Master's Funds Pay for Maid In Kiely Home

A "very large part" of the master's discretionary fund at Adams House--the same fund used to finance student concerts, plays and dinners--is used to pay the salary of a full-time maid at the master's residence, Robert J. Kiely, master of the House, said yesterday.

Kiely declined to disclose the maid's salary but confirmed that aside from receiving room and board she is paid minimum wage entirely out of the fund rather than his own pocket.

The Kiely maid is paid out of the entertainment fund despite the creation two years ago of a separate administrative stipend that Dean Whitlock yesterday called "more appropriate" for such expenditures.

Grumblings and Rumors

"There have been grumblings by some members of the House committee who knew about it," Muliufi Hanneman, co-chairman of the committee, said yesterday. But, he added that neither he nor other members of the committee knew whether the "rumors" about the maid's salary were true.

Several other sources, however, reported that Kiely last year told a few students about the expenditure for the maid in the context of complaining about the burdensome expenses that come with the mastership.

When first questioned yesterday about the House fund, Kiely told The Crimson, "I don't see how that's any of your business."

In a later interview, however, he said that the payment for the maid grew out of an "unfortunate situation" that he had been left with when he took over the House two years ago.

Rather than fire her after nearly 20 years of service, Kiely said he decided to keep her on and pay her out of the entertainment fund. "There's no other place for it [her salary] to come from," he said.

"We were under no instruction not to pay the maid from this fund," Kiely said, adding later that he had received no complaints from either the administrators or students who knew about the arrangement.

Whitlock said the University paid for masters' maid service on a regular basis until 1965, when the special allotments were eliminated. From '65 to '75 masters were on their own for maids "and many gave them up."

Whitlock said that for the last two years masters have been given an additional stipend--which one source estimated at $5000 a year.

"The administrative stipend is intended to help out with such matters," Whitlock said, listing items like baby-sitters and "maids to clean the house."

For Students

He added that what he called the "master's discretionary fund for entertaining" should be used for "students who wish to do something or other" and "is routinely used to pick up the tab for events like House plays."

In a later interview, Whitlock called The Crimson to add that "any expenditure which is connected with the master's running of the House in a social sense would be appropriate."

Masters and administrators contacted yesterday differed on how much of the discretionary fund could be used for maid services.

Kiely last night said the hiring of the maid was exceptional because she was a holdover from the Lillers, who had personally paid for both a maid and a cook.

Kiely explained that the maid is two years away from retirement, receives no medical insurance and receives social security "only because we pay for it."

He added that it was an "unfortunate situation" that could be remedied only by the University providing regular employees for the upkeep of large masters' residences.

Entertainment and the upkeep of the house are "inseparable functions," Kiely added, noting that he gives an average of one to two receptions or dinners a week at Apthorp House, the master's residence.

'Very, Very Doubtful'

Barbara Rosenkrantz '44, master of Currier House, said yesterday she spends about two per cent of the fund on maid service and called a substantially higher figure "very, very doubtful."

"I just can't imagine that any House uses that much from the entertainment fund for maid service," she said.

Charles W. Dunn, master of Quincy House, said that a typical House uses 25 to 50 per cent of the fund for serving at large dinners, especially for extra help like bartenders from Harvard Student Agencies.

However, he said he differentiated between maid service used solely for the upkeep of large public rooms--a legitimate expense from the entertainment fund--and maids for personal use--"which come out of the master's salary."

All of the Apthorp House maid's salary--which Kiely described as an absolute minimum one--is paid for by the University.

Kiely, Dunn and Whitlock all stressed that masters have been placed in an increasingly difficult financial situation.

Many masters, they said, pick up entertainment expenses out of their own pocket.

The first two years as a master have been a net financial burden for me, Kiely said