Social Center Very Distant, HCUA Told

The student center proposed last February by the HCUA and seconded last week by RGA still appears to be a long way in the future.

R. Thomas Seymour '64, president of the Harvard Council for Undergraduate Affairs, said yesterday that President Pusey had informed him that the proposed union was in a low position on the University's list of priorities.

When asked about the possibility of a center last spring, Pusey declared he had nothing to add to the statement issued by the President's office in 1940, Seymour said.

Last night, however, Dean Watson expressed strong support for the center. He said there was a "crying need" for a student union at Harvard. Harvard and Radcliffe have given so much attention to academic cooperation but relatively little to the social side, which he described as "essential."

Both institutions have been very short-sighted in not backing the idea much more strongly in the past, Watson declared. He described himself as "staunchly and wholeheartedly" behind a center and said Dean Monro felt as strongly.

Although it would not be a substitute for parietal hours, Watson suggested that a union might ease recent parietal problems somewhat. Students ought to have a place where they can be completely free to do what they want, he said, adding that the Houses cannot serve this need. He suggested that the center include a bowling alley, snack bar, and swimming pool, and proposed that dances might be hold there on weekend nights. A married couple would serve as attendants, Watson said.

He said he had been urging the HCUA is "push it for all they're worth."

Acknowledging Watson's support, Seymour said that the Council would continue its fight. "We still have a committee working on the center, although things have pretty much ground to a standstill," he said. He added that he was attempting is convince the Masters and Pusey of the need for a union.

Seymour said the Council had planned to convert Lehman Hall into an activities center, after the Comptroller's office move to the new Holyoke Center, but said that Lehman had been assigned to other purposes.