Legally Blonde (2001) – Everyone’s favorite Harvard-centered movie (or just mine). We are all well versed in the story of Elle Woods and her unlikely acceptance to Harvard Law School through which she plans to win back her ex, Waner Huntington III.

Fun Fact 1: Reese Witherspoon spent two weeks spending time with and studying actual sorority girls for the project. She also attended law school for a day. Now that’s what I call dedication to a role.

Fun Fact 2: The final graduation scene was shot in the Great Hall of Dulwich College in London because it was not included in the original script. When it was added to the movie, Witherspoon was already filming “The Importance of Being Earnest” in England.

Fun Fact 3: Witherspoon got to keep every piece of clothing from the movie, as per her contract. That’s a whole lot of pink.

How High (2001) – Two bros get the help from the ghost of their smart friend whose ashes have been added to their pot. Great premise, huh? After he gives them the answers to the SATs they make it to Harvard and start to shake things up.

Fun Fact: The film’s scenes of Harvard are actually all shot at UCLA.

Good Will Hunting (1997) – Though not actually set at Harvard, we can probably all sympathize with the story of Will Hunting, and undiscovered genius who works as a janitor at MIT.

Fun Fact 1: If you didn’t already know, the windows of the Dunkin Donuts on Mass Ave are the setting for the “How do you like them apples?” scene of the movie.

Fun Fact 2: Robin Williams ad-libbed the last line of the movie, “That son of a bitch, he stole my line.”

Love Story (1970) – The last movie to ever be shot within Harvard’s campus. If you went to see this during Freshman Week, you already know everything you need to know about the movie.

Fun Fact 1: The hockey game was played by Dartmouth’s actual team at the time. Ned Harkness, the Cornell hockey coach at the time allowed Cornell jerseys to be worn in the film only if Cornell won the game against Harvard.

Fun Fact 2: It was the film debut of Harvard alum, Tommy Lee Jones ‘69.

Other movies that have been filmed at or near Harvard: The Town, The Social Network, The Great Debaters. Mmhmm.

Information gathered from IMDB.com

Ted Kaczynski before...

What is the “typical” Harvard alum? Smoking jacket, riding whip, and trophy wife on his arm. WASP extraordinaire. Money-grubbing power-hungry CEO. Hopeless academic. The list goes on as long as the line outside Heaven and Hell (that is before they shut it down).

But, in the spirit of Halloween, it’s important to be reminded that some graduates leave Harv to go on to lives spent not on filling their wallets or on aggrandizing their already-inflated egos, but rather on lengthening their rap sheet.

In which we discuss not-so-nice Harvard alums:

• Ted Kaczynski: Probably the most notorious of criminal crimson alums, Kaczynski unleashed terror and gained infamy by sending pipe bombs, segregating himself from humanity by living off-the-grid in Montana and writing his manifesto.
• Dr John White Webster: When George Parkman didn’t have the money he owed Webster, Webster killed him and hacked his body up in a laboratory at Harvard Medical. Police found portions of the body hidden all through the medical building, but some organs were never found.


Ted Kaczynski after.

• Sinedu Tadesse: This gruesome murder hits a little closer to home. On May 28, 1995, Sinedu Tadesse, after a week of planning and forethought, stabbed her roommate Trang Phuong Ho 45 times and hung herself in her Dunster bathroom. Her motives remain somewhat unclear, but fears of housing issues and a suit waged by Ho’s family lead some to believe that this murder led Harvard to change its housing system.
• Chas Lee:  Working with the Jimmy Fund which hosts An Evening with Champions, Chas Lee embezzled over $100,00 while he was still a junior at Harvard and managed to escape prosecution for two years, completing his degree in biology. Lee received a light sentence and remains an alumnus in good standing.

All information from Wikipedia. Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Getty Images