Ferraro to Stay in Eliot House Suite

Eliot House has a well-known new resident this semester: former Democratic vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, who will spend the spring as a fellow of the Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics (IOP).

Ferraro said the program's coordinators placed her in the house when she asked them to find her an apartment near the K-School." Although some IOP fellows have lived in undergraduate houses, most have lived independently in the Boston area.

"I am pleased that I'll be living in a dorm," said Ferraro. "That's something I didn't experience in college, since I was a day commuter." Her apartment is on the second floor of E entry. "They gave me a nice little suite with a fireplace and a front room," she said.

Eliot House Master Alan Heimert said it was "nice" to be hosting Ferraro. He said he had agreed to let her use a suite normally reserved for short-term guests in order "to be friendly to the K-School."

Although Ferraro is an official resident, she may not be partaking in the esteemed house's social system.

"We're going to let her settle down first, before we start making social plans for her," said Heimert. "It's up to her if she wants to be used as a show-and-tell."

Eliot House residents may not see much of their new neighbor. Ferraro said she will spend only Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Cambridge--"so students won't have to worry about me shutting down their parties."

Ferraro will not be sampling much of the local Pu-Pu platters or broccoli-cheese pasta either. "The Institute has about every meal arranged for me," she said.

The former candidate said Heimert had invited her to have cocktails and dinner with Eliot students, but that an out-of-town commitment had forced her to decline. She said she hoped to schedule a meal with students later in the semester.

Even slight glimpses of the politician stirred the enthusiasm of several Eliot House students interviewed yesterday.

"We're very excited. She's very welcome," said Lynn Davenport '89. "I noticed her and said, `Goodness, that's Geraldine Ferraro,' and everyone poked their heads out of the windows. We were all really surprised that they put her in the house."

"That was really Ferraro?" asked Patrick W. O'Kelly II '90. "I was skeptical because going downstairs last night, she said `hi' to my mother and I didn't believe that it was Geraldine Ferraro," he said. "I'm going to have to call my mother and tell her it was."