Annual Camp Harvard Welcomes Students Back to School

The College Events Board’s annual welcome back event, Camp Harvard, featured marshmallows toasting over a fire pit, resident deans plunging into a dunk tank, and a mechanical bull at Tercentenary Theatre.

Students camped out with hamburgers in hand on the steps of Widener Library as spectators watched volunteers try their luck riding the mechanical bull.

“It was exhilarating,” Isabel M. Lapuerta ’19 said. “But I was little bit self-conscious because everybody could see me fall on my behind.”

Students engage in an intense game of spike ball during Camp Harvard Monday evening in Tercentenary Theatre. By Jennifer Y Yao

On the opposite end of the Yard, students lined up to dunk a roster of college administrators, housemasters, and resident deans. Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana, who briefly stopped to survey the scene before preparing for his own turn, seemed excited about his first foray in a dunk tank.

A backdrop emblazoned with the College Events Board logo provided a makeshift station for attendees to take photos, while a staff photographer roamed the Yard looking to capture students posing with a Camp Harvard picture frame prop.

Situated between several spike ball games, students from the Resource Efficiency Program set up a round of limbo, in an attempt to teach students how to “lower” their carbon footprint.

Although the event was held in the Yard, it drew upperclassmen in addition to freshmen, a goal of the College Events Board.

“It’s great to see all of the freshmen out here, seeing the whole community together, not only the freshmen, but also the upperclassmen as well. That doesn’t happen as often,” George Baxter ’17 said.

Harvard students compete in limbo at Camp Harvard on Monday evening in Tercentenary Theatre. By Michelle M. Ng

Overlooking the festivities, a group of student volunteers from Crimson EMS stood on-call. According to one, the presence of the mechanical bull warranted increased volunteers compared to previous years.

“We always enjoy serving. We get to experience Camp Harvard and keep people safe if needed,” Annelie E. Herrmann ’18 said.

—Staff writer R. Blake Paterson can be reached at blake.paterson@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @blakepat95.