The title “house master” as used by generations of Ivy League students to describe their residential administrators is fast becoming an anachronism. Harvard University announced Wednesday that, in a spirit of diversity and “an inclusive community,” the term was being replaced with “faculty dean.” The title of “master” had come under fire by some students and others at Harvard and other universities, including Yale and Princeton, for conjuring connotations of slavery, although its roots are from centuries-old European terms for a teacher, chief servant or head of household. “Never before had the house leaders been so united in their belief that such a change is important to our efforts to create an intellectually, socially, and personally transformative experience for our students,” Michael D. Smith, dean of the Harvard faculty of arts and sciences, wrote Wednesday in a long, searching email to faculty and staff members and to students.

February 24, 2016 ・ From The New York Times