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If Dean of Students Thomas Dunne left any ambiguity when he said last week that the College would host a “safe” Harvard-Yale tailgate, Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason R. Meier shut down any lingering hopes of a rowdy, booze-fueled pregame.

“I find it really fascinating that there’s so much pushback on saying we will ID students to receive free alcohol,” Meier said. “We will follow federal law.”

Tailgating before The Game at Harvard generated controversy in 2022, when students — dissatisfied with the College-sponsored tailgate, which featured restrictions on alcohol distribution — flocked to a series of pop-up pregames along the Charles River and on the Malkin Athletic Center Lawn hosted by Harvard’s final clubs.

Meier specifically responded to a Crimson editorial which called for the DSO to take a hands-off approach to tailgating and allow student groups to host their own events. He said the unofficial tailgate posed a legal risk both for students and the College as a whole and reiterated that the school would not endorse or facilitate distributing alcohol to minors.

“When that pop-up party happened on the river, Mass. Police were ready to arrest,” Meier said. “So it becomes an actual issue of danger.”

“I think about open container laws. I think about minors in possession of alcohol,” he added. “A minor in possession of alcohol, if you are providing alcohol to a minor, that is jail time. It is very serious.”

A spokesperson for Mass. State Police did not respond to a request for comment.

He added that he felt the unofficial tailgate — despite taking place on the public MAC lawn — reflected students’ desire for “exclusivity.”

“If people wanted a DJ and a band, we had that. If people wanted food, we had that. If people wanted alcohol, we had that,” Meier said. “But I think what people were looking for was the exclusivity of a finals club party, as opposed to a community party.”

At last year’s Harvard-Yale game in New Haven, hundreds of Harvard undergraduates gathered for a tailgate on a field near the Yale Bowl under rows of tents pitched by several final clubs. The tailgate — which included loud music and alcohol — continued until the end of the game, and many students missed the game entirely, spending the duration of the game at the tailgate.

Meier disputed the idea that Yale administrators allowed for an undergraduate tailgate.

“Yale doesn’t have a student tailgate, you all crashed with alumni. That’s what you did,” he said. “You went and found a party, and then you joined it.”

Meier also objected to the Editorial Board’s critique that other schools, especially large state universities, allow for student-run tailgates — citing his own experience working at other schools including Louisiana State University.

“I love their point of, ‘Well, other schools do this.’ Other schools don’t,” he said. “This is the sixth college I’ve worked at. Let me tell you, this is not the case at all.”

Crimson President J. Sellers Hill ’25 declined to comment on Meier’s criticisms.

Meier said he hopes to see students come together for a “community party” — and a strong performance on the field.

“We will end the tailgate when the game starts — this is not up for debate,” he said.

“I’ve been here for two and a half years,” he added. “It is time to beat Yale in a football game, this is absurd.”

—Staff writer Madeleine A. Hung can be reached at madeleine.hung@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Azusa M. Lippit can be reached at azusa.lippit@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @azusalippit or on Threads @azusalippit.