But he said the key to staying for any sort of extended period is knowing one's limits.

"You have to pace yourself to be a long-term master," Dowling said. "What's important is to prioritize things. Masters can get burned out early on if they try to do everything."

Shoes to Fill

Although Bossert and Dowling's resignations served to shake up a system that does not like change, the ensuing vacancies presented the administration with a unique opportunity to diversify a mostly homogeneous group.

At the time of the Dowlings' announcement in January, Dunster House co-Masters Karel and Hetty Liem were the only Masters of color and Mather House Master Sandra A. Naddaff '75 was the only woman directly appointed to the position of Master, rather than co-Master.

At a meeting with Lowell House residents in December, the administration met with criticism by students who noted a lack of diversity among the existing pool of Masters.

"We very, very, very much want to appoint one woman and one person of color...," Lewis told students at the meeting. "I'd be very happy to have you think double or triple hard about these categories, as we have already."

And with a pool of student suggestions that ranged from DuBois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. to Rabbi Sally Finestone, member of the University Ministry at Harvard-Radcliffe, Lewis announced in mid-March the first of two appointments: that of Diana L. Eck to head Lowell House along with her partner, Dorothy A. Austin.

The announcement, Lewis said, was the first time the University had appointed a same-sex couple to be House Masters. However, he said an applicant's marital status plays no role in the Masters selection process.

Eck brings an impressive list of credentials to her new post at the head of Lowell House. In addition to her professorship, Eck is also a member of the faculty of the Divinity School and the director of the Pluralism Project, a research project studying religion in the United States. She also chairs the Committee on the Study of Religion, but had previously announced she will step down from that post in June.

Her partner, an associate professor of psychology and religion at Drew University in New Jersey and an ordained minister, will commute from Cambridge to New Jersey as part of her new role as co-Master.

Eck said she and Austin looked forward to being part of the House.

"Both of us are excited and feel this is a very challenging opportunity," Eck said. "It's going to mean trying ourselves out in a new community and that's always challenging."

Bossert said he was heartened by the University's decision.

"In the very best way, we have a Master who was looked on in favor by both the president, the Dean [of the College] and the internal House committee, and that's nice," Bossert said. "It's a tribute to Eck. There wasn't the feeling that we were working at cross purposes."