yale fan is going to harvard

The kid was always doomed. Yale Fan is going to Harvard. That is, Yale W. Fan of Beaverton, Oregon, who is part of incoming freshman class. You'd think a guy with a name like that would be destined for Yale, but in the fall, he'll be joining the Crimson: Yale Fan Picks Harvard.

He apparently hadn't even seriously considered Yale. How do you get a name like that? Wishful thinking on the part of his parents? And is the kid now shunning his academic destiny? Young Yale explains:

Fan, who is part of Harvard's incoming freshman class, was not actually named for the university. Yale is just phonetically similar to his Chinese name, he told Yale alum Mark Alden Branch.

His Chinese name is Ye, part of shiye, which means undertaking, he told the Harvard Crimson, but his parents decided it was too short, so they added al in the middle.

And thus ensuring a lifetime of odd looks and comments about the school that shares his name. No doubt, he'll probably hear more of the same at Harvard. But I guess Yale Fan is used to that by now.