Leverett House

Leverett House
Residential House at Harvard University
The Leverett House Crest
University	Harvard University
Location	28 DeWolfe Street
Coordinates	42°22′12″N 71°07′03″W / 42.3701°N 71.1174°W / 42.3701; -71.1174Coordinates: 42°22′12″N 71°07′03″W / 42.3701°N 71.1174°W / 42.3701; -71.1174
Full name	John Leverett House
Established	1931
Named for	John Leverett
Sister college	Timothy Dwight College
Freshman dorm	Greenough Hall
Faculty Deans	Howard and Ann Blake Georgi
Dean	Bilal A. Malik
HoCo chairs	Alec Reed and Celeste Mendoza
Website	leverett.harvard.edu

Leverett House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It is situated along the north bank of the Charles River in Cambridge and consists of McKinlock Hall, constructed in 1925, two 12-story towers completed in 1960, and two floors of 20 DeWolfe Street, a building Leverett shares with two other houses at Harvard. It has the largest student population within the Harvard house system.

The bulk of McKinlock Hall consists of 5 entryways, each of which leads to four or five floors of suites for approximately 35 students. McKinlock also serves as the center of Leverett social life: it houses the Leverett Dining Hall, the Junior and Senior Common Rooms, the Old Library Theatre, the Master's Residence, and several other common spaces.

The Leverett Towers (commonly referred to as F- and G-Tower since the entryways in McKinlock span A-E), on the other hand, serve a primarily residential function. Each tower consists primarily of singles and doubles and holds approximately 150 students. The top floors of the towers - especially those facing south - boast outstanding views of the Boston skyline and the Charles River for the students lucky enough to live there. The ground floor of G-Tower features a common area that house residents have nicknamed the "G-spot," although the space goes largely unused due to its poor design. The ground floor of F-tower includes class and meeting spaces as well as several house offices. Between the towers and McKinlock sits the Leverett Library, which was constructed along with the towers and has won awards for its innovative design. The ground floor of the library building houses the superintendent's office.

The top floors of 20 DeWolfe Street were annexed by the house in fall of 2007. Originally intended for faculty or graduate students, the DeWolfe suites offer more modern amenities than those available in either McKinlock or Leverett Towers, but those amenities come at the cost of tighter living conditions.

Leverett House was named after John Leverett (whose grandfather, John Leverett had been the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony), who was President of Harvard from 1708 to 1724. Leverett's election was one of the significant turning points for Harvard, for every President before him had been a clergyman. Leverett was a leader of the liberal movement in the Congregational Church and he opposed the powerful clergymen Increase and Cotton Mather, who had attempted to impose upon the College a new charter containing a loyalty oath that would have refused appointment to the faculty of anyone not willing to acknowledge the primacy of Biblical scripture. Leverett, during his tenure as president, improved the quality of instruction in the College and maintained the position of Harvard in the critical years when Yale was becoming a formidable rival.