“I think there are stricter rules in clubs and it’s to appease the alumni,” said Elena M. Belitsos ’05.

Belitsos said she thinks the alumni want closed parties in order to save club funds.

The Party Line

Sears and administrators denied that outside pressure directly led to changes in clubs’ guest policies, though Lewis acknowledged that he made clear to the clubs that he was concerned with their old operation.

Lewis said he met with some of the clubs’ graduate board presidents over the summer—which he has also done in previous summers.

“I did not make suggestions about how to run the clubs,” Lewis wrote in an e-mail. “I simply reported that based on what had come to my attention over the past year, instances of severe alcohol abuse associated with drinking at the clubs and associated dangerous misbehaviors seemed to be at worrisome levels.”

“I wanted them to know that my impression was that things seemed to be getting worse, not better,” Lewis wrote.

Sears also said he did not believe the clubs’ graduate boards have been giving orders to the clubs, though he is pleased with the trend toward more stringent guest policies.

“If I had one rallying cry, it was ‘more club, less frat,’” Sears said. “I think the critical mass on its own has arrived at that conclusion.”

He denied the clubs have been acting collectively.

“The individual clubs have always acted on their own authority,” he said. “Where there are changes as far as restricting access to non-members, these would be decisions of the individual clubs, and that is the case of the Fox.”

Sears said the rumors that changes to liability laws are propelling clubs’ strict policies are not true. Instead, he said concerns about non-member abuse of club resources have played a part in the clubs’ decisions.

“The general thrust is, [members are] not coming in on a frequent basis, and [when they do, they’re] seeing folks that are non-members and non-contributors to the financial operation of the club abusing it as if they were members,” Sears said.

Though Lewis denied making suggestions to the clubs, Sears said he thinks Lewis agrees with the current trend toward restrictive policies.

“Dean Lewis wants the clubs to be less like function halls,” Sears said. “The clubs have come to that conclusion themselves. Harvard and the clubs agree.”