For the first time in the history of the House system freshmen need not worry this year about being accepted by a House. Technically, at least, no member of the class of '56 will be assigned to an "outhouse."
Claverly Hall will be divided into sections next fall, with each house having an "entry" to accommodate its overflow, associate Dean Watson, secretary of the Committee on Houses, announced yesterday.
This is the latest joint move on the part of the Housemasters and Dean Office to remove the so-called "stigma" of being in Claverly by officially accepting all House applications. As Watson said the purpose is "to make students feel they belong to a House and are not just outsiders."
Henceforth Claverly men will be official, although non-resident members, of their respective Houses. The entries will be under separate jurisdiction with the proctors responsible to House Senior Tutors. Previously Claverly men were only affiliated with a House and often ended up in a different house from the one they were associated with.
Administrative Details Unsolved
University officials who have criticized the new plan point out that having official entries for each House in Claverly will defeat one of the Hall's purposes--to adapt to the varying House applications from year to year. Under the present system Housemasters never know exactly how many rooms they will have free until September, since some drop out of college during the summer.
Though the exact administrative details of the new arrangement have yet to be worked out the Housemasters will probably not assign specific rooms in Claverly until next fall.
The Class of '56 is one of the largest in recent years--1215 Yard residents and commuters againt 1114 in 55. Watson estimated Yard applications will number about 1052 plus those from commuters. To help accommodate this influx, the Houses will take in an additional 50 men to bring their enrollment up to 2650 men. About 130 men (126 this fall) will still be non-residents in Claverly.
Last year there were 952 Yard applications and 74 from commuters.
Claverly is the last of the so-called outhouses: the college stopped using Little Hall as a dormitory four years ago, had only top two floors of Dudley in the spring of 1951 and none the next fall, and turned Apley Court into the non-resident tutorial center last fall.
Besides being dormitories, dining halls and usually the students' social center, the Houses are now the center of the tutorial system. Starting last fall, each house has a Senior Tutor who was to coordinate the tutorial arrangements for the five largest departments.
Read more in News
Yard Listeners Dash For Shelter When Rain Soaks Widener Concert