Group Names Cabot Master Candidates

An advisory committee of Cabot House students and faculty affiliates has come up with a list of approximately 20 possible replacements for Cabot House Master Myra M. Mayman, administrators said.

Mayman announced earlier this year that she would step down this summer.

The committee--which includes three Cabot House residents, one resident tutor, two members of the Cabot House Senior Common Room and a former master of the house--has submitted the names to Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, said committee member David R. Golob '89.

Committee members would not release the names on the list.

The advisory committee's choices will be forwarded to a selection committee chaired by President Bok and Radcliffe President Matina S. Horner, said Assistant Dean of the House System Thomas A. Dingman '67, who met with the Cabot committee.

The names on the list are purely suggestions, and Jewett has written to all members of the Cabot House Senior Common Room and other house masters to obtain feedback and names of other potential candidates for the Cabot post, Dingman said.

The final selection of Cabot's new master will be completed before the end of the school year to enable a smooth transition for the new master, said advisory committee chairman Dr. Warren E.C. Wacker, former master of Cabot House.

"The whole house has been encouraged to suggest names," Wacker said. "We are looking for someone interested in student welfare who is willing to give a fair bit of time, who is compatible with the students in the house and understands the house system," he said.

The new Cabot House master will serve in loco parentis for the approximately 400 residents of the house. In addition to sponsoring social events, the master will be responsible for selecting house tutors and administrators.

House masters are ordinarily members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences or a senior administrator, although there have been exceptions, Dingman said.

Most house masters are married, and Mayman was the first single woman to be named a house master. Mayman, who is director of the Office for the Arts, was named to the post in 1983 and married Alexander A. Bernhard, Cabot House co-master, in 1986. She cited her marriage as the reason she is stepping down.

Although there are women on the list of nominees, Mayman's successor will not necessarily be a woman, Wacker said.

While in the house, Mayman said she interacted with house residents and tutors to "try to lend a tone of some sorts, to pursue own interests and bring the house in on them."

Cabot House resident Raffaele B. Gioia '88 said Mayman's successor should be "a person who is accessible, responsive, and acts upon student needs, who can incorporate their work into the house".