Larry and the Lampoon

The staff of the Harvard Lampoon, whom Bostonist last saw honoring Danny Bonaduce, sent out prank e-mails announcing that Harvard's next president would be – ta-da! – Larry Summers.

That was kind of cute. But the Crimson went on the warpath against the Lampoon for the gag. The Crimson referred to the Lampoon as "puerile" and "so-called humor." They were also irritated because the e-mails mentioned a forum and invited students to call a phone number so they could attend. The phone numbers were for the Crimson newsroom and the cell phone of the Crimson's former president, William Marra. 50 people called Marra.

Marra really broke out the snark against the Lampoon: "I can see why they did it. I mean, trying to remain relevant is tough…. The problem is that they pulled an identical prank less than a year ago.”

So they aren't that creative because they recycled a joke. But was the joke really that bad? It's mildly amusing to think that Harvard would just welcome Summers back into the fold.

The real problem is that so many Harvard students bought the gag hook, line, and sinker – especially since the Lampoon already pulled it. Was it wish fulfillment? Or will some Harvard students really believe anything?