You may not know it yet, but the hallmark of your Harvard experience just changed.

Harvard's viewbook, which for years has touted "diversity" as the mark of a College education, recently added "distinction" to that description.

The viewbook has a new, modern design to appeal to today's high school seniors. Other Ivy League schools are also repackaging themselves this year, in hopes of drawing "Generation X"ers and bucking a stereotype of traditionalism.

"We wanted to say that Harvard is a contemporary place with a very rich tradition," says senior admissions officer Keith W. Light, who was instrumental in the redesign. "So the cover itself has a very traditional image of Harvard with a contemporary look."

While the College dramatically altered the way it presents itself to all potential students, top administrators had no input into the change. Neither did Harvard students, with the exception of undergraduates who work in the admissions office.

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III says he still hasn't seen the whole viewbook.

And Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 says he didn't see the book before it was printed and has only recently seen the whole thing.

Nothing more important than taste dictated the change in Harvard's "hallmarks," admissions officers say.

"It had gotten to be an unbelievable cliche. We are sick to death of that phrase," says director of admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis '70. "I thought [the new sentence] was a bit of a curveball, a variation, variety."

But for students the description of their education may mean more.

"I don't see much of a difference really," says G. Brent McGuire, senior Peninsula council member. "I still don't subscribe to the view that diversity by itself is a good thing. So I guess in that sense it's an improvement."

Kristen M. Clarke '97, president of the Black Students Association, says she sees the use of "distinction" as a broadening of the previous theme.

"Diversity is always a term that specifically refers to racial and ethnic identity," Clarke says. "But distinction includes differences including religion and sexual orientation. It seems Harvard is starting to embrace the many ways that we are all different."

The new viewbook has an sea-green and yellow cover, with a bold, clashing crimson stripe across the middle. Gone is the glossy photo of traditional red brick buildings.

The book uses more white space and nontraditional colors and backgrounds, with pastels and few primary colors. Many of the pictures are either black and white covered in stripes of solid color or shaded behind the text.

"We try to imagine what will appeal to high school seniors," Lewis says. "We want you to keep reading it even if you hadn't intended to."

It has been seven years since the last re-design of the viewbook, and admissions officers say it was simply time for a new look. Last year's viewbook apparently didn't put people off--Harvard saw a record number of applicants.

"I don't think that anything in the bulletin is different or radical. It's simply more information and information presented in somewhat more creative ways," Light says. "Again the point was to be more vivid, to turn it into truly an introductory piece instead of a handbook about Harvard."

The book also has what Lewis calls "fun touches," or lists of facts about Harvard. They include descriptions of each of the houses and an explanation of the term "Rollo," which is what insiders call the viewbook.

The name dates back to the 19th century series of children's books about a young boy, like the 1887 "Rollo's Journey to Cambridge."

Harvard isn't alone in attempting a new pitch for today's teens.

Both Yale and Stanford redesigned the viewbooks they composed last year for prospective members of the Class of 1998. Officials at both schools say their new bulletins have taken on a more modern feel.

"Certainly our older pieces were very traditional," says Diana Cook, associate director of admissions at Yale. "Our goal was to write a text that was more of the contemporary language and ideas of the pre-frosh."

Yale has used a mix of old and new photos and has abandoned the use of four-color printing, instead using only two colors throughout the book.

While Harvard made additions, Stanford cut downs its new viewbook.

"We took things out to make it a little bit leaner," says assistant dean Vivian Barry. "Ours was not as traditional [as Harvard's]. Ours was definitely less of a change."

Dartmouth made the biggest break with the past. With the Class of 1996, it abandoned the traditional viewbook format altogether.

"The old one was extremely traditional. The new one is extremely nontraditional," says Maria Laskariz, senior associate director of admissions. "It's not a book in a traditional sense. It's more of a packet."

The packet contains four accordion-folded pamphlets describing different aspects of Dartmouth.

"We tried to look at people's perceptions of Dartmouth and present other aspects of the college," Laskariz says. "We try to show what Dartmouth is today."

Brown has not changed its viewbook since 1989, when former dean Eric Widmere took over.

"The size was changed. Now we have a historical map of 1790 Providence," says Janet Bowab, assistant to the director. "The dean was a historian."

Widmere left last year, and Michael Goldberger has taken over as director of admissions. Bowab says it is possible that Brown will revamp its viewbook for next year.

"We did print two year's worth," Bowab says. "We have not changed anything."

All the admissions officials say they annually revise small portions of the viewbooks.

"You gather up ideas every year things one way or another we want to put in," Lewis says. "Some types of these typefaces we ought to change.