The masters, staff, tutors and House Council have invited residents to meet in the dining hall tomorrow night from 8:30 to 9:30, to sign a statement of solidarity condemning the acts, the letter said.

"We want to involve students as much as possible," said Christina J. Gomez, resident race relations tutor. "We are a strong community and a vibrant house."

There will also be a meeting during the week of January 9 to "sort through the implications of the graffiti and discuss ways of making Mather a safe and happy place for all, particularly for those who have been most directly attacked," the letter said.

Gavin said these meetings are only a "first step," and possibilities for further action will be discussed.

"We need to reaffirm that we're trying to maintain an environment of mutual respect," Gavin said.

Some students have expressed concern that the perpetrator may be simply looking for the attention that the letter is providing.

"I hope the letter doesn't backfire," Mather resident and U.C. member R. Adam Molnar '96 said. Molnar said that it is doubtful, but possible that someone "just wants attention."

But Molnar said the tutors and masters are "handling [the situation] as well as they possibly can."

Harvard-Radcliffe Black Students Association Treasurer Joshua D. Bloodworth '97 applauded the house authorities' reaction to the slur.

"It's admirable that the tutors and masters are taking it seriously and doing something to stop it," he said. "But this is still happening in the 90s. You'll never be able to get rid of it."

The two recent slurs are not the first racial incidents in Mather House. Peckham said that the word "mulatto" was found on a wall in the low rise of the house around the time of the November incident.

Two years ago, someone painted a swastika on a house elevator door.

But Gavin said there is no evidence that there incidents constitute a pattern.

"We're not looking at a community-wide problem," Gavin said. "This is an isolated individual. I would not label it a 'Mather' problem.