Roxy Will Host Quad Formal

Approximately 900 Harvard students are expected to converge on Boston's Roxy club at the Tremont House Hotel on Sunday, December 10 for the second annual Quad formal.

All 600 tickets for the first Quad-wide formal, held last fall at the Wang Center, sold out, and the event drew attendees from the River houses as well as from Cabot, Currier and Pforzheimer.

Organizers hope this year's event, with music provided by a Roxy DJ, will do even better.

"It's going to be one of the biggest formals on campus," said Pforzheimer Committee Chair Jeremy M. Moses '96.

Last spring, each Quad house hosted separate formals. They reunited for this year's fall dance, organizers said, in order to combat traditional low attendance.

"The reason why we did it [combined the houses] is to improve attendance at the Winter formals which have been historically lower at all three of the houses," said Charmaine T. M. Chiu '96, Cabot House committee secretary.

"It [the new system of combining] reduces the problem of formals being on the same weekend. We've been working on creating quad spirit. It's been a great idea," Chiu said.

Tickets, which cost $15, will be made available to residents of the three houses on Wednesday, November 29.

"Current ticketing policy is that for the first week tickets will be available for quad residents only at two each," Chiu said. "After that they will be available for the general public." The rest of the Harvard community will be able to purchase any unsold tickets on Monday, December 4.

This year, the organizers plan not only to provide a gala evening but to turn a profit as well. Although formals are perennial money-losers for house committees, Moses said, this year's increased attendance should put the event in the black.

"We are planning on making a profit this year to make it more economically productive for all houses," Moses said. "We've taken something that people have traditionally lost money on, we've made it a fun event, and on top of that have made money for the house budgets."

Scheduling the formal on Sunday, although it may diminish attendance, was a major cost-cutting measure, according to organizers, who added that rooms for Saturday nights must often be booked two years in advance.

House chairs, social chairs and representatives from House Committees, who have been meeting since late September, are working on decorations, food and postering. The event will feature an open bar from 10 p.m. to midnight and a cash bar from midnight to 2 a.m.

"Arrive early," Moses said.  --Justin C. Danilewitz and Alexander D. Laskey contributed to the reporting of this story.

"It [the new system of combining] reduces the problem of formals being on the same weekend. We've been working on creating quad spirit. It's been a great idea," Chiu said.

Tickets, which cost $15, will be made available to residents of the three houses on Wednesday, November 29.

"Current ticketing policy is that for the first week tickets will be available for quad residents only at two each," Chiu said. "After that they will be available for the general public." The rest of the Harvard community will be able to purchase any unsold tickets on Monday, December 4.

This year, the organizers plan not only to provide a gala evening but to turn a profit as well. Although formals are perennial money-losers for house committees, Moses said, this year's increased attendance should put the event in the black.

"We are planning on making a profit this year to make it more economically productive for all houses," Moses said. "We've taken something that people have traditionally lost money on, we've made it a fun event, and on top of that have made money for the house budgets."

Scheduling the formal on Sunday, although it may diminish attendance, was a major cost-cutting measure, according to organizers, who added that rooms for Saturday nights must often be booked two years in advance.

House chairs, social chairs and representatives from House Committees, who have been meeting since late September, are working on decorations, food and postering. The event will feature an open bar from 10 p.m. to midnight and a cash bar from midnight to 2 a.m.

"Arrive early," Moses said.  --Justin C. Danilewitz and Alexander D. Laskey contributed to the reporting of this story.