Fox, Dingman to Address Mather Crowding Problem

In response to student protests of housing overcrowding, Dean of the College John B. Fox Jr '99, and Thomas A. Dingman '67, assistant dean for the House system, will address Mather House residents in an open meeting on October 11.

In an unusually tight situation, 45 out of 55 suites in the low rise section of the House are suffering from overcrowding and compared to last year, 26 more suites are crowded, said assistant to the Master, Anne Aubrey.

"As many as 11 people are using one bathroom, and I suspect that's not true of any of the other Houses," she added.

An unusually low attrition rate prompted the crowding problem, said House Master Patricia A. Herlihy.

"It all things on the number of students not returning," said Herlihy. "What has to be addressed is how to eliminate this wildcard."

According to Mather House Council Chairman Adam J. Shulman '85, none of the juniors in the House were crowded last year, and the House masters' were working to eliminate crowding for sophomores as well.

Presentation

At the October 11 meeting. House Council members plan to present the deans with data obtained from the Housing Office showing Mather to be among the most crowded of the undergraduate Houses, second only to Winthrop, said Council treasurer Julie A. Froehle '86.

"We know there are openings in other Houses," said Shulman.

"Their (the Council's) intent is to make us aware of the difficulties which crowding has created in the House," Dingman said.

To this end, the Council has contemplated having dinner with the deans before the meeting in one of the "storage closets" which some students have been using as bedrooms in order to have a common room, commented Froehle.

The administration is well aware of the crowded living conditions in Mather, and the Committee on Housing has given the subject top priority, Dingman said.

Shulman, however, speculated that the problem would not be fully alleviated until next year.

According to Herlihy, crowding can only be ended by a system-wide change, such as readjusting current student population in each of the Houses.