The Perfect Brew

If there is a moral to the spring semester of 2005, it is that when students and administrators work together, everyone benefits. So far this year, this cooperation has borne fruit in the form of promised extended hours for Lamont Library, Loker Commons Pub Nights and the possibility of real change in dining hall hours.

Now, after a string of successful Pub Nights in Loker Commons, it looks like we may have a new, permanent pub to look forward to. Forty-five hundred happy students later, they are still going strong. Combining exciting student and area bands with cheap beer and a friendly, non-Final Club environment, Loker has been revivified by the joint efforts of Veritas Records, Harvard Student Agencies, and administrators (and “fun czars”) in the office of the Dean of the College. Loker was meant to be a space for students, and thanks to recent developments it is finally well on its way. Harvard administrators, including Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd and Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71, seem intensely serious about pursuing a feasibility study as the first step towards turning part of Loker into a permanent student pub. Even better, they also seem committed to seeing the project through—hopefully in time for Gross’ son to, er, purchase a “Coke” from Loker’s bartenders his freshman year.

So why is everyone so excited? Right now, the campus social scene is confined to five locations: expensive Harvard Square bars filled with non-students, sweaty in-room parties, exclusive Final Clubs, House parties like Mather Lather, and Boston-area clubs. Missing from this list is a suitable space for true all-campus, inclusive parties. To realize the potential of an on-campus pub at Harvard, one needs only look at places like E.P. Taylors (EPT’s) at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. With comedy shows every Monday, Pub Nights every Wednesday, and huge all-campus events Friday and Saturday, the establishment is everything any student could wish for.

Of course, Loker shouldn’t be totally converted a la EPT’s. The space should still be usable by non-Pub goers (who don’t want to pay for a draft just to sit and do math homework) day and night. But all of Loker could certainly use a pub-themed face-lift. With so many options on the table, we can only hope that administrators will show the same attentiveness to student wants during the feasibility study as they have so far. Though much is still in doubt, the future looks bright for a permanent Loker Pub, and, dare we say, paying for beer with BoardPlus?