‘Feels Like Christmas’: Freshmen Revel in Annual Housing Day Festivities

Updated March 14, 2025, at 6:55 p.m.

For freshman Angela Narkin ’28, Housing Day took a chaotic turn when Kirkland House upperclassmen — who “dorm-stormed” her blocking group to announce their housing assignment — smashed some of her blockmates’ vases in the heat of the moment.

“They came in and they broke our plants,” she said. “We had vases, and they smashed on the floor as we found out we were getting Kirkland.”

Narkin added that while the experience of being dorm-stormed was “lukewarm” due to the incident, she remains “optimistic” about her next three years in Kirkland.

On Housing Day, an annual tradition, freshmen are randomly sorted into the College’s 12 upperclassmen Houses. At around 8:30 in the morning, upperclassmen from each House dorm-storm the freshmen dormitories with House chants and creative posters.

Several freshmen said the fun began during River Run, a tradition in which freshmen go to all nine Houses by the Charles River the night before Housing Day — with many taking a shot of alcohol at each House — in a bid to avoid being placed in the Radcliffe Quadrangle.

Prisha Sheth ’28 said she felt her blocking group “got even tighter” running around each of the River Houses and “making a detour to get the grilled cheese” — referencing the food trucks the Dean of Students Office provided outside of the Malkin Athletic Center.

Since last year, the DSO has granted freshmen unrestricted swipe access to the River Houses on the night before Housing Day. Previously, given restricted access, freshmen climbed fences or snuck past Harvard Securitas, often pulling risky stunts to enter the Houses.

Thursday morning, many freshmen waited in nervous anticipation. Some said their anxiety heightened as chants for Cabot House, an upperclassmen dormitory located in the Quad, grew nearer — a common prank by dorm-stormers to mislead freshmen awaiting their housing assignments.

Sophia E. Young ’28, a new resident of Lowell House, said she was “so anxious” in the morning but “even more nervous” to hear upperclassmen chanting Cabot outside of her door.

“But when they got in and stormed, it was a really great time,” she said.

Akash D. Anandam ’28, however, said he felt “reassured” when his dorm-stormers started a “C-A-B-O-T, you just won the lottery” chant.

“I was actually reassured that they were chanting Cabot outside my door because I knew I wouldn’t get Cabot then,” said Anandam, who was placed into Winthrop House.

The duplicitous chants went both ways, with some Quad Houses posing as River Houses.

Isiuwa M.J. Odiase ’28 said she anticipated Lowell when the dorm-stormers first arrived outside her door.

“They chanted Lowell for my room, actually,” she said. “And then it was Currier.”

“Vibes are still up. The bike is in the Amazon cart, though. You won’t catch me on a scooter,” Odiase added.

Some freshmen said their preparations the night before paid full dividends — and that the big reveal of their housing assignment was everything they hoped for.

“We got Kirkland. I feel excellent. I’m really excited,” Anne T. Harrington ’28 said. “It’s an awesome House, and it’s even better with us in it.”

Kimberly S. Cortes-Martinez ’28 said half of her blocking group was hoping to be placed in Currier House.

“If I was gonna get Quadded, I’m glad I got Currier,” Martinez said.

For others, the prospect of living in the Quad — which would mean nearly a mile trek to the Yard — was a tough pill to swallow at first.

“We ended up getting Currier in the Quad, which initially, obviously, just naturally, I think we were a little bit upset about — not even the sake of the house — but just because, like, the distance,” Sheth said. “I go to the SEC four days a week, so that’s definitely something I was accounting for.”

But once celebrations kicked off in Annenberg, where both upperclassmen and freshmen gathered to continue chanting for their house, Sheth said Currier House “had the best energy.”

“We were on the table, we were dancing, we were having the Housing Day music playing as well,” she added. “It was just such wonderful vibes.”

Regardless of their housing assignment, several freshmen said they were merely happy to finally experience a cherished tradition.

Audrey M. Lord ’28 said River Run “felt like Halloween” and Housing Day “feels like Christmas.”

“It’s just really festive, and we’ve been having a lot of fun,” she added.

—Staff writer Tammy S. Lee can be reached at tammy.lee@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.