Black First-Years Prefer Quad Houses

Shelby E. Watson '97 will choose housing with the rest of the first-year class next week.

Watson says she and her blocking group will be requesting all three Quad houses as well as one river house--they haven't yet decided which one.

"Probably a house a lot of people want, so we can be assured of getting the Quad," Watson says.

Watson says the prefers the Quad for several reasons. For one, the housing there is modern and wellequipped.

But more importantly, Watson and her blockmates will feel at home living there. Watson is Black, and "there are a lot of Black people up on the Quad."

"That's where my friends are," Watson says. "That's where I feel more comfortable."

Five years after it became policy, the non-ordered choice system of housing assignments has succeeded in breaking down numerous stereotypes and making some houses more diverse.

Non-ordered choice, however, has not changed the fact that many Black students choose the Quad houses--Cabot, Currier and North--because they feel more comfortable there.

But it is unclear whether the high number of Black first-years choosing to live in the Quad is connected to non-ordered choice or whether it is symptomatic of a campus that is largely hostile to minorities.

Designed for Diversity

Harvard's system of non-ordered choice was designed to bring diversity to the houses, according to Associate Dean of the College Thomas A. Dingman '67.

Prior to 1989, students' first choic- es were given added weight in assigninghousing. Seventy-five percent of students gottheir first choices under this system. Dingmansays.

In this way, students were guaranteed theirfirst choice for all but the most popularhouses--a system which led to increasinghomogeneity.

"If everybody who was selecting X house hadsimilar interests and backgrounds, they would alllive in X house and that would very little reflectthe diversity of Harvard," Dingman says.

Under the present system of non-ordered choice,85 percent of students get one of their fourselections for housing.

However, because those four selections arerandomly shuffled by computer, students selectinga less-popular house are no longer virtuallyguaranteed their first choice.

Reduced student choice has resulted inincreased diversity within the houses.

"There has been progress," Dingman says.

But Black students say this "progress" canleave them feeling cut off from peers.

Cynthia D. Johnson '96 requested all of theQuad houses when she entered the housing lotterylast year. As a fourth choice, she selectedQuincy, where she now lives.

Johnson says many Black students try to live inthe Quad because they feel more at ease there.

"It's a common human phenomenon for people todesire to be with people they have something incommon with," Johnson says.

The housing office has consistently refused torelease figures for the racial breakdown of eachof the houses.

But many students believe that the Quad housesthe majority of Harvard's Black students.

In fact, the sheer numbers of Black students inthe Quad helps build a sense of community thatmany believe does not exist in the river houses,according to students.

And organizations which target Black studentsfor membership have focused much of theirattention on Currier, Cabot and North. As aresult, Black river residents can feel out oftouch, Watson says.

"The [Black] people who live on the river areso far away from things," she says. "It's easierto know about activities [living on the Quad]."

"It's a more comfortable atmosphere, just to bein a group of people that share similar struggles,similar problems in the classroom, similar goalsin terms of giving back to the Black communityafter Harvard," Johnson says.

Dingman says he understands why some Blackstudents choose to live in the Quad.

"I hear [their concern] and I understand it,"he says.

But Dingman adds that these concerns should nowbe alleviated by the increasing numbers of Blackstudents at Harvard.

The growing diversity on campus has made itless necessary for Black students to live togetherin order to attain a "critical mass," Dingmansays.

"That was a more compelling issue when therewere fewer students of color," he says.

In the Class of 1997, there are 143 Blackstudents.

That number represents a significant increasefrom the 127 Black students in the Class of 1994,but Blacks still comprise less than 10 percent ofthe first-year class.

"Now these numbers are much better and my hopewas that people would feel comfortable livinganywhere," Dingman says.

Dingman says that if overwhelming numbers ofBlack students choose to live in the Quad,diversity in the river houses suffers.

"Some houses wouldn't have any people of colorand that would be regrettable," he says.

But Watson says that maintaining the properdemographics in Harvard houses is not her concern.

Watson says that many Black students at Harvardhave spent their lives in places where they are inthe minority, often at great personal cost.

Asking Black students to do the same duringtheir college years so that white students cangain the benefits of living in a diverseenvironment is too great a sacrifice to ask, shesays.

"When you come home, you should come home to aplace you feel comfortable with," Watson says."You shouldn't have to live with people you don'twant to live with.

In this way, students were guaranteed theirfirst choice for all but the most popularhouses--a system which led to increasinghomogeneity.

"If everybody who was selecting X house hadsimilar interests and backgrounds, they would alllive in X house and that would very little reflectthe diversity of Harvard," Dingman says.

Under the present system of non-ordered choice,85 percent of students get one of their fourselections for housing.

However, because those four selections arerandomly shuffled by computer, students selectinga less-popular house are no longer virtuallyguaranteed their first choice.

Reduced student choice has resulted inincreased diversity within the houses.

"There has been progress," Dingman says.

But Black students say this "progress" canleave them feeling cut off from peers.

Cynthia D. Johnson '96 requested all of theQuad houses when she entered the housing lotterylast year. As a fourth choice, she selectedQuincy, where she now lives.

Johnson says many Black students try to live inthe Quad because they feel more at ease there.

"It's a common human phenomenon for people todesire to be with people they have something incommon with," Johnson says.

The housing office has consistently refused torelease figures for the racial breakdown of eachof the houses.

But many students believe that the Quad housesthe majority of Harvard's Black students.

In fact, the sheer numbers of Black students inthe Quad helps build a sense of community thatmany believe does not exist in the river houses,according to students.

And organizations which target Black studentsfor membership have focused much of theirattention on Currier, Cabot and North. As aresult, Black river residents can feel out oftouch, Watson says.

"The [Black] people who live on the river areso far away from things," she says. "It's easierto know about activities [living on the Quad]."

"It's a more comfortable atmosphere, just to bein a group of people that share similar struggles,similar problems in the classroom, similar goalsin terms of giving back to the Black communityafter Harvard," Johnson says.

Dingman says he understands why some Blackstudents choose to live in the Quad.

"I hear [their concern] and I understand it,"he says.

But Dingman adds that these concerns should nowbe alleviated by the increasing numbers of Blackstudents at Harvard.

The growing diversity on campus has made itless necessary for Black students to live togetherin order to attain a "critical mass," Dingmansays.

"That was a more compelling issue when therewere fewer students of color," he says.

In the Class of 1997, there are 143 Blackstudents.

That number represents a significant increasefrom the 127 Black students in the Class of 1994,but Blacks still comprise less than 10 percent ofthe first-year class.

"Now these numbers are much better and my hopewas that people would feel comfortable livinganywhere," Dingman says.

Dingman says that if overwhelming numbers ofBlack students choose to live in the Quad,diversity in the river houses suffers.

"Some houses wouldn't have any people of colorand that would be regrettable," he says.

But Watson says that maintaining the properdemographics in Harvard houses is not her concern.

Watson says that many Black students at Harvardhave spent their lives in places where they are inthe minority, often at great personal cost.

Asking Black students to do the same duringtheir college years so that white students cangain the benefits of living in a diverseenvironment is too great a sacrifice to ask, shesays.

"When you come home, you should come home to aplace you feel comfortable with," Watson says."You shouldn't have to live with people you don'twant to live with.