needed them in the past," Sheerr says.

But Agassiz has a long history of serving undergraduates--the Gilbert and Sullivan Players have called the space home since 1956--and many hope the space can remain open to students.

"It's very important for the undergraduates to have the space," says Acting Dean of the Radcliffe Institute Mary Maples Dunn. "In my view, although my voice won't be the one who controls this, the undergraduates should continue to have Agassiz for their use."

Symonds recommends against using Agassiz for non-theatrical purposes. " It would be a horrible waste to do anything else with it," he says. "It makes a terrible lecture hall and a terrible event space."

But if Radcliffe's leadership refuses undergraduate performances, a long-recognized space shortage will suddenly become acute.

"Even if we keep Agassiz, we're in a crunch for theater space," says David P. Illingworth '71, associate dean of the College.

The possibility of a new building on what is currently Mahoney's Garden Center, housing a contemporary art museum and theater space, emerged last spring.

University President Neil S. Rudenstine hinted at such plans in a speech to prospective first-years in April, and former Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III has spoken openly about the possibility of such a building.