Student Life at Harvard in 1675

The college laws in those days were very severe in regard to the use of tobacco. No student could use it "unless permitted by the president with the consent of parents or guardians, and on good reasons first given by a physician, and then in a sober and private manner." What a deal of pleasure the students of that day must have lost, deprived as they were of unlimited "smokes." The origin of class day can be traced back to the fondness of those early students for plum cake. Very soon in the history of the college, the students gave the authorities much trouble at commencement time. "A peculiarity of the festivities at that time was the fondness of the young men for plum cake, and from this apparently originated the 'spreads' of future years." The authorities disapproved of this and passed a law that the students be not allowed to have the cake with plums, and imposed a penalty for the violation of this law of twenty shillings fine and the confiscation of the cakes. The account says that "the anniversary of commencement had become a sort of saturnalia for the whole neighborhood, and the wild revels of the students were so prolonged that it was necessary to put policemen on guard for several days and nights together." But the law did not seem to have any effect and the faculty seemed to be powerless to stop the commencement festivities. Students were time and again warned against having plum cake in their rooms, and one poor fellow suffered dire punishment because he tried to evade the law by having plain cake. At last the authorities in despair took to scheming. They voted that commencement time should be changed, and that it should be more private than usual, and that the day set apart for this anniversary should be concealed until almost the time for its observance, so that the students could not make preparations for the festivities. But as both the students and the citizens of Cambridge and Boston were very much enraged at this and made strong remonstrance against it, the custom of concealing commencement did not long continue. We are told that between 1675 and 1700 the students were very "immoral and disorderly," and vigorous measures had to be resorted to by the faculty. The practice of "unsuitable and unseasonable dancing" crept into the college to the great sorrow of the "honorable governors." In spite of all that is said, we cannot think the students of those days so bad as they are reported, for one must consider the sentiments of the time in which these reports were written. The Puritan fathers who held the reins of the college could not bear any departure from their ideas of gravity and decorum. All the students in those days had to board in "commons," unless excused by the president. The "commons" at first were very bad and furnished the students plenty of ground for complaint. A regular steward, butler and cook were appointed by the college and a committee was chosen to see that "there be sufficient variety, that the table clothes be clean, and that the students have plates." The tutors were obliged to be in the hall during meal times to see that order was kept.