Roofs and Tunnels

What if we told you that there’s a secret Harvard beneath your feet? We didn’t believe it either, but we were wrong. A system of underground tunnels connects nearly every building on Harvard’s campus, including freshman dorms, libraries, and upperclassman houses. No matter where you are on campus, the tunnel system runs beneath you.

The tunnels were created to house the steam pipes that carry Harvard’s main utilities, but they’ve also been explored by many adventurous souls over the years. They range from 10-foot high grand hallways to tiny crawl spaces and in some places, even allegedly contain art work or decorations. Rumored to actually travel through Weeks Bridge, the tunnels barely miss a spot on the grand campus tour.

Entrances to the tunnels are hard to find and even harder to access. For a select group of Harvard undergrads, though, the secrecy and inaccessibility of the tunnels are the reason they’re interesting at all.

Described in simple terms by member Kevin E. O’Donnell ’16-’17 as a “group of people who like to try to find entrances to roofs and tunnels,” this unofficial student group finds thrills in reaching the unreachable parts of Harvard’s campus.

“The group is experienced in all sorts of activities, such as lock-picking, wall-climbing, and general breaking-and-entering,” O’Donnell says. “We never steal or break things. The reward is the simple fact that you found a way around a wall.”

One night, completely by chance, O’Donnell discovered a tunnel entrance mistakenly left open in the basement of his dorm. The door was open, but a gate separated O’Donnell and his freshman roommate, Crimson editorial editor Eyck A. Freymann ’16-’17, from free reign of the tunnel.

“It’s huge. One of the main tunnels under the Yard is like 10 foot ceilings, 10 feet wide, lights, and it just goes and goes,” Freymann says.

Once, unsure exactly where they were or what they were about to discover, the friends, accompanied by an innocent prospective applicant, accidentally tripped a silent alarm and alerted the Harvard University Police Department of their location. The officers arrived within 10 minutes, and the boys explained that they’d stumbled upon the tunnels by chance. The cop excused them without any penalty.

Though this exploration was short lived, the accidental encounter made one thing very clear: From that night onward, the boys were hooked. The thrill of uncovering secret spaces was something they’d pursue long after that night. The prospective applicant, on the other hand, was so shaken by the experience that he didn’t even apply to Harvard.

Exploring the Yard’s basements with O’Donnell, we get an inside look into the secret world his group inhabits. O’Donnell delights in the cryptic mystery of his adventures, answering, “I cannot confirm nor deny” to half of our questions and answering another few with nothing but a knowing smile.

We poke around various basements for a while, hoping for a stroke of luck, ultimately ending up in a lot of storage rooms but no secret tunnels.

Instinctively examining every basement room we step into for cameras, O’Donnell often pauses with a finger to his ear, apparently listening, before silently beckoning us forward. It’s clear that, although the group is driven by the fun of the experience, its members are smart and experienced in the art of sneaking around.

According to O’Donnell, another member of the secret group accessed the tunnels after his friend was assigned to write a Harvard Gazette article about haunted sites at Harvard. The member convinced Harvard administrators that a tour of the tunnels was necessary to research the article, and the two students were able to explore the twists and turns of the elusive tunnel system without fear of setting off alarms.

The tunnels and Harvard’s other closed-off spaces may be shrouded in rumors and secrecy, but for O’Donnell and Freymann’s group, it’s not just the mystery that keeps them coming back for more.

“This group is based on nothing more than your ability to think outside of the box. And break into shit,” O’Donnell tells us, pride and honor obvious in his voice.

“It’s not based on how cool you are or how attractive you are or how well you can sing,” he says. “It’s based on one thing, which is your sense of adventure and fearlessness.”

For the members of this group, the spaces they discover hold almost a sacred meaning. The roofs of buildings, the secret tunnels, everything behind locked doors provides the group with a sense of unity and belonging. It’s not just about the gratification the group derives from their adventures, though.

“You don’t want people to break into buildings? Create good social space,” O’Donnell saus.

The tunnels may be Harvard’s biggest mystery, but for a select few adventerers, they can exist as more than just rumor. The tunnels connect not only Harvard’s buildings, but also these students. “As long as there are students, there will be people who want to break in,” Freymann says.