Night Lights Brighten Experience

Looking back on the year in Harvard athletics—my first year as a Crimson fan—I can’t help but think of the highlights: the first home football game against Brown with an Emma Watson sighting, the lacrosse game against Duke when the tailgate was more of a success than the game itself, and the many other matches that I’ve attended, through which my fandom has grown.

One aspect of these memories that I take for granted is that some of them may not have occured if the Athletic Department had not said, “Let there be light.”

Three years ago, the football stadium (and subsequently other fields) was fitted with outdoor lights in order to enable night games. These lights, which followed the addition of FieldTurf and, in the winter, a protective bubble, were first put to use on Sept. 22, 2007 in an Ivy football matchup against Brown. That night, a crowd of nearly 19,000—in addition to the players, coaches, cheerleaders, and band—enjoyed the first night game in the history of America's oldest college.

What would my athletic experience have been like this year without the lights, without the excitement and drama of nocturnal competition? I think Hollywood had it right when they realized that when one brings light, action is certain to follow.