Wisdom Dispensed From Mount Harvard's Peak

For an institution so widely perceived as a bastion of liberalism, many have suggested that Harvard is run in a shockingly undemocratic fashion.

The University, which in recent years has featured Commencement speakers from nascent Third World democracies, such as Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir P. Bhutto '73, is ruled by a seven-member, self-perpetuating clique called the Corporation.

The Corporation, the oldest corporation in the Western Hemisphere, is so secretive that it has met with an undergraduate delegation only three times in its centuries-old existence.

But while the people at the peak of Mount Harvard--like President Derek C. Bok--are much too busy and important to speak to you, in their infinite wisdom they have assembled a cast of less luminous, but always smiling, characters to handle undergraduate concerns.

These officials, such as Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 and Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, are much more friendly and accessible than their bosses. Jewett and Epps are great if you want to get approval to hang up a flyer or if you have a problem with the housing lottery. But when it comes to affecting real change at the nation's oldest university, these two are helpless.

Have a problem with the way Harvard runs its $4 billion endowment? That's part of the Corporation's job description.

Want to change the way Harvard grants lifetime positions to professors? You better see Dean of the Faculty A. Michael Spence.

But Spence, the second highest official at the University, could easily do one of those American Express comercials, "Hi, you don't know me, but I run the largest and most prestigious of Harvard's nine faculties..."

As Corporation member Henry Rosovsky reportedly once said to a group of undergraduates, "You will be here for four years. I will be here all my life. Harvard will be here forever."

Get the picture, you uppity would-be reformers?

The President

Bok has run Harvard since 1971, and it seems that every year the rumors of his impending resignation get louder and louder. But year after year Bok defies the gossipers and keeps right on going.

Bok took the reigns of power from former President Nathan M. Pusey '28 in the wake of nearly riotous student protests which brought the University to a stand-still in the late 1960s.

Bok was perceived as a liberal and, as dean of the Law School, had reportedly advised Pusey to take a moderate course in his dealings with the protesters.

Pusey ignored Bok's advice and used riot police against the students. And despite Bok's reputation as dean, some say that as president, he too has been unwilling to listen to those who disagree with Harvard's policies.

For example, he has adamantly refused to sell off the University's portfolio of stocks in companies that do business in South Africa--which now totals $168 million--despite widespread student demands.

Some have suggested that Bok's refusal to divest makes hypocritical his constant calls for the teaching of ethics in universities. But others respond that the president's investment policies fit neatly into his character, which an associate once described as that of a "rationalist philosopher," and others have called just plain stubborn.

Bok, once listed in a magazine as the 20th most powerful American outside of government, is a leading advocate for higher education in the country and often clashed with former Secretary of Education William Bennett.

Keep in mind that Bok is president of Harvard University, not Harvard College. Even though his office is smack-dab in the middle of the Yard, Bok runs the entire mammoth institution, which includes a $4 billion endowment and eight graduate schools.

He also has final say over every single appointment of a tenured professor or an administrator in the University. That's power, folks, and Bok has been known to exercise it, sometimes nixing tenure candidates that departments desperately wanted.

So, you'll understand, of course, if Bok can't rap with you every now and then about your first year gripes.

The Corporation and the Overseers

Under the University's charter, all of its resources are technically owned by the Corporation, a.k.a. the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Drawn from academia, the law and business, the seven members of the Corporation run Harvard. And when one dies or steps down, the remaining six get together to choose a new chum to sit on the board.

Many have said that such a system ensures that the Corporation remains a closed, secretive body, and until this year critics were in the habit of pointing to the fact that no woman or minority had ever sat on the board.

But last February, Judith Richards Hope, an attorney and consummate Republican party insider, became the first woman to join the Corporation. Does the Hope appointment signal change in the way Harvard runs itself?

Many cynical Harvard watchers took little solace and pointed to the words of former Corporation member Andrew Heiskell, who said, "I suppose one says 'lady and gentlemen' instead of 'gentlemen,' but [otherwise] I don't think it makes that much difference in today's world."

The Board of Overseers, which is elected by all Harvard graduates, is the University's other governing body, at least in theory. The Board is supposed to advise the Corporation on major decisions, but historically the 30-member body has had all the spunk of a geriatrics ward after 10 p.m.

The last four years, however, a pesky group called the Harvard Radcliffe Alumni Against Apartheid (HRAAA) has shaken things up a bit by nominating its own pro-divestment slate of candidates to oppose the official candidates nominated by the Alumni Association.

Harvard took off the kid gloves during this year's overseers race after HRAAA nominated South African Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu. Despite apocalyptic predictions by some Harvard officials and alumni, Tutu was elected to the Board and became its fourth HRAAA member.

The question now is whether Tutu will actually make the long journey from South Africa to attend Overseers meetings.

Vice Presidents

If Bok were Robin Hood, then Vice President and General Counsel Daniel Steiner '54 would be Little John. Of course, Bok does not go around robbing rich people (unless you count fund-raising), and Steiner is more likely to stun opponents with a deft thrust of the law than the blow of a quarter staff.

As Harvard's chief attorney and the man who many say does Bok's dirty work, Steiner is a familiar face at student protests where he directs the official University response.

And when Harvard goes to war with the City of Cambridge, as it is wont to do, Steiner leads Harvard's cadre of lawyers into battle.

Until recently, Steiner was Harvard's chief union buster as well. For 15 years he successfully prevented the University's support staff members from organizing into a union.

