Tearing down the master's house—and rebuilding it

By Ewan MacDougall

"My theory is that one should teach what one loves through Mastering," Timothy Dwight Master Robert Thompson says. He has spent the 22 years of his reign as Master exposing TD-ers to his passions: "hip-hop, mambo, samba, jazz, and other world music." He doesn't have Master's teas ("It would be redundant: Master T. had a Master's tea! Give me a break. And tea is not my beverage," he says). Instead, he holds Chubb Fellowships, which focus on political and literary events, and open houses, weighted toward world music.

Yale cannot expect 12 Master Thompsons. But these days, many residential colleges can't expect much at all. With colleges like Davenport changing leadership every year—and a combined total of six Masters and Deans leaving various other colleges during this school year—many questions have recently been raised about the future of a vaunted Yale tradition.

Doing the math

According to Yale President Richard Levin, GRD '74, one would expect two Masters to leave the University per year. The number takes into account the fact that there are 12 colleges and that term lengths for Masters last five years. Similarly, Deans typically serve terms between three and four years, so it is fairly normal for two Deans to leave in each year. Both estimates assume that the influx of new Masters and Deans have been staggered relatively evenly.

This year, however, is exceptional. "Three [Masters leaving] is a lot. I've only had that many once before, and in the last three years, there's only been one each year," Levin said. But Mark Schenken, Associate Dean of Yale College and Dean of Academic Affairs, asserted that the numbers on the Deans were normal. "It's not unusual to have two Deans starting a year," he said. What seems unusual, then, is the slightly high Dean turnover coinciding with a high Master turnover.

Even if this has a negative impact on the lives of students, it is no big deal from an administrative view; new Deans are installed by a different process than the one that installs Masters. For new Dean appointments, students, fellows, and the college Master form a committee, interview those who apply for the opening, and make recommendations to Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, who, in turn, makes final appointments.

In the Master selection process, college councils nominate student members to a committee. Then, Levin said, "I ask the current Master to suggest members of the [college's] current fellowship, and ask the committee to consult with the Dean of the college about the Master appointment." President Levin makes the final decision after he gets the recommendations. Thus, the difference is that for new Dean appointments, there are actual applicants for the job, while in the case of Masters, the appointee is drawn from the members of a college's fellowship.

The consistency factor

Behind the structured processes, however, are the experiences of individual colleges. The situation for Davenporters is particularly severe. Besides losing Master Gerald Thomas at the end of the year, they will have their fourth Dean next semester in as many years. "It's difficult to have rotating Deans. We haven't had a constant administration," Candace Chen, DC '02, a member of the Davenport Activities Committee, said. "We constantly have to rebuild relationships. The Dean doesn't know your academic history or your interests, and we don't know the Dean well. We can't have a lasting relationship."

On the other end of the spectrum, Pierson Dean Christa Dove and Pierson Master Harvey Goldblatt have both been around for a long time. Manish Vora, a representative on the Pierson College Council, spoke fondly of Dean Dove. "We've developed a more than motherly relationship. We tell her stuff you wouldn't tell your mother." He thinks that much of the positive feelings depend on the fact that Dove has been with Pierson for many years. "We had goals freshman year that we can still work towards and trust that activities get done," he explained. Perhaps the surest sign of the Dean's good work is that "when people get in trouble, they go straight to the Dean," Vora said.

Branford has similarly experienced the benefits of consistency. "I can't imagine Branford without Master [Steven] Smith and Dean [Nicole] Parisier," Christopher Lee, BR '02, said. "It's helped the college go through what everyone would call a transition period, what with the year in Swing Space and continuing renovations." Especially after "hearing of all the resignations in other residential colleges," he said, "it's nice to know that Branford has reached a certain comfort zone."

A different perspective

The perks of having committed Deans and Masters are clear for students. The view from the other side, however, is more complicated. What do Deans and Masters gain from their position?

"It's an attractive job," Schenken said of being a Dean. "If you're somebody who recognizes that in teaching you teach a whole person, you see students' activities, get to know them outside the classroom, and eat with them. You see what student life is like, and most Deans value the perspective." But Schenken admitted that the job also has setbacks which could contribute to a high turnover rate. "Most Deans are in the middle of a career cycle. They've had some job experience and will eventually want to move on to something else after being Dean," he said.

A Master's position tends to differ. "Deans most typically are doctoral candidates who aren't on the tenure track as faculty; Masters are almost invariably tenured members of the faculty," Levin said. Still, Levin agreed with Schenken that there are sacrifices. "It's a rewarding job, and people love doing it, but it is asking people to leave their homes and move into a family of 400 students," he said. "Not everybody wants to do that and not everybody who wants to do that would be good at it." A dilemma emerges—constancy is important, but colleges do not want disaffected Masters and Deans with career frustrations. "You don't want people to last longer than their enthusiasm lasts," Levin said.

Changing faces

The departure of so many important figures of residential colleges does provide an opportunity for some innovation in the college system. One prime concern is the hiring of replacements from a variety of backgrounds. In the history of Yale, for instance, there has never been an Asian-American Dean or Master. "I would be thrilled if an Asian-American was chosen to join our committed group of Residential College Deans and Masters and bring unique experiences and skills to contribute to Yale College," Saveena Dhall, Assistant Dean in the Yale College Dean's Office and Director for the Asian-American Cultural Center, said. Having a diverse staff living in the residential colleges, she said, would benefit all students and not just students of color. "Deans and Masters are particularly important in this mission because they are so visible and interact so frequently with students."

"We've certainly exercised efforts to find Asian-Americans as well as African-Americans and Hispanics," Levin said, when asked of the lack of diversity on the current staff. He pointed to the fact that, with Masters, the Administration is working with a limited pool, which makes diversity difficult. "You have to recognize that we're drawing Masters—not exclusively, but in almost every case—from tenured faculty," he said.

In a time of flux, it is instructive to look back to the original conception of Masters and Deans. According to the introduction to the booklet "The Residential Colleges in Yale University," the reason for the implementation of the residential college system in the '30s was "to prevent [the undergraduate body] from becoming an amorphous mass in which the values would disappear." The Dean and Master of a residential college should "give the college a home-like atmosphere."

The Yale: A Guide to Yale and New Haven goes further on the roles of Deans and Masters. The Master is charged with "developing and enhancing the educational and social life of college to shape the character and moral tenor of college life." The Dean is the students' "chief academic and personal adviser," who is also "an experienced listener who can be trusted with confidence." The question remains whether Yale can fulfill these original promises while adapting to the changing face of the University community.

Graphic by Sarah England.

Photos of Davenport Master Gerald Thomas, Morse Master Stanton Wheeler, and Berkeley Dean Laurence Winnie by Tanya Palomo.

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