Students Toast Loker Pub Debut

The administrators and students that planned Friday’s debut of Harvard Pub Night can now toast to their success in transforming Loker Commons from study group cellar to a more enticing social space.

Nearly one-sixth of the student body—988 Harvard undergraduates—filtered in from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. to engage in the revelry. Some gathered in the dimly lit concert room to dance while others played pool or chatted on side benches.

Many students also mingled in the coffee shop area, consuming a grand total of 225 slices of pizza and 80 subs and burritos, according to Harvard Student Agencies (HSA) Pub Night Manager, Daniel L. Rodriguez ’05. Felipe’s and Pinocchio’s delivered food every half hour to fill the needs of hungry Harvardians. Students also kicked six kegs by midnight, in addition to draining 20 full cases of 23 different imported beers.

“There were some students that were extremely excited that we had some hard-to-find imports, such as Tuscar from Kenya, which are not available at most bars,” Rodriguez said.

The food, drink, and music created an atmosphere that Special Assistant to the Dean for Social Programming Zachary A Corker ’04 called “a really laid back social space.”

“People were comfortable coming and going throughout the night,” he said.

Though two Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) Officers and three student ushers were hired to monitor the party, they did not encounter any disruptive behavior.

“[Students’] presence and behavior showed the University that there is a legitimate demand for school-sanctioned activities, and Loker provided a phenomenal venue for Pub Night,” Rodriguez said.

Students who attended the event agreed. “It was actually a pretty good time and strangely like a normal college party,” Robert A. Hodgson ’05 said as he exited the basement of Loker Commons.

The event was such a success that the administration and HSA will continue with their plan to hold another Pub Night on Feb. 26. Though the upcoming event will be largely similar to the past one, Corker said that the planning committee will meet this week to discuss potential changes to the evening.

“This is a real experiment,” said Corker. “We’re playing around with what will work.”

Instead of live music from bands like Makodo Concern and Incadence, who played on Friday, the next Pub Night will feature music from DJ BC, who is known during daylight hours as Freshman Dean’s Office Administrator Bob Cronin.

One thing will not change—the location, Loker Commons. “It is actually a great space,” Corker said, though he had worried that late night attendees would be wary of the notoriously quiet and studious area.

“On Friday, it wasn’t your usual math club Loker…and it certainly wasn’t awkward,” he said.

—Staff writer Nicole B. Urken can be reached at urken@fas.harvard.edu.