THE HOUSES IN OPERATION: ELIOT HOUSE

The heraldic beast which distinguishes Eliot among the Houses is the elephant. The adjective "white" has no necessary application to this animal, although malicious suggestions have occasionally been heard. As a matter of fact, an elephant is the appropriate symbol, since Eliot is by far the largest of the Houses, accommodating nearly three hundred members, and its corporate motions are deliberate and elephantine.

Everyone is familiar with the exterior of Eliot House, the result of the site which was offered for the bewilderment of the architects. Barren of foliage, and with a blank expanse of wall at one end, the court sorely needs the concealing grace of tree and vine. The interior is fortunately a distinct improvement. Most of the rooms are comfortable and large enough; the Common Rooms (there are two) are small but dignified. The Dining Room is too large and elaborate for daily use. It is graced by the Sargent portrait of Eliot, and by the Agassiz Inter-House Crew Cup. The Library, which is an admirable selection in a handsome and comfortable room, is probably the most distinctive feature of Eliot. Yet to the consternation of all it was discovered at the end of several months that it contained no biography of President Eliot.

How do the members of Eliot House feel about it? Merely as a dormitory it is certainly as desirable as any other, in some ways more so. The lunch room in the basement is welcomed as an added convenience by most. The House has the double advantage of being on the Charles, within reasonable distance of the square. Few of the undergraduate members would say, however, that the higher advantages promised by the House Plan have been adequately realized. Even allowing for the fact that Eliot is in its first year, this feeling remains. It is especially strong in respect to the tutors. With a few exceptions, they invariably congregate at the same table for their meals. Apart from the regular conferences, mealtime is the best opportunity most students have for meeting their tutors, and almost the only opportunity for meeting any others. At present, the opportunity is wasted. It is perfectly true that simply as individual tutors those in Eliot are excellent; but so they were before the House was built. In the opinion of most of the other members of the House, apart from their strictly tutorial function, the value of most of the tutors to the house is almost nil.

Dunster and Lowell excepted, Eliot was the only House to be newly constructed from top to bottom. This fact, coupled perhaps with the dignity of the Eliot name, was responsible for the extraordinary number of applicants for membership in it. The heads of the House made the most of the opportunity offered. It is probable that even apart from its extra size, Eliot has a slightly larger number both of Dean's List men and of social luminaries. The advantage, however, is not unqualified. The effort to obtain the best "cross-section" of Harvard talent has resulted, perversely enough, in breaking up the House into cliques which do not intermingle enough. There is too little organization and initiative among the members themselves. The House Committee, which was appointed by the Master last fall, confined itself to a tea dance in November, and to buying magazines for the Common Room, and exhorting the students not to steal them, via the bulletin board. Last night an entertainment was provided, however, which was the work of the Committee and may presage more active days in future. The Committee begain badly by starting a collection for a House Fund which was not carried through. Some students contributed, while others were never approached. Obviously the attempt should either not have been made or should have included everyone. At present, a House dance is planned by the Committee for late April, which should enlist the interest of the members as a unit.

The general policy of Professor Merriman has not been to impose organization from above, nor to give unnecessary formality to House functions. The Eliot "Sunday Suppers" have been pleasant but unpretentious affairs, without any speeches. They usually end up with an entertainment in the Junior Common Room, generally of fair quality and well-attended. Only two attempts have been made to create discussion-clubs in the House. The Historical Society and the Politico-Economic Society began promisingly with lectures by faculty members, but they are now apparently moribund.

The solitary attempt at the popular sport of tradition-concocting was in connection with the Agassiz Cup. A "tradition" of Eliot House supremacy was solemnly proclaimed by the Master, in spite of the fact that the cup has not yet been raced for. But the crew seems to have enthusiasm as well as a brand-new coach, so that the venerable Lowell-Dunster rivalry is likely to be invaded by a brash newcomer.

If anyone expected that the first year would find all the aims of the House Plan consummated, he will find small comfort in Eliot House. As such a hope would be extravagant, it is justly disappointed. Six months after its opening, Eliot House consists of an undergraduate body which is still an adventitious unit, and a tutorial corps that remains definitely a thing apart. What organization there is among the students is purely nominal, and House spirit, in any very tangible sense, is not easy to find. That, however, is by no means a confession of defeat.