Location of Student Pub Is Still Under Discussion

Despite the unanimous support of every major student government organization, a proposed student pub is having trouble finding a home.

The proposal to establish a College tavern has been endorsed by the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life (CHUL), the Student Assembly, the Freshman Council, and all the House committees polled.

The only major obstacle remaining to the tavern is selecting its location, Robert Ware '80, one of three undergraduates who presented the idea to CHUL in September, said yesterday.

Choosing a site has been delayed, however, by a lack of space in the Yard and by a series of mix-ups within CHUL's ad hoc Committee on the College Pub, which has been investigating possible locations since mid-October.

The ad hoc committee thinks the pub should be in the Yard so it will be accessible both to the River Houses and to the Radcliffe Quad, William G. Mayer '79, chairman of the committee, said yesterday.

Two potential sites--the basements of the Science Center and of Harvard Hall--would be too costly to renovate, Mayer said.

Vehement Opposition

A third possible site, Dudley House (Lehman Hall), is unlikely because the Dudley House Committee passed a resolution this week by a vote of 25-0 to "vehemently oppose the location of a college pub in Dudley House."

Janet C. Corcoran '79, chairman of the Dudley House Committee, said yesterday Dudley House students support the student tavern, but fear problems with noise, crowds, security, interruption of House activities, and loss of House identity.

"We hope it won't come down to a situation where it's either a pub in Dudley House or no pub at all," Corcoran said. "We don't want other students to think of us as the villains," she added.

Kevin P. Kerr '79, Dudley House representative to CHUL and a member of the ad hoc committee, said yesterday some Dudley House students are angry because the ad hoc committee accidently circulated a preliminary report on potential sites biased toward selecting Dudley House as the site of the tavern.

Sight Unseen

Kerr said the report, dated November 22, had both his and Whitlock's names on it although neither of them had ever seen it before it reached University administrators.

"Although it may have been intended as preliminary, the report did not say so, and it was signed and looked final," Corcoran said.

Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, said yesterday he thought the report was final when he received it.

Mayer said yesterday the report "was only supposed to alert a few administrators to the progress of the committee. It contained no recommendation. It was purely informational."

Kerr and Whitlock did not attend the meeting at which the ad hoc committee drew up the report because of a "communications mix-up," Mayer said. It was a mistake that the report was circulated before they had attached their comments to it, he added.

The ad hoc committee had intended to deliver the report to CHUL this week, but because of the mix-up it was withdrawn from the agenda of Monday's meeting. The committee will meet Thursday to revise the report, and may not finish evaluating possible locations for the pub until February, Mayer said