The Times recently ran an article that explores a rather peculiar tradition at Harvard which revolves around the film Love Story. So reports the newspaper of record: Harvard students may 'pummel' the film, but no died-in-the-wool Cornellian should forget that it is the Crimson who are pummeled in the film. By none other than those hairy-chested men from far above Cayuga's waters: the Big Red. Former student-elected trustee Mike Walsh writes in to MetaEzra with the following anecdote: Though we all enjoy the story about how Ned Harkness would only allow the use of Cornell jerseys if the team won, the movie really hasn’t caught on here as much as it could have. I tried to get a similar tradition started in one of the houses on West Campus the night before The Game. It never took off. Part of the problem is the best part of the movie was about 20 minutes in, after that the entire thing is dreadfully tedious. Most students would come watch the Cornell game scene then leave. A few would stay around for the remainder, but sadly never brought the level of boisterous hate that the movie (ed. note: or Harvard?) deserved.Nowhere is “Love Story” more pummeled than at Harvard, the site of Oliver and Jenny’s gooey courtship. Every year the Crimson Key Society, a student organization that conducts campus tours and otherwise promotes college spirit, runs “Love Story” strictly for laughs for first-year students during their orientation. This year’s two screenings take place on Aug. 30.
Nowhere is Love Story more celebrated than at Cornell, the site of Oliver's (and the entire Crimson's) pummeling by a Big Red hockey player, Francis LaPierre.