“This is a building we need to treat safely,” Illingworth says.

Any parties the social club holds this year will have to conform to College party regulations—including a bartender and Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) presence.

The locks of the Pudding building have already been changed and Illingworth says he might hire a HUPD guard to regulate who is allowed to enter the 12 Holyoke St. entrance.

These changes, Olshan says, “[are] very sad, because it’s the end of something. The Pudding as it was is gone.”

But despite her regret, Olshan says the University seems to respect the importance of allowing the social instituion’s traditions, in some capacity, to continue.

“Listen, we’re a very old group and a lot of our alums are very active,” Olshan says. “To many people, Harvard is the Hasty Pudding. We’ve graduated five [U.S.] Presidents. We’re very much a part of Harvard and this country. It’s a tradition that will go on.”

An All-Male Cast

Finding a balance between tradition and College policy in a Harvard-owned building highlights some important questions about the all-male Theatricals cast and its annual drag burlesque extravanganza.

About the show and its explicit prohibition of female actors, Illingworth says, “It’s a strange situation—it’s not ideal.”

But despite the potential infraction that the Threaticals’ rule might have on an otherwise widely-enforced College policy about gender discrimination, Illingworth says it is important to recognize the value of tradition.

“We have all come into this at a certain point in its history,” he says.

In addition, Illingworth says he considers a drag show, even one that explicitly excludes female actors, to be its own art form that necessitates an exclusively male cast.

“Somehow, it just doesn’t seem as funny to have women dressed in men’s clothes,” he says.

Illingworth also cites an economic argument in explaining his rational for lettting the Theatricals use the College-owned space.

If the show or the composition of the cast were offensive, Illingworth says, people would stop attending the show.