"We were able to bring a lot more people inthat way, which we couldn't guarantee because ofrandomization," Weinberg-Wolf says. Like Lee'sblocking group, hers has remained close. Sheets ofposterboard containing inside jokes from theirfour years together cover the wall of one of thegroup's suites.

Some seniors say the class of '99 mightaccurately be dubbed "The Year of the BlockingGroup."

"[After randomization,] people put a lot ofemphasis on who they're blocking with," says FrankE. Pacheco '99, a former House Committee chair inAdams House. "You end up with a group of 16 peoplewho are really good friends and those groups havestuck together and defined the social cliques allthe way through for a lot of people."

Acting Up

In November 1995, while most of this year'sseniors were adjusting to Expository Writing anddorm life, several hundred students flooded theYard to protest the appointment of Judith H. Kiddas the assistant dean of public service. Campuspublic service leaders complained that theadministration had snubbed them in choosing Kiddover their objections and in wielding an iron fistover their programs.

That same fall, a group of mostly olderstudents formed the Progressive UndergraduateCouncil Coalition (PUCC), which swept thecouncil's fall elections and relentlessly pursueda progressive political agenda. Lamelle D. Rawlins'99, a first-year who had signed up for PUCC underthe fall term registration tent, ran for studentbody secretary at the council's first meeting andwon. The role catapulted Rawlins to vice presidenther sophomore year, and to president the next. Shewas the first woman to hold that office.

"The U.C. was an exciting place to be in 1995,and several [members of the class] were galvanizedinto action almost immediately after our arrivalon campus," Rawlins says. "The activism was inlarge part born of our own enthusiasm and from thementoring we received as first-years from veteranstudent activists and leaders."

However, the class of '99 rallied fervently onbehalf of conservative causes as well. In responseto PUCC, Eric M. Nelson '99 formed another councilcoalition called Harvard Students First to steerthe council back towards student-focused issues.In 1997, the student body elected Beth A. Stewart'00 council president, who pushed student servicesto the forefront ahead of activism. The electionsuggested that the student body was lessinterested in political causes than it had been inpreceding years.

That fall, a narrow vote to end HDS's boycottof table grapes exemplified a swing towardconservative activism.

After a month of highly publicized debate andanimosity between pro-and antigrape factions, the"Great Grape Referendum" returned thepreviously-banned fruit to dining halls for Sundaybrunch. Adam R. Kovacevich '99 led the GrapeCoalition, which pressed for an end to the grapeban, while several student groups called forcontinuing the ban to protest the workingconditions of California grape workers. Morestudents participated in the referendum than inany other vote in recent memory.

Student activism led to more communication andconfrontations with University Hall, led by Lewis,who began his term as dean of the College in thefall of 1995, the same time the class of '99walked onto campus.

By taking strong administrative stances onissues like public service and alcohol policy inthat first year, Lewis quickly became the targetfor all student dissatisfaction withadministrative policy.

Lewis' colleagues say he has been an activedean, a change from his relatively hands-offpredecessors.

"He's an innovative dean who doesn't avoidissues, and that's different from hispredecessors," says longtime Harvard administratorand former dean of the College John B. Fox Jr.'59. "He's given a somewhat different flavor tothe College."

End of Radcliffe