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Updated November 24, 2024, at 7:02 p.m.

More than 100 Harvard and Yale students were stranded in the rain for two hours Friday night as they waited outside the Royale nightclub in an attempt to gain entry to a Harvard-Yale pregame party hosted by the A.D. and Fly final clubs.

Though the tickets to the final clubs’ pregame party were initially sold for roughly $20, many students paid much more as tickets resold for double or triple the price. For students who purchased “final call” tickets, the listing price was $100 before fees.

But for many students, no amount of money could help them gain entry to the event. Some people waited in the unpleasant weather conditions for several hours before abandoning their efforts to get inside the venue, returning to Harvard Square frustrated and dejected.

Several students said they submitted refund requests for their tickets and wrote formal complaints on Eventbrite, the platform that sold tickets to the pregame.

Jamison LaGuardia, Vice President of Sales and Operations for the Royale Entertainment Group, described the disruptions to Friday’s event as an “unprecedented and unfortunate incident” in a statement on behalf of Royale’s management team.

“We understand the frustration felt by those who were unable to enter promptly or at all, and we have received numerous inquiries about ticket refunds,” LaGuardia wrote. “However, as Royale did not handle ticketing for this event, we recommend reaching out directly to the promoter or Eventbrite regarding any refund requests.”

Students took to sharing their frustration on Sidechat — an anonymous social media app popular among undergraduates — with some posts garnering hundreds of upvotes.

“Upvote if you paid WAY too much money for Royale just to not get in,” a post with more than 100 upvotes read.

“Royale is what happens when people let the AD throw,” another post read.

Taj S. Gulati ’25 said he arrived early to the event because he heard the organizers had sold twice as many tickets than capacity allowed — but left after growing frustrated with the line. He called the event “an insane disappointment” and “laughably poorly managed.”

“I genuinely question if the people who organized the event put even a moment of care or thought into it, or were just like, ‘Oh, we can just sell as many tickets as humanly possible,’” Gulati said.

“Every single person that was in line with me — which is in the multiple of hundreds — was not able to get in,” he added.

Tommy Barone ’25, who never gained entry to Royale, said in an interview that he “can’t believe how bad Harvard is at partying.”

“I am furious at the A.D. Club and the Fly Club for scamming many of their classmates out of a fun Harvard-Yale eve,” added Barone, a Crimson Editorial chair.

The undergraduate leadership of the A.D. and Fly Clubs did not respond to a request for comment.

Some students said they were warned by A.D. and Fly Club members that the event was oversold, and told to arrive early. But some ticket holders who arrived as early as 9:30 p.m. waited in line outside the venue until nearly midnight without getting inside.

“People are getting angry, people are getting stressed. People are leaving early,” Barone said. “I was on line for an hour-and-a-half and I never got in, and I left absolutely soaked.”

Alice M. Khayami ’25 said that even the Royale’s bouncers bailed toward the end of the night.

“At one point — this is like 10:50 p.m., 11 p.m. — they close the doors,” Khayami said. “The bouncers went inside, locked the doors behind them, and just said, ‘We’re not letting anyone else in.’”

Olivia R. Weber ’26, who did gain entry to the nightclub, said that while there was “a good amount” of people inside, the space did not appear to reach capacity.

“It wasn’t crammed or packed in any way — a lot less packed than any other normal club would be,” Weber said.

Weber said she got into the club after waiting for approximately 45 minutes in a shorter line than that for general admission — one for people who knew someone with a reserved table inside.

“You could go in if you knew someone with a table, or if honestly you just said someone’s name that you knew had a table,” Weber said. “No one validated anything. There was no list or anything like that.”

Student attendees from both Harvard and Yale described people in the line as “aggressive,” adding that the bouncers were also shoving people back.

La Guardia wrote that “some unruly guests in line began pushing others ahead of them, creating a tense and potentially hazardous situation.”

“Our staff responded by bringing in additional security,” he wrote. “Despite these efforts, a small group of individuals disregarded security’s instructions, escalating the situation by jumping over barricades and pushing into others, creating a significant safety concern.”

“In response, our management made the difficult but necessary decision to temporarily close the front doors for 20–30 minutes to stabilize the situation,” he added. “We also called the Boston Police Department for assistance. Despite their presence, a few guests continued to disrupt the entry process, prolonging the closure.”

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

But the event’s mishaps may not have come as a surprise to Harvard’s student body. Dozens of undergraduates The Crimson interviewed this week about Harvard’s school spirit said parties the night before The Game are more accessible in New Haven.

Ericka Lai ’27 said that “at Yale, you can just walk around and go into any frat, versus here, you have to know someone to get a link for tickets.”

“I’d say the barrier is pretty high,” Lai added.

As students expressed anger over the pregame hosted by the final clubs, Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason R. Meier highlighted a College-sponsored Harvard-Yale pregame event Friday night that featured stuffed animal making, food trucks, and free merchandise.

The College-sponsored event, which was held in the Student Organization Center at Hilles, was “packed,” according to Meier.

“When we put the thing on in the SOCH, we’re really thinking about, ‘How do we entertain students who are under 21 who don’t have access to bars?’” Meier said. “Food trucks ran out of food 90 minutes into it, so couldn’t ask for better participation.”

Meier also noted that entry to “HYsteria” — the SOCH event — was free, unlike the pregame at Royale.

“That’s unfortunate that they paid that much money,” Meier said. “Also, nightclubs in Boston aren’t that great — like, what are we doing?”

After waiting in line to no avail Friday night, students said they either went home or chose to attend another party in Boston.

Fez S. Zafar ’24, who purchased his ticket for around $60 and requested a refund after not being let in, said he and his friends chose to look on the bright side and “see where the next move is.”

“Part of the journey of Harvard-Yale, regardless of where you’re at — this is how it was for me all years of college — is you don’t really come up with a set plan,” Zafar said.

“You’re like, ‘Let’s just let the night take us to a cool place and see where it goes,’” he added.

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

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.