Open All Night: College Ponders Extending Hours

As the campus buzzes with talk of Harvard's 27th president and what his leadership might mean for the College, a friendly--but very real--policy war has slipped through the radar.

The contentious question: how late should Harvard stay awake?

Twenty-four hour universal keycard access (UKA) was the first battle.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 then weighed in with his suggestion that the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC), once renovated, could become a 24-hour facility.

The next step, say Undergraduate Council leaders, is to push House Masters to extend weekend party hours from 1 until 2 a.m.

The debate is unusual in its breadth--there are a number of seemingly separate issues under review by administrators--as well as its scope. And it is strange in another respect: no clear lines have been drawn between student and administration positions. While students are clearly pushing the UKA and party initiatives, it is Lewis and Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth '71 who have raised the issue of MAC access.

At the center of keycard initiatives and musings about how late a good party lasts, is an educational debate about what kind of sleeping habits the College should encourage with its policies.

Changes to Harvard Standard Time may not be quickly forthcoming--in particular, the MAC will not see any renovations for months. But there is a trend toward reexamining the way Harvard sets its clocks that may have profound ramifications on student life.

Houses of the Rising Sun

The council has long fought for the right of students to swipe into any upperclass House--and last year they convinced Masters to try out universal access from 8 a.m. until 1 a.m., for a trial period of one year.

At last month's Committee on House Life (CHL) meeting, Masters agreed to continue UKA indefinitely.

But, citing concerns about safety and possible damage to House property late at night, Masters were largely unfriendly toward the council's request to extend the keycard access to the hours between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m.

Lewis, previously sympathetic to the students' cause, says he no longer knows what to think about the issue.

"The Masters who had their reservations actually did a pretty good job of explaining them," Lewis says. "I would say I'm back in the middle again."

Lewis adds that it's easier to argue for "24-hour" universal access than it is to make the case for access between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m.

Quincy House Master Michael A. Shinagel--the only Master who currently permits all-night access to his House to all students--announced last week that he will step down from his post in June.

But council leaders say that the fight for 24-hour UKA is not over, and Lewis agrees that the council, working with individual House Committees, will have to try to convince Masters one at a time.

Todd A. Plants '01, chair of the council's Student Affairs Committee, says that council members will be meeting with one Master who has expressed willingness to listen to the 24-hour argument.

"I'm sure it's not something that's going to go away," Illingworth says.

Late Night at the MAC

While administrators may not jumping at the chance to let students swipe into their friends' Houses at all hours of the night, they have been receptive to the idea of extending the hours that common spaces are open.

Lewis emphasized the need for MAC improvements in his five-year Report on the College, released in January. And Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Jeremy R. Knowles' Report to the Faculty echoed this sentiment.

One likely result of an ongoing study of FAS athletic space, administrators say, is eventual large-scale renovations to the MAC, which may include the addition of non-athletic student space as well as more exercise equipment.

Lewis threw out the possibility that this revamped MAC could be open to students 24 hours a day, an idea about which others have been enthusiastic.

"If we develop the facility, we're going to want to use it as much as we possibly can," Illingworth says.

There are, however, serious logistical issues involved in extending the MAC's hours.

Parts of the building might have to be off-limits late at night, says Michael N. Lichten, director of physical resources for FAS.

"At three in the morning, do you want people in the swimming pool?" Lichten asks.

While Lichten says he doesn't think it would be wise to let people use free weights late at night, Illingworth envisions all-night access to workout equipment. In any case, Lichten doesn't think it would be a problem to shut off certain areas of the building if necessary.

Trickier are the expenses that would be incurred by keeping the building open all night.

According to Lewis, shuttles will probably have to run all night to accommodate late-night visitors to the building. This would come at a considerable cost--and would be an incidental concession to the council, which has argued unsuccessfully for 24-hour shuttle service in the past.

And the MAC would have to be heated, lit and staffed with security guards all night.

Dean R. Gallant, director of the Science Center--the only FAS building that is currently open 24 hours a day--says he isn't sure exactly how much it costs to keep his building going past the normal 11 p.m. shut-down every day, but he knows it's not cheap.

And the Science Center restricts late-night access to most of the building--you have to sign in to go upstairs--cutting energy costs in a way the MAC might not be able to.

