House Squeeze Eases in Spring; Enrollment Falls, 1,000 Next Year

The second layer of extra tenants poured into the Houses last year will be drained off in February, and the House population will return to the 50 percent-above-pre-war level established in 1946, Dean Watson announced yesterday.

The expected drop in College enrollment in the spring term is responsible for this move, which will take the fourth man out of most original double rooms and the fifth occupant from the greater part of suites built for three.

Watson expects about 240 vacancies in the Houses as a result of January graduation, but those that occur in the "double-doubled" rooms will not be filled.

Houses to Admit 125

This means that about 125 upperclassmen will move into the House in February. At present, 450 upperclassmen are living in the Yard and outside dormitories.

Very few of the vacancies, Watson reports, will be complete suites. Students who signified willingness to take any vacancy offered them will have a better chance to enter a House in the spring than those who told the housing office that they would stick with their roommates until they find a suite to accommodate them all.

Move for All-Freshman Yard

Watson again warned upperclassmen in Grays and Wigglesworth Halls that they may be forced to leave the Yard in the spring. "We're going to try to bring all freshmen into the Yard who want to live there," he said. If too few Yard upperclassmen go into the Houses, the rest might have to move down to Claverly, Apley, and Dudley.

Further reduction in House crowding is expected next fall, but Dean Bender said yesterday that as long as upperclassmen live in the Yard and outside dormitories, "we can't eliminate expansion entirely."