the fup week schedule

As a prospective FUPpie, you might be curious what precisely awaits you when you arrive on campus for the six glorious days of FUP. While we are constantly revising the FUP week schedule to make FUP better and better, here’s a sample schedule from past years:

day one

12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. You arrive at Harvard Yard and look around for FUP. People with noisemakers, a megaphone, pink dyed hair and pink gorilla suits? Yes, that would be us.

4:00 p.m. The entire FUP community gathers for the first time for icebreakers and group bonding activities.

5:30 p.m. Dinner in one of the upperclass houses with your FUP group (the group of 8 FUPpies and 3 FUP leaders who will be working together at the same community service site throughout the week).

7:00 p.m. Introductions & overview of FUP: every member of FUP introduces themselves; we also introduce the Dean of Freshmen, Director of First-Year Programming and FUP’s faculty advisor, the head of Phillips Brooks House Association, the community service organization on campus.

10:00 p.m. Evening activities (e.g. run to Christina’s a local ice cream place; a panel on religion and service or a game of Bowl Full of Nouns) or socially-just sleep.

day two

8:00 a.m. Breakfast

9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Work that City: FUP traditionally begins with an epic walking tour through the neighborhoods and communities of Boston. This is one of the highlights of FUP.

6:00 p.m. Talk by Macy DeLong, homelessness advocate and founder of Solutions At Work, a organization that serves the homeless population of Cambridge.

7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. First discussion of our 100 page FUP reading packet.

9:45 p.m. Evening activities (e.g. trip to Punjabi Dhaba for cheap & wonderful Indian food or panel on mental health at Harvard) or socially-just conversation and sleep.

day three

7:45 a.m. Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 a.m. FUPpies and FUP leaders spend the day at worksites. Past worksites have included: doing voter registration with the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, a Roxbury based community organization; designing a public relations strategy and outreach materials for Multicultural AIDS Coalition, an HIV/AIDS awareness and advocacy group; working with kids at the South Boston Boys and Girls Club or cleaning and gearing up for the school year at North Cambridge Catholic High School, a school in north Cambridge.

5:00 p.m. Dinner

6:30 p.m. Panel—Voices on Services at Harvard: Harvard alumni in public service careers will talk about their experiences doing service before and after Harvard. The 2008 speakers included Jessica Tang (’04) teacher at the Gavin Middle School in South Boston; Lindsey Hyde (’03), founder of Strong Women Strong Girls and Aaron Tanaka (’05), founder and director of the Boston Workers Alliance.

8:00 p.m. Interactive exercise on community resources and gentrification.

10:00 p.m. Evening activities (e.g. panel on math and science at Harvard or bubble tea run)

day four

7:45 a.m. Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Day at the worksite

5:00 p.m. Dinner

6:30 p.m. Screening of Holding Ground, a documentary of the history of community organizing with the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Roxbury (also one of the FUP worksites).

8:00 p.m. Second round of discussion group meetings

10:00 p.m. Evening activities

day five

7:45 a.m. Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Day at the worksite

5:00 p.m. Dinner

6:30 p.m. Panel—Youth Activism and Service: Young organizers and activists, along with youth workers, reflect on their experiences. 2008 speakers included Justice Williams, Director of Programs at the City School; Mariama White-Hammond, Director of Project HIP-HOP and Emma Clippinger, founder of Gardens for Health International.

9:00 p.m. Putting on the Hits!: FUP Talent Show

10:00 p.m. Evening activities and packing

day six

6:30-7:30 a.m. Moving stuff out of rooms

7:30 a.m. Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Worksites

2:00 p.m. Keynote address: A community leader will give a final address on the theme of FUP week

3:00 -3:30 p.m. FUP group wrap-up

4:00 p.m. Picking up term-time keys

5:00 p.m. Dinner

6:00 p.m. Final discussion group meeting

8:00 p.m. Senior speeches

9:00 p.m. Closing notes

10:00 p.m. Closing activity!