Historic Picks To Step in at Winthrop

President Barack Obama and Ronald S. Sullivan—the newly selected Master of Winthrop House—first met on the basketball court, long before they were both high-profile Harvard Law School alumni.

During Sullivan’s first year as a law student, Obama was a 3L. And though the 44th president had already made history at that point by becoming the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review in 1990, the two didn’t get to know each other in a professional setting.

“We played intramural basketball games, sometimes on the same team, sometimes on opposing ones,” Sullivan said. “Obama was really very good, and he still is.”

More than a dozen years later, after having taken separate paths with their law degrees, Obama and Sullivan extended their casual friendship. The President asked Sullivan to serve as an informal adviser during his historic bid for the White House.

And just three months after Obama transcended racial barriers to become the first black president, Sullivan has made history of his own. In early February, the clinical professor of law and his wife, Stephanie Robinson, were selected as the first black couple to serve as House Masters in the College’s history.

Sullivan, Robinson, and their 8-year-old son, Ronald III, will move into Winthrop House this July, replacing outgoing House Masters Stephen P. Rosen ’74 and Mandana Sassanfar, who have led the House for the past six years and stepped down in January for personal reasons.

NEW HOME, NEW PLANS

Though Winthrop House undergraduates said they will miss the commitment and spirit that were characteristic of Rosen and Sassanfar’s leadership styles—reflecting on moments like Rosen’s raucous procession last month through the House dining hall to unveil a freshly baptized Straus Cup trophy case—they said they are “enthusiastic” about their incoming House leaders.

Despite the fact that Rosen, who is a fixture at Winthrop intramural games, won’t be cheering on the sidelines next fall, Winthrop House undergraduates remained positive.

“Dr. Rosen’s leaving will do nothing but rouse the troops,” Winthrop resident Lawrence N. Benjamin ’11 said. “If anything, we’ll fight harder [in IMs].”

While he and his family plan for their July move, Sullivan said he hopes to absorb as much as possible about Winthrop House culture over the next three months. He and Robinson, who is a lecturer at the Law School, said they plan to be active on all fronts of House life, adding that they hope to expand opportunities for undergraduates to connect with the larger University community—in particular, with their colleagues at HLS.

Sullivan said his and his wife’s administrative experience will be brought to bear as House Masters. And although the two are only the second House Master appointments from the Law School, Sullivan said they have had broad exposure to undergraduate life.

While the couple was dating in the early 90s, Sullivan interacted with the undergraduate community as a resident tutor in Leverett House. When he returned to the Law School as a professor, he rekindled his connection to House life as a member of the Lowell House Senior Common Room.

“My view is that it starts with a level of comfort,” Sullivan said. “Stephanie and I bring a love and appreciation for community, and I anticipate spending significant amounts of time maintaining and improving the ‘espirit de corps’ of the House.”

Former African and African American Studies Professor J. Lorand Matory ’82, who chairs Duke University’s Department of African and African-American Studies, said that Sullivan is “warm, friendly, open, and accustomed to dealing with many types of people,” and is thus popular among his colleagues. Matory added that it was “important” to integrate Harvard’s graduate schools with the College population.

“I think lawyers serving as our new House Masters will let us sleep even more soundly at night,” said Michael C. Koenigs ’09. “Their understanding of the law would always be a benefit for sometimes lawless students.”

‘LONG OVERDUE’

Those “lawless students” will become a part of history next semester with the House Master appointments.

Undergrads had been advocating for diversity among House Masters prior to Robinson and Sullivan’s selection.

“There is a sense that it’s been long overdue,” Black Students Association president Timothy D. Turner ’09 said, noting that the BSA specifically spoke of the issue with Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds last November.

Hammonds reiterated her commitment to usher minority faculty into recently opened House Master positions in an interview with The Crimson in December.

In early February, Hammonds announced the conclusion of her search, and Sullivan said he accepted without hesitation, making the historic selection official the day after Hammonds offered him the position.

Sullivan and members of the administration pointed to a dearth of black professors among Harvard’s faculty, which presented the administration with a limited pool of minority candidates from which to choose House Masters.

Robinson and Sullivan emphasized the “honor” of the selection.

“We are humbled and happy that we have been selected at a time that seemingly breaks a barrier on the side of race,” Robinson said.

Stating that race is still a pervasive “issue” in the country and in higher education, Robinson added, “I don’t think Harvard would be left behind—it’s a leader on most issues.”

Although the selection represents a step forward in terms of race relations, Matory said certain problems persist.

“The term ‘Master’ does not invite everyone equally,” he said. “This term was alienating for me both as undergraduate and then as a professor. It’s deeply offensive to every black person I know on this campus.”

A GOOD FIT

To Robinson, Winthrop House represented Harvard’s progressive history and was emblematic of the University’s acceptance of diversity, as the House was the first to welcome Jews and Catholics.

For the couple, the opportunity to raise their son in a “rich, vibrant, engaging” community of undergraduates and graduate tutors was an added incentive.

But when it came down to making the decision, Sullivan says he simply felt it was right.

“It’s hard to give voice and vocabulary to it. It was a vibe. It felt comfortable,” he said. “I felt like it would be the perfect place for myself and my family.”

—Staff writer Bita M. Assad can be reached at bassad@fas.harvard.edu. —Staff writer Ahmed N. Mabruk can be reached at amabruk@fas.harvard.edu.