Seniors Ring in the Spring with Campus Pool Party

More than a hundred Harvard seniors exchanged their winter clothes and thesis worries for bathing suits and inflated crocodiles at the Senior Splash at Blodgett Pool on Friday night.

Sponsored by the 2005 Class Committee, the pool party featured DJ Estyle—better known as Andrew C. Esensten ’07, also a Crimson editor—and a cannonball contest which quickly devolved into a contest to find the most creative way to get off the diving board.

According to organizer and class marshal Michael H. Kalin ’05, the pool party was “something we always talked about for four years, [as a way] to utilize the resources on campus.”

Despite the heavy publicity and advance ticket sales, turnout at the event was lower than two hundred seniors—the number that members of the class committee had expected.

However, many students filtered in over the course of the three-hour event, often after the conclusion of other events in the athletic complex.

Organizers noted that the frigid February weather, holiday weekend, and the inability to have food at the event may have all contributed to the lower attendance.

Those who came danced in canoes brought in from the Harvard Outing Club and cheered on peers who were bold enough to jump off the imposing 7.5 meter diving platform.

In the diving contest, seniors performed jumps ranging from the elegant and rehearsed to the slightly obscene and extremely splashy. While observers held up signs displaying generous scores for the divers, no winner was declared in the contest.

The seniors also rocked out to The Aquabat’s “Pool Party” while floating on neon green inner tubes and started a spirited water polo game in the far end of the pool.

Towards the end of the evening, the organizers announced that George Macmasters, the manager of Blodgett Pool and master of ceremonies for the diving contest, had been given honorary membership in the class of 2005.

Macmasters said afterwards that he enjoyed the chance to work with “motivated and encouraging young people” to plan the event.

The Class Committee, made up of the senior class marshals, treasurer, secretary, gift chairs, and house representatives, is charged with planning bonding events for the class throughout the year.

Sheria D. Smith ’05, also a class marshal, said the Senior Splash and other class-sponsored events serve as “a way to reconnect with people you had previously lost track of in a more fun environment.”

According to an e-mail from Kalin, class committee members hope to start a new annual tradition with the pool party, as well as continuing to uphold many of the senior class traditions, including the Last Chance Dance, the Senior Soiree, and the Champagne Brunch in Annenberg.