Council Begins Push for Parties Until 2 a.m.

College parties will soon be able to stay open later, if the Undergraduate Council gets its way--and the outlook is promising.

Members of the council spoke with Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 and a number of House masters at yesterday's meeting of the Committee on House Life (CHL), hoping to gain support for a proposal to allow House parties to remain open for one hour longer than their current 1 a.m. curfew.

In what Lewis termed a "receptive discussion," House masters voiced their general support for the idea.

"I'm in favor of extending party hours, at least experimentally, for a year," said Eliot House Master Lino Pertile.

Council member Brian R. Smith '02 kicked off the discussion with a brief presentation, explaining to the administration what the council sees as the reasons for extending party hours.

Most compelling, according to Smith, was a survey of undergraduate preferences that the council recently conducted.

The survey suggests that nearly 90 percent of undergraduates favor extending the College's party curfew.

It also purports that roughly 66 percent of undergraduates do not go to sleep until 3 a.m. on weekends.

Smith said, as well, that a 2 a.m. party curfew would be more in line with the closing hours of a number of popular Harvard Square establishments, like Pinocchio's and Tommy's House of Pizza.

College officials also contributed arguments in favor of extending the current curfew.

One administrator said keeping parties going later might help curb the problem of binge drinking that occurs when students return home early but feel that it is too early to go to bed.

Another suggested that extending official party hours would be a way for the College to lessen the importance of final clubs, which do not have curfews.

But Smith also highlighted possible concerns that might result from extending party hours.

In addition to the problem of noise associated with all parties, Smith introduced mostly logistical issues, including the need to comply with Cambridge city ordinances and ensure that security guards and resident tutors can be on-call until 2 a.m.

These areas, the meeting's attendees unanimously decided, need further exploration.

"With 90 percent of students in favor, there is no question that party hours should be extended from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.," Smith said. "The only question left to answer is how can we minimize the negative effects endured by the tutors, Cambridge residents, and the 9 percent of the student body opposed to the change. CHL meetings with the Cambridge Licensing Commission, the HUPD, and a standardization of House party policies will address these negative effects."

Smith said he hopes party hours will be extended by the end of the school year.

--Staff writer Alexander B. Ginsberg can be reached at ginsberg@fas.harvard.edu.