City to Harvard: Party On! 'til 2 a.m.

Zachary A Corker ’04 came before the Cambridge Licensing Commission again, more than a year and a half after organizing the 2003 Mather Lather party that got out of control and led to a 1 a.m. cap on parties. Recently named the Special Assistant to the Dean for Social Planning, Corker joined administrators in pleading with the Commission to push party hours back to 2 a.m.

“It was kind of like a homecoming,” said Corker, “We recalled fondly our days two years ago in a similar seat but a different situation.”

This time, the Commission went along, ruling that as of Jan. 1 Harvard parties may continue until 2 a.m. in House common areas.

Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II, Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd, Mather House Master Sandra Naddaff and Corker made the proposal to the commission last month, however the results of that appeal were not made immediately available. McLoughlin wrote an e-mail to House Committee chairs last Friday announcing the change and said he waited until the House Masters were notified before informing students.

According to McLoughlin, parties in House social spaces may also serve alcohol—provided they are only advertised within the house—but those parties must have a last call for drinks at 1:30 a.m.

At the time of the Mather Lather, neither McLoughlin nor Kidd worked in University Hall. The two were appointed in the fall of 2003.

When the hours were scaled back the College was presented with a list of reforms they would have to implement before the commission would restore 2 a.m. closings.

“The problem with Mather Lather had more to do with over-capacity, rowdiness and the out-of-control nature of it all,” Cambridge Licensing Commissioner Richard Scali said in a May 2003 interview with The Crimson.

McLoughlin said that during the year and a half since the commission restricted party hours, the College has reformed its processes for planning social events.

“All of us have worked hard to address the many concerns regarding room capacities, safety, party registration and guidelines,” McLoughlin wrote in the e-mail to HoCo chairs.

According to Corker and McLoughlin, an architecture firm was hired to evaluate the capacities of all the social spaces that could potentially host events. McLoughlin said he was also asked to submit to the Commission a list of rooms where parties which might last until 2 a.m. would take place.

This fall the Office of Student Activities created an online registration system for events on campus with the hopes of streamlining and simplifying the process. The system also notifies the applicants of any City of Cambridge permits or other supplemental materials that are required to conduct a fully legal event.

McLoughlin hopes that students can avoid future incidents which would jeopardize the recent agreement, but notes that even extremely good behavior is unlikely to get party hours extended past 2 a.m.

“It’s critical that student groups and House Committees follow all party and registration guidelines—including abiding by room capacities, getting necessary licenses, working with the Box Office for ticket sales, and causing minimal disruption to the neighboring community when events let out at 2 a.m.,” Mcloughlin wrote in the e-mail to HoCo chairs.

—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu.