‘Kumbaya’ Kills at Kamp-Out

“Are you kids gonna be out here all night?”

The HUPD officer who asked should’ve known better. The two Arctic weather-proof tents pitched in the middle of the Malkin Athletic Center quad were a dead give away, but it was too late: the hapless member of Harvard’s finest had just become an unwitting straight man.

“Well, sir,” said Corey M. Rennell ’07, a Crimson photo editor, drawing out his words for added effect, to the delight of the eleven other students gathered around the makeshift bonfire, “yes we are.”

The all-night camp-out, organized by members of the Alaska Klub of Harvard, was the latest in a string of wacky events designed to glorify the great state of Alaska in the name of fun. Led by their beloved co-president, they sang camp songs, roasted s’mores, and traded jokes well into the early hours of the morning. Earlier this month, the club staged the second annual “Human Iditarod,” a competition inspired by the famous Alaskan dog sled race in which teams of students pulled homemade sleds around the same space that played host to the campout.

Although the group was instructed to extinguish the fire, Rennell and his fellow members of the Alaska Klub did not let the run in with HUPD spoil their evening plans. As vice president Rob E. Furrow ’07 ran for a bucket of water, Rennell led the group in a rousing rendition of “American Pie.”

“Excuse me,” said the officer, straining to be heard over the chorus of Don McLean’s magnum opus. “Excuse me. We’ve also had a noise complaint.”

By now there were three HUPD officers on the scene. Recognizing that he had a captive audience, Rennell paused to consider the statement before delivering his deadpan reply: “Do you guys have any good ghost stories?”