Crimson Jam Has Got to Go

Every April, Harvard students crowd before a festival stage in front of Widener Library, eagerly awaiting Yardfest, one of the College’s largest annual undergraduate events. But in September, seven months before Yardfest, another College-wide concert takes place in Harvard Yard — Crimson Jam.

The Harvard College Events Board funds both of these concerts using the Student Activities Fee, but each year, both events raise the same question: Why can’t the wealthiest college in America secure better headliners?

In the competition to book talent, Harvard has been getting a taste of its own medicine: rejection.

Last year, Harvard tried to schedule British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean to headline Yardfest, but she reportedly declined due to CEB’s inability to meet her asking price. Harvard had similar luck trying to book Swedish pop star Zara Larsson in the wake of Dean’s rejection — though she did perform at Yale University and Tufts University.

Perhaps the clearest measure of these events’ appeal is that Harvard closes its dining halls and serves dinner at the venue: come for the concert, or go hungry.

But the problem with Yardfest is not that the CEB doesn’t have enough money.

Last year, the College announced it would change the Student Activities Fee from an optional $200 fee to a mandatory $450 charge, effective this fall. The stated reasoning was to fund free laundry for undergraduates and strengthen House Committee budgets. Presumably, the new SAF will also bolster funding for the two major events the fee funds: Crimson Jam and Yardfest.

The problem is how the money is spent. If Harvard wants Yardfest to be the exhilarating, festival-style event that it claims to be, there may not be room in the budget for Crimson Jam as we know it.

While theoretically, the increased SAF — and the fact that it is no longer optional — should result in a larger budget for both Crimson Jam and Yardfest, it’s hard to estimate exactly how much of this new money the CEB will be able to allocate toward the concerts, as the money generated by the fee must also fund HoCo allowances and the College’s new free laundry system.

If the new and improved SAF can’t guarantee Harvard the ability to book bigger names for Yardfest, it might be time to reconsider why the College holds two large concerts annually in the first place.

After all, Harvard stands out as one of the only Ivy League schools to have more than one college-wide concert on its yearly calendar. Other Ivies such as Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania host only one such concert annually, and have historically booked massive headliners like Kendrick Lamar and Zedd.

The good news is, many similar schools don’t host a large concert each semester, so if the College were to cut the headliner from Crimson Jam and redirect its funds toward Yardfest, it wouldn’t set Harvard apart. Pooling resources around Yardfest would allow Harvard to book very big names at little cost.

That’s because scrapping Crimson Jam’s headliner would enhance, not destroy, the purpose of the event.

Crimson Jam takes place at the beginning of the academic year with the goal of helping incoming students meet their classmates and returning students enjoy a fun, social event before the stress of their academic lives returns in full effect. Traditionally, Crimson Jam features student performers before the headliner takes the stage. Frequently, the student performances are better than the professionals.

Not only are student performances less costly, but they also provide a great forum for freshmen to showcase and support one another’s passions — what could be a better kickoff to the year than that?

Instead of spreading Crimson Jam and Yardfest’s collective budget thin by hiring two headliners, Harvard should give each event a distinct purpose. Let student groups like the Yard Bops, the Harvard Krokodiloes, or the Harvard Opportunes take the center stage at Crimson Jam, preserving its communal spirit while reserving the marquee acts — and marquee budget — for Yardfest.

Harvard doesn’t need two middling music festivals. It could have one student showcase that feels genuinely its own and one spring concert capable of competing with those of its neighbors. For a school accustomed to issuing rejections, that may be the best way to start receiving fewer of them.

Eli H. GwinnLandry ’29, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Dunster House.