In Bright Red Lanyards, Prefrosh Take Visitas

Sporting bright red lanyards and new Harvard attire, hundreds of prospective freshmen took in the sights and sounds of the College as part of this weekend’s Visitas programming.

The weekend, held annually for prospective undergraduates, began with a speech Saturday by University President Drew G. Faust in Sanders Theatre, where she welcomed admitted students and their parents to Harvard.

Later on in the weekend, admitted students—known by those around Harvard as “prefrosh”—watched a collection of musical and artistic performances at “Visitas Palooza” in Sanders Theatre, attended a dessert tasting in Ticknor Lounge, and sang karaoke in Eliot House Grille.

And on Sunday afternoon, hundreds of prefrosh crowded the Student Organization Center at Hilles for an “Activities Fair.” Colorful booths and student representatives from more than 100 student organizations lined the walls, eager to talk to prospective students about their clubs.

Noel Chou, a prospective student from California, said that meeting current students was a highlight of Visitas.

“It’s been encouraging and fun to talk to the various leaders of the different clubs because everyone’s so nice and friendly,” she said.

Jonathan Castillo, a prospective student hailing from Texas, said he enjoyed the College’s efforts to welcome prefrosh to campus.

“Everything’s been very open-arms and very accepting to everything you’ve got, and willing to make you feel at home,” he said. “That’s something I genuinely appreciate.”

Others said they enjoyed getting a taste of Harvard’s myriad of student organizations.

“It’s great that they have a little bit of everything so we can get a taste of what Harvard life is like,” Rachel Ma said, a prospective student from New Jersey.

Castillo also said he enjoyed the flexibility of the programming, which gave prospective students the freedom to choose the events that they wanted to attend throughout the weekend.

“[They’re] like here’s everything you can do, be your own person, be responsible, and they send you out. And I like that, how you can just go wherever you need to go,” he said.

However, some students, like Emily Rios from Texas, said they would have preferred more structured programming that facilitated meeting other prospective students. She said that since she was hosted by a sibling, she didn’t get a chance to meet other prospective students.

“But even when I did meet people, they wanted to do different things, so it was hard to stick with one group,” Rios said.

Menelik Epee-Bounya, an admitted student from Mass., said he thought Visitas can improve was having more social events, such as dodgeball or others games, rather than just “intellectual” events.

“It’s been fun, but not as fun as I hoped for. I found it a bit underwhelming,” he said. “Sometimes I find myself with my friends trying to find something to do and there’s a three-hour gap where we have no plans where we’re kind of just waiting around.”

—Staff writer Amy Tan can be reached at amy.tan@thecrimson.com.