How Late is too Late?

Logistical difficulties aside, Lewis adds that there is a philosophical debate among administrators and students about what the College should do to encourage healthy sleep patterns. "There are two schools of thought," he says.

On one hand, there is the argument that students should be afforded the conveniences of having a campus that fits their schedule, even if that schedule means 4 a.m. trips to the gym.

And then there is the point of view that the College should encourage students to go to bed.

Late nights have repercussions, Lewis says, both in terms of students not getting enough sleep and students sleeping at the wrong times.

Many students, Illingworth says, simply refuse to take--or attend--9 or 10 a.m. classes, and 8 a.m. classes have almost entirely been eliminated. And this might be fine, except for the fact that "the Faculty are older and probably tend to live in the daytime world," Illingworth says.

Even if Faculty members were willing to offer classes later in the day, conflicts with Extension School classes and student groups about available classroom space would likely pose problems.

But perhaps the problem of absenteeism from morning lectures is not as bad as people make it out to be.

Roderick MacFarquhar, chair of the government department, moved his popular 10 a.m. class, Foreign Cultures 48: "The Cultural Revolution," up to 9 a.m. this year, without any negative effects on attendance, he says.

Of the 280 students enrolled in his class, the number that show up at 9 a.m. is "surprisingly good," he says.

It's possible that Lewis and Illingworth's backgrounds may make them particularly sympathetic to students' desire to keep weird hours.

"It would be hypocritical of me to object [to a 24-hour Harvard] on principle," Lewis says, "because that's the one I went to."

Lewis and Illingworth both recall 24-hour Harvard Square restaurants as well as an all-night bookstore.

And as a computer science student in the field's very early days, Lewis enjoyed programming at a time that no one else wanted to use the University's scarce computer resources--from 3 to 6 a.m.

Illingworth's personal habits are strange in the opposite way--he wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to pay his bills and write letters and is already in his University Hall office between 6:30 and 7 a.m.

Illingworth grew up in a mill town where the mill ran 24 hours a day, and he says he feels for people who--either by choice or necessity--feel the need to work at night and sleep during the day.

He suggests looking into extending the hours of other buildings as well, such as classrooms or libraries.

Plants says Lamont Library might be a logical venue for a 24-hour experiment.

But not everyone is convinced that Harvard should go on all night.

"I would be surprised if we pushed [MAC and library hours] to be 24/7, but I think it's conceivable to have facilities open a little later," says Thomas A. Dingman, associate dean of the College.

And Lewis and Illingworth are careful to note that nothing has really been discussed with regard to the MAC--whose renovation is still months away.

"[The idea of a 24-hour MAC] was just a preliminary thought," Lewis writes in an e-mail. "I'm surprised it has been greeted with such interest." Fight For the Right

While many students welcome the idea of an all-night MAC and 24-hour libraries, and the council is "almost always in favor of more services for students," Plants says he doesn't hear his constituents clamoring for midnight Stairmaster use.

What students are advocating, above all, he says, is extended party hours in the Houses.

Currently, all parties must shut down at 1 a.m. The council, says Plants, is pursuing a popular plank in the campaign of council President Paul A. Gusmorino '02, in trying to convince Masters to extend the deadline to 2 a.m.

Gusmorino says the council is finishing up a phone survey that asks students about their sleep habits on weekends. Armed with the results, Gusmorino anticipates that council members will bring a proposal before the CHL next Tuesday asking that party hours be extended.

With results still coming in, Plants says the numbers he has seen validate the sense that most students are staying up late, especially on weekends.

Ninety percent of students polled so far stay up past 2 a.m. on weekends, Plants says. Fifty percent don't go to bed until after 3 a.m.

Gusmorino says he and former SAC Chair Michael D. Shumsky '00 brought the issue of extended party hours before the CHL last year--but not with any sort of formal proposal.

Gusmorino says this time the council has listened to concerns from resident tutors and students who turn in early on weekends, while examining House security issues and Cambridge noise ordinances.

The council is prepared to offer the CHL a written argument for extending party hours for a trial period, Gusmorino says.

Like UKA, this is an issue each House must decide for itself, Gusmorino says, and the proposal will likely have to be sold--also like UKA--to one Master at a time.