Pfoho Party 'Makes It Rain'

Champagne rained on Saturday night in Pforzheimer House, as its latest bash sought to embody the spirit of hip-hop artist Fat Joe’s song “Make It Rain.”

Fliers told prospective party-goers that Pfoho would be “the picture of extravagance,” complete with a red carpet, velvet ropes, a free bottle of champagne for legal-age guests, and stacks of cash—purportedly 180,000 individual bills—with which to “make it rain.”

The act of “making it rain” involves bringing large quantities of money to a locale (read: strip club), and then throwing said money in the air, thereby making it “rain” cash upon the revelers (read: strippers).

Admittedly, the term is open to interpretation. When students were asked whether they were aware of the definition of making it rain, responses varied.

“When I think of that term, I can only conjure images of certain fluids flowing other than champagne,” said one sophomore amid the hullabaloo of the house’s dining hall.

For the event, the Pfoho House Committee purchased 25 cases of André Brut champagne, totaling 300 bottles, at a bulk-discounted cost of $1,350.

While the champagne flowed, it did so under the strict supervision of one of Harvard’s Beverage Authorization Team (BAT).

Many underage guests were surprised and irritated by the regulations, with one male guest shouting, “This is ridiculous—I paid money, now give me a bottle.”

But some students bypassed the BAT entirely by showing up on the red carpet already in a state of inebriation.

The theme of extravagance was executed forcefully, with the entire surface of the dining hall floor covered two-inches deep in a blanket of bills.

The bills themselves featured an image of Benjamin Franklin, ornamented with the words “Make it rain, Pfoho.”

An unintended consequence of the bills was that they made the floor exceedingly slippery, causing several guests to fall.

Guests were asked to show up looking fresh in “club-style attire,” and most heeded the call with expensive—or expensive-looking—get ups, though a rogue pair of “DHAs” was spotted near the dining hall’s tray return.

The party was the brainchild of David C. Lipson ’08 and Sam J. Silverlieb ’08, who are roommates and members of the Pfoho House Committee.

“Our aim was to create a party based on extravagance, creating the type of atmosphere one would see at an exclusive club or celebrity birthday party,” Silverlieb added. “‘Make It Rain’ offers every Harvard student—regardless of who they are and where they might come from—the opportunity to live like a celebrity for one night.”