But it is both ironic and unsurprising that the Kielys--who many describe as both deeply religious and the epitome of sophistication--should have become symbols for the House that before randomization was known as a place for artistic, gay or simply eccentric students.

That Adams House had a reputation for anything, however, was news to the young Leverett House Senior Tutor Kiely, who was approached in 1973 by then Harvard President Derek C. Bok and asked to consider the post of Adams master.

His youngest daughter just three years old, Kiely says that when he and his wife accepted the job, they knew nothing about the House's "stereotypes"--which did not begin, but eventually thrived, under the pair's tenure.

Despite the couple's admitted naivete, it became obvious that just a few years after the massive political protests of the late '60s, the House was still a hotbed of radical political thought. According to Kiely, it had a reputation for drugs and a high number of Administrative Board cases, not to mention a student population that was artistic, literary, theatrical--both flamboyant and brooding.

But Kiely says he noted early on that, for all their talent and energy, House residents were stigmatized for breaking the traditional Harvard mold. "I think Adams House was thought to be different--not because I made it different...and not in a good way," he says.

Kiely says he began to hear a more pronounced bias from both students and Faculty on campus, who grumbled that Adams nourished nonconformists.

Student activists and artists, many gay and lesbian, made up a large proportion of the House's student population, Kiely says. That annoyed some.

Touching him on a personal level, prejudices against Adams students helped him crystallize his role in the House: to create an environment that was, above all, tolerant and even encouraging.