On the Fast Track to Better Socializing

In conversations on topics that run the gamut from final clubs to house renovations, we and many Harvard students seem always to be asking for the same thing: more safe, inclusive, and ubiquitous social spaces on campus. It is often in our down time that we make the most meaningful and long-lasting connections with our peers, but—as we’ve noted before—it is difficult to have these experiences when exclusive clubs dominate the social terrain we navigate.

In light of these issues, we appreciate the recent attempts to reinvent the on-campus social scene by returning upperclass Houses to their roles as hubs of social life. Most recently, this movement has manifested itself in Cabot’s new “fast track” program, which allows juniors and seniors in the House to register parties easily and quickly through an online Google form so long as they’ve completed a mandatory training program. With versions of “fast track” already fixtures in both Kirkland and Mather Houses, this party registration method is something we are excited to see spreading.

If only from a logistical standpoint, fast track is a much-needed reinvention of Harvard’s party planning protocol. Prior to its institution in Cabot, students wishing to host a gathering of more than 15 people were required to submit physical signatures from all residents of the host suite to the House office and meet with a staff member before 3 p.m. the Thursday before the party. This process certainly burdened socializing in dorms, and we are glad to see a new method that will encourage rather than hamper attempts to host social events in student rooms.

More generally, this initiative seems the most intuitive, cheap, and efficient way to address the larger issue of exclusion that comes up often in discussions of Harvard’s social scene. Turning dorms into sites for easy-to-execute, low-stakes socializing at least begins to dismantle the social monopoly that final clubs and other exclusive institutions hold. As long as students are safe and know how to navigate the sexual interactions and drinking that come with partying, they should by all means be encouraged to host social gatherings in their rooms.

In this vein, we are especially happy to see that the privilege of using fast track is reserved for students who have completed training led by Drug and Alcohol Peer Advisors and the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response designed to equip students to host parties responsibly. Though all freshmen are educated by these two groups in their orientation week, it is usually upperclassmen—and thus students who haven’t heard from DAPA and OSAPR in a while—who are throwing parties on campus. For this reason, we urge the houses to consider making this training session a requirement for all of their residents.

The success of the fast track model in Kirkland and Mather, its expansion to Cabot, and the continued need for more and more inclusive social spaces suggest that the time has come for the wider adoption of online party registration. We hope to see this system, with its required sexual assault prevention and alcohol education course, instituted for all students in all houses soon.