Student Writes Guide to Houses

Ten thousand copies of a new booklet, The Harvard-Radcliffe Houses, are set to be distributed across the campus and throughout the Ivy League within the next two weeks.

The booklet is the first piece of official Harvard Administration literature to be written by an undergraduate, Patrick S. Chung '96.

The book, which was published this spring, is also the first Harvard publication to offer a comprehensive look at the residential system that lies at the heart of most Harvard undergraduates' college experience.

Chung, who is a Crimson editor, believes that the new book makes large strides toward meeting several goals of Harvard's administration, among them achieving student involvement in administrative work and offering students a full explanation of Harvard's house system.

"One of Harvard's best assets is the house system," Chung said. "It really brings students together within the context of the larger university."

"In the past, official Harvard literature has always been authored by Harvard staff and administration," Chung said. "This publication about the houses is particularly suited to a student author because it is, after all, the students who make up the house."

Chung's book, which was edited by Thomas A. Dingman '67, associate dean of Harvard College for Human Resources and the House System, and Catherine M. Millett, former housing officer for Harvard College, is comprised of four sections:

. First, the book traces the history and evolution of the house system.

. Second, it explains the architecture of each of Harvard's 13 residential houses, highlighting famous sections of each house and discussing the Harvard president or family for which each is named.

. Third, it explains the administrative system of each house. According to Chung, the roles that house masters and senior tutors play are "really important, but not often publicized," and he said his book tries to address this concern.

. Fourth, it contains "a whimsical description of house activities, both intellectual and social," Chung said.

Chung, a Cabot House resident, was chosen to write the new book because he had worked on housing issues in the Harvard College Dean's Office since his first year. In previous years he has authored the annual Inside the Houses packet distributed annually to first-year students to explain the lottery system. He also helped to develop the computer system, called the Electronic Lottery Form (ELF), with which first-year students participate in the housing lottery.

Inside the Houses provided an explanation of individual house layouts and other basic information for first-years choosing houses. That book is now online on the Harvard gopher.

The book has been door-dropped to all first-years and has been sent to all other Ivy League schools, many of which hope to adopt a similar residential system in the future.

Additionally, the booklet will be distributedto professors interested in becoming affiliatedwith a house and will be used as recruitingmaterial for prospective students

Additionally, the booklet will be distributedto professors interested in becoming affiliatedwith a house and will be used as recruitingmaterial for prospective students