Mather House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. Opened in 1970, it is named after

Increase Mather Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and president of Harvard College for twenty years (1681–1701). He was influential in the admini ...

, a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who served as President of Harvard University from 1681 to 1701. Mather's Faculty Deans are Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan and Amala Mahadevan. Mather is known for its nineteen-story concrete tower built in a Brutalist style. Mather's blocky

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

reflects the anti-uprising

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

of the day of its construction. Mather residents are guaranteed single bedrooms for all three years of their residency. Mather's second building, a low-rise surrounding a

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

, has suites with large common rooms and small bedrooms, whereas suites in the high-rise have large bedrooms and no common rooms. Other than houses in the Radcliffe Quadrangle, Mather is the house farthest from

Harvard Yard Harvard Yard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the oldest part of the Harvard University campus, its historic center and modern crossroads. It contains most of the freshman dormitories, Harvard's most important libraries, Memorial Church, sever ...

, but the school provides regular shuttle service between the Yard and Mather's courtyard. Mather House was a favorite choice for hard-partying varsity athletes before housing assignments were randomized by the school. The house is known among students for its social life and a spacious, newly remodeled dining hall with a view of the

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

. Mather's

sister college In some countries, certain universities have a tradition of pairing their residential colleges or houses with one another. Colleges that are paired are referred to as sister colleges, and have a ceremonial and symbolic relationship to one another ...

Morse College Morse College is one of the fourteen residential colleges at Yale University, built in 1961 and designed by Eero Saarinen. It is adjacent to Ezra Stiles College and the two colleges share many facilities. The current Head of College is Catherine ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

History

Opened in 1970, Mather House is the most recently constructed of Harvard's houses. It takes its name from

, a Harvard alumnus and prominent

minister in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who served as the University's president from 1685 to 1692. The architectural firm that designed Mather House, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, is also responsible for the Art Institute of Chicago, the original campus of Stanford University (along with

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co ...

), the

Ames Building The Ames Building is located in Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes ranked as the tallest building in Boston from its completion in 1893 until 1915, when the Custom House Tower was built; however, the building was never the tallest structure in ...

, and the completion of Boston's Trinity Church.

Social life and the Lather

The open architecture of Mather's common spaces makes it easy to host social events. Mather's Housing Committee hosts happy hours every two weeks. In addition, the House hosts formal dances twice a year, as well as student-faculty dinners once a semester. Most prominent among Mather social gatherings is the Mather Lather, a College-wide foam party that takes place every spring in the dining hall. Since its first run in 2003, the Lather has grown in scope and fame, earning the attention of the Boston media and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. The Louie Cup is a year-long Olympics-like tournament of games that takes place in the House. Generally, an event is held every week in which one or more representatives of each team (comprising a group of 4-6, usually roommates) competes. The games include a pancake-eating contest, foosball, a dining hall version of

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bui ...

, and hot pepper-eating, as well as a wiffle ball home run derby, ping pong, Wii sports, dodgeball, and boggle. The events are open to the campus but tend to take place in Mather. The tournament is named after Louie's Superette, a convenience store across the street from Mather House, and a large quantity of alcohol is awarded to the winning team at the end of the spring semester. The house's well-known rivalry with Kirkland House has sparked heated exchanges of practical jokes and pranks. While Mather is generally seen as the instigator and aggressor, the rivalry began when a number of Mather students transferred to

Kirkland House Kirkland House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, located near the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was named after John Thornton Kirkland, president of Harvard University from 1810 to 1828. B ...

. Mather won the Harvard Green Campus Initiative Green Cup in 2006 and 2011 and the Greenest HoCo award in 2008. Mather House has recently won the Straus Cup in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years, Harvard's intramural sports championship prize.

Notable alumni

File:Cornel West 2008.jpg, File:Jeff Zucker, CEO of NBC Universal.jpg, File:John Palfrey-20080313.jpg, File:Conan O'Brien by Gage Skidmore.jpg, File:John Trasvina official portrait.jpg, Other notable alumni include

Michael Kinsley Michael E. Kinsley (born March 9, 1951) is an American political journalist and commentator. Primarily active in print media as both a writer and editor, he also became known to television audiences as a co-host on ''Crossfire''. Early life and e ...

, David Laibson, Nicholas Ciarelli, Sarah Haskins, Kimberly Marten, and Luis Ubiñas.

References

External links

Mather House official site

Mather Connect for Alums and Students
{{Harvard , state=expanded Harvard Houses Brutalist architecture in Massachusetts Residential skyscrapers in Massachusetts