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Hundreds of students flocked to an unofficial tailgate hosted by Harvard final clubs ahead of The Game on Saturday morning, where attendees danced to music, gleefully passed around Jell-O shots, and ignored the cold rainy weather.
The final club tailgate proceeded for most of the morning on Cumnock Field undisturbed by Harvard administrators and the Harvard University Police Department despite uncertainty about an administrative crackdown in the days ahead of The Game.
But around 12:25 p.m., three hours into the festivities, HUPD officers drove motorcycles through the tailgate in an attempt to break up the tailgate and usher students to The Game. By about 12:50 p.m., students were beginning to filter out of the field and toward the stadium.
The unofficial tailgate comes weeks after Dean of Students Thomas Dunne warned that he hoped to avoid “tailgates popping up in different locations” like 2022’s hopscotch final club tailgate, which moved through several locations before landing on the Malkin Athletic Center lawn.
Dunne’s approach to the final club pregame — allowing it to proceed adjacent to the official undergraduate tailgate — prevented a situation like that two years ago. Students said this was the level of DSO involvement they had wanted to see all along.
“I think everyone’s just grateful for the time they gave us to just do our own thing,” said Nalan Hove ’25.
Rather than intervening in the unsanctioned activity across the turf, DSO administrators focused on the College’s official tailgate — which featured food trucks, games, and free merchandise.
Students said the official tailgate was merely a pit stop for most.
“I feel like everyone’s just going in there to pick up stuff and come back,” Henry F. Haidar ’28 said.
Asked about the final club pregame in an interview at the official tailgate, Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason R. Meier pointed to a Harvard Athletics policy that “every tailgate has to end” at kickoff.
However, it took more than 45 minutes after kickoff for three HUPD officers — who were eventually joined by three more — to disperse the crowds.
Students jeered as they mockingly posed for pictures with HUPD motorcycles. As some students continued to refuse to move their tents, the officers resorted to blasting their sirens and threatening administrative disciplinary action.
“I’ll start collecting IDs, and we’ll go through the Ad Board, and we’ll deal with it all that way if that’s going to be easier,” one officer said to a crowd of students. “You’re here, and you refuse to leave. We’ve asked you multiple times.”
Students tried different methods to persuade HUPD to allow them to continue, including asking an officer to take over their DJ set. A group of students in the A.D. Club told an officer that they had purchased the tailgating space as parking space and that they were promised the space “until three” — three hours after kickoff.
“This is over — I don’t care what the dean told you,” the officer said in response.
While no arrests were made as police cleared the tailgate, HUPD officers pulled at least three students aside to write down their names and identifying information.
Steven G. Catalano, a spokesperson for HUPD, wrote in a Sunday email that the incident is under investigation and pointed to a “longstanding” policy against commenting on ongoing criminal investigations.
College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo wrote in an emailed statement to The Crimson that the Dean of Students Office did not sell parking or tailgating space. Palumbo did not address the collected IDs or Ad Board warnings issued by HUPD officers on scene.
Senior Associate Director of Athletics Imry Halevi wrote in a statement to The Crimson that parking tickets could be purchased online via Harvard Athletics, but that “affiliation information is not provided when sales are made.”
Hove, who was at the tailgate when police arrived, said students were annoyed their fun was being broken up but knew it was inevitable.
“It was really annoying. But also at the same time, we obviously were meant to go to the game because it was noon,” Hove said. “We knew that they were gonna come at some point, shut everything down.”
Sebastian J. Pereira ’23 said it was students’ desires to keep partying that resulted in the confrontation with police officers.
“People are there to have fun. People did not want to stop. Cops wanted it to stop. It led to a clash,” Pereira said. “Some people were not happy.”
Though Harvard trailed for most of the game and failed to clinch the Ivy League title outright, students said the energy at the tailgates and The Game surpassed expectations.
Australian international student Yurui Zi ’28 — who had never been to a football game — said the crowd had “a ton of energy.”
“You don’t get this anywhere else but America,” Zi added.
Emerson L. Giese ’27 said student enthusiasm at The Game — per tradition — was markedly different from Harvard’s typical lackluster football culture.
“Generally Harvard doesn’t have a ton of school spirit. But at this specific event, we all show out,” Giese said. “And I think that’s just so beautiful.”
The Game’s visiting Yalies agreed.
Yale freshman Aaron J. Parr said his first Harvard-Yale experience exceeded expectations.
“I heard it was bad at Harvard,” Parr said. “This is pretty lit.”
Even as a Harvard win became less likely, student enthusiasm did not let up.
“Most people are here just to have fun,” Roy S. Guerrera ’25 said. “They come to have fun with their friends, both at Harvard and Yale, rather than look at a scoreboard.”
—Staff writer Azusa M. Lippit can be reached at azusa.lippit@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @azusalippit or on Threads @azusalippit.
—Staff writer Avani B. Rai can be reached at avani.rai@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @avaniiiirai.
—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.
