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Currier House took home the people’s choice award Wednesday at the first-ever Housing Day video awards ceremony, dubbed “The Johnnies,” which featured a reception and stand-up comedy at the Graduate School of Education’s Gutman Conference Center.

The event, hosted by the Dean of Students Office in collaboration with the Crimson Key Society, featured six awards and was attended by representatives from all Houses, Crimson Key members, and DSO administrators including Dean of Students Thomas G. Dunne.

Every March on Housing Day, freshmen wake up to the loud chanting of upperclassmen preparing to storm their dorms and announce what House the freshmen will call home for the remainder of their time at Harvard.

In anticipation of this event, in 2009, Mather House uploaded the first ever “housing day video” to Youtube. The tradition spread to all houses, but exploded in 2019 when Adams House created a music video parody that went viral with more than 87,000 views on Youtube.

Of the six awards given at Wednesday’s event, five winners were selected by a panel of seven judges composed of Harvard administrators and “outside members,” according to Sabrina Debrosse, the DSO’s Director of Digital Strategy and Communications.

Such awards included video of the year, which Lowell House took home, best editing and visual efforts and best choreography, both awarded to Leverett, best lyrics, which Winthrop won, and most house pride, which went to Cabot.

The people’s choice award, which Currier won, was the only category open to public voting. The Google form for the selection was sent out on a weekly Harvard College newsletter, and did not track the emails of voters or prevent multiple submissions.

Sasha, Harvard University Police Department’s “Community Engagement Dog,” attended the event and delivered the envelope containing the winner for each category to the presenters.

Winners from each House gave brief speeches and accepted their awards, receiving an etched glass trophy bearing the name of their winning category.

Both Dunne and Crimson Key Historian Ryan F. Irving ’27, who plans all of the group’s social events, described hosting the awards ceremony as a collaborative effort.

“The Housing Day videos are such a big part of community life, and we feel like they really bring people together,” said Irving. “So as a joint effort, we put this together.”

“We were actually crossing the street from the Smith Campus Center, and I said, ‘Hey, I have a crazy idea. Do you think people would be into this?’ Then we got a couple more people involved,” Dunne said in an interview after the event. “So we decided to go for it.”

Crimson Key member and event attendee Carly R. Brail ’26 said she anticipates that The Johnnies will become more prominent in coming years.

“They’re gonna grow into a much larger tradition, and I’m really happy that he is here,” Brail said of Dunne, “helping bring the energy and make it a great event, celebrating students’ achievements.”

“I think in true Harvard fashion, this will amp up the competitiveness,” Dunne said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to invest in Housing Day, as one of the best traditions on any college campus anywhere in the country.”

—Staff writer Anneliese S. Mattox can be reached at anneliese.mattox@thecrimson.com.