Four Houses to Lose Out In Complicated Coed Plan

Dean May's committee on coresidential living issued a complex decision yesterday where by up to five Harvard Houses, chosen by lottery-lucky Cliffies, will go coed.

"It's a free market. The Houses with the largest number of first, second, and third choices [among Radcliffe applicants] wil become coed," May said yesterday.

During the first week after Easter vacation, the 160 Cliffies in each upperclass with the lowest lottery numbers will receive a detailed questionnaire. They will be asked to indicate the ratios of men to women they prefer, along with which Harvard Houses they want to move to.

Of the 480 Cliffies polled, 440 will move permanently into the Houses. Men moving to Radcliffe permanently will lose their Harvard House affiliation.

Simultaneously, Harvard freshmen will receive a questionnaire asking whether they are willing to move to the Radcliffe Quad. The final room assignments for all students should be made by Friday, April 24.

All Radcliffe students, even if they fared poorly in the lottery, will have an opportunity to vote on whether those girls now at Harvard should be allowed to remain. If the referendum decides to give preference to girls now living at Harvard, which seems unlikely. Adams, Lowell, and Winthrop will automatically become three of the coed Houses.

In addition to the referendum, the computerized results of the Harvard freshman questionnaire and the low-number-Cliffie questionnaire will determine exactly which Houses go coed and what their ratios of men to women will be.

May's committee divided the Houses into three groups, labeled A, B, and C, with a small, medium, and large-sized House in each group. "Depending on preferences indicated by Radcliffe students." its report said, "as many as two Houses in Group A. two in Group C and one in Group B, may become coresidential. At least four Harvard Houses will not become coresidential in 1970-71."

Memorize This:

Leverett. Adams, and Dunster are in Group A; Quincy, Winthrop, and Mather are in Group B; and Eliot, Lowell, and Kirkland are in Group C.

Thinking Ahead

Although the mandate for May's committee extends only for this coming academic year, the committee suggested a four-year plan, staggering the House groups to which Cliffies can apply.

This year, Radcliffe sophomores may only apply to Houses in groups A and C. in 1971-72. Radcliffe sophomores would apply only to groups B and C. The following year, they would apply just to grops A and B. Mathematically, this means that all the Houses might eventually be coed, although May said he envisions at most six HarvardHouses being coed during any one academic year.

May said yesterday that the committee's long-term plans are merely suggestions, but with regard to next year, "it doesn't go back to the Faculty. This is it."

Several student members of the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate life said yesterday they were considering an "ad hoc" moving arrangement to get girls into all the houses, if enough Harvard students and Cliffies were interested.