Just a few blocks from Harvard Square and the internationally renowned university where researchers have done work to garner Nobel prizes for advancements in medicine and science, the Harvard Lampoon presented a very different kind of award to Paris Hilton yesterday.

The Lampoon, Harvard’s long-running humor journal, presented its “Woman of the Year Award” to Hilton before a soggy crowd of about 150 people at the Lampoon Castle.

The award was advertised as being “greater than or equal to” Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Award, given by the school’s theater troupe of the same name. While the Lampoon has hosted a number of celebrities in the past, many Harvard students said they expected the award and Hilton’s scheduled appearance would turn out to be another of the journals’s jokes.

Harvard junior and current Lampoon President Christopher Schleicher promised a live Hilton appearance over his dead body.

“If she doesn’t show up, you can all stab me,” he said. “This is not a prank.”

Schleicher, who served as master of ceremonies, said the Lampoon chose to award Hilton because of her commercial success.

“She’s makin’ waves,” he said.

Schleicher said he was proud to present Hilton with an award that has been given to other notable Americans, including some of Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, Michael Jordan and Zach Braff.

“[She would fit] between Zach Braff and Benjamin Franklin, to be exact,” he said.

Hilton arrived about an hour late to accept her award and gave a short acceptance speech, thanking Harvard and the Lampoon for the award before moving to convince the crowd of the similarities she shares with Harvard students.

“You know, I’m like a lot of you Harvard students,” she said. “You have a library. I have a library except it’s a club in L.A. where celebs dance on tables and get crazy.”

“Harvard is hot,” she said, complimenting the Harvard crowd with her trademark saying.

Cambridge resident Adam Laicano said because he had the day off work, he had stopped by to see if Hilton’s appearance would be as entertaining as soul singer James Brown’s visit a few years ago.

Harvard sophomore Rafael Quintanar said his love for Hilton goes beyond her ditzy image.

“She deserves a lot more credit than she gets and is a lot more intelligent then people give her credit for,” he said. “The smart people play up their media image, and that’s what Paris does.”

Quintanar said the Lampoon award to Hilton was a mockery of the school’s Hasty Pudding Award.

While Hilton’s appearance was short and the wait to see her was longer than her time spent onstage, Schleicher told the crowd her tactics were just a part of her appeal.

“I think we’ve all learned today that it’s very fashionable to be late,” he said.