With the deadline for choosing blocking groups fast approaching, more than half of all first-years petitioned Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 to increase the maximum blocking group size back to 16 students last week.

The Committee on House Life (COHL) decided last year to reduce the maximum blocking group size from 16 to eight students, beginning with the Class of 2003.

Last month, Alex M. Rampell '03, a member of the Undergraduate Council, initiated a petition recommending the reversal of this decision. First-year council members tabled during dinner on Feb. 17 and 18 in Annenberg Dining Hall, convincing 877 students to sign the petition, which was presented to Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 in a meeting last Thursday morning.

Lewis, however, rejected the petition, maintaining his position that the decision will not be changed for at least several years.

Rampell defended his petition's aims, saying that COHL "was completely unrepresentative of the student body. Most students were against [the decision]."

Lewis wrote in an e-mail message that COHL "did vote that the blocking group size should be reduced substantially; while the vote was not unanimous, it did not split along faculty-student lines."

The committee is made up of several House Masters, three student representatives and is chaired by Lewis.

Rampell also challenged the timing of the decision, saying that COHL should have waited until the fall, when first-years would have been able to participate in discussions.