Determined to melt traditional University indifference towards visiting teams, a four-man Student Council sub-committee met for the first time last night even as Dean Bender promised the group full University Hall cooperation.
"We won't feel qualified to specify any particular organizational setup," Chairman Patrick D. Dailey '50 said after the meeting, "until we examine the strengths and weaknesses of reception societies at other schools." Letters requesting this information are being mailed.
Provide Guides
"We are 25 years behind Dartmouth in extending hospitality to visiting athletic teams," Dailey commented. Dartmouth's Green Key Society, like Princeton's Orange Key and other similar Ivy League organizations, meets football teams, for instance, at the station Friday afternoon. A representative of the society sticks with the team members throughout their stay. He takes them to their hotel, answers questions, and secures post-game entertainment for them, generally, in the form of free dance tickets.
Under the present University setup, athletic managers have no spare time to handle this recreational problem. Despite the rah-rah nature of a Key society, the Council committee envisions a hardworking unit, not necessarily "an honor society of college dignitaries."
Gets University Hall Backing
Dean Bender, in voicing full approval of the Council committee's aims yesterday, suggested that "there is no need for the ritual and paraphernalia that accompany some of the Key societies. The essential point is that Harvard students should want to help welcome guests, athletic or otherwise, from other colleges rather than leave them out in the cold."
Who will staff the proposed Harvard welcoming committee? Chairman Dailey has recommended a nucleus of 14 men; the House athletic and dance chairmen. This plan will be discussed at next week's meeting.
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