Harvard-graduate Zac Corker recently returned to his alma mater to become the new special assistant to the dean for social programming. Also known as the new "fun czar," Corker is charged with providing some more exciting social options for the Cambridge school.
But in Hanover, students are skeptical about hiring an administrator to plan parties and see Harvard's move as confirmation that students there just don't know how to have fun.
Corker, 23, graduated from Harvard last year and later approached the administration with a proposal to create his new position.
As creator of hahvahdparties.com, Corker brings significant experience with the school's social scene to his new social planner administrative position. In 2003, he launched the website "to serve and protect your right to party."
The site, which Corker describes as "a social calendar and our tongue-in-cheek critique of the Harvard social system," lists parties and dances both on Harvard's campus and at Boston-area clubs. The site also lists local restaurants that feature late-night delivery and has links to Harvard's exclusive online facebook under a section titled, "Oooh, last night ... who was (s)he?"
Corker no longer runs hahvahdparties. Instead, senior Darren Morris and a staff of 26 students now maintain the website. Corker's role as "fun czar" will allow him to pursue and work with a more official social calendar at Harvard.
"As an administrator, I also see a need for a social calendar with a larger scope. In the dean's office, we want a calendar that lists a more comprehensive scope of activities for students to choose from," Corker said, noting that postings on hahvahdparties.com were limited to events that would traditionally be labeled as parties.
While hahvahdparties bears some resemblance to the Dartmouth Buzzflood's "The Circuit," a weekly BlitzMail message broadcasting weekend events, Buzzflood's mission statement is of a markedly different tone.
"Our mission is to celebrate Dartmouth and to give more people the opportunity to discover the Dartmouth family," according to the Buzzflood website.
At the same time, students at Dartmouth may not need as comprehensive a social calendar due to the more limited social options available in Hanover, with so many activities occurring through the Greek system. Buzzflood also lists College-sponsored activities, including athletic events and movies, a service that hahvahdparties does not provide.
Regardless of the lack of events going on off campus or in Hanover, Dartmouth students said Harvard's new "fun czar" just proves the stereotypes about their Cambridge peers.
"Harvard needs to start admitting students with some personality who can plan their own parties," Bea Hahn '06 said.
Sean Samuel '07 went further, adding that Harvard's new "fun czar" reflected a lack of maturity among students there.
"The fact that they need to find someone to plan their parties for them shows how immature they are. They need to spend a few more years in high school," Samuel said.
While he will be leaving his new job at Harvard this June to work with the Peace Corps, Corker said that each year a recent Harvard graduate will be recruited to fill the post.
"There's a need for this position, but it should really be filled by someone closely connected with the undergraduates," Corker said, adding that to stay on much longer would limit his connection with the undergraduates.
Nevertheless, even some Harvard students are wondering what the "fun czar" shows about their personalities.
"It's got to be the best job in the world, but it's actually really baffling to me that at a school where you'd think kids could be really ambitious and entrepreneurial, they can't put a good party together," Harvard senior Matt O'Grady said.
