Word: freshmen
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...expected to begin integrating new members in the middle of spring midterms, after seven months of community-starved first-years’ attaching themselves to their entryways and extracurricular activities in a frantic search for a niche at often-impersonal, always-intimidating Harvard. It is simply unreasonable to expect freshmen, who in many cases feel satisfied with their Harvard experiences come March, to buy into the community of a randomly assigned House. This problem is exacerbated by the presence of blocking groups; since freshmen usually block with friends from one of their improvised first-year communities, there?...
...existing House infrastructure to good use, the College must begin assigning incoming freshmen to Houses before they arrive at Harvard. Presently, at the start of their first year, freshmen are welcomed to their entryways by proctors and prefects. As soon as the year gets underway, however, freshmen must choose whether or not they will invest themselves in the ready-made communities in their entryways, or instead spend their time with friends from classes and extracurricular activities. Because the entryway unit has a predetermined lifespan of exactly one academic year, there is very little incentive for a student to take time...
Were entryways to be comprised of freshmen with a common housing assignment, students would be much more likely to choose to form friendships with their entryway-mates, their future housemates. Upperclassmen assigned to entryways as prefects or peer advisers would be able to take advantage of the common ground of a shared housing assignment as a starting point for their advising and mentoring relationships. And linking entryways to Houses would also allow freshman participation in special House events—panels, formal dinners, and faculty events—which would be a great boon to the freshman experience...
Thus, once freshmen moved into their Houses, they would profit from the stronger community created by pre-assignment. It would be possible, for example, for a newly-minted sophomore to walk into her House dining hall and actually recognize her neighbors. Without pre-assignment, such a tight-knit atmosphere is a fantasy...
...course, pre-assignment is no magical tonic that will cure all undergraduate life woes. For one thing, disparities in the distance between the Yard and individual Houses would complicate the integration of freshmen into farther a field Houses, like Mather and the Quad. But such drawbacks could be easily mitigated by minor details in a pre-assignment policy. For example, peer advisers would be given access to Annenberg, and would be expected to have meals and interactions with their advisees in the Yard. And when it comes to special House events, the draw of an excellent speaker or of Stein...