Surprise!

First-year students spend the Wednesday night before spring break creeping from river House to river House, performing (drunken) rituals and hoping against hope to be placed in a house with hardwood floors (and cockroaches) instead of a shuttle schedule posted on its door. The next morning, they find out which of the 12 undergraduate Houses they’ve been assigned to by reading the contents of an envelope delivered surreptitiously to their room.
This week, however, freshmen are not the only students faced with a housing surprise. On Tuesday, Winthrop residents awoke to an e-mail from a House administrator informing them that the long tradition of “n+1” housing for seniors (where n equals the number of residents in the room) had been suddenly terminated. Winthropians have in the past endured cramped doubles and trapezoidal bathrooms in order to one day delight in the rivers views and private quarters that once characterized senior housing. Although they get first pick in the housing lottery, seniors will not be able to live in suites in which every resident has a single without someone living in the common room.
The overcrowding of river Houses is no surprise: anyone who has visited these oft-coveted rooms by the Charles can attest to their all-too-cozy conditions. What is shocking, however, is the way in which the College and Winthrop House went about dealing with overcrowding. Although the change in Winthrop will benefit rising sophomores (the policy makes many of the house’s cramped sophomore quads into triples), it is an unprecedented breaking of an unspoken pact that leaves the Class of 2009 feeling at worst, cheated and at best, ignored. The timing of the announcement (in the middle of midterms and three days before spring break) and the method through which it was delivered signify that the House administrators were either attempting to slip the change in under the radar or simply did not understand the impact that such an announcement might have on rising seniors.
Contrary to popular belief, Harvard students generally are more grounded and have better perspective than to waste time or energy whining about tiny bedrooms. But when the promise of good senior housing has been used to justify cramped sophomore and junior rooms, the sudden and casual withdrawal of that promise is positively demoralizing. Furthermore, for seniors who are 21 or 22 years old and in a time of great transition (applying for jobs, writing theses, and cultivating relationships), the opportunity for privacy is fundamental for reflection and development. At this point, changes in housing go from being a matter of convenience to a matter of mental health.
Obviously, students cannot be denied housing, so something must be done to accommodate  larger classes. This burden, however, is not being distributed evenly. It is difficult to justify cramming some seniors into doubles in certain houses while students are essentially promised “singles for life” in Mather and the Quad. Furthermore, if the College is concerned about space, it should look into creating temporary, transitional housing for undergrads. This  could either be at Square hotels or college-owned apartments.
Finally, if certain Houses decide to implement changes that the College has recommended (such as in Winthrop), it only seems fair that the College re-open applications to transfer houses. Announcing the policy and not subsequently allowing students to apply to transfer is depriving undergrads of any autonomy they had in determining their living conditions.
The fact that so many students live on campus for all four years is a matter of pride for Harvard. But if Harvard is going to devote its resources to the cultivation of House life, it must uphold its end of the bargain and make houses a place of comfort and trust. Today, upperclassmen welcome freshmen into their House communities—communities that should be built on mutual respect between the College, House administrators, and students. By encouraging student input in residential decision-making and respecting unofficial promises made to undergrads, the College will foster healthier residential life—which might just make up for the bunk beds.