Quincy House Master Michael Shinagel, who is also chair of the council of masters, suggested there would be support among his master colleagues for a reduction to an 8-person maximum for blocking groups.
But as adjustments to the House system continue to change the conception of House life at the College, proponents for the "old" system learned this year they would lose a long-time leader, Adams House Master Robert J. Kiely '60.
The Loker professor of English, who currently enjoys the distinction of being the longest serving master, announced this fall that after 26 years at the helm of Adams, he and wife Jana would step down.
A long-time foe of randomization, Kiely is renowned for encouraging the arts in all forms, in addition to helping create a House atmosphere that was at once welcoming and responsive to students.
"The Kielys were unabashedly progressive, daring and supportive of an increasingly diverse, liberal and at times insane population of people," said Thomas M. Lauderdale '92, a former Adams House resident. "It was an unspoken conspiracy between the students and the House masters."
Although Kiely acknowledges that his resignation removes what has at times been "a thorn in the side of U-Hall," Kiely maintains that randomization has subtracted from the House.
"What has almost totally been lost is the self-perception of gestalt, of spirit and atmosphere that is created by people who choose to live here," he said in an April interview. "They gave a certain kind of focus, energy and framing to the place."
At the end of March, Lewis announced the appointment of the Kielys' successors--Brazelton Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School Judith S. Palfrey '67 and husband and co-master John G. "Sean" Palfrey '67, clinical professor of pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine.
While the Palfreys admit that as professors of medicine they are somewhat unfamiliar to Harvard's undergraduate scene, Judith Palfrey says they look forward to furthering some of the Kiely legacy.
"The notion of unity and diversity in the House is something we'd like to con- Changing of the Guard The appointment of the Palfreys came nearly ayear after the University appointed Lowell HouseMasters Diana L. Eck and Dorothy A. Austin, andLeverett House Masters Howard and Ann B. Georgi. The two couples have each completed their firstfull academic year in their Houses and say theirexperiences were tremendously positive, thoughoverwhelming. Assuming the helms after the respectivedepartures of two other long-serving masters--JohnE. Dowling '57 and Judith F. Dowling of Leverettand William H. Bossert '59 and Mary Lee Bossert ofLowell--the two pairs entered the Houses just asthey were becoming fully randomized. But Howard Georgi '68, Mallinckrodt Professorof Physics (known informally as "Chief" around theHouse,) is praised for his work to involvestudents in House life. Along with Harvard Medical School lab managerAnn Georgi (a.k.a. "Coach"), the two impressedstudents early on when they memorized the names ofall student residents and posted pictures of Houseevents on the Leverett Web site within severaldays of their occurrence. Admitting that they went into the jobrelatively "clueless," Howard Georgi said he feltthe little things in the House--like Masters' openhouses and the House's annual doughnut bash--madethe year especially worth while. In a similar effort to engage House residents,Eck and Austin in Lowell focused their effortsthis year on strengthening ties between thestudent residents that make up the House's LowerCommon Room and the Faculty and affiliates in theSenior Common Room. From hosting music recitals and dinners intheir masters' residence to continuing long-heldHouse traditions like "high table" and weeklyteas, Eck and Austin say they hope to be visiblepresences in the House. But they say that in practice, their positionas masters was different from a conception of thejob as merely a dorm parent. "I remember Miss Nicely at Smith College and[this job] is not about being the House mother,"Eck jokes.