Other students said that they could understand why Harris might want to resign.

“I can see how this must be a really stressful time for someone in a position like his,” said Cabot resident Benjamin T. Hand ’12, who serves on the Gen Ed Committee with Harris.

Harris’s e-mail came three days after Eliot House Masters Lino Pertile and Anna Bernsted informed residents of their House that they would leave their posts at the end of the academic year after having completed a 10-year stint as Masters.

Hammonds is responsible for filling House Master vacancies. She has already installed new masters in Winthrop and Pforzheimer Houses during her tenure, which began in June 2008.

—Staff writer Elias J. Groll contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Sarah J. Howland can be reached at showland@fas.harvard.edu.