After over five years as Lowell House's senior tutor, Eugene C. McAfee will leave Harvard at the end of this academic year to join the ministry at St. Gile's Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Yesterday McAfee told students in his class, Religion 1496: "Light in the Darkness: Religious Faith and Secular Values in Contemporary Anglo-American Cinema," that the class would be his "swan song."

"There is no job in the world quite like senior tutoring," McAfee said in an interview. "It has been a privilege and an honor to serve Harvard College in this capacity and Lowell House to which I am devoted." McAfee became acting senior tutor in July 1995, and in 1996 he was reappointed as a permanent senior tutor.

In addition to his administrative duties, McAfee also is a lecturer for the committee on the study of religion.

McAfee was already Lowell House's senior tutor when Dorothy A. Austin and Diana L. Eck became Lowell's masters. Austin said that McAfee helped them adjust to their new roles.

Austin, who is also associate minister at Memorial Church, added that McAfee is a talented preacher.

"He is a man of sound judgement," Austin said.

Austin praised McAfee's approach to students, saying he knows almost all Lowell's residents personally.

Lowell House Committee Chair Kyle D. Hawkins '01 described how McAfee goes to great lengths to know about Lowellians.

For example, when Hawkins first met McAfee, McAfee already knew Hawkin's hometown and some of his hobbies.

McAfee also reads students' Harvard applications to become better acquainted with their interests, Hawkins said.

Students also noted his ability provide academic advice. Landys A. Lopez '01 said that McAfee was very helpful with scheduling.

A formal search for a replacement has not yet begun, and the masters said that it can sometimes be difficult to find someone who is willing to balance academic commitments with administrative work which a senior tutor needs to do.

"It will be hard to lose him," Eck said.