Not Game: Some Forego Annual Football Showdown

Fully decked in crimson and chanting “Beat Yale!” thousands of Harvard students will make the journey to New Haven this weekend for The Game, the biggest event on the fall semester’s social calendar. But not everyone is leaving Cambridge.

“I'm not going because, to be honest, I don't even know how football works,” Rebecca Hernandez ’19 said. “Plus, the $40 for the shuttle, I'd rather spend it on clothes and food.” The Harvard Student Agencies’ Harvard-Yale shuttle service charges $40 to $50 for a round-trip ticket, depending on the time of arrival and departure.

Some students choose not to travel to New Haven to watch The Game. Last year, the annual day of revelry took place in Cambridge, above. By Zorigoo Tugsbayar

Hernandez still plans to travel this weekend. Rather than a two-hour bus ride, she will be taking a 20-minute T ride into downtown Boston to shop with a couple of friends.

Other students, like Nathan L. Williams ’18, who works for WHRB 95.3 FM, the Harvard student radio station, have responsibilities on campus that prevent them from going to The Game.

“I work with studio engineering and the news department. On Saturday, I'll be compiling Sunday's show as well as organizing old news archives,” Williams said.

Other Harvard organizations are also holding events this weekend that require members to stay on campus. The Harvard-Radcliffe Kendo Club is sponsoring a Kendo training camp for students from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, and some members need to stay on campus to host the visitors.

Daniel Shen ’19, one of the hosts, said he wasn’t disappointed. “[The Game] will probably be better on home soil next year,” he said.

In addition to her on-campus responsibilities and an overload of classwork, Arlesia McGowan ’19 cited the amount of planning required before going to Yale as one of the main reasons she will be staying behind.

“Initially, I was going to [attend], but because of lack of preparation on my part, I decided not to. I would have to stay overnight or pay for a hotel, and I didn’t want to do that,” she said.

Andrew D. Hayes ’17 is staying at Harvard to cover shifts at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, which he said was a welcome alternative to going to The Game. “I am not going to Harvard-Yale because I went freshman year and don't feel like I need to go again,” he said.