Besides making money, Nyren said the reason for the Independent's foray into the T-shirt business was to raise the newspaper's public profile in the student body.

All three groups tabled simultaneously outside the Science Center yesterday afternoon, and have put in appearances in dining halls and Loker Commons to hawk their wares this week.

Despite what Nyren termed the "very stiff" competition, Panlilio and Eccleston both lauded the friendly atmosphere that has prevailed between the groups.

Eccleston said the competition was "not a negative thing, [but] makes people more creative in the end."

"You can never have too many T-shirts," she said.

According to Panlilio, the different designs appeal to "different audiences."

Students have also produced more limited runs of anti-Yale T-shirts, such as "Survivor"-themed shirts in Lowell House.