Committee Considers Cambridge Queen's Head Improvements

The Committee on Student Life considered ways to make the Cambridge Queen’s Head pub—a space under Annenberg Hall—more welcoming to undergraduates at its meeting last week.

The Committee on Student Life is a student-faculty committee that explores undergraduate social life, approve new student organizations, and oversee residential policies. House Faculty Deans, students on House Committees, representatives on the Undergraduate Council, and other College administrators comprise the committee. Recently, the committee choose to temporarily stop recognizing additional clubs over concerns about the proliferation of student groups on campus.

At the meeting, committee members discussed potentially renovating the Queen’s Head to make the pub more enticing to undergraduates.

Students gather at the Queen's Head pub. By Casey M. Allen

Nadine M. Khoury ’20, a UC Crimson Yard representative, said that the Queen’s Head would be a good place to host social events—potentially ones tailored to freshmen—because of its location under a freshmen dining hall and near Harvard Yard.

“Currently, the pub is mostly graduate students. Really, we want to make it more of an undergraduate pub.” Khoury said. “It could be something very much for freshmen because we don’t really have that space yet—a social after-hours area for freshmen.”

According to Cameron K. Khansarinia ’18, UC Vice President and one of the committee’s co-chair, the committee plans to create a student “focus group” tasked with proposing suggestions to make the Queen’s Head a more undergraduate-focused venue.

In September, the College’s Office of Student Life sponsored parties for students in each class year at the Queen’s Head as part of the College’s effort to play a larger role in funding on-campus social events. The events for sophomores and juniors were poorly-attended.

The group also discussed expedited party registration policies in the upperclassmen residences at its meeting. The committee will develop a “best practices” guide on policy registration policies, which currently differ across Houses.

Under this policy, students are able to register parties in their dorm rooms within a few hours before their events. Although each House has a different policy regarding the “fast track” party system, Khansarinia says that student feedback has generally been positive.

“We are going to work together with all the Houses, including administration and students, to put together a best practice guide that will detail what has worked and what has not worked with different ‘fast track’ party policies in the past,” Khansarinia said. “We don’t want to impose the one-size fits all policy.”

College administrators frequently discuss the importance of re-centering social life in on-campus residential spaces. The Freshman Dean’s Office implemented a new policy earlier this month allowing first-year students to reserve dorm common rooms.

Committee members also mentioned the Smith Campus Center as a future space for undergraduate social events. Renovations to the building will likely be completed by 2018.

—Staff writer Junina Furigay can be reached at junina.furigay@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @junina_furigay.

—Staff writer Kenton K. Shimozaki can be reached at kenton.shimozaki@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @KentonShimozaki.