HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES

Crimson Key Society Celebrates 50 Years With New Guidebook

By Alvin Powell
Contributing Writer

Crimson Key Society member Sarah Melvoin '00 conducts a tour of Harvard Yard.

Cannonballs tossed out of dormitory windows during Revolutionary War times made the dents in Yard sidewalks. And only one volume of John Harvard's original library survived a devastating fire because it was sneaked out by a late-working student. Oh, and Widener Library's namesake went down on the Titanic.

Bits of Harvard history, lore, and trivia like these are shared each day with members of the public, prospective students, and visiting dignitaries by members of Harvard's Crimson Key Society.

In one way or another, members of the Key have been collecting campus history and greeting campus visitors for 50 years. The Crimson Key marked its anniversary this year with a revised Guidebook to Harvard University, the first update by the Key in about a decade, and with a celebration last month that brought past and current members to the Harvard Club of Boston.

The Crimson Key Society was founded in 1948 by the Harvard Athletic Department as a way to make prospective athletic recruits feel welcome on campus. The original Crimson Key members shepherded the recruits to different events, introduced them to Harvard students, and even secured tickets to Boston shows.

Today, the Key is no longer affiliated with the Athletic Department, but the Key's 75 members still give tours to visiting athletes as they would any other campus visitors.

"The overall mission of the organization is to serve as ambassadors and representatives of the College," said Jamil Ghani '99, the organization's president. "We represent the student body and Harvard University as a whole to people who are coming to see what Harvard is all about."

In addition to the tours, the Key each year hosts Freshman Week - a roster of mixers, socials, and other events intended to make incoming freshmen more comfortable in their new surroundings. Commencement week is another important time for Key members, when they offer tours, work as ushers, and operate an information booth in the Yard.

Beyond those two weeks, Key members give regular tours to prospective students and their families through the Admissions Office and to members of the public twice daily from the Events & Information Center, based in the Arcade at Holyoke Center.

On a chilly morning last week, sophomore John Kirkham guided a small group of visitors through the Old Yard, to the Science Center, Memorial Hall, the New Yard and, finally, to the foot of the John Harvard statue. His talk about Harvard's long history was sprinkled with odd anecdotes, such as the fact that Memorial Hall's clock tower was originally much higher, and its present height was determined not by architects, but by the water pressure in firefighters' hoses during a 1956 fire. The upper portion of the tower burned while firefighters were able to save the portion that we see today.

Kirkham added personal notes, like tales of his freshman sojourn at Holworthy Hall and current classes at Sever Hall, to let the tour group know they were being guided by a real Harvard resident, not a paid guide.

"I love the place, and this is sort of a way to convey that," Kirkham said later.

One of the duties of Crimson Key members is to guide visiting dignitaries around campus. Arranged by the Marshal's Office, the tours are offered every dignitary, giving them a chance not just to see the campus, but to interact with a student.

"They've been excellent. We've had visitors who've taken tours write to thank us and ask for the addresses of the guides so they can write them a personal note," said Elizabeth Shade, administrator of the International Visitors Program. "They do an incredible job."

Ghani's favorite tour was one he gave to the president of Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong. The tour was running late, Ghani said, and Secret Service agents assigned to the president were getting antsy, shooting Ghani glances to hurry him up. As they approached Memorial Hall and Ghani began to talk about the building, the president's aide pulled Ong aside to talk to him. Ong, an architect and interested in the building's design, answered so everyone could hear, "We'll go when I'm ready."

At that, everyone backed off, and Ghani, Ong, and his wife talked about Memorial Hall for several minutes in peace.

"I walked away from that experience with a new sense of pride in the school and a sense of what presidential power can do for you," Ghani said.

While celebrating its past, the Key is also thinking of its future. Ghani said they want to continue to emphasize diversity among Key members to ensure they reflect the student body as a whole. He said they're also considering regular updates of the Harvard guidebook and planning to do a better job of keeping in touch with Key alumni.

As part of that future, the Key will continue to recruit members who can enthusiastically represent Harvard to the outside world.

"It's very important that people really believe what they say on the tour," Ghani said. "We're looking for a real and honest passion for Harvard."