INTER-HOUSE TRANSFERS

One of the rules rather rigidly enforced by the House Masters is that prohibiting students from transferring from one House to another after the first year of residence. The reason for this rule is clear. The Masters are anxious to preserve the unity and identity of their various Houses, to prevent them from degenerating into more dormitories. This anxiety is commendable enough and the Masters are quite justified in discouraging wholesale migrations from one unit to another.

In the enforcement of a rule which as a general principle is irreproachable, the Masters have gone to extreme lengths, laying a strict ban on inter-House transfers. The result has been a hardship imposed upon a considerable number of men. If a resident has good reasons for wanting to move to another House, and if no one is inconvenienced by the transfer, it is foolish to allow vague conceptions of House spirit to stand in the way. In a year of depression it argues a certain stubbornness for Masters to refuse permission for inter-House transfers to men who can secure cheaper rooms or more satisfactory room-mates by making the change.