Prank Yard Bulletin Sent To First-Years

The Procrastinators meeting has been postponed, the IGPAY ATINLAY ABLETAY will be held in Lowell Dining Hall tonight, and most important of all—do not feed the tourists.

Thus read an unusual edition of the Yard Bulletin e-mailed to all first-year students Tuesday.

The bulletin, which was sent from the Freshman Dean’s Office (FDO) e-mail account in an apparent April Fool’s Day hack, left many first-years laughing—and wondering what consequences the pranksters behind it might face.

The e-mail mimicked the usual format of the Yard Bulletin, which the FDO sends out each week to inform first-years about announcements and upcoming events.

But astute readers noticed some significant differences.

The concentration listings—which normally include details about upcoming information sessions—were full of odd events and new, but strangely familiar, personnel.

“Professor Marge N. o’Verra will be in her office between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. with 87% certainty,” read a mock announcement from the Department of Statistics.

And the philosophy department—under the leadership of Department Chair Friedrich Nietzsche—“will vote on April 27 on whether or not it exists,” while students interested in history were told to contact Henry VIII, the department’s new Head Tudor.

The Bulletin also included the following notice: “As spring and warmer weather approach, the tourist breeding season is nearly upon us. We remind you: please do not feed the tourists! They are dangerous and may bite, or take pictures of you next to the John Harvard statue.”

In addition to the Class of 2006, the e-mail was forwarded to many House lists and made its way into at least one office in University Hall.

“I laughed. Everyone I showed it to laughed,” Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 wrote in an e-mail. “Harvard College will be a very grim place indeed on the day we can no longer laugh when people make fun at us.”

Some students, though, wondered whether administrators would take the prank lightly.

Camille I. Johnson ’06 said she heard people speculating in Annenberg that the Administrative Board might become involved, a response she said she thought would be an overreaction.

“I thought it was a harmless joke and I should hope that Harvard should be able to take a harmless joke,” Johnson said.

Martey Dodoo ’06 said he agreed that the joke should be taken in good fun.

“It was an April Fool’s joke, and it was funny. There weren’t any insults or anything,” Dodoo said.

Lewis said he was not aware of any plans to bring the matter before the Ad Board.

“Good grief, I hope no one has such an idea,” Lewis said. “If this ever came to the Ad Board, I’d force the whole Board to read the newsletter responsively before we took the vote. Really, we are not humorless drones.”

“I imagine someone could be trying to see if there was a security flaw and to patch it, but I hadn’t heard even that,” he added.

Dean of Freshmen Elizabeth Studley Nathans was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

According to the Harvard Arts and Sciences Computing Services’ security policy, “Messages must not misrepresent the identity of the sender and should not be sent as chain letters or broadcast indiscriminately to large numbers of individuals. This prohibition includes unauthorized mass electronic mailings.”

Coordinator of Residential Computing Kevin S. Davis ’98 said he could not comment on this incident specifically, saying the department’s policy is not to discuss matters of computer security.

In October, Davis told The Crimson that it is typical for the department to respond to about a dozen reports of hacking each week. Computer users often do not set administrative passwords, allowing hackers to use their systems to exchange illegal files.

And in one high-profile incident in April 2001, a hacker posted a message saying “Harvard sux” on the home page of the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid—just in time for pre-frosh weekend.

But the Yard Bulletin e-mail asked for readers to have a sense of humor.

“This newsletter is a JOKE. Don’t take it seriously. Laugh. Have fun,” the e-mail said in a disclaimer at the end. “Don’t ad-board us for this! It’s all in good fun. Come on, it’s April Fool’s day! Please?”

—Staff writer Jessica R. Rubin-Wills can be reached at rubinwil@fas.harvard.edu.