Harvard’s School Spirit Is Pathetic. Tailgate Restrictions Only Make it Worse.

It’s Friday night and students across campus are preparing for a weekend full of socials, mixers, and parties.

While students will inevitably flock to parties in dorm rooms and common spaces, there’s one place Harvard students will surely be missing: the football stadium.

I grew up less than an hour away from the perennial football powerhouse Clemson University — and just a little further from the University of North Carolina, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Georgia.

I always assumed that pride in college football teams was a given. But then I came to Harvard.

In 2023, Harvard averaged less than 12,000 fans per game — or less than 40 percent of its stadium. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if more away fans than Harvard students showed up to our home games.

It’s not that Harvard students don’t have pride in their alma mater, and it’s not that Harvard football is markedly unsuccessful – the school won back to back Ivy League Titles in 2023 and 2024. So what gives?

Everything but the football game itself.

What made games fun at the SEC and ACC schools near my hometown was not just the football inside the stadiums — it was the fun outside. But when Harvard students try to make football fun, the administration is there to shut it down.

Tailgating is integral to the college sports experience. A good tailgate has the power to turn a mediocre football experience into the envy of the country, while a bad tailgate can destroy football turnout at a school like Harvard — despite its 150 years of football history.

Harvard administrators, it seems, led by Dean of Students Thomas Dunne, continue to wrongly choose the latter option. And the 2024 Harvard-Yale football game is the latest example.

Dunne’s office has already announced an “official” tailgate, complete with “inflatables” (so fun!) and “classic American barbecue fare” (yum!).

Concerns over underage drinking have dominated the tailgate debate, but the problem with Harvard’s plan is much more fundamental.

The “supercool, undergraduate-only, open to all students, official tailgate for the bestest football team in the world” (I took some liberties with the name) harms Harvard school spirit because it misunderstands what a tailgate is.

Tailgates got their names from the informal gatherings of fans in parking lots. Part of the charm of a tailgate is their informality and fan-driven atmosphere.

It’s no surprise then, that student tailgates are remembered fondly while DSO “tailgates” are regarded with the same disdain I’d imagine office workers harbor when speaking about mandatory corporate bonding.

Harvard needs to realize that students will gladly attend football games — even on frosty cold Friday nights — if it allows them to plan their own parties. When students can show spirit the same way every other college student in America shows school spirit, Harvard Stadium can be as full as every other college stadium in America.

Unduly regulating student-run tailgates under the guise of safety and inclusivity only harms Harvard. If the school adopts a draconian approach to tailgates, students will simply find other places to party and drink.

The same can’t be said about attending football games. You don’t have to be a Harvard dean to realize that.

Mac M. Mertens ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a double concentrator in Classics and History in Mather House.