We Sat Down with the Brains Behind the Harvard Meme Page

Facebook is full of viral phenomena, most common among them being the meme. As the famous saying goes “all roads lead to Harvard” or maybe they lead to Rome and we're just a little bit too self-aggrandizing to leave it at that. Anyway, the meme craze has stuck Harvard with full force in the form of the new highly popular Facebook Group “Harvard Memes for Elitist 1% Tweens.” No, we’re not going to add you. Haven’t you heard of exclusive social spaces?

Since it’s creation on Feb. 4, the group has expanded to over 2500 members—mostly Harvard students, but with the occasional Yale peeper infiltrating the ranks. There are some pretty dope memes on the page, poking fun at anything from some of Harvard's more vexing policies to downright bizarre pictures of Dean Khurana’s face superimposed over random images. Last week, Flyby sat down with the group’s creator, Rebecca Chen ’20 to discuss the page's origins and increasing popularity.

Rebecca Chen '20, the founder of the Facebook page "Harvard Memes for Elitist 1% Tweens" speaks about her social media success in Eliot Dining Hall on Tuesday. By Megan M. Ross

How did you get the idea to start the page?

I have always wanted to start a meme group. After seeing UCLA and UC Berkeley's meme groups, I thought Harvard needed one too so I took the step for all of us.

She’s not quite the hero we needed, but definitely the hero we deserve.

What did you expect it to become?

I expected it to be big. These [memes] are really relatable and really funny. Since other meme groups took off, I thought one for a college like us would too.

Why can’t a Harvard student ever do something and expect it to just be average?

What was the first meme you posted on the page?

I had a stream of memes. I made about 5 memes just to get some pictures out there. I do know that the most popular one is the lamont one.

By Photo from Facebook

How did you get the word out about the page?

I added a lot of my friends first, about 100. And they added a few friends and I kept posting quality, original memes and then other people caught on.

Do we detect a mere hint of shade being thrown here?

What’s your favorite meme?

My favorite memes are the ones I’ve posten posted, I’m sorry.

*ahem* how humble *ahem*

Definitely the Lamont one is among the top memes. I also really like my “exploited labor of the working class” memes. I like all the memes that are put on there.

By Photo from Facebook

Aww shucks, you’re not bad yourself.

Are there any memes that you don't like?

I appreciate all memes. When people repost memes I don’t like—those, I delete. When people share links I usually delete those too. Ones that don’t relate to us, I delete. I also delete posts from Yale Students

What do you mean by Yale students?

If the posts are from Yale students making fun of Harvard, I delete them. But if they post a nice, fun, and original Harvard meme, I’ll let it stay on. I’m not biased.

If there were one meme you could show to President Faust or Dean Khurana, which would it be and why?

That’s hard. You can’t embody Harvard in one meme. If we were going by number of likes, the lamont one has the most likes. I don’t know if Drew Faust would understand that one.

There are also a few about the snow days and FAS being open during snow days [that I would show her]. There are also lots about CS51—seems to be a popular trend in the group.

By Photo from Facebook

Have people started to recognize you as “the Harvard Meme Girl”

Recognize no, but when I say my name, yes.

How do you feel about that?

I love it, I love it. I absolutely love the attention, it’s my 15-second claim to fame!

Anything else?

I just want people to know that this is a group for us, it’s for everyone, it’s inclusive. It’s for relatable diversity, and lots of good stuff.

Relatable Diversity and Lots of Good Stuff: The Rakesh Khurana Story