Dude, That’s Rude: No More Linking Groups

One of the freshmen in Flyby recently informed us — much to our horror — that linking would not be an option for the Class of 2027’s sophomore housing lottery. “Linking” guaranteed two blocking groups to be placed in the same neighborhood (ex. one group in Eliot and the other group in Kirkland — both in River West). Apparently, this change in the lottery system, which has been implemented for previous classes since 2006, was announced to the freshman class and reflected on the College’s website in early November, but someone (really, several someones) neglected to tell us upperclassmen. (Maybe we should just read the rest of The Crimson more often, but I already have 200 pages of readings to do every week. Asking me to educate myself about current events on top of that is just cruel.) Perhaps part of the reason for this lapse in communication is the freshmen’s lack of emotional investment in the change — after all, you can’t miss what you never had — but, regardless of their appallingly blasé attitudes, we cannot abide by this transgression in silence. Here’s why.

I Asked for Less Drama, Not More
Back in the day, linking provided a built-in solution for the problem of having too many friends to fit in a single blocking group. Have three contenders for the last spot in your blocking group? No worries; just split into two groups and call it a day. Now, however, you really do have to choose your (eight) friends wisely. (Let’s not even talk about what an arbitrary number eight is, especially when they apparently used to allow blocking groups of up 16.) Luckily, Flyby does have some strategies for you to select your last blockmate, but do we really need more toxicity in our lives when we’re already subsisting on HUDS? We say, no thank you.

What About My House Away From My House?
One of the oft-neglected benefits of having a linking group is having what I affectionately dub a “bonus house.” Whenever I’m tired of staring at the same four walls (or just really don’t want to actually concentrate on my work), I hop on over to my linkmate’s house to spend the night (read: the hours of 10p.m. to 4a.m.) relishing in a new atmosphere, my home away from my home away from home. Think of it as a low-commitment way of bursting the Harvard bubble. But alas, without linking groups, laying claim to a house other than your own lacks the same… je ne sais quoi. Now, the Class of 2027, and all the classes to follow, will have to compress their love for Winthrop basement or Currier d-hall into the paltry phrases of appreciation in the English language rather than just remarking, “Oh, it’s my linking group’s house.”

Linkmates, My Loves
Having a linkmate is an experience unlike any other. It’s not quite like having a blockmate, but it’s not quite like having a friend you have not ascribed odd Harvard lingo to either. My linkmates are people I sprint to hug after breaks, the first people I text with romantic updates (because, let’s face it, they take my problems much more seriously than my blockmates do), and people I must contact at least two weeks in advance to arrange a meet up. They’re beautiful and amazing and precious, and some of them have been living in my camera roll since Visitas. I quite literally cannot imagine my “transformative” Harvard experience without them, and I wouldn’t want to. We would still be friends without the label of linkmateship, but you can’t tell me that the labels don’t carry weight. DTRs mean something for friendships, too.

The Greatest Travesty of Them All
Quite clearly, the worst consequence of this change is that, some day — perhaps a day much closer than you’d expect — some poor, unsuspecting reader will come across one of our old articles and come away confused rather amused. How would that even be possible, you ask? The answer’s simple: the phrase “sneaky link.” Now that linking groups are no longer a reality, it will not be long before any reference to linking groups, linkmates, and sneaky links is met with blank stares, as the memory of linking fades into oblivion as did the House personalities following the institution of a random lottery. An entire genre of Flyby Blog content will lose its relevance to new generations of Harvard students, excluding an uncountable number of students to come from the tradition that is spending ten hours going down a Flyby rabbit hole. Flyby’s never existed in a world without linking groups; these are uncharted waters, and we’re not sure we like them.

Whoever thought discontinuing linking was a good idea, we’re sure you meant well, but we really do need you to know: dude, that’s rude.