No More Students In Mass. Hall: The End Of An Era

To the editors:

It is with some sadness that I read in this morning’s Crimson that Massachusetts Hall—which, according to the story, was built in 1720 to house students—in the near future may no longer do so (“For Sale by Owner: Historic Colonial,” news, Jan. 22). The presence of first-year students in the same building as the President’s office, of course, has long been a wonderful symbol of the central administration’s traditional concern for undergraduate education and life, and, no doubt, it caused its share of problems. (I remember, for example, when my roommates and I dropped an orange down the ventilation shaft from our suite on the third floor—the fruit fell to the ground floor, where it rotted, thereby eliciting a gentle but firm warning from President Rudenstine’s office never to do it again).

Still, there were benefits to the arrangement, and these benefits were more than symbolic. My freshman dorm was part of my Harvard identity. First-year students, upon their arrival, receive a list of the all previous occupants of their room. My sadness derives partly from the fact that those of us who lived in Mass. Hall will be erased from the rolls. Of course, I’m not suggesting that the administration shouldn’t do as it sees fit: firm, dynamic executive leadership is a must for any organization, especially one, like Harvard, that is looking aggressively into the future. Nor am I suggesting a blind adherence to tradition. I’m simply noting, with a twinge of sadness, the definitive ending of a chapter of my life, a severing of a link to my undergraduate experience. As the University continues to evolve—for example, the Quad houses will become graduate student housing when undergraduate houses are built in Allston—this rootlessness is a feeling with which more and more alumni will have to contend.



SUJIT M. RAMAN ’00

Washington, D.C.



January 23, 2006



The author lived in Mass. Hall from 1996 to 1997.