Harvard University

The music coming from the large band section at the front of the room is deafening. As it builds, I can feel the emotions of the expectant crowd pulsating through the air. Last-minute audience members scurry in, naively hoping to grab a seat near the stage but contenting themselves with the plastic folding chairs hastily arranged in the back corners of the already overflowing hall. Just as the band reaches a climactic crescendo, it receives the signal. For five seconds, there is silence. Every head, mine included, turns instinctively to face the back of the room. The music commences anew; the…