"Some preppies are rich enough so they don't have to worry about a job," says Heimert. "So they're not that practical."

They hold the view that they "don't need to look for a job because daddy will give [them] a company," adds Heimert.

A Final House?

Heimert denies any affiliation between Eliot House and Harvard's nine all-male final clubs, which have faced charges of sexism and elitism in recent years. In fact, he says he was not aware of their existence until his junior year in the College.

Heimert says he supports the University policy of not recognizing the clubs because of their sexist membership policies.

Although he defends the clubs' rights to determine their membership, he says their exclusion of women is not "very nice."

"I suppose some of the clubs might benefit from having some women members," he says. "Like the Pi Eta. It would civilize them."

But given the changing nature of preppies, the clubs too have evolved, he said.

"The clubs are more attractive to the new wealth, the upwardly mobile rather than to the old Brahmins: Roosevelts, Gores, Standishes, and Cabots," says Heimert.

He attributes the growing popularity of the clubs to the University's restrictive alcohol policy and the lowering of the legal drinking age.

Noting that many of the clubs have become like fraternities, he dismisses the claim that clubs serve as networking organizations which help Harvard undergraduates succeed professionally.

"I suspect probably the Porcellian is, but then the Porcellian people could probably network without the Porcellian," says Heimert.

A Drop in Diversity

While Harvard today is more ethnically and geographically diverse than it was 30 years ago, Heimert claims the undergraduate body now accommodates a smaller spectrum of personalities and intellectual interests.

"There were a certain number of mad geniuses, eccentric poets, kookie people--all of them full of a lot of vitality," says Heimert. "Actors and flamboyant people, I feel there are fewer of those now. Maybe if I were Master of Adams House I wouldn't feel [that way]."