They say that this is especially important with regard to the dorm room students are assigned.

“The dorms are all different,” Nye Barth said. “Students become very upset and worried about perceived inequalities [between dorms or different room sizes]. But they should pay attention to the fact that it is what you make it.”

The deans themselves say that, despite the hard work, they find the process very rewarding.

“There are times when students come up and say you did a great job,” Mancall said. “My response to them is, ‘That’s great, but it’s because of you guys and how you decide to treat each other.’”

Dingman says that the most important evidence of the system’s success is how close people remain to their roommates down the road.

“I think that its rather remarkable, if you look across the freshman class, that so many people end up in blocking groups—or, if not in blocking groups, as lifelong relations,” he said.

The FDO does not keep statistics on file, nor does it measure its success by tracking how many freshman-year roommates block together.

“We aren’t necessarily looking for compatibility,” Mancall said. “We are looking for growth. That’s what freshman year is about—challenge, growth, and conflict, both external and internal.”

—Staff writer Adam M. Guren can be reached at guren@fas.harvard.edu.