After a week of bitter infighting, proceduraldebates and calculated leaks of "secretdocuments," the proceedings finally came to thefloor of the council at its Sunday night meetingin its old Harvard Hall stomping grounds. Asdebate was about to get good, Philip R. Kaufman'98, backed by fellow first-years, moved to tablethe question: there was other business to attendto.
Much business has been attended to since acrossthe boards of numerous student organizations.
The council got its popular elections. PhillipsBrooks House Association, after years of intensefighting with the College, has entered into aperiod of relative stability with theadministration. Even The Harvard Crimson finallymanaged to begin free distribution to allundergraduates after years of internal debate.
The true story of the Class of 1998 is not oneof upheaval and protest; there have been noseachanges in the institution in the past fouryears.
Instead the class has seen countless smallchanges, minor but significant steps altering lifeon campus. Anonymous HIV testing came to UHS.There was a drastic increase in the number of bluelights and safety phones on campus. College-fundedrape aggression defense classes were initiated.The MAC finally got more equipment. Shuttles beganto run more frequently. And a library was openedall night during reading and exam periods.
Perhaps the most significant change in Harvardlife, however, had little to do with the voice ofstudents. As the Class of 1998 ended its firstyear, former Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett'57 announced that subsequent classes would havetheir upperclass housing determined at random, notby the non-ordered choice system that had been inplace since the early '80s.
Randomization attracted an initial protest. TheUndergraduate Council urged the new Dean of theCollege, Harry R. Lewis '68, to review the effectsof the policy after three years. And as the lastnon-randomized seniors are about to leave, thepolicy has attracted criticism from minoritycommunities who allege that the policy hashindered their ability to provide supportingenvironments for their members.
Still, according to Leverett House Master JohnE. Dowling '57, it is not at all clear that thesky has fallen on the house system in the wake ofrandomization. In fact, Dowling says the currentmodel is probably closer to the "microcosms of theCollege" that former president A. Lawrence Lowell,Class of 1877, envisioned when he created thehouses nearly 80 years ago.
"I don't think it's made any difference,"Dowling says. "Year after year, I would haveseniors come up to me and say, `I didn't want tobe here, but it's been the best experience of mylife."
"I really think it is important that studentslearn from one another. Almost everyone comes froma more homogeneous environment than here," headds.