Noting that he was speaking only for himself, and not as a representative of the clubs, Sears went so far as to call Epps' report "whiny, patently self-serving, smug and patronizing."

In a more recent interview, Sears took a more muted and reserved stance towards Epps.

"I bear no animosity towards Epps," he said. "We just share a management problem."

Sears and other final club graduates are concerned over the current role that the clubs play in the Harvard social scene.

"The clubs have become inappropriately the site for the campus social life," Sears said. "Harvard has not been able to come up with something else that takes the place of the clubs in the College's own social life. Loker Commons is an attempt--but this has not taken the heat off the clubs.

"The clubs have inherited the difficulties that come with the kids wanting to party. They were never intended to function that way," he added.

Sears said his major concern is Epps' continuing to withold bonded bartender and University police protection--services provided at College-sponsored activities--to abate the alcohol problem at the final clubs.

Epps said that if the University were to provide bonded-bartending services it "would assume a degree of liability that at this point is unacceptable." But he did maintain that providing the service is a future possibility.

The Graduate Council can only suggest clubs hire their own bonded bartenders and comply with Massachusetts alcohol laws, things Sears says the clubs do "all the time."

Sears said he wishes College administrators would stop targeting the final clubs and try other ways to solve social problems on campus.

"I can't see why Harvard spends this inordinate amount of time dealing with the final club issue," Sears said. "Trying to put the clubs out of existence is not going to solve the disenchantment that many undergraduates seem to have with social life at the College."

"We are trying to work with Harvard to solve a mutual problem." he added.

Ironically, Epps' son, Josiah T. Epps '98, is an active member of one of the clubs, a situation that has made Epps' work all the more difficult.

"There's an element of humor in this," Epps quipped. "He ushers students into one of the clubs and I usher them out."

Student Complaint