Committee May Change DeWolfe's Composition

The Committee on House Life (COHL) discussed possible changes in the student composition of the DeWolfe St. housing complex yesterday, although no formal proposals were made.

Undergraduate members of the COHL--which includes students, house masters and administrators--said yesterday that the sophomores living in DeWolfe miss out on "the house experience."

"We didn't have any alternative proposal or any real gripe with the situation," said David L. Duncan '93, one of the student members of the COHL. "We just wanted to see where the administration stood."

Members of the COHL said yesterday that because few upperclass students toured DeWolfe before entering the rooming lottery, few requested to live in the newly opened dorm, and many sophomores were randomized in.

Duncan said that in their meeting yesterday, Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, who chairs the COHL, suggested that potential problems with the plumbing and the sewers in the area also may have scared away prospective residents.

No definitive decisions about changing the make-up of the dorm were made yesterday. "Jewett said that [the administration] hadn't made any long-term plans...there was no need to review the situation now," said Daniel H. Tabak '92, another member of the COHL.

Duncan said the committee may initiate a proposal later in the year which would regulate the number of sophomores in the dorm.

Also, the COHL members said they asked Jewett whether the administration is considering plans to convert the dorms into a residential house.

DeWolfe is expected to remain overflow housing for some time, according to Duncan. As of now, converting the dorm into a residential house is not likely, as there is no space for either a dining hall or common rooms, Grove said.

"The general consensus in the committee right now is that DeWolfe Street is working well as housing," Duncan added.

In other business, the COHL generated a proposal which would more easily allow entire rooming groups to transfer into different houses. Such transfers would be processed before the first-year housing lottery.

The COHL meets several times a semester and consists of five house masters, five undergraduates, Jewett and Thomas A. Dingman, associate dean of Harvard College for human resources and the house system