Tailgating regulations will not be the only new rules limiting student gatherings during Harvard-Yale weekend this year.
Students will not be allowed to host on-campus parties with more than 20 guests on the night before the Harvard-Yale football game, Council of Masters chair Judith Krauss said. Though some students said the new restriction will not hinder all pre-Game festivities, others said the masters have gone too far in limiting social activities.
The rule, created by the masters’ council, is intended to prevent disorderly behavior and damage to University property, Krauss said.
“In years past, parties have gotten out of control and there has been some significant property damage,” Krauss said. “The intention is that we will all sit down with our college councils and let people know that we are really trying to keep Yale-Harvard weekend somewhere within the realm of sanity.”
Calhoun College Master Jonathan Holloway said the ban on large parties was created specifically to prevent residential colleges from suffering the damage usually incurred the night before the Game.
If college masters discover parties that violate the new regulation, they may shut the events down, said Krauss, who is the master of Silliman College. She said she hopes that both Yale and Harvard students will attend the scheduled Yale College Council-sponsored dance, where alcohol will be prohibited.
Some students said they are unhappy with the new policy and doubt that it will effectively reduce drinking. Students who want to drink in large groups will do so in spite of the ban, by going to off-campus parties, bars and fraternities, Joey Leone ’06 said.
“No matter what [the masters] do, kids are going to party,” Leone said. “Everybody comes here to party, and they are going to find a way … regardless of the policy of the administration.”
Brett Andrews ’08 said he thinks the ban will be counterproductive in terms of keeping people under control. Under the current policy, students are required to report the date and location of scheduled parties in addition to the name and cell phone number of someone who is more than 21 years old. By stopping registration, masters will likely have less control over the parties than usual, Andrews said.
“They are going to happen anyway, and there is going to be no way to control them,” Andrews said. “All the safety features are just going to go to hell because the masters aren’t going to be in touch with their colleges.”
Others said they do not think the 20-person limit will cause more people to attend the non-alcoholic dance.
Yale Student Activities Committee Chair Jackie Carter ’07 said she expects about the same number of dance attendees as there were the last time the Game was at held Yale in spite of the new rule.
“I don’t think it will cause a huge influx,” Carter said. “Kids who are looking for alcoholic events will find them elsewhere.”
Teddy Goff ’07 said he thinks the masters’ expectations are unrealistic because of the large number of Harvard students who will be staying in the residential college dorms.
The ban may actually increase the number of parties on campus during Harvard-Yale weekend, Dan Toubolets ’08 said, by encouraging more students to host small gatherings.
The new tailgating regulations accompanying the limit on pre-Game party size include a ban on drinking game paraphernalia, a rule prohibiting students from sitting on top of vehicles during the tailgate and a stipulation that all tailgating activities must end after halftime.