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{shortcode-8c0dd475ea3269f67b1a4d37d27db5cc232a1fc2}hen Harvard College suspended the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra for the rest of the fall semester following an investigation into hazing at its annual retreat, students were stunned.

The penalties provided the first look into how stringently the College is willing to enforce its new anti-hazing policies — and left many wondering how Harvard’s student orchestra had become the first group to incur sanctions for its initiation proceedings.

At the retreat that drew the College’s eye, upperclassmen blindfolded new members, shouted orders at them, and supplied them with vodka. Returning members also tried to convince new members that they would be subjected to more intense activities, such as being covered in mac-and-cheese or forced to swim in a pool, which never took place.

Many participants were unfazed by the retreat, which HRO social committee member Roshen S. Chatwal ’26 described as a “pretty PG, standard, run-of-the-mill initiation procedure.”

But at least one freshman was deeply uncomfortable with the activities and filed a complaint to the College the day the retreat concluded. The freshman wrote that the initiation had been degrading and anxiety-inducing, according to a person with knowledge of the complaint’s contents.

Now, the College’s suspension prevents the orchestra from operating as a club, requiring it to meet only under the banner of its associated class, Music 110R. The group will no longer be able to host community dinners, its holiday party, or formal ball. It will also no longer be able to participate in outreach to local public schools.

The HRO’s page was removed last week from Harvard’s list of student organizations. And when the orchestra takes the Sanders Theatre stage on Oct. 4 to perform two works by Gustav Mahler, it will not be allowed to do so under its own name. Harvard websites that previously advertised the HRO’s opening concert now refer to the event as the “Music 110 Concert.”

The penalties are part of a broader crackdown on suspected hazing at Harvard that has already netted at least one other student organization, the Crimson Key Society, which was later cleared.

The University tightened its anti-hazing policies this year after Congress passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act in December. The law requires universities receiving federal financial aid to publish reports on student organizations’ violation of anti-hazing policies — and it specifies that activities can be considered hazing even if members participate willingly.

Few would question that hazing is a serious problem on college campuses. Since 2000, more than 120 people have died from hazing incidents, according to an online database maintained by the University of Maine, the University of Washington Information School, and StopHazing.org. When Biden signed the Stop Campus Hazing Act into law, the father of a teenager who died at a fraternity pledge event said the legislation “could have a profound and lasting impact on campus life for years to come.”

But at Harvard, student groups have been forced to assess whether long-standing traditions may now be treated as serious transgressions, and the College has not specified which elements of the HRO’s retreat violated its policies.

Federico Cortese, the orchestra’s director and conductor, wrote in a Friday email to The Crimson that the HRO had “made a big mistake.”

“They didn’t intend anything bad, for what I know, but it doesn’t really matter. Someone apparently felt uncomfortable. That’s bad enough,” he wrote. “That does not change the fact that they are a fantastic group of young people and that I have a very high opinion of them.”

The Retreat

On Sept. 6, around 60 members of the HRO traveled on a three-hour bus ride to the Greenwood Music Camp in Cummington, Mass., for a two-day retreat. Many attendees would leave the retreat unconcerned, interpreting it as a lighthearted tradition that both adopted and mocked the rituals of college hazing.

But at least one student was disturbed by the events of that weekend, and the College ultimately decided that the HRO had crossed a line.

The retreat was “mandatory” because it included two rehearsals with the orchestra’s conductor that spanned nearly three hours each, HRO president Veronica A. Li ’26 wrote in a Sept. 3 email to members. It also included an “Initiation,” which was scheduled for 8 p.m. on Saturday, according to a schedule circulated by Li.

Cortese left the retreat after rehearsals concluded at 5 p.m.

Throughout Saturday, upperclassmen insinuated to new members that they should be prepared to get wet and repeatedly noted that there was a pool on Greenwood’s property, according to two freshmen attendees and one upperclassman.

After 8 p.m., upperclassmen began initiations, first entering the women’s cabin, where they yelled at initiates to turn off the lights, according to two freshmen attendees.

Upperclassmen then marched female initiates to the men’s cabin, where they called new male members outside as well. The men locked the upperclassmen out of the cabin for around 15 minutes, then emerged. At least three of the male students decided to go shirtless and wear swim trunks. Later, when all the initiates were outside, three more male initiates chose to take their shirts off after seeing the already-shirtless individuals.

The sky was already dark. Older club members corralled the entire group of initiates from the cabins to the dining hall of the camp, consistently yelling at the group to remain silent.

When they arrived in the dining hall, upperclassmen grilled the initiates on the names of and fun facts about 40 older members of the club, based on a slideshow Li had emailed to initiates to memorize hours before. One by one, the initiates were picked from the line, questioned, and blindfolded with black surgical masks. One initiate who answered every question correctly was still blindfolded, according to two people.

Upperclassmen then reorganized the now-blindfolded initiates by height. Members walked the initiates out of the dining hall in a conga line and led them up and down a hill for just over 15 minutes before arriving at the barn, according to several attendees.

