Houses Plan Harvard-Yale Tailgate Events

Despite the continuation of the College’s notoriously strict tailgating policies, House Committees have assured students that they will be able to enjoy a variety of festivities—both on and off the tailgating field—in preparation for Saturday’s Harvard-Yale football game.

For their part, Quincy House residents plan to fly penguin-shaped balloons and to deploy, yet again, the penguin costumes that left quite the impression at last year’s Game. As HoCo co-chair Catherine G. Katz ’13 recalled, the outfits caught the attention of company representatives at Vineyard Vines and Jack Wills, who insisted on posing with the students for pictures.

While Quincy is rallying their efforts around building House spirit before The Game, other Houses plan to keep their tailgates relatively low-key and to focus on auxiliary activities like Stein Clubs.

Winthrop, for example, will have a tailgate complete with warm food and drinks, but it plans to channel most of its energy into holding a Stein Club before The Game, according to HoCo co-chair Lauren E. Tiedemann ’13.

"It’s a pain to get a lot of stuff over there and getting everything set up and cleaned up pretty quickly," she said about the tailgate. Since other Houses and student organizations will be hosting tailgates of their own, Tiedemann said she thinks it would be more prudent for Winthrop to spend its money on the Stein Club.

Some Houses will spend more of their funding on alcohol this year. Currier, which will be hosting a Stein Club with its Yale sister college after The Game, purchased twice as much alcohol as in previous years, according to HoCo co-chair Samuel M. Meyer ’13.

"We’d rather overbuy and use it at another event, than the other way around," Meyer said. "I know other Houses have run out in the past."

Meanwhile, Leverett has set aside $1,000 for alcohol and will be serving mimosas, hard cider, and Smirnoff Ice, according to House Committee co-chair Gary D. Carlson ’13.

While Yale tailgates are known to be more lax than those at Harvard, the College will continue to enforce its ban on kegs and hard liquor. The policy has remained unchanged since its implementation in 2008, according to Interim Associate Dean of Student Life David R. Friedrich.

Students who wish to drink alcohol must present valid identification and wear a bracelet supplied by the Student Event Services Team. As in previous years, the tailgate will conclude at noon during kickoff.

"There are good policies in place for handling Harvard-Yale," Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds said in an interview with The Crimson. "We always work very hard to make sure that students can have a good time but also hope that they will be responsible in their own behavior."

Though some House Committee members expect the Harvard-based tailgate to be more policed than its counterpart at Yale, they said they understand the need for the College’s tailgating policies and look forward to The Game’s morning festivities.

"I mean, honestly, the school has a lot of good reasons for making their decisions," said Kirkland House Committee co-chair Kevin Garcia ’14. "Obviously, some decisions won’t fare well with others, but I think we’ll have a good time anyway."

—Staff writer Melanie A. Guzman can be reached at melanieguzman@college.harvard.edu.