Wine, Women, and Rules

Nature's laws being what they are, men generally derive pleasure from the company of women. The College, being what it is, must therefore have parietal rules. Neither situation is likely to change much in the predictable future.

To maintain its academic standing the College must have regulations relating to studies. It must also regulate its students, while they are within its jurisdiction, in keeping with the accepted level of public morality, whether that level is maintained in practice or not. In Harvard's case, the alumni as well as the public must be satisfied that the College is not condoning violation of these mores within its jurisdiction; continued alumni support is absolutely necessary to the College.

Still, this means little to the undergraduate who is forced to get his date out of his room--and in many Houses the building too--by 8 p.m. even on weekend evenings, and who cannot hold parties in his room after that hour. He may realize that the protection of his guests' reputation is a factor in the College's rulings, or that an out-of-hand party can be just as disturbing to other House residents as to the College. But he does not see why one particular hour is the magic dividing line between right and wrong, nor why a more satisfactory plan could not be worked out to make the college seem more hospitable to guests whose morals may be better than those attributed to them by the Dean.

While, of course, there is no immediate solution that will completely satisfy both the student and the institution, at least two steps could be taken to case the problem.

First, the Administrative Board of the College should review the present parietal rules relating to social activities; the Faculty of Arts and Science could then act on the Board's recommendations. The present rules were adopted before the war and certainly need some overhauling by now. Since the Administrators give some weight to petitions by undergraduate groups, it is up to such groups--like the Student Council--to give all the help they can.

Second, until a change is voted, some arrangements should be made by House Committees for the entertaining of women guests, at least on weekends, after individual rooms are official closed. Winthrop and Lowell, for example, allow use of one Common Room for such purposes. Admittedly Common Rooms are lacking in "atmosphere" and, in many eases, proper planning within the House would help. Proper planning within the House could avoid conflicts with groups using the rooms for meetings.

Until the College is able to afford a student activities center or a Union with proper entertainment facilities, or until the public and the alumni change their minds about what is moral--an unlikely event--no one will be fully satisfied. The activities center is the long run answer. Until Harvard builds one, present rules must be adjusted.