D.U. Club Still Closed; No Fall Punch Planned

Due to financial trouble and hostile relations with its graduate board, the D.U. Club has not yet opened its doors this year and members say they doubt the club will hold a fall punch.

Club members say they are shocked and chagrined by the D.U. graduate board's attempt to implement new limitations on the final club. The proposed restrictions include a 2 a.m. curfew and a ban on kegs. Graduate board members also want to increase dues, current members say.

Though graduate board members could not be reached for comment, current student members said yesterday that they consider the proposed changes unfair.

As a result, all of the current undergraduate members of the club have rendered themselves temporarily inactive. The students no longer frequent the club or pay dues, effectively closing the organization.

"Under the circumstances, members can't use the club they joined," D.U. president Matt B. Hilles '96 said. "I'd say this has created definite hostility towards the grad board."

Although there have been several meetings between club officials and the graduate board to try and work out a compromise to the standoff over the proposed new rules, talks are currently stalled.

The chair of the D.U.'s graduate board, Louis I. Kane '53, is currently travelling, and communication with undergraduates has been severed, members said.

"[The graduate board] doesn't take us seriously," said D.U. VicePresident David M. Sprinkle '96. "They're not keeping us informed, and it's frustrating not knowing what is going on."

Members say changes initially demanded by the graduate board this summer included a 100 percent increase in monthly club dues--from $75 to $150.

D.U. officials had strongly negative reactions to that proposal and fought successfully for the reduction of dues from the proposed $150 to $100.

The graduate board also proposed an increase in punch fees, making the proposed amount roughly equal to current dues, according to D.U. Treasurer Dan R. Vereb '96.

"We figured, as officers, what would be doable for us is no more than $100 dollars. A lot of the guys can't afford to pay more than $100, so we told them that we would be okay raising dues to 100, but no more," Sprinkle said.

"The D.U. was one of the least expensive of the final clubs, and that's why it attracted many of the current members," Vereb explained. "Financial need led the grad board to try and make [our] expenses like [those of] the other clubs."

The graduate board also required that the club close down from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. The rule about the club's hours, however, is currently under negotiation, members say.

According to Hilles, the D.U.'s undergraduate members unanimously agreed that they would become active members again if the club remained open after 2 a.m. The undergraduate members suggested that admittance to the club after 2 a.m. be limited to members only in order to make it more acceptable to the graduate board.

"Limited access for members only would be great," Hilles said. "We just don't want to have it shut down completely."

Sprinkle said he believes that the rule was proposed by the grad board as part of an attempt to change the nature of the club.

"They want to get away from the club being used as an after-hours joint, which is a legitimate idea," Sprinkle said. "But we tried to explain to the grad board that, although that's fine, what they want is not what we want."

"If you're a social person at Harvard and if you go out, you go to a bar, and then you go to a final club after the bars close. It's just what happens. But by closing the club during that time, they're taking away what we want to use it for as members. They're taking away what we're paying for," he added.

Graduate board attempts to change the character of the club peaked after last spring's fight between a football recruit and Sean Hansen '95, which took place at the D.U.

But sources say that the fight was not the only incident which has cause the graduate board members to try to change the club.

While the D.U. is now best known as a club for football players, its members were not always athletes. Sources say that the club once had more of an intellectual, rather than athletic, character.

Members say they are aware of the graduate board's opinions.

"They don't like the image the club has," Sprinkle said. "They think it's an after-hours joint where anyone can get in and get loaded, especially after the fight. It's really sad. They can't see that the guys in our club don't have that rambunctious all-I-want-to-do-is-destroy-things attitude."

"I know the members and they are good quality guys. They don't destroy things," Sprinkle continued. "The grad board can't understand that. They think it has always been bad and always is going to continue to be bad. It's disheartening."

Eroding relations between undergraduates and the graduate board may also have to do with dire financial straits.

In the last five years, graduating club members have skipped out on dues, leaving combined debts of about $5,000 a year, club officials said.

Recent graduates have also proved reluctant to donate to the club, Vereb said, and the capital campaign the D.U. launched two years ago made only $500,000, less than half of the desired amount.

Confronting insurance premiums, mortgage payments, large upkeep expenses and sky-high Cambridge property taxes, the D.U. is financially strapped, and unlike many of the other clubs, it has no endowment to fall back on.

Members say that in addition to increased dues and punch fees, the graduate board has proposed a yearly $150 security deposit (which would be redeemed at the end of the school year), in order to lessen the financial difficulties.

