Car Crashes into Harvard Advocate, Minorly Damages Building

A vehicle crashed into the building of the Harvard Advocate — Harvard College’s quarterly literary magazine — on Wednesday morning, causing exterior and interior damage.

The vehicle was parked in an adjacent parking lot and collided with the side of the building around 9:30 Wednesday morning, according to Advocate president Frank Y.C. Liu ’26.

The driver suffered no injuries and only damaged one room of the building, leaving a hole in the wall.

“It did break through the wall,” Liu said, “I'm in the room right now, and it’s sort of cold.”

The driver filed a report with the Harvard University Police Department shortly after the crash.

Though the damages have yet to be fully assessed, Liu predicts that the driver’s insurance may cover the cost of repairs. In the meantime, the Advocate is working to prevent further damage to the building as they plan for the repairs.

Liu said the crash did not structurally impact the building other than damaging the wall.

“Structurally, we’re fine. We just need to cover the damage right now to make sure it’s waterproof,” Liu said, noting the rain in the forecast later this week.

With Wednesday’s crash, all three of the College’s oldest extant student publications have sustained damage from vehicle crashes in recent years.

A driver crashed into The Crimson in 2019 while trying to park on Plympton Street, sustaining minor injuries and damaging the front of the building.

A car also crashed into the Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine, in 2021, causing minor damage to its Bow Street castle.

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.