Ben Didn’t Fold; He Rocked

Last Sunday’s Yardfest confirmed many things we already knew: First, that Eliot House sucks; second, that Harvard students cannot resist oversized Twister boards or tire swings; and, most importantly, that we can indeed have successful campus-wide concerts and events to spark social life.

According to organizers, around 7,000 people gathered at the Yard to enjoy Ben Folds’ student-friendly performance, as well as a variety of games. Indeed, Yardfest was a job well done by the Dean’s Office and the Harvard Concert Commission. Stars seemed to align like they haven’t for past concerts as the cooperation of great weather and better music started to ease the pain of Snoop and Wyclef’s no-shows. Even the underwhelming culinary options had a certain charm on this Sunday eve. Folds’ songs proved to be great background for some hours of timely relaxation and unwinding just before the beginning of reading period.

We hope the new College Events Board keeps Yardfest and the fall’s Harvard State Fair in mind as they begin to set an agenda for next year. In particular, the Yard has proven a great venue for these sorts of events, successfully bringing social life back to the University’s historic center. The aftermath of the concert found many of us enjoying the sight of long lost freshman year roommates and Core course section friends from semesters past. And indeed that was the major success of Yardfest, 2006: it brought the campus together.

While many bemoan the dearth of House pride here in Cambridge, Harvard has a healthy capacity for class pride, and even College pride, which ought to be tapped into more often. Not being assigned an upperclass House as a first year may dilute the excitement of being a Dunster resident, but it gives students the opportunity to make connections with members of their class that they otherwise wouldn’t. But too often these connections become distant memories after freshman year, only to return during senior spring.

Ultimately, the campus will only be responsive to a measured dose of events like Yardfest, but we hope the social programming board will broaden its scope beyond this handful of signature events to promote class and College unity in other ways. Specifically, we hope that the board will work with and cultivate student coalitions—such as the Junior Class Commission which planned the Junior High Dance—seeking to organize social events with wide appeal. The Yard, Annenberg, and soon the Loker Pub, are all large venues, and there are few good reasons why they should not be used with frequency for class-wide meals, College-wide parties, and general get-togethers in the spirit of Yardfest—bringing a fragmented campus together more often.