In a year when improving social life was a key item on the College agenda, the Harvard-Yale tailgate—often considered the social highlight of the academic year—faced increased scrutiny from the Boston Police Department (BPD) for the first time in recent memory.

The Department of Athletics, sore after the $50,000 damage bill for the repairs to the athletic fields in 2002, had already made sure there would be no UHauls.

Former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 had banned kegs after the 2000 tailgate, and current Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 and the House masters had already chosen to keep the tailgate fields free of anything remotely resembling a keg.

And as of October 2004, it looked like there might not even be a tailgate, if the College’s Office of Student Activities (OSA) could not come up with a plan that would meet both BPD Captain William B. Evans’ approval and satisfy student needs.

After six weeks of unforeseen hurdles and problems, the OSA finally concocted a $70,000 plan which was approved by both the Boston Licensing Commission (BLC) and the Undergraduate Council (UC). The proposal centralized all student tailgating in one location for the first time and added numerous regulatory measures such as ticketing, parking registration, wristbands, and centralized beer distribution.

OVERCOMING RESTRICTIONS

When House Committes (HoCos) and the UC saw the initial tailgate proposal for the first time, they objected to a proposed splitting of the undergraduate tailgates that would place HoCo tailgates at Ohiri Field and student group tailgates at Cumnock Fields. HoCo chairs and UC leaders were also wary of plans for centralized beer distribution by licensed providers using wrist-band identification.

But after student leaders expressed their concerns at an Oct. 7 meeting, Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II, Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd, and Special Assistant to the Dean for Social Programming Zachary A Corker ’04 agreed to modify the original plan.

“One of the things that pretty much everyone universally agreed to was that HoCos needed to be with the rest of student groups,” Lowell HoCo President Todd Van Stolk-Riley told The Crimson in October.

A week later, Corker, Kidd, and McLoughlin met with HoCos again to announce a new plan: one central student tailgate at Ohiri Field, incorporating Harvard HoCos, recognized and unrecognized student groups, and Yale groups. According to the updated proposal, the 150 parking spaces around Ohiri Field would be left to the UC to assign on an application basis. Beer trucks would distribute unlimited free draft beer to those with wristbands, and individual vehicles could bring additional drinks, provided they followed Massachussetts’ liquor transportation laws, which limit the amount of alcohol any one car can carry to one gallon pure alcohol total.

The plan would create a tailgate more highly regulated than ever before, but student body leaders accepted it, and administrators were confident that the plan would meet the approval of the Boston authorities.

“I believe if we put forth a plan with checks and balances in place, it will be approved,” McLoughlin told The Crimson in October.

But Evans, who must vet any liquor licensing requests before they are sent to the BLC, did not sign off on the plan when it was presented to him on Oct. 18.

Instead, he sent it back for revision, citing the need to limit hours and provide for clean-up.

Ten days later, the plan experienced another setback when United Liquors pulled out of talks to supply beer for the tailgate.