Tyranny of the Minority

Who knows how Alexis de Tocqueville would have analyzed the Quad's unpopularity. It is likely that he would have strongly agreed with a letter given to all members of the Committee on Housing and Undergraduate Life this week by David Riesman '31, Ford Professor of Social Sciences, which attributes the Quad's unpopularity to a "tyrannous minority in the Quad."

Reisman, a staunch supporter of the 1-1-2 proposal for undergraduate housing, stated in his letter that the University should "go ahead with the 1-1-2 plan" even over the intense opposition of this "female or female-influenced" minority.

With the current uncertainty over how to remedy undergraduate housing problems, the question remains as to how influential Riesman's analysis--or Tocqueville's--can be in the face of strong student opposition.