"If a contact affects you, the only people youcould potentially talk to is your fellow staffer,"Glass says.

A Quiet Maturity

Now close to celebrating its 30th birthday, theRoom has successfully preserved its mission ofproviding anonymous peer counseling toundergraduates.

Nadja B. Gould, a clinical social worker atUniversity Health Services (UHS), was thesupervisor of Room 13 from 1978 until last yearand is the authority on its history.

"Room 13 began in 1970-1971, originally in anon-resident tutor's office in Mather House whichwas #13, hence the name," Gould wrote in an e-mailmessage.

According to Gould, it started out because of alack of student trust in the mental health andcounseling services offered by professionals.Students "wanted `a place just to talk' with otherstudents who cared and could listen," Gould says.

Gould, who is now working with the PeerAdvisory Board, which is comprised of theco-directors of the five peer counselinggroups--Room 13, PCC, Contact, Response andECHO--says the concerns that people now bring toRoom 13 are a little different from those theybrought in the 1970s.

Then, students' main problems were avoiding thedraft, birth control, abortion, relationshipissues, civil rights and women's rights.

But while the draft is no longer an issue, someproblems have remained timeless. One question hasalways been the relationship between counselorsand their peers outside of the Room.

"As a staff, we have struggled throughout theyears with the disclosure of who we are, as weattempt to weigh the benefits of publicity andappeasing the intimidation and mystery that mightdiscourage students from coming to talk with us,and the discomfort and fear of discovery thatstudents might feel if the Room is thought of as apublic or social entity," Marks wrote in an e-mailmessage.

She says that during her first year, staffmembers were accustomed to hiding that they kneweach other from Room 13 when they encountered eachother in public. Although some staff members stillhide their involvement, Marks says that when sheleaves a message on another staff member'sanswering machine, she can say she's calling aboutRoom 13.

"For many years, the staffers were very openabout being on Room 13--then there seemed to be afew years when they preferred to be anonymous, andnow are more open again," Gould says.

Building a Mystery

Like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside anenigma, Room 13 is one big question mark to manyHarvard students.

According to Marks, that is by design.