Graduate board members even spoke of a possible merger with the Delphic, another final club, to help defray costs, members said. D.U. members, however, say the merger is unlikely, citing hesitance on the part of the Delphic. Delphic officials refused to comment.

But many members brush aside talk about the future and say they are upset with the current situation.

"I've been talking to a lot of people who are disappointed. I'm disappointed. I used to hang out there and play pool on weekday nights," said D.U. member Justin E. Frantz '96, who describes himself as "extremely angry" about the situation.

"I like all the dudes in the club. It has nothing to do with any of the members or the club itself. It's sort of that people are pissed at the grad board," he continued. "It's a shame that the D.U. would be closing. It's been around for such a long time. It's a place where we socialized and now its gone ... and there are people who aren't even in the club who used to hang out there a lot."

Hilles said: "I want to keep the club going. It's a tradition that's been going forever or a long time anyway, and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere right now.

"The D.U. was one of the least expensive of the final clubs, and that's why it attracted many of the current members," Vereb explained. "Financial need led the grad board to try and make [our] expenses like [those of] the other clubs."

The graduate board also required that the club close down from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. The rule about the club's hours, however, is currently under negotiation, members say.

According to Hilles, the D.U.'s undergraduate members unanimously agreed that they would become active members again if the club remained open after 2 a.m. The undergraduate members suggested that admittance to the club after 2 a.m. be limited to members only in order to make it more acceptable to the graduate board.

"Limited access for members only would be great," Hilles said. "We just don't want to have it shut down completely."

Sprinkle said he believes that the rule was proposed by the grad board as part of an attempt to change the nature of the club.

"They want to get away from the club being used as an after-hours joint, which is a legitimate idea," Sprinkle said. "But we tried to explain to the grad board that, although that's fine, what they want is not what we want."

"If you're a social person at Harvard and if you go out, you go to a bar, and then you go to a final club after the bars close. It's just what happens. But by closing the club during that time, they're taking away what we want to use it for as members. They're taking away what we're paying for," he added.

Graduate board attempts to change the character of the club peaked after last spring's fight between a football recruit and Sean Hansen '95, which took place at the D.U.

But sources say that the fight was not the only incident which has cause the graduate board members to try to change the club.

While the D.U. is now best known as a club for football players, its members were not always athletes. Sources say that the club once had more of an intellectual, rather than athletic, character.

Members say they are aware of the graduate board's opinions.

"They don't like the image the club has," Sprinkle said. "They think it's an after-hours joint where anyone can get in and get loaded, especially after the fight. It's really sad. They can't see that the guys in our club don't have that rambunctious all-I-want-to-do-is-destroy-things attitude."

"I know the members and they are good quality guys. They don't destroy things," Sprinkle continued. "The grad board can't understand that. They think it has always been bad and always is going to continue to be bad. It's disheartening."

Eroding relations between undergraduates and the graduate board may also have to do with dire financial straits.

In the last five years, graduating club members have skipped out on dues, leaving combined debts of about $5,000 a year, club officials said.

Recent graduates have also proved reluctant to donate to the club, Vereb said, and the capital campaign the D.U. launched two years ago made only $500,000, less than half of the desired amount.

Confronting insurance premiums, mortgage payments, large upkeep expenses and sky-high Cambridge property taxes, the D.U. is financially strapped, and unlike many of the other clubs, it has no endowment to fall back on.

Members say that in addition to increased dues and punch fees, the graduate board has proposed a yearly $150 security deposit (which would be redeemed at the end of the school year), in order to lessen the financial difficulties.

Graduate board members even spoke of a possible merger with the Delphic, another final club, to help defray costs, members said. D.U. members, however, say the merger is unlikely, citing hesitance on the part of the Delphic. Delphic officials refused to comment.

But many members brush aside talk about the future and say they are upset with the current situation.

"I've been talking to a lot of people who are disappointed. I'm disappointed. I used to hang out there and play pool on weekday nights," said D.U. member Justin E. Frantz '96, who describes himself as "extremely angry" about the situation.

"I like all the dudes in the club. It has nothing to do with any of the members or the club itself. It's sort of that people are pissed at the grad board," he continued. "It's a shame that the D.U. would be closing. It's been around for such a long time. It's a place where we socialized and now its gone ... and there are people who aren't even in the club who used to hang out there a lot."

Hilles said: "I want to keep the club going. It's a tradition that's been going forever or a long time anyway, and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere right now.