Club Denies Racism Allegations

A spokesperson for the Cure Lounge said allegations of discrimination against black Harvard and Yale students at a Nov. 20 party for graduate students and alumni that was shut down were “absolutely baloney,” citing poor organization from event promoters as the primary reason for the club management’s decision to end the event prematurely.

George Regan, the spokesperson for the club, said that event promoters insisted that those in the crowd without Harvard or Yale IDs be admitted on the night of the event, despite concerns from club security that people unaffiliated with either university and known to cause trouble were trying to gain entry.

Regan said the event organizers had previously agreed while attempting to obtain the venue for the party that only those with Harvard or Yale IDs would be admitted. Because the promoters decided to violate the precondition, the club management shut the party down, he said.

By insisting that the club security not check IDs, Regan said the event promoters “wanted those people inside the club,” referring to the “local gang bangers” that security guards said they spotted in the crowd.

In e-mails to attendees before and after the event, event promoters did not say that proof of university affiliation was a precondition for entry to the event. In an e-mail obtained by The Crimson sent from the event promoters to the attendees the day before the event containing “important information” about the party, event organizer Kwame Owusu-Kesse ’06 cited other preconditions stipulated by Cure Lounge, but mentioned nothing about needing university IDs.

Sadatu K. Dennis, a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design who attended the party, said that she did not understand why club management told attendees that the event was closing due to technical difficulties with the stereo system if the real rationale was a concern about club security.

Dennis said when she got to the club around 10 p.m.—45 minutes before the management announced they were shutting the party down—she did not see anyone outside the club who did not appear to be affiliated with Harvard or Yale, and said she was not asked to show her Harvard ID.

But Regan maintains that the issue revolved around IDs to ensure the club’s security, an issue that Cure takes particularly seriously, he says.

In 2008, the club—then called Aria Nightclub—closed after a brawl broke out and a man opened fire on the crowd. After a two-year lapse, the club is reopening with a new name, according to Regan.

Event promoters and organizers Owusu-Kesse and Michael Beal ’06, both second year students at Harvard Business School, did not return e-mails and phone calls seeking comment.

Despite Regan’s assurances that the event organizers are at fault, the club will face investigation by the City of Boston Licensing Division, according to Boston City Councillor Ayanna Pressley’s Chief of Staff James Chisholm.

Chisholm acknowledged that the inquiry was an “investigation of accusations” and said that Pressley called for it after hearing accounts from students who attended the event. Following the investigation, the City of Boston Licensing Board will determine whether the club will retain its license to conduct business, he said.

“The councillor feels very strongly that an investigation is warranted after hearing accounts [of the night],” Chisholm said. “This is something that doesn’t reflect the best of Boston.”