College Suspends Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra After Hazing Investigation

Updated September 26, 2025, at 6:00 a.m.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra was suspended by Harvard College for the rest of the fall semester as the result of an investigation into alleged hazing, according to three students familiar with the matter.

College administrators informed student board members of the suspension shortly after the orchestra held its annual retreat, which occurred off campus at the Greenwood Music Camp in Cummington, Mass., on Sept. 6.

The investigation was sparked after a freshman submitted a complaint related to activities at the retreat, according to three people familiar with the matter.

HRO president Veronica A. Li ’26 announced the suspension to orchestra members at a Wednesday evening rehearsal, according to three club members. Li did not respond to a request for comment.

During the suspension period, the orchestra’s student board will no longer be permitted to meet for club activities, and the organization cannot host social events, according to the three club members.

According to the HRO’s music director and conductor, Federico Cortese, the orchestra will still be allowed to rehearse and hold concerts during the suspension period, “because it is also an academic activity.”

But the orchestra will not be able to use the “HRO” name for programming while the HRO is suspended, and the club will not be able to host outreach events, Cortese wrote. The HRO Outreach Program brings orchestra members around the Boston area to perform at schools and teach younger musicians, according to the HRO’s website.

The HRO’s first fall concert is scheduled for Oct. 4 and has been publicized on Harvard’s Office for the Arts website under the club’s name.

“I want to make sure that the orchestra complies with the decision and everyone understands exactly the terms of the sanction,” Cortese wrote in a statement Thursday morning.

Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason R. Meier wrote to The Crimson that “we can’t share details about individual student matters, but the College is committed to following the Federal Stop Campus Hazing Act, Massachusetts state laws, and the Harvard University Hazing Policy.”

“Just as importantly, we’re here to support students and student organizations,” he added. “Student Engagement is dedicated to working with student groups to create safe, positive, and welcoming experiences for everyone involved in clubs and organizations.”

The HRO, which is more than 200 years old and frequently performs alongside professional musicians, is also scheduled to hold a second concert later in the fall. Typically, the club hosts at least one round of “sibling family” events per semester, where older and newer members are placed into small groups that receive money from the club for a meal. The HRO also hosts community dinners, an annual holiday party, and a formal ball.

HRO members are selected through annual auditions, and the club holds bonding activities at retreats held at the start of the fall semester.

At this year’s retreat, returning HRO members lined up new members and led them into the dining hall of the camp on Saturday night, according to two HRO members. In the dining hall, the HRO members quizzed the students on the names of upperclassmen in the club.

Regardless of whether the students answered correctly, upperclassmen blindfolded them, took them outside, and walked them up and down a hill before returning to the rehearsal space in a barn. While blindfolded, new members were asked to tap upperclassmen once to be given water, or twice to be given a shot of vodka, according to three HRO members. The whole club then exchanged notes, with new members sharing their hopes and fears at the start of college and upperclassmen offering advice.

Roshen S. Chatwal ’26, an HRO social committee member, said he did not think the club’s activities amounted to hazing and that the decision to suspend the HRO was “offensive” to people who have experienced hazing.

“What we did with freshmen, I view as one of the more harmless things you could do,” Chatwal said. “It’s just offensive to real victims of hazing who have actually experienced emotional harm and potential physical harm when this was a pretty PG, standard, run-of-the-mill initiation procedure that didn’t result in any harm or complaints in the moment.”

The orchestra has been a registered student organization through the Dean of Students Office for several years, but students can also participate in the orchestra through a class — called “Music 110R” — for course credit. Not all members of HRO are enrolled in Music 110. Students taking the class, which is taught by Cortese, are ordinarily expected to attend all rehearsals.

HRO is not the first student organization to undergo a hazing investigation this fall. Earlier in the semester, the College examined allegations of hazing in the Crimson Key Society, a recognized student organization that leads orientation events and campus tours.

Members of the organization were approached by proctors — residential advisers who live in freshman dorms — while wearing costumes and participating in a back-to-school scavenger hunt. After a meeting with club leaders, College officials determined the situation was not hazing under Harvard guidelines.

The two investigations both began after Harvard updated its policies to comply with the Stop Campus Hazing Act, a federal anti-hazing law passed in December 2024. The law requires universities to formalize their hazing investigation processes, create reports on hazing incidents, and name student organizations investigated for suspected hazing.

Harvard will publish the names of student organizations that violated hazing policies, the findings of its investigations, and the date and nature of suspected incidents in a January 2026 report. Hazing incidents will also be reported to the federal government under the Clery Act, which mandates reporting of campus crime data.

Harvard required leaders of its more than 500 student organizations to attend an anti-hazing training this fall, where the College unveiled the new policies.

Clarification: September 25, 2025

A previous version of this article stated, based on the Music 110 course description, that students are required to participate in all HRO activities. To clarify, Music 110 students must attend all rehearsals and complete additional course assignments, but are not required to participate in social events.

—Staff writer Elyse C. Goncalves can be reached at elyse.goncalves@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @e1ysegoncalves.

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