HUC Backs Master's New House Selection Proposal

The Harvard Undergraduate Council has endorsed changes in the House selection system proposed by several Masters last week.

Unlike this year's selection process, the new plan would permit freshmen to House preferences without requiring them to give a "substantial reason." It gives the Master some power over the selection of freshmen who name his House as one of their choices.

The proposal specifies compensation, however, for undersubscribed Houses. A dean would guard the interests of Masters who do not express great concern over the House selection process. The whole also remain secret, "to protect everyone involved."

Such a plan incorporates a few of the traditional selection system's rules into this year's new system. Freshmen could state a preference this year only if they submitted a letter giving "substantial reason" along with their applications, or spoke to a House Master personally. If Dean Monro decided a freshman's reasons were insubstantial, a House Master was never notified of the request.

Under the proposed plan, as in the system in effect through last year, a Master would know the names of everyone who had applied for his House. He would then be able to select a limited number of applicants--not necessarily as many as under the old method.

The HUC resolution complained that "the system attempted this year was not a success." Louis Maisel II '66-3, chairman of the HUC Committee on House Selection, charged yesterday that freshmen were particularly unhappy with it.

He said that an alleged 800 letters were sent to Dean Monro by freshmen attempting to give a "substantial reason." Monro has declined to discuss the exact number of letters he received.

"The new plan, now being considered by the Committee on Houses, seems to be the most effective compromise that can be worked out," Maisel said. "All the salient points in the controversy are solved by the proposal -- student choice of Houses, Master's preference, and the provision of a dean to guard the interests of unconcerned Masters," he contended.

Last year the HUC formulated its own plan for House selection.