One Master, Two Master, Old Master, New Master

This was the year of the secretive search. There were secretive searches for president and dean of FAS, of course. And the cult of secrecy even trickled down to the lowest of the high-level appointments: house masters.

When Alan C. Heimert '49 announced in February that he would resign from his role as master of Eliot House, the ensuing search had all the hallmarks of a typical Harvard selection: a tight-lipped advisory committee, frequently-made but scarcely-followed deadlines, and students left in the dark.

The Eliot search was the second of two house master searches conducted this year. In early November, popular professor Gregory P. Nagy announced that he would leave his Currier House post. A bit more lax than its Eliot House counter-part, the Currier search committee asked for student input at several house meetings. But it, too, tried to keep its actions under wraps. Representatives of both committees said they wanted to avoid embarrassing any candidates.

In early May, President Derek C. Bok revealed his choices from the short lists compiled by each committee. Eliot House will be led by Professor of Scandinavian and Folklore Stephen A. Mitchell, best known for his popular Core course, "Frozen Heroes." And Professor of Religion William A. Graham, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Affairs, will take the reigns of Currier House.

When these names were released, many Eliot students lamented that they knew nothing about Mitchell. And while Currier students said they appreciated the opportunity to influence the process, they, too, admitted that they knew little about their new master.

After some informal receptions and visits, Currier students had positive things to say about Graham, his wife, assistant director of the University Library Barbara S. Graham, and his three-year-old son.

Eliot students--also reporting good things about Mitchell, his wife Kristine L. Forsgard, and their three children--indulged in an end-of-the-year blowout that was a fitting tribute to the Heimert years. The last of the "old Harvard" masters went out with a bang, shelling out $4800 of his own money for alcohol at his final Eliot House Fete in May.