Students Storm the Field at Harvard-Yale Football Game to Protest Climate Change

The 136th edition of one of college football's oldest rivalries, the Harvard-Yale game, was disrupted by a couple of hundred students who stormed the field at halftime to protest climate change, delaying the start of the second half.

The hour-long delay meant that the game, played at the Yale Bowl, finished in near darkness as the stadium has no lights installed. After two overtimes, Yale prevailed 50-43.

Make no mistake: this ain't your granddaddy's Ivy League.

ESPN:

In a statement, the Ivy League referred to the protest as "regrettable." Yale said that while it "stands firmly for the right to free expression," it had issues with how the protesters went about their demonstration.

"The exercise of free expression on campus is subject to general conditions, and we do not allow disruption of university events," Yale said in its own statement.
Yale coach Tony Reno said the unusual interruption was an example of what has made his university's rivalry with Harvard stand the test of time.
"It's what makes Yale Yale," Reno said. "Our group, I'm sure if you asked them and the Harvard guys what makes it special, it's not only the game of football. It's the passions."

Yes, even if those passions are due to blind ignorance.

The grown-ups tried to wrangle the unruly kids and get on with the game, but this is 2019, not 1968, so no tear gas, no police truncheons -- even though some of the protesters could have used a good spanking.

The public-address announcer implored the group to leave, repeating, "As a courtesy to both teams, the game must resume." Protesters responded by chanting, "OK, boomer."

The hour-long delay meant that the game, played at the Yale Bowl, finished in near darkness as the stadium has no lights installed.

In my opinion, they should have just cancelled the contest at that point and declared it a non-"The Game".

It's not like it's a big deal anymore. I turned on the game at the beginning, and there were an awful lot of empty seats at the Yale Bowl for such a rivalry game. Then again, "The Big Game" between Cal and Stanford later Saturday drew the same ho-hum attitude.

RE: In my opinion, they should have just cancelled the contest at that point and declared it a non-”The Game”.

That will only encourage more activism and disruptions of this sort.

How else are these rabid protesters going to grab headlines and attention? They’ll spread these to other college football games.

"So, why are parents paying top dollars and even bribing the examiners so that their kids can get in?"

Because it isn't what you learn, which is where colleges generally fail, at those levels, it is who you meet and who you know when you go there.

Many parents who send their kids there do so for that, they don't care if their kid's brains get stunted in the process, and...probably, many parents don't mind what is being taught there and even agree.

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