Resident tutor Ginny Lunsford cites the residents' generally clique-free attitude as evidence of openness. "There's a house grille where people hang out together that's just a comfortable place to be," she says.
As a comparatively small house of only 350 students, Winthrop is able to foster a closeness that few other houses can match, says Davis.
A recent house T-shirt touted Winthrop as the place "Where Mary [a dining hall checker] knows your name and everybody knows your business." Another claims, "We know where you were last night."
The recollections of Winthrop alumni concur with contemporary accounts, says Thom Lockerby '87, a first-year proctor in Lionel who lived in Winthrop as an undergraduate.
"We were really spirited, kind of known as a rah rah house," he says. "But the number one intramural was gossip."
But this house enthusiasm did not prevent Winthrop residents from "rather sneakily" maintaining the highest house GPA for a few years in the mid 1980s, Lockerby says.
Even Davis refuses to condemn the house's gossipy reputation. "I think it's kind of nice that people keep an eye on one another," she says.
"And I think that the whole idea of us being the high school house is complimentary we're definitely as enthusiastic, spirited and diverse as one might expect from a high school, and sometimes there's a little bit of innocence about us too," Davis says.
Senior Tutor Greg Mobley agrees. "The fact that people gossip at Winthrop House shows that people are interested in each other and observing each other, and that there is a degree of involvement in one another's lives," he says.
Some question whether involvement can become too intense. Because of the noted overcrowding, even seniors are deprived of opportunities to choose suites with singles.
"Suite living arrangements could be very similar to those of freshmen," says Lockerby.
"And the walls are really thin, so you can hear everything that goes on," says G. William Winborn '95, house committee vice-president.
Davis marvels at the closeness at Winthrop House, however. She attributes a wider variety of students and activities at Winthrop now to the non-ordered choice system.
"In the 14 years that I've been living here I've seen the house grow more diverse, but still maintain its warmth," she says.
According to Bryant, the house committee is striving to maintain a friendly atmosphere in order to boost the sagging popularity of Winthrop in housing choices.
Events such as Tuesday night's "The Roommate Game" play on the house image, embarrassing residents.
Hosted by Lunsford and her husband, tutor Leslie Poe, the event featured five Winthrop House residents who were interrogated in front of 100 housemates. And students were inspired to share intimate secrets.
In response to the inquiry, "what do you know about your roommate that his/her parents would least like to know about their child?" one student revealed more than most onlookers likely wanted to know.
"Being that [my roommate's] mother is an extremely well-bred WASP, she would probably not want to know that she neglected to imbue her son with a sense of hygiene--but that's something we worked on with him freshman and sophomore years," the contestant said.
That's the kind of personal attention one can expect in Winthrop