Preserving a sense of House community was another major part of the Masters' decision, according to Eliot Master Lino Pertile.
"It's a question of having at least a part of the day in which the house keeps its own individuality, its own identity, even its own privacy," Pertile said.
Plants said representatives of the UC were not convinced by the Masters' arguments. He said achieving 24-hour universal keycard access would continue to be an important part of the UC agenda.
"It has always been the UC opinion that Harvard students don't pose a threat to other Harvard students, whether in terms of vandalism or house spirit," Plants said.
Plants said the council sees limiting keycard access as an "unnecessary barrier" to inter-House interaction.
"You would think that the masters collectively would have a broader view of life at Harvard," Plants said. "But they see student Houses as the bedrock of campus life."
But despite yesterday's setback, members of the council say they are still optimistic about the future of universal, full-time keycard access.
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