Freshmen Dip into UC-Funded Nutella Study Break

Freshmen students crowded into Annenberg Hall Wednesday night to have a taste of Ferrero’s famous chocolate hazelnut spread at the Undergraduate Council’s first Nutella-themed study break.

An unusually large group of freshmen attended the event, which was funded and run by the UC. The $900 the UC put into the event was prompted by student feedback that the Council gathered during Operation Ghost Protocol, its initiative to listen to and act on student requests and ideas.

“While we were doing Ghost Protocol, we asked students for things that they wanted,” said Charles A. Scherr '17, a freshman representative on the UC. “The number one thing students wanted was Nutella.”

The four 6.6-pound tubs of Nutella were accompanied by graham crackers, pretzels, and marshmallows.

Many attendees said they were surprised by the event.

“I found out through the [Harvard 2017] Facebook group,” said Julio C. Fierro '17. “It is really good. I really love what they did today.”

Carolyn R. Ye '17 said that she had no knowledge of the event before arriving.

“I found out [about the Nutella] just as I was walking into Annenberg,” she said. “I regularly go to Brain Break and the amount of people here is way larger than normal.”

Though freshmen could have taken any number of pretzels and other snacks that they wanted, UC members limited the amount of Nutella each person could get, using a scoop to put it on students’ plates.

“Nutella is liquid gold,” Scherr said. “It’s really expensive, and there are reports of students from other colleges stealing Nutella. So we’re trying to avoid that here.”

The special break coincided with the end of the Economics 10b: “Principles of Economics” midterm exam, so students coming to Brain Break afterward said that they were especially glad to see the snacks.

“This [was] really convenient since this came right after the midterm,” Ye said. “I wish they did this after every major exam.”

Overall, students said that they enjoyed the study break and had few complaints, and some said they hoped it could happen again.

“It was really well run,” Fierro said. “I have nothing bad to say about it.”

Members of the UC said that they hoped to repeat this kind of study break in the future.

“Hopefully we will do this again before May,” Scherr said. “It’s really a great way to meet with our constituents.”

—Staff writer Kamara A. Swaby can be reached at kamara.swaby@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @SwabyK.