Kirkland House To End Overflow Housing in DeWolfe

Kirkland House will no longer be using overflow housing at 20 DeWolfe Street next year, according to several resident tutors and students.

“As far as I know, that is the case,” said Daniel T. Larson ’98, a Kirkland tutor who lives in DeWolfe housing, in response to whether House residents will be occupying 20 DeWolfe Street.

Resident tutors John D. Cella ’08 and Patricia Hernandez ’04 confirmed that Kirkland had decided to cease housing students in DeWolfe.

Kirkland residents currently occupy the third and fourth floors of the building and share DeWolfe housing with students from Leverett and Quincy Houses located across the street. Kirkland, though, is located at the other end of Mill Street.

Kirkland House Committee members have long supported the idea of ending housing at DeWolfe, as it is often difficult for Dewolfe residents to feel part of the House community.

“Kirkland prides itself on being a tight-knit community, and DeWolfe housing has always been the one roadblock we faced,” said former HoCo chair William M. K. Stallings ’10.

Kelly N. Bodwin ’11, a current HoCo co-chair, said she personally agreed with the idea of not using DeWolfe to house Kirkland residents, though she said she has only heard rumors from tutors about ending DeWolfe housing.

What complicated efforts to end Kirkland overflow housing in DeWolfe in the past was the allocation of funds to the Houses, according to Stallings. Stallings said that a reduction in the number of residents could spell a similar reduction in funds—a problem that Kirkland already faces as one of the smaller Houses.

It is unclear whether discontinuing the use of DeWolfe overflow housing would affect the budget for Kirkland activities or the jobs of the resident tutors currently living there. House Masters Tom C. and Verena A. Conley could not be reached for comment for this article.

Several Kirkland students who live in DeWolfe said that eliminating housing there would have a positive impact on House community.

“We don’t really make it to House Master events that are offered because we’re not in the House,” said Bjorn A. Whitmore ’12, whose blocking group did not request DeWolfe but has enjoyed the building’s amenities, including cable service and in-suite kitchens.

Michael Zheng ’12, another Kirkland student in DeWolfe, said that while it would be “unfortunate” that fewer rooms would be available to rising sophomores, ending DeWolfe housing “will be good for the House.”

Quincy House Master Lee Gehrke wrote in an e-mail that he is not aware of plans to expand Quincy housing into the two floors of the building. Leverett House will not be expanding into DeWolfe either, according to an e-mail sent by Leverett House Master Howard Georgi ’68.

—Staff writer Naveen N. Srivatsa can be reached at srivatsa@fas.harvard.edu.