Kirkland Concentrates on All-Round Men While Emphasizing Need for House Spirit

Present size of House: 350

Vacancies for freshmen: 134 with 11 doubles, 27 triples, five quads, two openings in a quint and nine vacancies in partially-filled suites.

Price range for Freshmen: from $100 to $225 a term with most vacancies between $130 and $195.

The house committee holds a special freshman table and tours every evening in the dining hall from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

If someone decided to characterize each House by an ideal, Kirkland's would be individual achievement plus group solidarity. Scholastic prowess, intramural athletics, extra-curricular activities, and cohesiveness all find their place in Kirkland House.

There are more Kirkland men on Deans list and less below Group Five than the overall college percentages. The Straus Trophy is wearing a groove in its wooden shelf in the dining-hall, and the Deacons look as though they might be on their way to their fourth straight league championship. The House also boasts many members and executives of organizations like the CRIMSON, WHRB, Crimson Key, and the Band. But over and above this emphasis on individuality, the successful K-house man develops the relatively rare quality known as House spirit.

Assistant Dan and Senior Tutor Harlan P. Hanson '48 describes the Kirkland man as follows: "Every year Kirkland House seeks out an outstanding yet representative group of freshmen in order that it may remain a community of intelligent, independent, unaffected young men. This community rests, as Professor Hammond has put it, on that delicate balance between 'pressure and laissexfaire, hollow heartiness and selfish indifference, sociability and isolation; in short, between the claims of the individual and those of the whole."

House members are from 48 states and seven foreign countries, and although there is a considerable percentage of private school graduates, the majority comes from public high-schools, with a slightly swollen percentage from the midwest.

The list of this year's House staff shows that there are 41 tutors and associates in 20 different fields, probably one of the best distributions in the House system. Each year two Nieman fellows either live in or become non-residents.

Although the tutors have a tendency to eat together in the large, well-lit, Spanish-style dining hall, they are noticeable for their congeniality and many of them make fast friends among the undergraduates. The House has several language tables during the week, and, like most, runs concentration and deconcentration dinners.

Probably the most outstanding physical feature of Kirkland House, is its library. Hicks House, built in the 18th

some may dislike is its lack of "big name students." Few from the A-House are listed on varsity squad rosters, and representatives from the College's publications are small in number. No one from Adams was elected to either the Permanent Class Committee or the Class Day Committee this year.

Even though Adams has its own swimming pool and six squash courts on Linden St., its teams are perennially near the bottom of House competition. The Gold Coasters thus resort to recreation rather than zealous competition. The annual undergraduate-tutor softball game in June is a famed sporting event.

As a matter of fact, Adams men find their tutors genial and gregarious all the time. In the dining-hall, you will not only find the best food in the College, but also a fine resident and non-resident staff surrounded by students. Adams has excellent student-tutor relations, thanks to Housemaster Little's selection of men high in their fields and interested in the students. The language tables have also been a success.

Larger organizations in Adams are unique and very active. In the several forums this year, debates on General Edcation, the British elections, and Contemporary Music have attracted top men and large audiences. Adams House Musical Society, known for its fine performance of "Gypsy Baron" last year, is holding a Harvard Composers Contest this spring. About 60 entries are in already, from which 15 will be performed by the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and combined choral groups in two concerts this spring.

Adams has all the other material conveniences like TV, game rooms, besides an excellent collection of jazz records. The library is weighted towards history and economics.

Excepting C-entry, where the rooms are small, the large suites and spacious bath-tubs (in Randolph and Westmorly) make for a comfortable three years stay.DAVID M. LITTLE '18