Not a Vacation for Everyone

Every year before spring break, some freshmen engage in the ritual of hanging banners from their windows that say "We Won't Go." The reference is clear to almost anyone--they've been Quadded.

But some get to come back, changing their destiny by switching Houses through the Housing Office between semesters.

The transfer season begins in January when sophomores have their first opportunity to switch residence. By that time, much of the previous March's dissatisfaction has subsided. But the logistics remain complex: sophomores aren't the only ones trying to transfer, and some students are trying to get into the Quad.

A total of 109 students applied for transfers and 46 were accepted into new Houses this January, Housing Officer Theresa Cavalier said yesterday. These relatively small figures fit patterns of recent years.

Except for occasional medical cases, May and January are the only months when students can attempt the change. During the rest of the year, the Housing Office's three members deal with the freshman lottery and off-campus students trying to get housing.

But according to Assistant Dean of Housing Thomas A. Dingman '67, there is not much of a rush at the office in January. "With an undergraduate enrollment of 6000, I think that's a very small number," he says.

"I think that is not a frantic search for change," Dingman adds. "For some students, it is important and by moving they hope to get closer to friends or facilities."

After receiving the list of prospective transfers in mid-January, the office consults with the assistants to the Masters of each House to determine how many rooms they have open, and which candidates will fill them.

Each House has its own criteria for whom they accept, Dingman says. "Some Masters try to figure out who will make the best fit for the House, and others go about it blindly."

In some cases, the Masters interview students and take letters of recommendation. Others just wait until they hear whether they've made it.

The transfer process actually begins in late March when the first disenchanted freshmen visit the Housing Office.

"The past few years, there hasn't been crying," Cavalier says. "It hasn't been so bad. Of course some come in and ask when they can transfer. It's ridiculous, it's the day after and they frequently haven't even seen the House."

These students are told they must try the House for at least one semester, and come January, they may try to transfer.

"The transfer process is curious and mysterious because it's such an informal process," says Guy La Crosby '86, who tried unsuccessfully to transfer. "I was testing the waters for next term," he adds.

Audrey L. Watson '86, who transfered from North House to Quincy, says her primary reason for leaving was to join friends in Quincy. "I disliked the social atmosphere of the House," she says of North, although she liked individuals in the House.

Most Houses try to balance their space, class, and sex ratio, Cavalier says. Houses also have a minimum occupancy rate, and this year one student accepted by a River House could not leave her Quad House because its population would have fallen too low. "It has happened in the past," Cavalier notes.

But while transfering Houses might dominate the January and May seasons, any rooms vacated at different times of the year come free for off-campus students.

The Housing Office keeps a list of these nomadic students who want to be integrated into the House system. The list includes transfer students from other colleges, students who missed housing deadlines or took off extended periods of time, and off-campus students who want to move back.

Each of those people is placed on the list according to priority guidelines, which can become sources of conflict. Last year, transfer students negotiated to have their priority pushed forward.

"All year long we've been dealing with trying to house those people," Cavalier says. "There are checks and balances, and everyone finds out if there is an empty room," she explain. "It's very difficult for the House to say we're going to leave this suite uncrowded, but they have that right."

Almost 110 people are on the additional housing list, and this year 32 have been housed and seven more placed in the Jordan Co-ops.