Thumbing Noses at Keg Ban, Students Still Plan To Party

The alcohol at this year’s Harvard-Yale game will flow as freely as ever, even though the College administration has banned kegs in an attempt to curb irresponsible drinking.

Most of the organizations that typically throw tailgates—House committees, final clubs and student groups—said they would have as much or more alcohol as in years past.

“Last year we bought four kegs—that’s about 360 beers,” said Lowell House Committee Chair Adam J. Cohon ’03. “This year we have almost 600 beers.”

Lowell House is home to 450 students.

But at the same time, organizations with smaller budgets said that it is hard to keep up. Beer is more expensive in cans than in kegs, and purchases by the hundreds add up.

Other organizations, including representatives from final clubs, said switching to cans won’t make a major dent in their budgets.

“It’s much more of an expenditure for us to buy alcohol in cans than have a keg,” said Quincy HoCo chair John H. Woody ’03.

But House committees said they plan to foot the bill because Harvard-Yale weekend is a once-a-year social opportunity.

“More people are going to be here because it’s at Harvard, so we just have to suck it up and pay it,” said Kirkland House committee chair Angela M. Salvucci ’04.

Some students complained the keg ban was biased against groups without much money.

“The real shame is that the groups at the margin and the smaller groups with price constraints will be hurt,” said D. Alex Ewing ’03, Cabot House HoCo chair. “The final clubs will still be able to buy forty to fifty packs [of beer].”

Three final clubs—the Delphic, the A.D. and the Owl—have rented out five nightclubs in Boston for a Harvard-Yale party that will be open to undergraduates from both schools.

The cover charge for the party will range from $10 to $15. Drinks will be served to students over the age of 21.

Most students grumbled about the cost and inconvenience of the keg ban, and some also complained the additional cans would mean more waste and litter.

“Our biggest concern is environmental waste produced by the 450 cans of beer that we purchased,” said Pforzheimer House committee chair Richard J. Vivero ’03.

For its part, the Undergraduate Council will be sponsoring alcohol-free events, such as the Battle of the Bands at Lowell House on Saturday night.

But it has also been promoting the Harvard-Yale party in Boston thrown by the A.D., Owl, and Delphic.

“We passed a bill supporting the party,” said council President Sujean S. Lee ’03. “We are not sponsoring the party—we are helping to promote it rather than organizing it.”

The council has collaborated with final clubs and social clubs on events in the past, she said.

“It’s a mutually beneficial relationship,” Lee said. “We are using our resources to reach out to the student body so that they have options. I’m sure that a lot of people don’t want to go to a club in Boston, but they should have the choice.”

A few students have capitalized on the keg ban.

Last week, five entrepreneurial sophomores set up shop outside the Science Center, selling engraved flasks for $25 a piece to desperate students.

“We almost sold out, and then we were contacted by the University, because we hadn’t registered the patent properly with Harvard,” said Matthew M. Chingos ’05. “We sold 90 out of 100.”