Time 2 Party On

Students begging for one more song at the Leverett 80s dance will get their wish—and a whole hour more—as parties in House common areas will now extend until 2 a.m. Though room parties gained that coveted extra time in February of last year, larger campus-wide parties like the 80s dance have been forced to close their doors at one ever since the infamously-overcrowded Mather Lather party in April of 2003 convinced the Cambridge Licensing Commission (CLC) to rescind the permit. But after much effort and hard work from Harvard administrators and Special Assistant to the Dean of Social Planning Zachary A. Corker ’04, the CLC recently reinstituted the permit. Although this victory may seem small, it is indicative of Harvard’s increasing effectiveness in advocating on behalf of students with Cambridge authorities.

Corker was co-president of the Mather House Committee when the aforementioned Mather Lather took place, but he was able to redeem this event’s unfortunate consequences on Harvard social life by helping to convince the CLC to change the party hours. Along with Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II, Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd, and Mather House Master Sandra Nadaff, he presented a proposal last month addressing the reforms that the Commission demanded if party hours were to be regained. All potential rooms where campus-wide parties would take place needed to be listed, and an architecture firm was hired to calculate the capacities of these spaces. Further, the Office of Student Activities created an online registration system this fall for events on campus, helping to point students to the proper permits and other important information. Though originally intended to convince the CLC to reissue Harvard’s permit, these steps will also further improve the quality of the House social scene.

The return to 2 a.m. party hours may seem like a small difference, but it is a big step towards realizing the social scene Harvard students crave. Campus-wide events not only foster community, they also provide more interesting events for partygoers drained by room parties. An extra hour keeps this spirit going a little longer. If it reflects a more productive dialogue between Harvard and Cambridge over student issues, as we believe it does, then we hope this hour of extra spirit will soon be multiplied many times over. A few more moments covered in foam may be only an indicator of things to come.