At the hearing, which took place on Tuesday, Commission members debated granting Chen a license at all.

Scali asked Chen what he does if a minor attempts to buy liquor, saying, “I hope you’ve changed that reputation [that Louie’s] is the place to go to buy alcohol.”

Chen and his lawyer, Shen-Sin Lu, responded by showing the Commission a stack of fake IDs that Chen had collected, saying that he asks everyone buying alcohol for two or three IDs. He also presented the Commission with a petition supporting his case, which he said was signed by over 700 people.

Silvana C. Alvarez ’06 said that the Commission should seek Harvard’s opinion.

“It makes sense for them to have an input. It has to be that way, since Harvard is sort of taking over the community,” Alvarez said.

Rebecca L. Hoffmann ’06, who goes to Louie’s regularly for snacks, said, “They certainly have a right to ask Harvard, but I don’t think it’s something that’s very serious. Louie’s doesn’t really contribute to a drinking problem on campus.”