To the editors:

I find your editorial “To Spee or Not to Spee” quite ridiculous (Editorial, Feb. 27). Even when finals clubs did not have a guests of members-only rule, finals clubs still didn’t attract a significant part of the student population. When I was a Harvard undergrad, finals club parties were the last thing my friends and I wanted to do. They were lame and self-important—wannabe fraternities, one could say.

Unfortunately, your editorial loses major steam when you attempt to equate the need for a student center with the problem that finals clubs only serve a sub-portion of the student population. Have you considered the importance of a student center? Yes, it would be a place for people to congregate, hold meetings, attend social events, and more, but to suggest the student center as a replacement for finals clubs fraternizing and nothing more demeans the significance of having a student center. Back in the day, I was part of a student effort pushing for a multicultural student center. Did it happen? Sadly no. But I urge you not to set the effort back with your whining about a lack of “alternative venues for late night socializing.” Ultimately, the push for a student center shouldn’t be about housing displaced finals club members and their friends, it should be about attracting everyone.

Heather C. Chang ’99

Kensington, Calif.

March 3, 2003