But Olshan said the lack of alcohol at this year’s event was not a drawback.

“In every past year the president has always told the membership committee not to drink during the events,” she said. “Besides, if you can’t handle alcohol and within an hour are falling down on an officer, this is not the place for you.”

Even the number of prospective punches seemed comparable to past years, Olshan said.

Generally, each member of the 150-member club can punch one or two friends, a process that brings about 150 punches.

This year’s number was a relief, Olshan said.

“We had no idea what to expect and we were thrilled with the outcome,” she said. “If more people had come, it would have been crowded. It really was an ideal situation, I think.”

And many of these punches were new to the Pudding Social Club, Olshan said.

Mercer said she was pleased to note the number of punches asking her questions about the club.

“This is different than the mentality during a closed punch—that people who are punched would definitely want to join. These people wanted to find out what it was about.”

But for a first-year who attended the event Monday night the punch seemed somewhat “harrowing.”

“The crowd was not a cross-section of Harvard,” the student said. “The ‘pretty -girl’ population was definitely there.”

But Elizabeth A. Shields ’04, who said she came to Monday’s event after seeing signs and talking to friends in the club, said she did not feel pressured by a need to network.

“It was totally low-key, a lot of people were just hanging out,” she said. “It seemed like a cocktail event, people were dressed up and there to see their friends, and meet people.

“You didn’t have to run around trying to impress people,” she continued. “It was a fun little get-together.”

According to Olshan, club officers plan to choose about 50 or 60 of the 120 punches. The second event is scheduled for tomorrow.

—Staff Writer Daniela J. Lamas can be reached at lamas@fas.harvard.edu.