"We've got three Dartmouth medleys in our library but we're not planning to play any of them Saturday," Paul R. Finney '50, manager of the Harvard band, announced yesterday afternoon.
According to Finney the demonstration by Dartmouth students and semi-nude cheerleaders at last year's football game was the cause of the break in the long-standing custom of serenading the opposing college's stands during the half-time intermission.
"We were a little annoyed at the interruption of our medley last year, and since the Dartmouth boys seem to get more enjoyment, from interrupting us than from listening to us, we'll concentrate our attention this week on those who appreciate us," Finney said in explaining the band's decision.
The move came less that two weeks after Athletic Director William J. Bingham '16 received a reply to his letter to Dartmouth concerning last year's half-time fracas.
Initiation Stunt
The letter, signed by Dartmouth Director of Athletics William H. McGarter, informed Bingham that he had instructed what he called his "gestapo" to prevent any interruptions during Saturday's intermission. He said last year's near-lot was a "fraternity initiation stunt."
Members of the band felt that playing before an unappreciative Dartmouth audience would be "a waste of time."
"Frankly, they're a bit of a nuisance," Band Director Malcolm H. Holmes '28 said yesterday afternoon, "and I'd just as soon let them have their side of the field to themselves."
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