A New Tradition

Currier House resident Jennifer Nance '83 recalls the day a friend came to her freshman dorm room with bloody knuckles. It was the day their upperclass housing assignments arrived in the mail. Both Nance and the friend had been sent to Currier, having failed to get into the House of their choice in the lottery. The news prompted Nance's friend to pound a wall in protest.

Although many Currier residents recall similar stories of initial lottery disappointment, these reminiscences dominate few characterizations of the House today. Perceptions of Currier as a House inconveniently located and primarily occupied by people who would prefer to live elsewhere are largely ill-conceived, according to residents interviewed last week. Replacing that image, students and tutors say, is an evolving reputation as a House with more activity and spirit than other Houses, including those at the River.

Residents say the most salient example of Currier's apparent shedding of its reputation as a brooding, divided place is last weekend's immensely successful dance marathon, an event which raised more than $10,000 for the Jefferson Park housing project following nearly a year of planning by more than 100 Currier residents.

"The success of the dance marathon is so important for us because it is a symbol of all that we've been working towards, that [student participation] has worked for now and it's going to keep working when we leave," said Dale Viola '83. Alan Khazei '83, former House committee chairman, and Viola say that student activity in their class began two years ago when the new sophomores, feeling they had been ruthlessly "Quadded," decided to let the rest of Harvard know that Currier is not a bad place to live. "We felt we were putting on a challenge," said Viola. By the middle of their first semester at Currier, the students had made progress in livening their collective spirit. To that end, they threw the first annual Yale party for The Game. Viola and Khazei say it took more than 125 students to run the initial bush, now well known as one of the largest weekend Game activities. The organizers wanted to spend $2000 for the party, but made it a success with considerably less.

Another example of Currier's transition is its meteoric rise to a first-place finish in the Straus Cup intramural competition. Only a year before, it finished 11th in a field of 12. "When we realized that we were only 100 points out of first, the House pulled together and went for it," says Viola. "We did not have the athletes that Kirkland, Eliot, and Winthrop have, but we won the Cup because we were motivated."

In addition to increased student interest in improving Currier, residents credit the steadfast support of the Masters Dudley and Georgene Herschbach for changes in their tenure. "The Masters are a dynamic force. They give 100 percent--sometimes 120 percent--support. They consider Currier their own," explains Viola.

The Herschbachs feel that Currier's most outstanding quality is its diverse population. "We heard about the diversity and thought, 'That sounds great.' We adopted a style and it happened that the House fit right along with that style," says Georgene Herschbach.

The style the Herschbachs adopted when they arrived at Currier in 1981 Dudley Herschbach describes as "hyperactivity." Currently, the Herschbachs' efforts include an array of sporting events, five language tables, and several cultural events, such as the Jazz Cafe.

One of the Herschbachs' most successful innovations has been the introduction of "Freshman Courtship Week," when the Freshmen are invited to Currier for an array of recruiting events. Last year, nearly 100 prospective Currier House sophomores showed up for events, such as a Masters' Open House, a dance, a volleyball game, two one-act plays and wide screen TV showings of videotaped movies. That all but four of the new sophomores put Currier down as one of the housing choices indicated the success of the week.

Ken Strong '81, who lived in Currier as an undergraduate and is now a resident tutor there, is in an excellent position to assists what he calls a "remarkable change" in the current Masters' relationship with the House. "The Herschbachs are very concerned with what the students get out of the house," says Strong. "The House seems to be able to really get things done that seemed impossible," he adds.

While no one denies that Currier House is undergoing a transition, some feel that the change is not completely positive. While they support the Masters' efforts to involve every student in Currier, some Black residents feel that Currier has "lost its uniqueness" as a center for Black activism, says Curtis M. Hairston Jr. '84, president of the Black Students Association.

"The House is a lot more mellow now in terms of racial disturbances," explains Judy Shields '84, a Black student and Currier House committee chairman. "Black students feel that Harvard's policy for recruiting Blacks in general is changing, and that is affecting Currier because it has been a center for Blacks," she adds. Shields sees the changes as "a jeopardy to our solidarity."

"The incentive [to live in Currier] is not any greater for the Black student than for going anywhere else," says Lydia Jackson '84, a former BSA president. "The Herschbachs recognize the diversity in the House and have been instrumental in their concern for minorities, trying to make sure everyone is involved," Shields adds.

Some Currier residents question whether the enthusiasm of the House will continue after the current seniors graduate, but Viola and Khazei are confident that the Juniors and Sophomores will initiate their own ideas and style of leadership, pointing to underclass involvement in the dance marathon as an indicator.

Students and the Herschbachs feel that because of the diversity of its population, the character of the House is very malleable and always changing. To illustrate the flexibility of Currier, Herschbach uses the example of a returning alumnus of the House who may find a totally different tone and feeling among the students. And Viola characterizes the student's perspective: "We are not following tradition, we are making it."