Students Stay In From H-Y Game

While many of their classmates trekked to Harvard Stadium to watch the Crimson beat Yale on Saturday, some undergraduates did not attend The Game due to other commitments or lack of interest.

All College students had the opportunity to pick up a free ticket to The Game, which drew a sold-out crowd of 31,123.

Some students who did not go to The Game had their own athletic contests to attend.

Blake T. Lee ’16 and the rest of the men’s varsity water polo team skipped the football game to compete at the Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Division Championships in Princeton, N.J., over the weekend.

“As a water polo player, that was more important to me,” Lee said. “I was proud to be representing the Harvard Crimson in my own way on Saturday.”

Other undergraduates said that they did not attend The Game or the accompanying festivities because they had too many assignments and assessments in the days prior to Thanksgiving.

On Friday, Caitlin S. Pendleton ’15 said that she was not planning to take in The Game—or any of the weekend’s revelries—because she had to write a paper and study for a test.

“I know that if I go to The Game, it won’t just be that—my friends and I will go out after too,” Pendleton said. “I know I’ll hate myself on Sunday afternoon if I go.”

Other students said they chose not to attend because they believe the event promotes rowdiness and disrespect.

Lauren M. Chaleff ’15 wrote in an email that she did not attend The Game because she had plans on Saturday, but probably would not have gone even if she had been free.

“[Harvard-Yale] weekend makes me really conscious of certain issues I have with being a college student here,” Chaleff wrote. She cited litter, noise, and other disruptions caused by drunken partiers as unnecessary burdens for police officers, security guards, and campus maintenance staff.

“I think [Harvard-Yale] weekend really brings forward the role that Harvard and its students play in Cambridge, and it’s not one that I’m totally comfortable with,” Chaleff added.

Yale students, facing the additional disincentive of having to travel to Harvard to support a Bulldogs team that was not expected to win, also did not come out in full ranks.

The Yale Daily News reported on Thursday that 250 of the 3,100 tickets allotted for Yale students were not purchased by the time sales concluded on Wednesday.