Police Presence, Alcohol Mark Game Tailgate

Despite a bevy of restrictions, alcohol still flowed freely to students and alumni at Saturday’s Harvard-Yale tailgate, but not every facet of the day ran smoothly.

Although Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) spokesman Steven G. Catalano said precise statistics were unavailable yesterday, a number of tailgaters were admitted to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton for alcohol-related health issues, according to two nurses working at the tailgate who declined to identify themselves. Catalano said HUPD plans to release the numbers today.

Following the near death of a student at the tailgates two years ago and an increased focus on underage and excessive drinking by the College and police, the tailgate this year was marked by increased restrictions.

These changes included centralized alcohol distribution and ID checks, increased police presence and stricter admission rules for non-students. U-Hauls were also prohibited on Ohiri Field, the site of the tailgate.

Some students complained that police enforced arbitrary rules and harassed tailgaters. Both Boston Police Department and HUPD officers were present Saturday.

Justin M. Craig ’07 said police confiscated his two beer funnels “because they thought it promoted binge drinking.”

“I thought they were a little out of line,” he added.

Peter B. Maglathlin Jr. ’07 said his ice luge was “roped off” and guarded by police.

“Some of the cops were a little belligerent,” he said.

Kirkland HoCo Chair Adam Kalamchi ’05 said police at the tailgate unfairly “harassed people.”

“They regulated things they didn’t say they were going to regulate and when you tried to talk to them, the cops assumed students were mouthing off,” he said.

Special Assistant to the Dean for Social Programming Zac A. Corker ’04, who led planning for the tailgate, said he was unaware—and surprised to hear—that police were cracking down on ice luges or beer funnels.

“It’s not something that we realized would be happening,” he said.

A number of students had alcohol confiscated at tailgate entrances by police, who said the students were bringing in more alcohol than permitted by law. Massachusetts state law mandates that individuals may carry no more than 20 gallons of beer, three gallons of “other” alcohol or one gallon of hard alcohol, according to Corker.

He added that Saturday’s large turnout created long lines to enter the tailgate area, leading organizers to open an additional entrance on North Harvard Street.

Lines for Porta-Potties also led many tailgaters to illegally urinate in public.

“There were just way too few Porta-Potties,” said Undergraduate Council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05. “It’s almost unreasonable to expect people to wait in line for half an hour to use the Porta-Potties.”

Corker said that although he had not seen statistics from Saturday, he believed the new rules had made the tailgate safer.

“We learned a lot from centralizing the tailgate this year,” Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd and Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II wrote in an e-mail. “We plan on an extensive debriefing process over the coming weeks, getting feedback from a variety of groups.”

Mahan added that despite some binge drinking, he was “really proud” of students’ conduct Saturday.

“Overall this is a pretty workable model, with a few modifications, for the future tailgates,” Mahan said.

Brooks W. Scholl ’08, who attended the Game last year at Yale, said the new rules were not affecting his tailgating experience.

“They made the rules different for safety, but it’s still the same,” he said. “Everyone is together—we’re rockin’ out.”

But some Yale students expressed their dissatisfaction with the increased regulation at this year’s Game.

“I’ll be honest—we’re not particularly happy about the new policies,” said Yale senior Charlie K. Ambler. “But people have adapted.”

—Joshua P. Rogers contributed to the reporting of this article.