But, alas, the attack dog was pulled off the job during the most recent union campaign because, as rumor has it, he was seen as too much of a bad guy. Without Steiner leading the opposition, the union won, and the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers now represents the University's 3400 support staff.

Down the hall from Steiner's office in Mass Hall is that of Vice President for Community and Government Affairs John Shattuck, whose job it is to represent Harvard before the Real World.

The former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union has made quite a splash in Washington, tirelessly campaigning for more access to classified information and for more student financial aid.

But closer to home, where Cambridge residents daily face the affects of living in a town dominated by two mammoth and growing universities, Shattuck has a tougher time putting a smiling face on Harvard policies.

Harvard's chief technocrat is Robert Scott, vice president for finance, who is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of Harvard's endowment.

Sally Zeckhauser had a reputation as the head of Harvard's sprawling real estate operation as a go-getter, but she is now vice president for administration, and no one knows exactly what someone in that position is supposed to do.

Zeckhauser, Harvard's first female vice president, took over from Scott in a major Mass Hall reshuffling two years ago.

And the man in charge of the all-important fundraising wing of the University is Vice President for Alumni Affairs Fred L. Glimp '50, a former dean of the College. Glimp's job should soon become considerably tougher as Harvard prepares to launch the most ambitious fundraising campaign ever waged by a university.

The Faculty

For undergraduates, Mass Hall might as well be a top-secret military installation--you won't get inside no matter how hard you try.

You might think you'd have better luck across the Yard at University Hall, the home of the administration of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). It is true that the people who run FAS are one bureaucratic layer closer to students, but that does not mean they are necessarily eager to cater to the needs of undergraduates.

The FAS administration is too busy maintaining the high quality of its 800-member teaching staff and overseeing its $200-million operating budget.

Dean of the Faculty Spence, a widely respected economist specializing in industrial organization, has devoted much of his first five years in office to reforming FAS's age-old tenure system.

Spence believes that for Harvard to remain tops in an increasingly competitive market for scholars, it must attract high-quality junior professors. And to attract high-quality junior professors, the University must give them a better chance at receiving lifetime posts here.

Makes sense, right? But change is a painfully slow process in the tradition-bound FAS, and Spence's plan to tenure more junior faculty has yielded few tangible results.

Some have even begun to question the ability of Spence, only 42 when he became dean, to implement his plan. But few are willing to write off the boyish-looking former Princeton hockey star that easily.

Spence has already appeared on presidential search lists at Princeton and the University of Michigan. And when Bok steps down sometime during the next few years...?

Spence's chief advisers are Associate Dean for Academic Planning Phyllis Keller, who is in charge of faculty hiring and recruitment strategies, and Associate Dean for Administration Robert A. Rotner, FAS's financial trouble shooter.

The closest most undergraduates will get to the FAS administration is Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education David Pilbeam, who by virtue of his title is obligated to spend some time with students.

Pilbeam, a member of the Anthropology Department, heads up the Committee on Undergraduate Education, a body composed of professors and students which advises the full Faculty on education policy issues.

The College

We've finally made it to the level of the moderately accessible administrator. The powers-that-be would love it every student glided through their four years at Harvard never cognizant of any official higher than those at the College level.

And many Don't Worry, Be Happy undergraduates will do just that.

The College deals with the mundane, day-to-day concerns of undergraduates, like discipline and the annual housing lottery.

At the top of the College bureaucracy is Dean of the College Jewett, who is rumored not to have left Harvard for more than a week and a half since he enrolled at the College 36 years ago.

Jewett always looks like he's about to fall asleep, and he wears rumpled, baggy suits.

But don't be deceived by Jewett's disheveled, comfortable appearance. Part of his job is to sit at the head of the 25-member Administrative Board, which disciplines students guilty of "conduct unbecoming of a Harvard student." You don't want to meet Jewett at an Ad Board hearing.

Jewett should be at the center of attention this year as he pushes through a plan to partially randomize the lottery which allocates upperclass housing, despite opposition from most students and even a few house masters. Jewett will certainly be assisted in the task by Assistant Dean for the Housing System Thomas A. Dingman '67.

For a fun time, drop by Dean of Students Epps' office hours. He holds them every Thursday afternoon, and you'll be able to experience first hand Epps' funny accent and taste in clothes. The dean has an affinity for pinstripe suits, floppy hats and a red carnation.

Epps is also in charge of a wide range of tasks servicing the student body, ranging from officially recognizing student organizations to bailing undergraduates out of the Cambridge city jail.

Hilda Hernandez-Gravelle, the College's assistant dean for minority affairs, last spring organized Harvard's first-ever racial sensitivity week, an event she plans to make a yearly tradition.

And especially for Yardlings, there is Henry C. Moses, dean of first-year students. He oversees proctors and senior advisers, but you'll probably remember him best for the strange speech he usually gives at the opening exercises during Orientation Week.

Radcliffe

You might think that in an article about administrators at the University, the President of Radcliffe should be described right after the President of Harvard. Women undergraduates are technically enrolled at both Harvard and Radcliffe right?

But Radcliffe is no normal college. In fact it's not really a college at all.

New Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson is also at the bottom of this article because no one really knows much about her.

Wilson, a University of Michigan administrator, was not even considered for the Radcliffe presidency until several candidates on the initial search list had asked not to be considered. She is a chemist by training, and some expect her to be an advocate for increasing the numbers of women in science.

Wilson, who replaced Matina S. Horner last week, should be a lot more accessible to undergraduates than Bok is, probably because she has a lot more free time.