An Evening With Champions

An Evening with Champions (EWC) is an annual benefit figure skating show hosted by the students of Harvard University. The event is a two-day skating show in October, which regularly attracts world-class skaters, thousands of spectators, hundreds of Harvard students, special guests, and donors. The show is entirely student-run and is managed completely by volunteer work. All profits go to the Jimmy Fund, one of New England's most cherished charities, and is one of the oldest continually-running fundraising events for the charity. The Jimmy Fund is dedicated to pediatric cancer research and treatment, and the affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has similar important goals. Since 1970, An Evening with Champions has raised over $2.5 million for the Jimmy Fund.

The show was originally conceived in 1970 by John Misha Petkevich, the two-time Olympic competitor who was at that time a junior at Harvard living in Eliot House, which became (and has remained) the official host of the show. The show has been continually produced every fall since 1970, with the exception of a special spring show in April 2010, commemorating the 40th anniversary of EWC.

Many current and former U.S. and international champions and Olympic competitors have appeared in the show over the years. The show usually features a mix of up-and-coming elite competitors and established champions. Past years' skaters have included Michelle Kwan, Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Ekaterina Gordeeva, and the Haydenettes synchronized skating team who have made "EWC" their opening appearance for many years. Paul Wylie, himself a former resident of Eliot House, has usually hosted the show in recent years. Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov, two-time Olympic Champions, have also had a particularly long association with the show, and continue to make annual appearances.

The show was formerly televised each year on PBS, but the broadcast ended in 2001. More recently, it had been televised on the Comcast Network cable channel CN8.