The 2004 Harvard-Yale Prank was a practical joke performed on November 20, 2004, at the annual Yale-Harvard football game in which Yale students, costumed as a Harvard "pep squad," perpetrated a card stunt. They gave out placards to a section of Harvard fans which, when raised together, read "we suck."
The stunt was conceived and coordinated by Michael Kai and David Aulicino, two Yale students in the Class of 2005, and executed with the help of 20 classmates. Disguised as the "Harvard Pep Squad," the perpetrators handed white and crimson placards to fans—mostly Harvard alumni, with a few faculty, students, and others—in the central area of the Harvard side of the stadium. The group told the crowd that by lifting the placards they would spell "GO HARVARD."[2]
Most Harvard students, sitting in a section off to the side of the alumni area where the prank was executed, left the stands unaware of the prank; however, players on the field did see the placards. [3] Harvard won the game, 38-3.
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Initially, many at Harvard denied the prank had happened.[4] In response, Yale students registered the domain name "harvardsucks.org" (as well as "yalesucks.org" in a preemptive move) and posted a video detailing their efforts.[5] Chuck Sullivan, Harvard's director of athletic communications, said "[It was] all in good fun." [6] In an interview with the Harvard Crimson, the prank's organizers claimed that members of the Harvard Band were complicit with the Yale pranksters.[7]
A spring 2007 piece from the Harvard Satyrical Press claims that the photo distributed by the pranksters (seen above) was doctored and that the message was actually illegible, demonstrated by a photo taken by a Harvard photographer [1].
The prank was covered by newspapers, radio programs, Jimmy Kimmel Live, MSNBC, and several other TV shows. Several magazines have listed the prank among the greatest in college history.[8][9][10][11][12] A satirical article in Maxim says Yale perpetrated "the greatest prank this side of the Mason-Dixon line since the Boston Tea Party...and caused dozens of stoic, blue-blooded Harvard men to spit port wine all over their smoking jackets." Sports Illustrated featured the prank with "some of the best attempts to get the other guy's goat." ESPN and ESPN2 featured the prank in a 15-minute documentary on the rivalry.
This prank echoes many similar stunts, most notably the Great Rose Bowl Hoax of 1961. In that game, California Institute of Technology pranksters passed out cards at a Minnesota vs. Washington game that, when raised together, spelled "CALTECH."
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