Diversity at the Helm

Before assuming her role as Dean of the College in June 2008, Evelynn M. Hammonds served as senior vice provost for faculty development and diversity, advising University President Drew G. Faust on issues of faculty diversity. So when Hammonds had the chance to appoint two new House Master couples to Winthrop and Pforzheimer Houses within seven months of assuming the deanship, diversity was naturally one of her top priorities.

In February 2009, she appointed Harvard Law School Professor Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. and lecturer Stephanie Robinson as Masters of Winthrop House—the first African-American House Masters in Harvard’s history.

By the end of the year, three more sets of resignations arrived at Hammonds’ desk, and once again, she had the opportunity to make her commitment to diversity a reality, naming Harvard Business School Professor Rakesh Khurana, who is Indian, to head Cabot House.

In the same announcement, she appointed Romance Languages and Literatures and Comparative Literature Professor Christie A. McDonald to lead Mather House, increasing the number of female Masters—as opposed to co-Masters—to three.

One month before that, Hammonds also selected HLS Professor James L. Cavallaro ’84 and his wife Nadejda Marques, who is Hispanic, to hold the spots of the Currier House Masters while they are on sabbatical next year.

The majority of Hammonds’ appointments demonstrate a push toward diversity that reflects the increasing heterogeneity of the faculty. Though this diversity might not have a tangible effect on the lives of House residents, administrators say they still seek to foster as much diversity as possible among the cadre of Masters and in the broader faculty as well.

AN INCREASING MIX

Although only a seemingly small number—three, to be exact—of next year’s 26 permanent House Masters are racial minorities, the makeup of the House Masters mirrors the ethnic composition of the tenured University faculty.

While 13.5 percent of tenured faculty members—the primary requirement of being a House Master—identify as non-white, 15.4 percent of next year’s House Masters are non-white.

According to several of the Masters, this increase in diversity can be attributed to Hammonds’ heightened attention to the issue and her success at marshalling diverse candidates.

“I think it’s probably the most diverse group ever,” Sullivan says of next year’s collection of House Masters.

Diversity was just one of many factors Hammonds says she considered.

“The primary thing for House Masters, in my view, was not whether or not I wanted diverse House Masters—that seemed to be almost a given—but rather the people who I picked would be people who would be really committed to bringing their various interests into the work of building a House community,” she says.

THE VALUE OF DIVERSITY

Diversity—not only racial, but also religious, intellectual, cultural, and socioeconomic—is widely acknowledged as an asset at Harvard and its peer institutions.

It increases the number of different perspectives on any situation, raising the likelihood of innovation and making the organization stronger and more resilient, says Harvard Business School Professor David A. Thomas, who specializes in cultural diversity in organizations. While other dimensions of diversity are important, he says race continues to be one of the most difficult to attain.

But opinions differ on whether diversity is particularly important among the collective group of House Masters. Although administrators, Masters, and students generally acknowledge that more diversity is better, some say their individual attitudes toward diversity may be more important than the diversity of the House Masters as a whole, as most students will interact with only their two House Masters.

Harry R. Lewis ’68, a computer science professor and former dean of the College, says that while diversity in classes and clubs gives students more opportunities to interact with people of different races and backgrounds, in the case of House Masters, “that principle is inoperative because you only see one Master.”

For Lowell House Master Diana L. Eck—who was appointed by Lewis in 1998 along with her partner Dorothy A. Austin—diversity “matters greatly” but “it matters even more who they choose.”

“I think the most important thing among House Masters is not only the diversity among the Masters but the ability of the Masters to foster engagement of students of all kinds within the House,” says Eck, who is part of the first same-sex couple to head a House.

Sullivan echoes this sentiment, saying that while diversity should be a priority, it is just one among many factors that Hammonds should consider when selecting Masters.

“I don’t think there is some uniquely African-American way to master a House,” Sullivan says. “But ethnic diversity is one quality among a host of qualities that Stephanie and I bring to the House that we hope enhances student life.”

Still, others say that more work remains to be done to bring diversity to the House community.

“Harvard is not nearly as diverse a place as it should be at any level—faculty, deans, staff, House Masters, and resident tutors—and we need to do a lot more work,” says J. Lorand Matory ’82, chair of Duke University’s Department of African and African American Studies and a former Harvard AAAS professor.

A PROLONGED PROCESS

The relative homogeneity of the faculty remains a barrier to further diversifying the group of House Masters.

Since House Masters must be tenured Harvard professors, Hammonds’ pool of minority candidates is limited in scope but may increase as the University’s efforts to diversify the faculty continue.

Currently, 24.7 percent of non-tenured professors are minorities, a striking difference from the 13.5 percent of minority tenured professors. As these minorities ascend the academic ladder and some receive tenure, the number of minority full professors is bound to increase, especially when bolstered by efforts to recruit diverse faculty from other institutions.

Michèle Lamont, senior adviser to the dean on faculty development and diversity, has asked departments to develop mentorship programs for junior faculty in hopes of helping them navigate the tenure process.

Knowing that the proportion of racial minorities among non-tenured professors is higher than among full professors, she says she has met with Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith, the divisional deans, and faculty members from underrepresented groups to discuss issues of diversity, and has since held informal meetings for minority faculty members.

Although administrative efforts have successfully increased the number of minority professors over the past 20 years, these advances take time, says Adams House Master John G. “Sean” Palfrey ’67. A change in the makeup of the senior faculty will take years to affect the composition of the House Masters, he says.

And even as the tenured faculty becomes more diverse, Palfrey says these minority faculty members must be interested in taking on all the responsibilities of leading an undergraduate House, which can be difficult to balance with academic commitments.

“They just may not want to share their life with 450 screaming kids,” he says.

But ultimately, the goal of bringing diversity to the House Masters goes hand in hand with the goal of bringing diversity to the College and FAS.

“This is such a key part of the mission of Harvard College,” says Dean of Student Life Suzy M. Nelson. “It’s integral to our values.”

—Melody Y. Hu, Eric P. Newcomer, Noah S. Rayman, and Elyssa A. L. Spitzer contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Danielle J. Kolin can be reached at dkolin@fas.harvard.edu.

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