Yardfest Overlaps Prefrosh Weekend

For the first time since its inception six years ago, Yardfest will fall during the visiting weekend for high school students who have been offered admission to the College.

Scheduled for Apr. 17, the spring College-wide concert overlaps with the Sunday of the three-day calendar of events, named “Visitas,” that has in the past attracted about 1000 high school students.

Visiting Program Director Valerie A. Beilenson ’07 said that the admissions office, which coordinates Visitas, hopes Yardfest will show prefrosh “a different side of Harvard.”

But current undergraduates said that the concert could give admitted students false perceptions of Harvard life.

“It gives prefrosh a pretty bad impression of what Harvard is like since it only happens once a year,” Jordan A. Monge ’12 said.

Beilenson said that the admissions office scheduled Visitas before the College Events Board and Harvard College Concert Commission—which plan Yardfest—had finalized their plans.

According to Beilenson, coordinators for each event communicated extensively with each other and the admissions office was fully aware that the two events might overlap.

CEB and HCC chose that weekend for Yardfest based on artist availability and scheduling conflicts, according to CEB chair Crystal Y. Coser ’12.

According to Coser, they prioritized putting on “the best possible show for the student body” when determining scheduling.

Coser and other members of the CEB are optimistic that the additional people will make the concert itself more enjoyable.

“It’s going to pump up the atmosphere because there will be more people here,” Yardfest co-chair Spenser R. Goodman ’14 said on Wednesday, when CEB and HCC announced the performers.

But students interviewed said that the presence of so many people could cause overcrowding and change the dynamic of Yardfest.

Organizers of Yardfest expect record attendance numbers at this year’s concert as a result of the visiting high schoolers.

Beilenson said that, other than modifying the schedule to ensure that there were no events during the hours of Yardfest, the overlap between the two programs has had limited impact on plans for Visitas weekend.

The admissions office cautioned student organizations to be mindful of Yardfest when scheduling their events.

“It’s been really challenging because student organizations can’t plan things during the hours of Yardfest,” said Monge, who is the editor-in-chief of the Christian journal The Harvard Ichthus.

Both Beilenson and representatives from the CEB said that the overlap of Yardfest and Vistas may happen again because scheduling must be determined on a year by year basis.

“Hopefully it will be really positive,” Beilenson said of this year’s schedule. “It’s an experiment.”

—Stephanie B. Garlock and Monika L.S. Robbins contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Hana N. Rouse can be reached at hrouse@college.harvard.edu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction.

CORRECTION: MAR. 28, 2011

The Mar. 25 article "Yardfest Overlaps Prefrosh Weekend" misstated the title of Crystal Y. Coser '12. She is the chair of the College Events Board.