Pretty, or Harvard Pretty?

The TLR might be gone, but that doesn’t mean hot coed action has left Currier House.

In what is perhaps the creepiest recruiting ploy ever attempted, Lauren S. Herskovic, the collegiate editor at CO-ED Magazine, searched the Facebook for girls who “break the stereotype of unattractive women in Ivy League schools.” The chosen girls were then contacted via Facebook message with details on how they could win the honor (and the $1200 prize) of becoming Harvard’s next Miss University, a gateway to the national Miss CO-ED contest. The magazine encouraged each hopeful to submit flattering photos for “some advance consideration.”

Everything came together last Tuesday in the Gilbert living room in Currier, where CO-ED judges rubbed shoulders with a few male models as Freeze photographers snapped pictures of each of the candidates. The night’s action took place under the watchful eyes of a curiously out-of-place onlooker in a pink polo and dark shades. The sunglasses were clearly a precaution against sudden surges of extreme hotness or not-ness.

Arianna Markel ’10 and Teresa M. Cotsirilos ’10 made the long trek from their room in Thayer. Markel seemed surprised to hear that the competition was a model-search and not a quest to find a girl that could “represent Harvard.” Regardless, Markel said that if she won, she would “try to bring world peace and buy some books.” Both noble ventures.

Alexis C. Maule ’08, clad in what she considered a “cute outfit,” was backed by a supportive friend. Maule found nothing ironic or incongruous in the idea of a model search at Harvard. “I personally think Harvard girls are very well-kept and well put-together.”

After the judging was done, five “well-kept” women were chosen and photographed. May the best (looking) win.