Harvard's Hottest Blockmates

Blocking is quickly approaching for freshmen and friend drama is building to a fever pitch. Fed up of talking about who’s in and who’s out? What if you could build the ultimate blocking group full of FAS superstars? We have compiled a power ranking of the most desirable blockmates from the FAS faculty to help you out! (It would a little bizarre to rank current students, right?)

UPDATED: Feb. 20, 2014 at 11:08 p.m.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor
Professor Gates is one of America’s top public intellectuals and one of the most well-known professors in the world. “Skip” is very well connected, so you might find Obama cracking a beer or Oprah hosting a book club meeting in your room every now and then. If you think you can handle rubbing shoulders with A-listers on the regular, you and Skip may be blockmates made in heaven!

David J. Malan '99, CS50 Instructor
Malan is a versatile roommate who earns top “fun to motivated ratio” points, as is evident from his Facebook page. While there may be 800 confused CS p-setters in your room every Thursday night, Malan promises to bring along a green screen and Google-themed props to make the experience more bearable. He will also probably bring the printer.

Drew G. Faust, Harvard President
President Faust will bring an unparalleled level of power to your blocking group. While you probably won’t get to throw parties every weekend (although you never know), President Faust will occasionally bring close friends like the Obamas and Matt Damon over for “chill kickbacks.” You also will not be quadded.

Donald H. Pfister, Interim Dean of Harvard College
Dean Pfister is undoubtedly a premium blockmate. Sick? Dean Pfister has an herbal remedy to soothe that sore throat. Stressed? Tired? you name it, Pfister has the organic cure. Will your room smell like a botany lab? Yes! But this is Dean Donald Pfister, you guys. Think of the group messages. Think of the book discussions. This is what winning at blocking looks like.

Thomas A. Dingman ‘67, Dean of Freshmen
“I thought that the majority of freshmen conducted themselves beautifully,” Dean Dingman recently said of Freshman Formal. We can only assume Dingman said this because his freshman formal in 1964 was a rager unlike anything Harvard has seen in recent years. Dingman’s formal was the Woodstock of formals before Woodstock even happened. This charming bro-at-heart promises to bring the party to your blocking group. He is charismatic, caring, and a strapping athlete with powerful calves (from what I can tell having seen him in Hemenway...). Dean Dingman is formidable force in the blocking game.