A Commons for Harvard College

Many undergraduates, if asked to name the Achilles' heel of the otherwise invincible Harvard experience, would bring up Harvard's dismal social life. Even Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III admits that there is "a weakness in social life" at the college. When administrators acknowledge the existence of a problem, you know you're in trouble.

But fear not, undergraduates. Dean Epps has promised us an answer to our prayers. It's a bird. It's a plane. No, It's the new Loker Commons. The Commons will be located under Memorial Hall and is scheduled to open in 1996.

Who would confuse the Commons with a bird or a plane? As matters currently stand, it doesn't look as if the loker Commons can get Harvard social life off the ground.

In a February interview with the Crimson, Epps maintained that the new Commons would help students meet each other and improve Harvard's social scene. He described the Loker Commons as "a planned response" to the weakness in Harvard's social life.

The Commons is an excellent idea in theory. Far from objecting to the Commons, we welcome the creation of a center for student life with grateful and open arms. We do have some concerns, however, over important details in the College's plans for the new space. Members of the Undergraduate Council have voiced similar concerns; we commend them for their efforts.

The first and most important problem concerns the general orientation of the Commons: will it be a place for students, or a place for both the Harvard and Cambridge communities at large? While the administration has sold the Commons to donors as a boost to undergraduate life, its policies so far have favored the Commons as a means of catering to a greater Cambridge audience.

We do not believe the Commons can serve as an effective center for student life if the atmosphere of the space is not student-centered. Along these lines, we urge the University to reject a plan that calls for booting undergraduates who aren't eating from the Commons during the busiest meal hours. This step would entirely undermine any effort to make the Commons a place where students could "hang out" and relax without having to purchase food or drink in order to justify their continued presence in the space.

If this plan is accepted, we will end up with "Greenhouse Cafe II" on our hands. At the Greenhouse Cafe in the Science Center, where such a policy is currently in effect, students can't sit and hang out during peak hours unless they are in the process of consuming something purchased at the Cafe.

Other problems with the Commons revolve around the important question of facilities. Potentially disturbing aspects of the emerging design include the absence of a television and very few computers. Commons architects foresee a technology room with just two computers.

What self-respecting student center lacks a television? Even the Union has one. According to Michael P. Berry, director of Harvard Dining Services, the Commons will be wired for television. We urge the administration to install a television in this space.

Having only two computers in the technology room of the Commons would be, quite simply, pathetic. Given how busy the Science Center computer room is, with many people who rarely used computers in the past now addicted to e-mail, one would think planners would know better than to put in only two computers.

Fortunately, there is still hope for students who want the center to have an undergraduate focus. Administrators have stated that most of the policies students have problems with are still changeable; the center is still in the planning states, they claim.

We therefore urge the administration to reconsider those policies that lean towards turning the Commons into a mere commercial enterprise as opposed to a real center for student life. We also encourage the Undergraduate Council to continue to champion student interests regarding the Commons.

Students must continue to make their voices heard so that the Loker Commons can be made to serve student needs. Otherwise, the Commons' effect on Harvard social life will be minimal, and the current problem will continue unabated.