Possible IM Crew Cutback Resolved

Safety concerns nearly caused the Athletics Department to cancel all Houses’ Intramural (IM) B-level crew boats last week, but a mild uproar from students induced administrators to keep the B-boats on hand, students learned yesterday.

The House IM secretaries were informed of the erstwhile decision at last week’s meeting, according to Grant C. D’Arcy ’06, head official of House IMs. Students were told that the Athletics Department had decided to curtail House crew due to input from the staff at the boathouses.

But students and tutors alike reacted strongly to the suggestion of eliminating House B-boats, petitioning and writing e-mails, and sending out pleas over House open lists.

The eventual compromise—announced yesterday at the House IM secretaries’ meeting—now allows B-boats to continue running, although on a more stringent schedule, according to Joseph M. Hanzich ’06, IM secretary for Leverett House.

Dan Boyne, director of recreational rowing, was unavailable to comment yesterday.

But it was understood from students on the IM committee that the administration was concerned about safety issues on the B-boats, which often allow completely inexperienced students out on the Charles River.

Additionally, according to Hanzich, the boats were creating potentially dangerous traffic around the boathouse docks.

“[They] were afraid of the liability of having B-boats again this year,” D’Arcy said in an email, citing last year’s incident when a Leverett boat capsized, though no one was injured.

“The boathouses do not have enough launches or supervision to keep us all appropriately safe in their opinions,” D'Arcy said.

The Athletic Department’s move would have left houses with only two boats each, the Men’s and Women’s A boats.

When the rumors of the cutback first broke last week, House IM representatives and eager amateur rowers quickly flooded House open lists with complaints and petitions.

The first wave came from Dudley House, which began an online poll last week, and passed the poll onto other House lists, among them Adams and Dunster Houses.

Dudley IM Secretary Robert A. Jenks, a graduate student in the Arts & Sciences, said that he decided to start the poll with fellow Dudley resident Jonathan T. Ledlie because they felt that amateur crew had been important to many students.

“One of the trademarks of Harvard is that it has this large rowing program that a lot of students are involved in,” he said. “We knew immediately when the news came out that a large number of people would object to [it].”

Carlos E. Diaz Rosillo, Assistant to the Senior Tutor of Dunster House and IM secretary for Dunster, which maintains five boats, the highest number permitted, sent out a link to the Dudley online poll along with an email about the “poor decision” to dispose of B-boats to his own House.

“All the IM reps were outraged,” Diaz said. “Every year we get tons of people who participate in IM crew for the first time and they tell us that it’s one of their most memorable and enjoyable experiences at Harvard.”

Arcy said that the outpouring of student support for B-boats on Dudley’s poll attracted the attention of the authorities.

“They agreed to reinstate B-boats because of the student response,” he said.

Additionally, students were eager to show their enthusiasm for keeping B-boats afloat.

“The B-boats are the only chance to do sweep rowing for those who have never rowed before and are looking for camaraderie and exercise without the pressure and serious training involved in A-boats,” said Paul F. Gilligan ‘05, captain of last year’s champion Eliot House A-crew and an Eliot House IM secretary. For that reason, he stressed that, despite the safety concerns, the Houses should work to maintain both amateur and more experienced crews.