Flyby Front
Things to Re-Center Instead of Academics
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve definitely heard about Harvard’s new report about grade inflation or, at least, seen posts on Sidechat about Amanda Claybaugh’s fated email. Flyby hears your concerns, and we also believe that there is more to the life of a college student than simply their GPA. So without further ado, here are some of the things that should actually be re-centered at Harvard.
The True Winners of the Cambridge Half
Did you or the most annoying person you know run the Cambridge Half and choose to make it their entire personality on Sunday? Well, I did. And I can tell you the true winners are not the runners biting their participation medals but the hordes of people who woke up at 7 a.m. on Halloweekend to support their mentally ill friends. I spent my whole 13.1 miles reading your signs, and they saved me from taking a jump right off Week’s bridge.
Flyby Goes: Leaf Peeping Around Campus
The trees around campus are putting on a genuinely stunning fall display, with vibrant hues of red, orange, and yellow peeping out. Take a moment to look up from your phone between sections and appreciate the foliage — check out some of the spots our writers found to have some of the best trees!
Trick-or-Treat: Harvard Edition
Trick-or-Treat! A midterm on October 31st? An excellent decision for student morale! But maybe it's about the friends we’ve made along the way (severe trauma bonding). Settle in, because this is Harvard’s version of trick-or-treating: the tricks are real, the treats are mediocre at best, and somehow we’re all still here for it.
Flyby Fall 2025 Playlist
Fall at Harvard is unlike any other. On one hand, beautiful fall foliage transforms this place into the aesthetically pleasing New England college campus you see in movies. On the other hand, we experience an endless midterm season (that will only get harder from here…), an endless Sidechat debate about finals clubs, and an endless series of 4:30 p.m. sunsets. Whether you decide to romanticize the season or revel in autumnal melancholy, Flyby presents to you a perfectly curated playlist for this rollercoaster of a Harvard fall.
Hot or Not: 2025 Halloween Costumes
With Halloweekend on the horizon, almost every conversation in the dhall will bring up the question “what are you going to be?” Whether you have five costumes or haven’t bothered to come up with anything yet, we here at Flyby have compiled a list of the popular costumes we expect to see the most of — and, more importantly, what our takes on each are. Feel free to use these as inspiration, a warning, or a bingo card in spying the most trendy Halloween costumes prowling Tasty Basty.
Harvard Is Heist-Proof
Raise your hand if you read about the Louvre Heist and thought that you could do the same. Everyone’s up? Now imagine if it were held on Harvard’s campus. Everyone’s hands should be down.
Bad Omens: Harvard Edition
Harvard can be a scary place on any day, but there are, without a doubt, ill omens you can spot from a mile away that will tell you just what you’re in for. Without further ado, here are some surefire omens that guarantee misfortune at Harvard.
How to Get Your Life Together Before Parents’ Weekend
It’s that beautiful time of year again, when midterms never seem to end and Halloweekend is an impending blur. Family weekend is scheduled in the midst of all this chaos, and you completely forgot that your parents are coming to town. But don’t fret, little one. Your friends at Flyby are here to save the day with our guide on how to get your life together before that.
Goodbye Road Rat
A chance encounter with a rat on the road leads to multiple epiphanies about the rat race we live in. Look both ways before crossing the street. Live with love and whimsy.
What’s Haunting Harvard This Fall
As we’re officially in Spooky Season, Harvard’s campus vibes have changed. Of course students are haunted by midterms and poor technology (shoutout to Canvas being down for a day but my essay deadline not getting extended), but beyond the annual scaries of midterm season, there’s also some new frights at Harvard this fall.
Harvard History: Greatness the Class of ’29 Will Never Witness
A lot of changes to Harvard make the news, but what about the smaller changes that go unspoken? Read here to see things that future students should definitely miss.
Head of the Charles OAR-verheards
This weekend brought perfect fall weather, the emergence of pumpkin spice treats, and thousands of people descending upon the Charles in their Patagonias, Vineyard Vine vests, and L.L. Bean boots to watch the Head of the Charles. Armed with our free TopoChico drinks, we wandered along the Charles to watch HOTC, grab as many free items as possible, and eavesdrop on all the conversations happening. Here is our collection of our favorite quotes from random passersby during HOTC — because no one is truly ever safe from our *crew.*
Flyby Tries: Recreating Dean Deming’s IG Photos
There’s a new sheriff in town: Dean Deming. With an Instagram that’s more active than your local raigebaiter on Sidechat, the Demingram is quickly gaining a following among the chronically online. In riding its wave of popularity, Flyby tried recreating a few photos that scream social anxiety, who?!
Things That Should Be Concentrations
As I sit here in my third year at this small liberal arts institution just outside of Boston, I’m nearing the end of my academic career and am forced to confront the looming fate of adulting. So if there is any impact I have on this near-400-year-old place, I want to be remembered as the Flyby writer who forever changed the academic landscape. No years-long, committee-led curriculum review needed: Here’s my take on the new concentrations Harvard needs. For, you know, intellectual vitality.
Midterm Season: Slightly Toasted or Fully Cooked?
Are you cooked or cooking? Take this midterm survival test to find out!
Where Are They Now? Tracking the Barker Cafe Refugees
Back in May, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences announced that the Barker Cafe would become the latest casualty of budget cuts, leaving a gaping hole in the Barker Center and the hearts of English concentrators campus-wide. What was once the perfect place to spend your BoardPlus on a smoothie and finish writing that paper you were procrastinating on now remains empty and shut away from the world. the performative humanities concentrators) going now?
Why I Declared... Sophomores 2025 Edition!
Flyby Blog Sophomores announce why they declared their concentrations!
Ode to the English Department
Many students arrive at Harvard blissfully undecided in their studies. Their freshman year is dedicated to experimentation, and they dedicate themselves to Hum 10, Ec10a, and LS1a simultaneously. To be Pre-Med, a humanities girlie, or a finance bro. Decisions, decisions. As freshman year goes on and they realize that Harvard is actually all work and no play, the decision of concentration looms in front of them; will their Harvard experience turn around? Is there a correct choice? Yes. English.
Hazed by Harvard
Harvard’s decided to crack down on hazing under a new federal law. Blindfolds, drinking, and a conga line? That’s worth a suspension, according to the College. Now that to me just sounds like a boring Saturday night on campus. (Don’t judge.) So, I’ve decided to compile a list, in lieu of a formal complaint, of Harvard experiences that should now be designated as hazing. Maybe we could suspend them, too.
Sick Season Affirmations
With the change of seasons, Sick Season is rolling around. Here are some tips and tricks to stay healthy and prevent germs from entering your body. After all, you can't get sick if you never gave consent in the first place.
Dear Freshmen, Please Shut Up in Lamont
I speak for the people — the tired, the stressed, the upperclassmen who remember when Lamont was a place of peace — when I kindly, firmly, and desperately BEG the freshmen to shut up in Lamont. Respectfully. But also urgently. Midterms are approaching, and I simply cannot take it any longer. The silent floors are silent for a reason.
Flyby Tries: Performative Male Contest
Labubus, totebags, matcha, oh my! One Flyby writer dashes to the Signet to participate in their performative male contest. He recounts his transformative experience to live up to his performative potential.
What Should Replace the Old Starbucks?
When one door closes, another door opens. With the Harvard Square Starbucks closing its doors last Saturday, we’re left with a prime piece of real estate and one looming question: what should take its place? Spoiler alert: not another bank.