Campus & Community

Harvard’s 375th birthday party

3 min read

Strong rains, moist cake, undampened spirits

Drenching rain doused the revelers celebrating Harvard’s 375th anniversary in Tercentenary Theatre and other venues on Oct. 14. But spirits never dampened as alumni, students, faculty, and staff noshed on pretzels dipped in chocolate and ice cream made with liquid nitrogen. Wingtips and flip-flops got stuck in muddy patches, and sopping hair flattened against wet heads. But dry musicians under a protective canopy entertained the festive crowd, and President Drew Faust mandated: “By the authority vested in me, let’s cut and serve the cake.” The party continued well into the evening, in tandem with the memorable rain.

An ice sculpture inside a tent full of ice cream greets people in the Yard for Harvard’s 375th celebration. Justin Ide/Harvard Staff Photographer
Mike Popernik ’59 (from left), Frances Hill, Mal Hill ’59, and Louis Newell ’57 share stories beneath a 1939 banner at the alumni reception at the Charles Hotel. Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer
Eliot House students Stephanie Wang ’12 (from left), Kefhira Pintos ’12, Raafi Alidina ’12, and Alan Montelongo ’12 blow up balloons filled with glow-in-the-dark paint. Justin Ide/Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard Kennedy School students parade into the celebration. Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard Corporation member Robert Reischauer (from left), Harvard President Drew Faust, and Provost Alan Garber greet paraders on the steps of Widener. Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer
Lawrence Cripe ’13 of Lowell House parades past Drew Faust and other reviewers. Rose Lincoln /Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard alumni join the celebration on the steps of Widener. Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer
Danai Chagwedera ’12 looks for fellow Cabot House friends who marched in the parade past Widener Library. Rose Lincoln /Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard Law School student Nitzan Shilon (left) and Lori Chertoff stand at the apple cider tent during a torrential downpour. Meghan Dhaliwal/Harvard Staff Photographer
R. Taylor Dover (blue hat) and Trey Kirk (cone hat), both Harvard Graduate School of Design students, join the parade. Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer
Students from a science and food course made ice cream with liquid nitrogen. Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer
Anna Su (center) and Nkatha Kabira (right), both from Harvard Law School, reach for ice cream along with scores of other hungry participants. Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer
Shannon Morrow ’12 parades into the celebration of the 375th anniversary of Harvard University inside Tercentenary Theatre. Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer Photographer
An animated Yo-Yo Ma acknowledges the crowd’s applause from the steps of Memorial Church. Rose Lincoln /Harvard Staff Photographer
Rain-soaked crowds gather in front of Memorial Church in Tercentenary Theatre. Meghan Dhaliwal/Harvard Staff Photographer
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma wows the crowd. Rose Lincoln /Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard University celebrates the 375th anniversary of its founding with birthday cake and a huge — though wet — celebration. Justin Ide/Harvard Staff Photographer