Going, Going, Gong?

In the wee hours of the morning last Saturday, the Adams House gong disappeared from Adams dining hall and may have begun a journey across the Atlantic.

A source affiliated with the group claiming responsibility for taking the gong said it was “reclaimed” around 2:30 a.m. last Saturday.

“The organization in question considers [the gong] to be our personal property,” the source said. “As such, we can dispose of it as we will.”

The source said the gong was shipped to the Danilov Monastery in Moscow as a gift. The monastery is pressuring Harvard to return the sacred bells that have been hanging in Lowell House since 1930.

“It’s certainly intended in place of the bells, but not to replace the bells,” the source said. “Nothing can replace the bells but the bells themselves.”

In place of the gong, the wall next to the Adams card checker’s table now sports a frame displaying three items. On top is a letter, written in Russian, to the Danilov monks, followed by a picture of a box addressed to the monastery and a UPS packing slip also addressed to Moscow.

Michael Rodriguez, the Adams senior tutor, said that the pilfered gong was installed at the beginning of the semester to replace the one mysteriously stolen last year.

“It’s disconcerting that we went to so much effort to bring the gong back and now it’s gone,” Rodriguez said.

Adams House Committee Co-Chair Christopher A. Lamie ’04 said that he is distressed the gong is gone and has put up a reward for its return.

“I am now willing to offer our prized collection of back issues of the Lampoon,” Lamie said, referring to a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine.

Not everyone was as upset to see the instrument missing.

“The gong is kind of annoying,” said Cathy A. Cohn ’06, an Adams resident.

At dinner in Adams last night, several diners pointed fingers.

“[It was] Larry Summers,” said Timothy J. Schwuchow ’06.

Other potential perpetrators include the finals clubs, according to Ryan Z. Cortazar ’06.

“They are beings of evil,” he said.

Although the UPS slip says that Matt W. Mahan ’05 sent the package, the Undergraduate Council president-elect insisted that he was not involved in the gong’s alleged trip to Moscow.

“I have nothing to do with this,” he said. “Nothing at all.”

But Mahan did propose a new use for the gong, aside from making announcements during dinner in Adams House.

“I think it would look good in the fireplace that I’m not allowed to use this year,” he said.

The letter to the monks, which Lamie said was put on the wall Monday night, is an apology.

“We sincerely regret that the decision of Harvard University does not meet your request about the returning of the bells,” says The Crimson’s translation of the letter. “The administration of the University does not speak with the voice of the students.”

The note offers the gong on behalf of all Harvard students.

“In order to demonstrate our solidarity with your request we have sent you as a present this [gong] from one of our main University buildings, Adams House,” it continues. “Regardless of the fact that the bells are currently located in Lowell House, we hope that this instrument will serve you well.”

The source involved with the gong’s disappearance said that the loss of the gong is only the first step in Adams House’s downfall and that the group plans to inflict a year’s worth of harm to the House.

“They don’t have as much power and control as they might think they have,” the source said. “We think that we’ve started something here that will last for a thousand years.”

—Stephen W. Stromberg contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Joshua D. Gottlieb can be reached at jdgottl@fas.harvard.edu.