Dear Mather,
Welcome back! We hope that your summer was sunny and restful, and that you are ready for a new and exciting academic year. We offer you here the highlights of a very busy summer at Mather, and review the opening House events for 2009-2010:
Mather Summer News
• Outgoing Tutors: we bade farewell to a number of devoted resident tutors this past June: Kate Drake, Mireya Nadal-Vicens and Joseph Ronayne, Sara Shehabuddin, Saritha Tice, and Mark Winkler. Mireya and Joe remain with us as non-resident tutors in medicine and business.
• Incoming Tutors: we welcome with pleasure new resident tutors Peter Carolan, Jennifer Hou, Tony Jack, Shayak Sarkar, Jennifer Siegel and Sara Watson. Peter serves as a tutor in medicine; Jen H. is a tutor in physics & chemistry and fellowships; Tony is a sociology tutor; Shayak tutors in economics & fellowships; Jenn S. serves as a tutor in law; and Sara is a tutor in English. We have also hired new non-resident tutors, including several Mather alumni, in business, education, government, law, medicine, African-American studies, public policy and health.
• Tenants: Mather rents apartments to Harvard affiliates. This year, we welcome Bill Mitchell, a fellow of the Shorenstein Center at the Kennedy School; Dr. Floretta Boonzaier, Mandela fellow/Du Bois Institute; Gene Gibbons, Shorenstein Center (SP ’10); and Mandela fellow Dr. Zimitri Erasmus (SP ’10).
• Mather On-line: over the summer, Yuhki Yamashita, Mather ’11, and res’ tutor Tommy Liem have been working on a new Mather website, which will launch in September; the new site will include an on-line room reservations system. Also, this year the Mather Facebook is only available on-line, but it is as attractive and complete as previous years’ paper copies. We thank Matherites Charlie Schaub ’11, and Joe Tobias ’10 for their hard work, again under Tommy’s supervision.
• Physical plant: despite the budget crunch, Mather saw a good deal of work on the buildings this summer. We complemented the Tower sprinkler system with a similar installation in the Low-Rise and Common areas, and installed new suite fire-door alarms. We replaced the skylights and roof above the main dining hall and private dining rooms A & B, upgraded the SCR kitchen, and did routine maintenance throughout the complex—carpentry, plumbing, painting, drape cleaning, window blind and screen repair or replacement—and patched the concrete pathways in the courtyard.
• Mather Library: the installation of a card reader outside the Mather Library allows us to make that facility accessible 24/7 to Mather residents. A student librarian will be on duty 8 pm-12 am daily to help residents check out books, films, board games, and other library holdings; games equipment (pool, ping pong, etc.) is available in the corresponding commons area. We have also opened the door between the computer room and the library, for easier access to both spaces.
Mather Dates
• Dining Hall: Mather dining hall opens on Saturday, Aug. 29, 5:15 pm, for dinner.
• Entryway Meetings: entryways meet on Monday, Aug. 31. We ask that all students attend these meetings. Check posters in your entryway for time and place.
• Sophomore/All-House Outing: our annual Sophomore Outing is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5, to Blue Hills Reservation. This year, we’ve opened the event to juniors and seniors as well, so that the classes can meet one another for hikes, swimming, a picnic, and games, 10 am-4 pm. Contact Jane Manners (jmanners@fas) for more information.
• Open House: our first Open House of the year takes place on Labor Day, Sept. 7, 8-9 pm, in the Masters’ residence. We offer you good food and good cheer.
• Sophomore Welcome: we officially welcome the Class of ’12 on Thursday, Sept. 17, with a reception in the Masters’ residence at 5:30 pm and dinner in the dining hall at 6 pm. We hope all sophomores will join us: watch your mail for an invitation.
We look forward to meeting our new Matherites and seeing many familiar faces in the weeks and months to come. Here’s to a good year for all!
Best Wishes,
Sandra Naddaff and Leigh Hafrey
Co-Masters