At one point, some upperclassmen told initiates to put their hands out and placed hand sanitizer into several of their hands.

The male initiates without their shirts on were given extra hand sanitizer and told by a few upperclassmen to rub it on each other’s backs. A handful of the male initiates, including some who were not asked to participate, massaged each other’s shoulders with the hand sanitizer.

Some initiates were told to sing the national anthem. Afterward, the initiates were told to lift up their arms and take a secretive oath, according to three attendees.

The oath consisted of initiates pledging to give their “body and soul” to the Pierian Sodality — the name of the orchestra when it was founded in 1808. They also pledged to uphold the original mission of the orchestra, which was to “perform music for the enjoyment of others as well as serenade young women in the square.”

The upperclassmen proceeded to guide initiates through an activity where they would tap an upperclassman on the forearm either once or twice to request water or a shot of vodka, respectively. After everyone had their drinks in hand, the group entered the cabin and gathered in a circle on the floor, at which point initiates were told they could remove their blindfolds.

The newer and older members of the club then exchanged notecards, with initiates writing down their hopes and fears at the start of college and upperclassmen sharing advice with them. At the end of the night, there was an afterparty where most attendees gathered for drinks and conversation.

The Complaint

At least one student filed a complaint to the College, on Sept. 7, shortly after the retreat concluded, according to two people familiar with the matter. The complaint largely aligned with the accounts of orchestra members, but called attention to aspects of the retreat the student found manipulative and unpleasant, according to people who described the complaint to The Crimson.

The complaint, which The Crimson was unable to independently review, alleged that when upperclassmen walked to the cabins to pick up new members, one member told the initiates to “be quiet,” claiming, “It’ll be better for you. It’ll be easier.”

It alleged that while new members were walking blindfolded from the dining hall back to the cabins, upperclassmen told initiates that they might fall into a pool, which was not in their vicinity.

The complaint also alleged that upperclassmen flashed their phone lights into the initiates’ faces during their walk back to the cabins.

Three upperclassmen said that upperclassmen had employed their phone lights while guiding the group in the conga line through the dark. Each of the three said they did not intentionally flash their phones in initiates’ eyes.

Eventually, upperclassmen stopped the line of blindfolded students at the top of a staircase to the barn where the orchestra had rehearsed earlier that day and began the tapping activity.

The complaint alleged that an upperclassman initially told initiates that one tap would amount to three shots of vodka, and two taps to eight shots, according to a person familiar with its contents. It added that after an initiate asked if water was an option, club members shifted to one tap for water and two taps for vodka, the person said.

Prior to the retreat, HRO leaders had stated that there would be several other activities, such as stargazing or board games, for students who did not want to participate in the afterparty. But the complaint argued that upperclassmen did not actually facilitate alternative activities, so retreat participants either attended the party or returned to their cabins for the night.

Li, the HRO president, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Facing the Music

While the HRO’s name has been scrubbed from Harvard sites, and the group has stopped meeting as a club per the terms of the suspension, the organization has not been required to cease all its operations.

Student members, both those enrolled in the class “Music 110R” and independent HRO members, will be allowed to attend rehearsals and concerts while the club is suspended.

And the orchestra still plans on performing its Oct. 4 concert, only now under the Music 110 name. The HRO had already designed fliers for the events, but the group was instructed to redesign them without the HRO logo. The box office has instructed student employees to refer to the concert as the Music 110 performance.

Cortese wrote in an email to The Crimson that the HRO was still planning to go on its tour to Japan in May, though information on the upcoming tour was taken down from the orchestra’s website after the suspension.

The suspension will conclude at the end of the fall semester and be downgraded to a probation for the spring, as long as the orchestra complies with the terms of the suspension, per College policies. The group will be able to return to good standing by next fall.

Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason R. Meier said in an interview that the severity of hazing determines the level of discipline the College hands down to student organizations in question, and that not every hazing investigation ends in suspension.

When a student submits a complaint of a hazing incident to the College, administrators contact the complainant to ask clarifying questions and learn more about the situation.

“We are doing our best to protect those individuals who do submit reports, and what we are frequently seeing are students going to their proctors or tutors and asking them to report on their behalf,” Meier said.

The College then reaches out to leaders of the organization to “figure out what’s going on,” he added.

“We don’t start with responsibility. We start with this frame of, ‘let’s find out what’s happening, so then we can respond appropriately,’” he said.

Meier declined to discuss the specifics of the HRO case.

After the College held its newly implemented anti-hazing training this year, which was required for representatives of all of Harvard’s student organizations, Meier said he saw an increase in requests from student groups to discuss their initiation practices with Harvard administrators.

“I’m quite heartened by the vast outreach that student orgs have been doing regarding their traditions,” Meier said. “We’re getting a handful a day of student leaders saying, ‘can we workshop with you?’”

“I hope student leaders and student organizations use this as an opportunity to better live their actual values and to create more welcoming spaces,” he added.

—Staff writer Elyse C. Goncalves can be reached at elyse.goncalves@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @e1ysegoncalves.

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