Kegs Reappear For New Haven Game Tailgates

One year after a keg ban embroiled Harvard’s campus in debate over how best to keep students safe during The Game, undergraduates will head to Yale this weekend—kegs in tow—with the controversy largely forgotten.

Paul H. Hersh ’04, co-chair of the Mather House Committee, plans to board a “party bus” of Mather residents this afternoon.

His House will come well-prepared, he said, with grills, music, a fog machine, couches, tables and “lots of alcohol,” including spiced rum and apple cider.

He will bring beer, too—five kegs worth.

“It’s easier for everyone, buying kegs instead of 30 packs,” said Hersh, who plans to take advantage of kegs being allowed at Yale. “It’s a lot less garbage and a better situation for everybody.”

Last year’s keg ban came about as an attempt to curb irresponsible drinking, in the wake of the 2000 Harvard-Yale game that left four students with severe alcohol poisoning.

The rule pitted students—who vowed to drink regardless—against College administrators who argued that dangerous binge drinking would decrease without the ready supply of cheap beer.

Contrary to expectations, alcohol-related illness increased last year. Six students were sent to University Health Services with alcohol poisoning and four ended up in area hospitals—evidence students used to criticize the keg ban.

Now, with The Game once again in New Haven, where kegs flow freely, alcohol consumption seems to be far less of a topic of discussion than it was one year ago.

For Winthrop House little has changed. The keg ban forced them to buy bottled beer and it worked so well, they’ve chosen to do it again.

“Ironically, Winthrop got a great deal on bottled beer, and so being able to have kegs is not affecting us at all,” said Emilie R. Feldman ’04, co-chair of Winthrop’s House Committee. She’ll bring down nine cases of India Pale Ale this year.

“I think it will be about the same quantity of beer as last year,” she said.

It’s also business as usual for the Undergraduate Council this year.

“I don’t think it’s going to be all that different because so many people last year didn’t notice the difference [without kegs],” said Council President Rohit Chopra ’04.

The council is running shuttles to and from New Haven, and worked with its Yale counterpart to plan a “Fusion” dance party in the largest Yale dining hall and 12 smaller parties.

Anna Franekova ’05 joined the crowds in front of the Science Center yesterday, working for three hours to sell t-shirts for the women’s ultimate frisbee team. The shirts read, “Yale: It’s What’s For Dinner” and Franekova announced that she was “psyched.”

“We’re planning a tailgate!” she said.