2012 Gets New Home

When Anneika M. Verghese ’12 opened her door at 9 a.m. yesterday, she said she was more confused than surprised. The loud revelry of Leverett and Mather House undergraduates welcoming new residents on the floor below had already prepared her and her blockmates for what to expect.

Instead, upon opening their door, they found a giant elephant mascot sitting in the Wigglesworth entryway.



“I was, like, the Republicans? Really?” Verghese said.

But it was a non-partisan elephant—the Eliot House mascot—that greeted Verghese and 144 other freshmen assigned to Eliot. Before most classes began yesterday morning, first-years received letters informing them which of the 12 upperclassmen Houses they will reside in over the next three years.

This year marked the second time undergraduates, rather than College administrators, delivered residential assignments to freshmen.

“Republicans or Eliot—either way, I would’ve been happy,” said Verghese, one of two Republicans in the three-person blocking group.

As early as 8 a.m., herds of upperclassmen began invading the Yard, brandishing signs with House slogans, shouting competitive chants, and donning quirky House t-shirts.

Despite the festivities—which started late last night with a River Run that got out of hand—and the procession of a menagerie of House mascots that would later meet them outside Annenberg Hall, not all freshmen were excited to see certain House delegations at their doors.

“Immediately, we were silent. A few of us started tearing up,” said Jennah R. A. Hiari ’12, referring to how she and her blocking group took the news that they’d been assigned to Pforzheimer House.

But upperclassmen tried to alleviate freshmen’s disappointment, she added.

“A guy walked up to me and whispered, ‘I know, I know. But eventually, you’ll love [Pfoho],’” Hiari said.

Before noon, Annenberg was already the center of celebration. Outside in the chilly drizzle, students jumped on a multicolored moonbounce on the lawn. And inside the freshman dining hall, a student riding a unicycle weaved around the crowded tables, as freshmen broke off into exclusive House groups, some exchanging hugs with their future neighbors.

Danielle M. Gram ’11, who delivered Housing assignments for Currier House along with barely-clothed Currier residents, said the raucousness reached dangerously high levels.

“We were all shouting, ‘I’m from C-House,’ and everyone was so excited. One freshman almost had a heart attack,” said Gram, noting the rowdiness of some students. “But most freshmen were so excited by our nakedness, [that] they took off their clothes.”

—Staff writer Edward Michael Dussom can be reached at emdussom@fas.harvard.edu. —Staff writer Ahmed N. Mabruk can be reached at amabruk@fas.harvard.edu.