Harvard Has Planned the Fun Out of The Game

Harvard recently announced its plans for the 142nd playing of The Game, and things look dim.

On November 21, undergraduates will have the ability to enter Fenway Park at 1 p.m., ninety minutes before the public, to walk the concourse, take photos, and get complimentary refreshments (alcoholic, for those over 21). Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason R. Meier said the tailgate will be held inside the ballpark because it is impossible to host a traditional tailgate outside the stadium.

This model confuses amenities with community. A tailgate is not a collection of photo ops and merch giveaways, but rather an opportunity for students and alumni to gather, celebrate, and build the kind of school spirit that cannot be programmed. Unfortunately, Harvard is yet again stifling fun by refusing to trust its own students and misunderstanding where funds should be appropriated.

Let’s begin with transportation. The College is shifting money away from transportation and into activities, including during the week leading up to The Game, funded by a Student Activities Fee pool that has doubled in size. That’s a reasonable use of money, but a budget decision this big needs strong justification. If transportation is getting less, the College should outline what it expects students to do instead.

What it expects, apparently, is the T. According to Meier, the College is working with the MBTA to open a gate for students and ramp up train service. Harvard will run only “six or seven” shuttle buses, which Meier says it wants to save for students with accessibility needs. That’s the right priority, but it leaves everyone else on their own.

The journey to Fenway by T takes about 40 minutes and requires transferring lines at Park Street. With tens of thousands of students and affiliates heading to the stadium, relying on one gate is a gamble, especially when many will have been drinking and the Red Line is notoriously unreliable.

Yale offers a useful comparison. Its stadium is a roughly 36-minute walk or a 7-minute drive from campus, and Yale still decided to run free shuttles continuously for several hours last year. Harvard could fund more shuttles, even if doing so costs money. And if the College is willing to spend more on tailgate amenities, it should be willing to spend enough to get students to The Game. The point isn’t that Harvard should spend less on student activities, but that it should spend on what enhances the student experience.

The value of a tailgate lies in the interactions it fuels through fun, not just the planned activities. Last year, my first Harvard-Yale tailgate allowed me to experience the thrill of our rivalry through unburdened fun with Yalies. It gave me the opportunity to meet several new Harvard students through dancing and celebrating. Alumni grilling hot dogs and passing them to undergraduates showed me an enduring Harvard community beyond the Yard. None of those moments required a scheduled activity or a carefully curated amenity. They happened because people had room to gather and enjoy themselves. It shouldn’t be the case that students routinely say that Yale’s tailgates are more fun than Harvard’s.

To be clear, the limits on our ability to tailgate are real. The College cannot conjure a convenient tailgating space where one doesn’t exist. When The Game was first hosted at Fenway in 2018, students tailgated in Cambridge and then boarded buses to Boston. In Dean of Students Thomas G. Dunne’s words, “It wasn’t cohesive.” But the solution should be better transportation, not fewer shuttles and a snack bar.

A petition that same year called for “an inclusive atmosphere of enthusiastic school spirit with student tailgates” at the athletic complex across the river. Nearly eight years later, that request remains worth taking seriously. The Game is one of Harvard’s clearest expressions of school spirit, and the College should prioritize the conditions that foster that sense of community.

Not every change this year is a bad one. The 3:30 p.m. kickoff time will give students more time to get ready in the morning, enjoy the tailgate, and savor the moment without rushing to make the traditional 12 p.m. kickoff time. Traditions like these can evolve to accommodate students. The Game doesn’t need to stay the exact same from year to year, but it should always center the student experience.

So keep the 1 p.m. concourse tour for anyone who wants a photo with the Green Monster. But leave the tailgating to students, with a lawn, a speaker, and less unnecessary (if well-intentioned) oversight. In return, we’d appreciate a few more shuttles to Fenway afterward.

Harvard hasn’t beaten Yale since 2021. The College can’t control what happens on the field. It can at least let students enjoy what happens outside it.

Taylor P. Beljon-Regen ’29, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Government concentrator in Leverett House.