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In the lead up to the 138th iteration of the Harvard-Yale football game this Saturday, hundreds of undergraduate students rallied at a series of events inspiring school spirit hosted by the Harvard College Events Board.
The week kicked off with an outdoor celebration in the Science Center Plaza featuring fire pits, s’mores, and live music. Taig Singh ’26 said the event created “a sense of community” that would be taken into the game this weekend.
“The campfires were a great place to get warmth on this dark and cold night with our friends and community on Harvard’s campus,” Singh said.
On Tuesday evening, students gathered at the Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub to decorate their own merchandise to wear and display at the game, including sweatshirts, pins, fanny packs, and posters.
“All these events — they’re really gearing us up for Saturday,” J. Garner Currie ’26 said. “This one specifically is kind of channeling our creative side to really express our hatred for Yale and our love for Harvard.”
Thursday’s “Bulldog Roast” event in Sanders Theatre began with performances by the Harvard College Stand-Up Comic Society, followed by the highly anticipated annual presentation on “Why Harvard is Better Than Yale” given by Andrew J. Berry, a lecturer in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department.
In the satirical lecture, Berry referred to a variety of college rankings, statistics, and biological research, joking that “the real heart of the inferiority of Yale is biological.”
“I do think that Harvard-Yale is arguably the one thing — well, that and maybe Housing Day — that creates a genuine crescendo of excitement, focus, and interest, so I think it’s great,” Berry added in an interview after the event.
Members of the College Events Board said they hoped to feature the diverse talents of the undergraduate student body throughout the week by providing opportunities for student performers to participate.
“We had a lot of fun just trying to figure out ways that we could incorporate a lot of different groups on campus, like the student groups, student performers,” CEB member Kevin Ray ’24 said. “It’s not just Harvard-Yale, but it’s also a show of Harvard pride and all the different groups that we have.”
Cathryn W. “Cate” Hazel ’23, director of Crimson Traditions, the CEB committee responsible for planning spirit week, said the most rewarding part of the annual celebrations is seeing students’ reactions.
“Everyone lends a hand for staffing, which is amazing,” Hazel said. “It’s mostly just fun because we get to see all the students so happy and excited — that’s what it’s all about.”
As Spirit Week concludes with HYsteria, an event open to both Harvard and Yale undergraduates this Friday, excitement is building among students for the return of The Game to Harvard Stadium for the first time since 2016.
“I feel like the energy will just be different,” said Jade Lozada ’25, a Crimson magazine editor. “I'm really excited to be back at Harvard.”
