Paris Goes to Harvard

This afternoon, Paris Hilton made a cameo on the steps of the Harvard Lampoon’s headquarters, known as “The Castle,” to accept the humor mag’s “Woman of the Year” award. W‘s spies say she sported a purple dress and a loose grey coat (“she looked prettier in person” said one), and was fashionably late, leaving her “fans” (aka students with secret subscriptions to In Touch) waiting in the rain for an hour. In her speech, which she clearly had help writing, she made cracks about parallels between Harvard kids and herself. Then she charmingly offered herself up for autograph signing and picture posing, though most of the students were woefully ill-prepared—the spare scraps of paper they had on hand were cards listing their choices of spring semester classes, which were due into the academic office today. After one kid cried, “Paris, sign my study card!” a line of students waving cards formed.

It’s not all academe for Paris though—rumor has it she danced the previous night away on a pool table at one Harvard’s social clubs and plans to do the same tonight at the Lampoon’s Castle.

AP Photo/Steven Senne