House Committee Chairs Push Back as Administrators Weigh Housing Day on Good Friday

Harvard College administrators are considering placing Housing Day on the Friday after spring break this year, according to a House Committee chair, putting it on March 26 — the same day as the Christian holiday of Good Friday.

The proposal has drawn pushback from HoCo chairs, who debated it for more than an hour across two meetings with Dean of Students Thomas G. Dunne, according to the chair, granted anonymity to discuss private meetings with College leaders.

In a statement, College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo said no final decisions had been made regarding the date.

“We will announce the date when it has been decided,” he wrote.

Dunne has met with House staff, student leaders, and members of the Crimson Key Society, and is in the process of reviewing options and soliciting feedback. He also met with leadership at the Harvard Catholic Center about the potential change and faced little pushback, according to three students familiar with the matter.

Good Friday, which falls two days before Easter Sunday, commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and often entails attending religious services. Easter weekend is considered one of the most important periods on the Christian calendar.

This would not be the first time Housing Day has landed on a period of religious observance. In 2025, it coincided with both Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, and Purim, a Jewish holiday.

Marshall Zhu ’28, a member of the Harvard Catholic Center student board, said he would not mind if Housing Day and Good Friday fell on the same day.

“I’m also personally not against the Housing Day or any University-level activities happening concomitantly with Catholic events as long as it won’t meaningfully interfere with our solemn commemoration of our Lord’s Passion and death on the Cross,” Zhu said.

But Madalena L. “Lena” Morris ’29, who is Catholic, said the overlap could make it difficult for Catholic students to take part.

“In order for students who are really practicing Catholics to be able to fully participate, it would definitely be better if they could just move it to a different weekend,” she said.

Housing Day had historically been held on the Thursday before spring break, but the College moved it to the Friday after the recess last year. At the time, Dunne told HoCo chairs that the shift was due to faculty feedback.

Palumbo wrote in a statement at the time that the change was executed to ensure full student participation — not in response to “faculty complaints.”

In a March open forum, College Dean David J. Deming said he believed the shift — which also encompassed more programming for freshmen leading up to the day — was a success, but said the College had not yet decided whether to keep the new date this year.

If the College keeps the new date, River Run — an undergraduate tradition the night before Housing Day, where freshmen take shots of alcohol at every River house — would fall on Holy Thursday, part of Easter week observations.

“You’re in this prayerful state where you’re not being super celebratory because you’re waiting to celebrate until Easter,” Morris said. “So that could definitely interfere with River Run.”

Jackson D. Herrera ’27 said he would have to be thoughtful about how he engaged with Housing Day and would likely skip some of the day’s celebrations.

“Good Friday is a very serious day, but I don’t necessarily think that it’s entirely unreasonable to participate in traditions like these, especially if you go about it in a considerate manner,” Herrera said. “You just have to navigate it very carefully.”

—Staff writer Sebastian B. Connolly can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at sbc.23. Follow him on X @SebastianC4784.

—Staff writer Summer E. Rose can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ser.85. Follow her on X @summerellenrose.