Lewis suggests that this statistic is vindication that the much-criticized randomization scheme he fought for in his first few months as dean has actually worked out for the best.

"It seems that the problems confronting minority populations, such as African American students or gay and lesbian students, are now appreciated as the problems of each of the Houses, and not only the province of the Houses where those groups clustered in disproportionate numbers," Lewis wrote.

But Gusmorino says he is not sure randomization has been a cure-all for issues of diversity on campus.

"Students who are members of minority groups and want to self-segregate themselves feel they're being used as a means to an end, not as an end in themselves," he says, recalling one student's comment that minority students feel "sprinkled through the Houses like seasoning."

Ultimately, it was Lewis who implemented the hard-sell policy altering decades of Harvard housing tradition, and he acknowledges that randomization will continue to initiate debate for a long time to come.

His report identifies problems most students could list off on their fingers--advising problems, a major College space crunch and a decaying recreational athletic facility. And if the past is any guide, when Lewis puts problem areas in writing, administrative initiatives are soon to follow.