Sprinkle said he believes that the rule was proposed by the grad board as part of an attempt to change the nature of the club.

"They want to get away from the club being used as an after-hours joint, which is a legitimate idea," Sprinkle said. "But we tried to explain to the grad board that, although that's fine, what they want is not what we want."

"If you're a social person at Harvard and if you go out, you go to a bar, and then you go to a final club after the bars close. It's just what happens. But by closing the club during that time, they're taking away what we want to use it for as members. They're taking away what we're paying for," he added.

Graduate board attempts to change the character of the club peaked after last spring's fight between a football recruit and Sean Hansen '95, which took place at the D.U.

But sources say that the fight was not the only incident which has cause the graduate board members to try to change the club.

While the D.U. is now best known as a club for football players, its members were not always athletes. Sources say that the club once had more of an intellectual, rather than athletic, character.

Members say they are aware of the graduate board's opinions.

"They don't like the image the club has," Sprinkle said. "They think it's an after-hours joint where anyone can get in and get loaded, especially after the fight. It's really sad. They can't see that the guys in our club don't have that rambunctious all-I-want-to-do-is-destroy-things attitude."

"I know the members and they are good quality guys. They don't destroy things," Sprinkle continued. "The grad board can't understand that. They think it has always been bad and always is going to continue to be bad. It's disheartening."

Eroding relations between undergraduates and the graduate board may also have to do with dire financial straits.

In the last five years, graduating club members have skipped out on dues, leaving combined debts of about $5,000 a year, club officials said.

Recent graduates have also proved reluctant to donate to the club, Vereb said, and the capital campaign the D.U. launched two years ago made only $500,000, less than half of the desired amount.

Confronting insurance premiums, mortgage payments, large upkeep expenses and sky-high Cambridge property taxes, the D.U. is financially strapped, and unlike many of the other clubs, it has no endowment to fall back on.

Members say that in addition to increased dues and punch fees, the graduate board has proposed a yearly $150 security deposit (which would be redeemed at the end of the school year), in order to lessen the financial difficulties.

Graduate board members even spoke of a possible merger with the Delphic, another final club, to help defray costs, members said. D.U. members, however, say the merger is unlikely, citing hesitance on the part of the Delphic. Delphic officials refused to comment.

But many members brush aside talk about the future and say they are upset with the current situation.

"I've been talking to a lot of people who are disappointed. I'm disappointed. I used to hang out there and play pool on weekday nights," said D.U. member Justin E. Frantz '96, who describes himself as "extremely angry" about the situation.

"I like all the dudes in the club. It has nothing to do with any of the members or the club itself. It's sort of that people are pissed at the grad board," he continued. "It's a shame that the D.U. would be closing. It's been around for such a long time. It's a place where we socialized and now its gone ... and there are people who aren't even in the club who used to hang out there a lot."

Hilles said: "I want to keep the club going. It's a tradition that's been going forever or a long time anyway, and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere right now.