“I daresay [the first-years] were not very impressed with the quality of my dancing, but that’s for others to judge,” he said. “Like somebody said about my tennis, it was a triumph of purpose over inability.”

One first-year said she heard that Summers “took off his tie and started swinging it above his head like a helicopter”—a rumor of dubious origin since Summers wasn’t even wearing a tie.

He dressed casually for the occasion, wearing a sweater and slacks while mingling with students seated at spruced-up tables in the Annenberg dining hall complete with tablecloths and bowls of candy.

Summers has made a point of holding question-and-answer sessions at all the upperclass Houses during his first two years as president, but these study breaks are strictly pizza-and-soda affairs.

The Annenberg party, on the other hand, was complete with gourmet desserts, a nacho bar and DJ BC—also known as Bob Cronin, the Freshman Dean’s Office administrator.

“I was very surprised. Larry Summers puts on a pretty good party,” McClendon said. “The food was fabulous.”

Summers said that the party was intended to give students a break during reading period and that he thought most first-years enjoyed it.

McClendon said that the media presence, and Summers’ studious efforts to work the crowd, made the party seem slightly “canned,” although she still had a good time.

“Any time the president shows up it’s a publicity stunt, but he was there with us, he was talking to kids, and on the floor dancing,” added Chelsea S. Simmons ’06. “I think it does say something for Harvard that he gets such a big turnout by saying the president’s coming.”

But though it was Hot in Herre in Annenberg, it was cold outside last night, and a more typical crowd of about 30 students came to Summers’ more traditional study break at Mather House, where the president was relatively stationary as he answered students’ questions.

CBS was nowhere to be found.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Elisabeth S. Theodore can be reached at theodore@fas.harvard.edu.