Inter-Club Council Votes to Shorten Punch Season; Owl Reopens Doors

The Inter-Club Council (ICC), the governing body of the eight all-male final clubs, voted to trim the clubs' punch season last Thursday.

After reviewing the fall punch season, the ICC decided to cut the number of events in future seasons from four to three, according to ICC President Rev. Douglas W. Sears '69. These events include dinners, outings and dances as well as the traditional final dinner.

"It's more of a cost-cutting thing," Sears said. "Each club has an individual budget."

Some clubs had already reduced their number of events for financial reasons.

The Owl Club, which traditionally sends its punches on a costly harbor cruise, only has three events.

Although Sears expects some clubs will be unhappy to give up an event, he said the ICC reasoned the modification could only help clubs.

"Ultimately, there may be some grumbling, but when you have unmanageable punch expenses in the fall it just ends up costing everybody more money than it needs to."

He added that because students should not choose their clubs based on the lavishness of events, this change will help move clubs closer to their ideal.

There was no discussion of the possibility of an ICC-wide spring punch. Currently, individual clubs may punch prospective members in the spring at their discretion, but this informal spring punch season lasts only one week and will not be affected by the policy change.

Sears also said the Owl, which had been closed since early December, has reopened to members.

The closure came at the end of the punch season, shutting doors the day of the scheduled initiation party.

Owl President Jonathan Powers '00 confirmed the news, saying the graduates and undergraduates had agreed to a concrete set of policies.

"We reopened February 14 after some time to revise the way we operate," he said. "There were a lot of legal issues, and we wanted to figure out where to go."

He said the new Owl policy is similar to that of the Fly Club: members are restricted to two guests, who must be signed in and out, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Female and non-Harvard male guests may go upstairs in the clubhouse, but Harvard undergraduate males may only enter the basement and the backyard.

The Owl also used the time off to deal with some physical improvements and repairs.

"It was a good thing to have time to take a breather and get on solid footing," Powers said. "It looks a lot better than it did before."

Sears said the undergraduates and graduates addressed the outstanding issues that required the closure, but added that the Owl's change is not any different from the rules outlined by the ICC.

"Everyone keeps reinventing the wheel," Sears said. "More like clubs and less like fraternities--that's what the alumni expect."