Tailgate Comes Under Fire From BPD

In a year when improving social life was a key item on the College agenda, the Harvard-Yale tailgate—often considered the social highlight of the academic year—faced increased scrutiny from the Boston Police Department (BPD) for the first time in recent memory.

The Department of Athletics, sore after the $50,000 damage bill for the repairs to the athletic fields in 2002, had already made sure there would be no UHauls.

Former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 had banned kegs after the 2000 tailgate, and current Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 and the House masters had already chosen to keep the tailgate fields free of anything remotely resembling a keg.

And as of October 2004, it looked like there might not even be a tailgate, if the College’s Office of Student Activities (OSA) could not come up with a plan that would meet both BPD Captain William B. Evans’ approval and satisfy student needs.

After six weeks of unforeseen hurdles and problems, the OSA finally concocted a $70,000 plan which was approved by both the Boston Licensing Commission (BLC) and the Undergraduate Council (UC). The proposal centralized all student tailgating in one location for the first time and added numerous regulatory measures such as ticketing, parking registration, wristbands, and centralized beer distribution.

OVERCOMING RESTRICTIONS

When House Committes (HoCos) and the UC saw the initial tailgate proposal for the first time, they objected to a proposed splitting of the undergraduate tailgates that would place HoCo tailgates at Ohiri Field and student group tailgates at Cumnock Fields. HoCo chairs and UC leaders were also wary of plans for centralized beer distribution by licensed providers using wrist-band identification.

But after student leaders expressed their concerns at an Oct. 7 meeting, Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II, Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd, and Special Assistant to the Dean for Social Programming Zachary A Corker ’04 agreed to modify the original plan.

“One of the things that pretty much everyone universally agreed to was that HoCos needed to be with the rest of student groups,” Lowell HoCo President Todd Van Stolk-Riley told The Crimson in October.

A week later, Corker, Kidd, and McLoughlin met with HoCos again to announce a new plan: one central student tailgate at Ohiri Field, incorporating Harvard HoCos, recognized and unrecognized student groups, and Yale groups. According to the updated proposal, the 150 parking spaces around Ohiri Field would be left to the UC to assign on an application basis. Beer trucks would distribute unlimited free draft beer to those with wristbands, and individual vehicles could bring additional drinks, provided they followed Massachussetts’ liquor transportation laws, which limit the amount of alcohol any one car can carry to one gallon pure alcohol total.

The plan would create a tailgate more highly regulated than ever before, but student body leaders accepted it, and administrators were confident that the plan would meet the approval of the Boston authorities.

“I believe if we put forth a plan with checks and balances in place, it will be approved,” McLoughlin told The Crimson in October.

But Evans, who must vet any liquor licensing requests before they are sent to the BLC, did not sign off on the plan when it was presented to him on Oct. 18.

Instead, he sent it back for revision, citing the need to limit hours and provide for clean-up.

Ten days later, the plan experienced another setback when United Liquors pulled out of talks to supply beer for the tailgate.

“There was a misunderstanding—they are now unable to supply us alcohol,” Corker told the Crimson on Oct. 28.

Corker and the UC moved quickly to secure another beer provider, tapping Budweiser, but the name of the supplier was not made public until the day of the event to prevent a similar fallout.

And after the College incorporated Evans’ suggestions into the proposal, the BLC finally granted the liquor and entertainment licenses on Nov. 10, a mere 10 days before the Harvard-Yale game.

FACING THE AFTERMATH

Despite the proliferation of new regulations, BPD was still not happy with how the tailgate turned out.

Strong ticket sales contributed to a crowd that exceeded College estimates by at least 5,000, and Evans described the event as “out of control.”

Between 10,000 and 15,000 people—3,500 of which paid the $10 ticket fee for non-undergraduates—showed up for the party, waiting in line along the wire fence surrounding Ohiri Field to enjoy HUDS-provided barbecue and to partake in the festivities.

The large crowd spread the police presence thin and created long lines at the porta-potties, exacerbating the problem of public urination.

“I was embarassed to be a policeman on that field seeing what I had to see,” Evans told the Crimson in November.

Twenty-nine students were ejected from the tailgate for underage drinking— 15 from Yale, 11 from Harvard, and 3 from other schools. In addition, 97 College IDs were confiscated and given to College administrators for further disciplinary action.

Two alumni were arrested for posession of cocaine at the alumni tailgate, Harvard University Police Department Spokesman Steven G. Catalano told The Crimson in November.

Also, a number of students were treated for alcohol-related incidents, 25 of them requiring transportation to the hospital and 30 receiving treatment in the first-aid tent at Ohiri Field, according to Director of University Health Services David S. Rosenthal ’59. None of the cases were life-threatening, and though the number of incidents doubled from 2002, the cases were less severe overall.

“To the best of my knowledge no one had to be intubated, and I think that’s because they were transported early on,” Rosenthal told The Crimson.

Evans criticized both the UC and the College administration for having mischaracterized the event and threatened to withhold future liquor licenses from Harvard College.

He later said he would entertain the possibility of more tailgates if the procedures were revised.

“No one’s going to sign onto this event unless a lot more regulations and restrictions are put in place,” Evans said. “We’re going to have to revisit the whole idea of such a large-scale event.”

Since Harvard-Yale weekend, College officials have met with Evans multiple times in order to discuss how ‘Operation Student Shield, BPD’s crackdown on underage drinking, will affect Harvard students, according to Kidd.

“In Boston, this is a very serious crackdown, and we’re very late to the party,” Deputy Dean of the College Patricia O’Brien said.

Although the planning for the November 2006 tailgate will not begin until Spring 2006, Kidd said that the College will take pains to prevent public urination by providing more porta-potties.

Although students complain about the disparities between the tailgate policies at Harvard and Yale, those differences may grow smaller in future years, according to O’Brien.

“[Dean Gross] and I talked to some deans [at Yale] who said they wanted to do what we did,” O’Brien said last week.

But Yale students are determined to fight against any Harvard-style tailgate restrictions.

“I think it would be the YCC’s obligation, as the representative body of students, to fight against stricter policies,” Andrew Ceder, President of the YCC, told the Yale Herald in November.

—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu.