"I feel if [African-Americans] have commoninterests they should be able to live together,"she says. "I don't like the university's movingthem into the community so people can get exposedto them and see what it's like to live next doorto a Black person."
Cabot House resident Charlene Morisseau '95says she favors the current system and theresulting ethnic groupings.
"Having a more diverse population in the housedoesn't mean that's going to facilitateinteraction between students," Morisseau says."I'm a believer in ethnic enclaves," she adds,saying they enable easier networking and helpfoster interracial groups on campus.
And Xavier A. Gutierrez '95, former presidentof Raza, says that in a house, one wants above allto be comfortable.
"I understand what Dean Jewett is trying to sayand trying to do, but it's really difficult to saythat by throwing people together they're going tohave a better understanding," Gutierrez says."Every day [that] you wake up, you don't want tohave dialogue about [racial issues] after awhile.You want to watch TV and hang out."
Some students also pointed out that Blacks andother ethnic minorities who choose to livetogether are simply more visible than whites whodo the same.
"I think the Harvard community has a goal ofdiversification, and a lot of times when smallminority groups like African-Americans and Latinopeople are together, it appears that we're tryingto cling together, but no one realizes that thewhite people who go here also try to sit at tablestogether," says Adrienne R. W. Bradley '96, NorthHouse Committee vice chair.
"I think if people are around one race and theylike that and they feel most comfortable aroundone race, they shouldn't be inhibited," bradleysays. "The real world is similar to that."
Epps corroborates Bradley's view that minoritygroupings are highly visible; the survey in 1980,he says, found people greatly exaggerating thenumbers of Blacks in a certain house or area.
Even some of those who support randomizationacknowledge that ethnic groupings can serve a goodpurpose.
"I've been one of the strongest proponents [ofrandomization] for many years," says HannaHastings. "But I do have a concern that's voicedby some ethnic minorities who are very happy [inNorth House] because there's a critical mass here.We have, I believe, the highest percentage ofAfrican-American students of any house. They doseem to be comfortable here, and that's verynice."
One student says that the administration shouldlet students tackle issues of diversity on theirown.
"People all are randomized their freshmanyear," says Julie E. Peters '94-'95, formerco-chair of the Lowell House Committee.
"If people aren't choosing to be more diverseafter freshman year, then they need to look atfreshman year and figure out how to be morediverse [then]," she adds.
Adams House Master Robert J. Kiely sums up thesentiments of many by contrasting theory withreality.
"Enforced diversity looks good on paper, but itdoesn't work best in social terms," Kiely says.
The Decision
Whatever his final decision on the matter ofrandomization, Jewett has delayed for weeks,saying he wanted to make sure he heard fromeveryone who wanted to speak to him.
Those interviewed this week weighed in with avariety of conflicting viewpoints which the deanmay find difficult to reconcile.
When he returns next week from a trip to Japan,the eyes of Harvard students--and of the pre-froshwho will be arriving this weekend--will be uponhim to make a decision that could haveramifications far beyond a mere number in alottery.