Racial Diversity Lacking Among House Masters

Despite Harvard's particular institutional pride in the diversity of its student body, in the roughly 75 years that the House system has been in place, Harvard has only had two non-white House masters.

In the same decades that Harvard admissions officers have flown all over the United States to attract students from a spectrum of backgrounds, only two professors of color have been the leader of a House-the residential and academic communities central to the College experience.

As the student body has become more racially and ethnically varied, House Masters have stayed, for the most part, white.

Karel and Hetty Liem of Dunster House have been the only masters of color since their appointment in 1988, and when they step down at the end of this year, they will probably leave behind a set of 12 white residential House Masters.

At a meeting with student leaders at the Foundation several weeks ago, Liem said he was disappointed that the administration did not seem to be making many efforts to pursue the appointment of a Master of color.

"I believe that it is quite important for the House Masters to reflect the composition of the student body," said Liem, who is Indonesian. "We have a very diverse student body, I feel we should also have a diverse group of Masters."

Two weeks ago, Robert P. Kirshner was named as the new Master of Quincy House and Lewis is expected to announce the new Masters of Dunster House shortly.

Liem says he does not think the choice for Dunster House Master will be a minority.

"As far as I knew [several weeks ago], on the short list of Masters' candidates, none of them were of color," he said several weeks ago.

When Kirkland and Eliot House masters announced their resignation last year, the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations jumped at the opportunity to advocate for more non-white masters.

The Academic Affairs Committee (ACC) of the Foundation sent letters to Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis `68 with the names of professors and administrators that they would like to see considered for the position of House Master. The committee also included in the letters a signed petition from students who supported their cause.

While the AAC reported that their petition was "well-received," the two House Masters elected last year were both white.

Lewis responded by recounting the difficulty of finding a qualified professor of color to accept the position, claiming that "members of under-represented groups are particularly overburdened by other demands on their time."

Lewis said last spring that finding "a person of color is not as important as appointing someone who will do the best job for the students in the House."

Liem says he understands the difficulties in finding a professor of color to accept the position, but he said he believes that the University could exert more of an effort.

"I firmly believe that if the University really wants a particular person, they would certainly be able to attract that person to the job, even by negotiating or by offering features or situations that would make it more attractive," Liem says. "I'm sure that the university would be able to do that but I don't know if they are willing to do that."

And despite the attention the Foundation paid to the Kirkland and Eliot selections last year, students have been remarkably quiet about the Dunster appointment.

Liem said he did not know why the students decided not to petition this year, but suggests that maybe "they are a bit discouraged" or think that their concerns "would not make a difference."

Associate Dean of the College Thomas A. Dingman `67 says that the College is always thinking about matters of racial diversity, and the issue of diversity among the House Masters was not something that "was brought to our attention just last year."

"The group that came last year, their concern was uppermost in our minds," Dingman says. "We have certainly made an effort, we have approached Faculty on our own and we have followed up on the leads others have given us. It's a challenge."

William L. Everson `02, who attended the meeting of the AAC last year that planned the petition, says he thinks students haven't been as vocal this year about House Master diversity because of the confidential (some call it secretive) process that the College administration uses to select House Masters.

"It's still a huge concern to some people, but it seems like there is a lack of information out there," Everson says. "It's a closed process, and by the time I found out they were searching for two new sets of Masters, it was too late."

Kenneth N. Ebie `01, who interns at the Harvard Foundation and is co-chair of the Foundation's Student Advisory Committee, said the issue of House Master diversity is still weighing on concerned students' minds.

'The issue [of Master diversity] hasn't been on the agenda officially, but it's been discussed frequently at the Foundation," Ebie said.

A resident of Dunster House, Ebie says he has strong beliefs about the importance of maintaining diversity among the Masters.

"There's definitely a need to reflect the diversity that the University seeks in its undergraduate body in the Faculty and perhaps more importantly, in the Houses because they are the primary social unit at the College," he said. "As a representation it is very powerful-it shows that the University is committed to its idea of providing a diverse environment in all its faces."

--Staff Writer Sarah A. Dolgonos can be reached at dolgonos@fas.harvard.edu