On Monday, September 28, 1987, Harvard science-fiction fans gathered to watch the series premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association (HRSFA) is generally regarded to have been founded on that day, at that meeting. Since then, the organization has prospered and grown. On Monday, September 24, 2007 (twenty years later, almost exactly to the day), papers were officially filed to establish the alumni branch, the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Alumni Networking Society (HRSFANS).
HRSFA officers have often been asked, "What does HRSFA do?" They often reply "everything," but the word "everything" tells people nothing about anything. Perhaps we should begin with a brief history of the organization. In 1986, a group of students who were interested in role playing games decided to get together and form a club, so they petitioned the administration, but the club was rejected. Soon after that, another group of students decided that they wanted to form a comic book group, they petitioned the administration and were rejected. The following year, a group of students got together to watch the premier of a new TV series starring Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), and they came up with the idea of forming a club. The idea was presented to the administration, was accepted, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association was born. Then, the people that were interested in role-playing games joined, and the people that were interested in comic books joined, and the club grew. Not everybody wanted to do everything, so Special Interest Groups (known as SIGs) were created. As interest developed, new SIGs were created; as interest waned, old SIGs would disappear.
HRSFA-wide events were created. These include the Game-a-thon (hours of all sorts of games during the beginning of each semester), the Coming and Going of the Hour (daylight savings ceremonies), the Wyld Hunt and Myld Hunt (wild and not-so-wild chases through Harvard campus), and the Spring and Fall Parties. Basically, HRSFA will do anything up to everything, and we hope that you will hear something that interests you. HRSFA is what you put into it, there is always room for more.
