Word: mather
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Several conditions make Mather a special case in relation to coed living. About 100 Harvard juniors who want to move from their present Houses into Mather have been invited to apply to Mather to fill presently vacant space. Mather's low-rise section is scheduled to open February 2, when the 134 sophomores presently affiliated with the House will move in. This low-rise section will house 250 students: the sophomores already accepted to Mather, a few transfer students, and the 100 juniors who have requested a transfer. The Mather tower, which will house another 140 students, will not open...
...vacancies in the low-rise section, which have now been offered to juniors, gave Mather the opportunity to bring in large numbers of girls. Several possiblities were advanced by the students for the dispensation of those places...
...second proposal followed a somewhat different line of argument. Since Winthrop Adams, and Lowell will have small-scale living exchanges this spring. Mather had an opportunity to aid the experiment in a unique way. The other Houses will only exchange about 50 students each: boy-girl ratios will then be about five to one in the three Harvard Houses. If all the 100 extra places in Mather were offered to Cliffies, Mather House would approach a one-to-one living ratio. Any over-all coed Harvard-Radeliffe living plan will probably include some all-male dorms, some all-female dorms...
THESE TWO proposals were the main focus of discussion that came out of the meeting of the Mather students and staff. Several problems were immediately apparent with both of these possibilities. First, Mather House's current purpose is to relieve overcrowding in other Harvard Houses. Although it is questionable that 100 juniors will want to leave their present Houses to move to Mather this winter, by next fall when new sophomores enter the Houses and the Mather tower opens, general overcrowding at Harvard should be eased considerably. Radcliffe, however, would not have relief for their overcrowding, even with the opening...
These were the main arguments being discussed following the Mather House meeting. Two things were necessary for either of the coed proposals to succed. One was a general agreement on the desirability of coed living. The second was an organized group to urge action on the proposals. But both of these were missing in the presentation of the student plans for coed living at Mather; their absence led to the death of the proposals...