Twelve years after Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard University, the Facebook CEO was set to give a commencement speech and receive an honorary degree today in Cambridge, MA. Leading up to the event, the CEO teased a lot of footage that highlight ties to his alma mater — from clips of the moment Zuckerberg read his college acceptance letter to a Facebook Live video of him touring his old dorm room, where he reportedly created the social network.
“OOPS: MINK PINKLEBINK ACCIDENTALLY “LIKES” OWN COMMENCEMENT SPEECH”
One hacker had a different idea of welcoming him back on campus, though. Just hours before Zuckerberg was scheduled to give his commencement speech, Harvard’s student newspaper The Harvard Crimson was apparently hacked to mock the Facebook CEO with a slew of fake headlines and awkwardly edited photos. “MARK ZOINKERBURG AT IT AGAIN,” one headline reads. “OP-ED: How Come Everyone Talks About How I Stole Facebook But Nobody Talks About How I Murdered Eduardo Saverin,” says another. (Not to be missed from that story is the subheading, which adds “And fed his body to my children.”)
It’s an elaborate and, admittedly, kind of amusing display of mockery. Visiting The Crimson now returns the site back to its usual state, but the internet never forgets. You can check the Crimson bizarro world in its archived glory here.
“Earlier today, The Harvard Crimson’s website was altered by an unauthorized user,” Crimson president Derek Choi said in a statement to The Verge, claiming it was not an intentional troll from the team as a statement to Zuckerberg’s on campus presence. (Our senior editor Chris Plante notes that he’s pretty sure Choi meant to say it was altered by an unauthorized hero, but who are we to correct the kid?)
Choi adds that he regrets any inconvenience this caused readers, but honestly, it doesn’t seem like anyone here has been inconvenienced other than the Crimson team themselves. But between this and Harvard’s goof on Zuck’s Facebook Live streamed speech, it’s clear some Crimsonites have feels.