Freshmen Fiestas

From a social perspective, the Harvard first-year experience is not unlike a November afternoon: a little chilly, but not exactly frozen either. On paper, the youngest quartile is offered a slew of exceptional accommodations, ranging from an in-house proctor to provide around-the-clock counsel, to a Prefect Program that presents an upperclass perspective, to frosh-only dining designed to engender class cohesion. In reality, however, advising is wholly hit-or-miss, study breaks are largely unattended, and the charm of Annenberg wears thin long before it has ever been appreciated. But the Freshman Dean’s Office (FDO), under the leadership of Thomas A. Dingman ’67, is attempting to stimulate first-year social life. This signals a welcome shot in the arm for the freshman social experience.

Perhaps the simplest and most effective of Dingman’s proposals is to clarify the rules for freshman parties: they’re allowed. Merely reminding freshmen that they’re permitted to have their own get-togethers will likely encourage such gatherings; no longer will freshmen feel that their only social option at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night is to jump on the Quad shuttle and hope for the best. Of course, the FDO, in accordance with Massachusetts law, hasn’t changed its rule about alcohol in the freshman dorms, but we find it likely that responsible, discreet freshmen will continue to pass around a stein on occasion. And should they get caught beer-handed, first-time freshmen offenders will now be asked to have a chat with their proctors, in what will be a far more constructive and less disciplinary conversation.

But small social gatherings will not reinvigorate freshman social life on their own, especially for the less extroverted freshmen. We applaud the FDO’s plans to collaborate with the First-Year Social Committeee (FYSC) to plan more class-wide events. In years past, the FYSC has thrown a mean freshman formal but has done little else in the way of social programming. It has increased its repertoire this year, including the successful Halloween Catwalk, and is currently planning several class-wide parties. But the structure of the FYSC still leaves room for improvement. We envision that the FYSC be free of UC oversight and work more closely with the FDO to coordinate event planning.

Furthermore, we recommend that the FYSC investigate the possibility of enlisting the Prefect Program for assistance in planning some events. Many upperclassmen have already had a hand in some sort of social planning, and past Prefect Program events—notably the Harvard Idol competition for freshmen—have proved to be a resounding success.

The ingredients for a successful freshman social life are already in place or will be soon: a few industrious freshmen, a handful of fake IDs for crashing C’est Bon, and a willing Dean’s Office—not to mention an imminent pub in Loker Commons. With the recent noise that at least a few of these factors plan to work more in concert, we foresee a warmer outlook for freshman social life in the coming years.