Parietal hours in the Houses have been extended to midnight both tonight and tomorrow night as a result of special action by the Masters this week.
Ordinarily, girls must leave upperclass rooms at Harvard at 8 p.m. every Friday and on Saturdays of football games in Cambridge. But an unusual calendar, with a football game before the first day of classes, prompted the special treatment of this weekend, according to Charles H. Taylor, Master of Kirkland House.
A petition for late parietals this weekend was presented to the Masters by H. Reed Ellis '65, chairman of the Harvard Council for Undergraduate Affairs. Ellis had asked that the "unusual and special situation of a football game before classes, with no planned activities in the evening" be considered an exception to the rule.
On Monday night, the HCUA will discuss a report asking the Masters "to consider extension of parietals on all Saturday evenings of home football games." This report by the Council's Executive Committee will be distributed to House Committees over the weekend and perhaps endorsed by some House units before the HCUA considers it.
"While the circumstances warranted an exception this time, we have made no commitment to the more extensive proposal," Taylor said yesterday. Even if the HCUA submits its recommendation to the Masters next week, he said, there may not be time to consider it during this year's football season.
Ellis said last evening that the Masters had made it "very clear" to him that they are not setting a precedent by extending parietal hours this weekend, but he feels nevertheless that the action represents a significant gain by the Council.