Information about Harvard locations
The best and most comprehensive (though not great or exhaustive by any stretch, but the best available) list of rental spaces is available here.
Free spaces on campus are at a premium. That is to say there aren’t any spaces that come without cost, either rental fees or staff overtime/custodial.
The Murr comes at a significant fee – generally rental of $2,500 for the events held there, additional costs for setup, table/chair rentals, cleaning and papering are also incurred. You can sometimes negotiate with athletics, but generally only at Reunion week.
The Senior Common Rooms are an exclusive membership-only facility administered by the houses. They each have their own rules and are specific to each house. The Junior Common Rooms are the only student common areas in most of the houses besides the dining halls in off-hours. This means that they’re generally not reservable except by students, and even then there are restrictions. Unfortunately the HAA doesn’t have any pull in this area – the best way to get into a JCR for an event is to have a classmate with a connection to the house/Housemaster try and make a reservation. Even with a strong connection you may end up paying a fee.
We understand that alumni can always return to their house (and perhaps even any house) and pay their own way for any meal. There are some issues with access and security as most of the Houses are locked for all or part of the day. When you hold events in dining halls you generally have to provide staff to open the door to the alumni, in some cases you can get an attendee list to an on-duty guard to provide access.
The 124 Mt. Auburn offices of the HAA does not have a rental fee, but has associated costs for holding events. The HAA does provide space for class committee meetings, as available, from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday (excluding Harvard paid holidays). Events happening before 9:00 AM or after five PM require a staff person (or up to three –building access, elevator access, and a staff person on the event floor) to be on duty and may require additional costs for the HVAC system or custodial. This policy is currently (11/27/09) under review.
