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The 2004 Harvard–Yale prank was a practical joke performed on November 20, 2004 at the annual Harvard–Yale football game in which Yale students perpetrated a card stunt, costumed as a Harvard "pep squad". They gave out placards to a section of Harvard fans which, when raised together, read "We Suck".
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The stunt was conceived and coordinated by Michael Kai and David Aulicino, two Yale students in the class of 2005, and was executed with the help of 20 classmates disguised as the "Harvard Pep Squad". The perpetrators handed crimson-and-white placards to fans in the central area of the Harvard side of the stadium—mostly Harvard alumni, with a few faculty, students, and others. The group told the crowd that, by lifting the placards, they would spell "Go Harvard".
Most Harvard students were sitting in a section off to the side of the alumni area where the prank was executed, and they left the stands unaware of the prank; however, players on the field did see the placards. Harvard won the game, 35–3.
Response
Initially, many at Harvard denied that the prank had happened. 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. Chuck Sullivan, Harvard's director of athletic communications, said, "[It was] all in good fun." In an interview with The Harvard Crimson, the prank's organizers claimed that members of the Harvard Band were complicit with the Yale pranksters.
Media and Internet coverage
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. A satirical article in Maxim says that 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.
Similar pranks
This prank echoes many similar stunts, most notably the Great Rose Bowl Hoax of 1961. In that Rose Bowl game, California Institute of Technology students had manipulated several of the ending card stunts led by Washington cheerleaders, the last of which caused the letters in "Caltech" to be spelled out. In 2002, at the rivalry game between Saint John's University and University of St. Thomas held in Collegeville, MN, members of the St. John's Rat Pack infiltrated the St. Thomas crowd and unfurled a large purple banner displaying "Tommies Suck". The banner lasted more than a quarter before it was discovered.