<p>Merci, Fauve, for the information. Exclusivity aside, if Harvard does not recognize them, there must be a compelling reason.</p>
<p>On another note, does anyone know if we will be able to attend any part of the Harvard Princeton football game during Parents Weekend? Will we get information any more specific than is what is currently posted? Must we reply that we will attend? I am truly looking forward to the weekend, and the activities!</p>
<p>The football game is listed as part of the parents weekend activities. Further details are yet to be posted.</p>
<p>Thanks, Smoda61. I hope theyâll post details soon so those of us who like to plan early are able. Coming from a long distance and hoping to fit in a visit with friends in the area, too.</p>
<p>See if you can find your kid in the 2013 class photograph on convocation day.
Open the link, scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the photo and use the controls to move around in the photo, and zoom in and out. It might be use ful to have a magnifying glass handy as well.</p>
<p>[Panfoto</a> - Panoramic Photographer for Schools, Colleges, Graduations, Reunions, and Groups - Boston, MA](<a href=âhttp://www.panfoto.com/photography/colleges/detail.cfm?RecordID=815]Panfotoâ>Panfoto - Panoramic Photographer for Schools, Colleges, Graduations, Reunions, and Groups - Boston, MA)</p>
<p>thanks for the link to the class photo - i never got one ordered. I thought surprising my daughter w/ a laminated photo, with a package of those âsign hereâ type sticky arrows to label friends, could be fun to have in her suite.</p>
<p>also note the zoom controls along the bottom of the photo - I may have spotted my daughter</p>
<p>I would just point out that Harvard also does not officially sponsor the ROTC - now thatâs certainly an elitist organization! </p>
<p>Sonâs friend who sponsored him at a final club was a Presidential Scholar and Marshall Scholar . . .</p>
<p>Thanks much for the link. I am shocked to have found my kid.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Re: Final clubs: My understanding (second hand) is that they are not ârecognizedâ because they (and all Greek houses), were told by Harvard to either go co-ed or go unrecognized. Unlike Yaleâs Secret Societies, which chose the co-ed route, Harvardâs Final Clubs chose to remain male-only, and went independent, instead. (Same for the female final clubs). Their houses are off-campus and privately-owned. They, and the sororities and fraternities are not permitted to officially meet on campus, because they discriminate on the basis of gender. Despite fauveâs description of what may go on inside these clubs, apparently there are a fair number of famous alumni members of these clubs, including former U.S. Presidents (or so I am told).</p>
<p>Look at how dressed up the Class of 2013 is compared to 2012, 2011 and 2010! Must be the new Convocation time ⊠lots of blue shirts!</p>
<p>Last year free tickets were given out for the football game, this of course after I bought them. I was however able to sell them to some Canadian tourists who thought it would be âcoolâ to go to a Harvard game. No I wasnât scalping but they walked up to me and asked âdo you know where we can get tickets!â</p>
<p>SewHappy, not sure what you mean by saying ROTC is âelitistâ. Maybe I am missing something? ROTC is certainly not a social club, and anyone can apply and be accepted as long as you pass the academic and physical standards. (And get accepted to Harvard which is a totally different application process) My son had an NavyROTC scholarship to Harvard/MIT consortium, 4 year full pay but later was disqualified because he is colorblind. Of course along with âmembershipâ comes a committment to serve your country for 5 years of Payback. Not a trivial thing and totally different from a social club.</p>
<p>Unless its a budget-cut casualty, thereâs a free sack lunch for visitors in the indoor track fieldhouse, next door to the football stadium, just before the football game. Free football tickets (and campus maps, coffee and muffins) should be available at the Parents Association check-in table where you check-in for the weekend.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>We purchased an official copy of the similar graduation class photo when D1 graduated ('08). They didnât do Convocation photos back then. And I was amazed that, with only one or two exceptions, every seniorâs face can be seen in the picture. And unlike these convocation pictures, everyone is dressed the same - in graduation gowns (but not caps).</p>
<p>One complication was that the '08 Class Marshals were all coincidentally quite tall. And since the Marshals sit up front in the photo, they had a hard time posing them so as not to obscure the kids sitting behind them.</p>
<p>Ahh, my husband had such a great time last year at parents weekend. I couldnât go because my dtr had her homecoming dance on the same weekend. He enjoyed meeting the new friends and seeing our sonâs life away from home. </p>
<p>Freshmen parents - enjoy!!</p>
<p>EAO1227- I think sewhappy was being sarcastic regarding calling ROTC elitist. She was defending the final clubs and implying that a bar from campus does not mean the clubs are elitist.<br>
Bay- I agree with your point on gender discrimination, but also have read ROTC continues to be barred by Harvard due to the sexual orientation discrimination by the US Military as a whole.</p>
<p>The football game and pre-game luncheon was great a few years agoâwe, too, still use our Crimson insignia-emblazoned lunch bags. </p>
<p>My dire warnings of binge-drinking re final clubs certainly does not negate the positives of the clubs: beautiful social spaces; a 10 girl to every guy party ratio; great networking with illustrious alumni (although Edward Kennedy did have to give up his life-long membership in the Owl after political pressure a few years ago.) I simply assumed parents might want to know about the less-savory aspects if their son/daughters were becoming involved.</p>
<p>Comparing ROTC to a final club? I donât know what the intention of that comment was. It is just sad that only a handful of the âbest and the brightestâ are in the joint Harvard-MIT ROTC unit. Perhaps it speaks to the prolonging of adolescence, an avoidance of adult responsibilities or personal danger. But probably it is more of a class issueâsee the book âThe Unexcused Absence of Americaâs Upper Classes from Military Serviceâand How It Hurts Our Countryâ by Roth-douquet and Schaeffer (Collins 2006).</p>
<p>Meanwhile, have a great parentsâ weekend 13ers!</p>
<p>Helpful tips for Type A parents from theonion.com:</p>
<p>[Facebook</a>, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids | The Onion - Americaâs Finest News Source](<a href=âThe Onion | America's Finest News Source.â>The Onion | America's Finest News Source.)</p>
<p>That is such a funny videoâit was posted on here on CC last month.</p>
<p>Apparently a Harvard senior, passed away today. The young lady was injured last week during polo practice. Here is the link to the Crimson article:</p>
<p>[The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: Cabot House Senior, Injured in Riding Accident, Passes Away](<a href=âhttp://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=529366]Theâ>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=529366)</p>
<p>I cannot fathom what her family and friends are going through.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>His dad, Joseph P. Kennedy, never got over being blackballed from Porcellian back in the day. He considered it to be one more slight and insult heaped upon him for being Irish and Catholic. Maybe, but uber-WASP Franklin Roosevelt also was rejected by Porcellian, so itâs hard say for sure what the reason was.</p>
<p>Things have apparently changed somewhat from the old days. Via my D, I am personally acquainted with a Jewish woman, a Korean man, an AfAm man, and (I assume based on his name, think âPaddy Murphyâ) a Catholic man, all of whom are members of final clubs.</p>