Students Pick Currier Master Candidate List

Students and tutors in Currier House last night settled on a long list of candidates to consider in their search for a new house master.

Lisa M. Charles '92, a member of the search committee, said that the office of the Dean of the College will take the list from Currier House and "subtly inquire" as to who on the list is interested in the position.

Just before last night's meeting, Kimberly A. Moore '92, chair of the Currier House Committee, said that there are currently two lists of potential candidates. One list, provided by the College lists faculty members who might be interested in the position. Another list, generated by students and tutors in Currier, names faculty members the House community hopes will be interested in the position.

Stephan A. Mitchell, professor of Scandanavian and folklore, is the only candidate on both lists, according to Moore and Stacey L. Adams '92, another Currier resident.

"He sounds like a family man, which is really important to Currierites." Adams said. She added that Mitchell is "cool and laid back."

Mitchell said "It would be an exciting opportunity," and added that he had enjoyed the time he spent as a tutor in North House. But he emphasized that, while flattered by the idea, he had not previously heard that he might be a candidate for the job.

Moore said that the house seemed to want another family like the Nagys, who she said "could relate really well" to the students and who "let the house pretty much do what they want."

"The Currier House process is ongoing," Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 said in an interview last night. "We're trying to identify people who might be interested," he said.

Jewett said the search might be completed in a month or two, but cautioned that the search was "nowhere near a final decision yet."

Gregory Nagy, who is Jones professor of classical Greek literature and professor of comparative literature, and who will step down at the end of the year after five years as house master, said that he and his wife are not involved in the search. "I sense that the way the community is handling it is very grass-roots," he said.

Charles said that committee members would not release the names of those under consideration in deference to those not selected. "There's been incredible student involvement in the search," Charles said, citing two all-house meetings and one house committee meeting on the master search.

Charles said the house was would "preserve a sense of community and diversity."

"It really doesn't matter that there is an overlap [between the two lists] of only one," Charles said. She said that the office of the Dean of the College would approach the candidates suggested by Currier, and that the pool of candidates is certainly not limited to those on the College's original list.

But search committee members explained that only some faculty members are interested in being house masters, and that even a favorite of both students and tutors may not be willing to accept the challenging position.

"It's not a matter of us choosing, it's a matter of people choosing us," Charles said