“We pride ourselves with always being the first House to John Harvard,” said Adam Aleksic ’23. “We take shifts guarding the statue overnight from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. We’re all coming together and showing what this House means to us and sharing that with others. It’s the biggest culmination of Kirkland spirit.”
As the crowd grew around University Hall, passersby paused to smile while students erupted into celebration, laughter, and good-natured rivalry. All ages danced or bopped along to College Dean Rakesh Khurana’s upbeat Housing Day playlist. Signs boasted House spirit with clever phrases like: “No place I’d Mather be” and “Welcome to Throp-ical paradise.” In a nod to Currier’s mascot, another one read: “No tricks, just TREEts.”
“Housing Day is an opportunity to welcome first-year students into their House, which in coming years will feel like home,” said Khurana, in between posing for photos with undergraduates. “For upper-level students, it’s a means of reaffirming our commitment and our values, that our diversity is a source of infinite possibility.”