Deming Says Future of Phillips Brooks House Faculty Director Position Remains Uncertain

Harvard College Dean David J. Deming said in a Tuesday interview that he had yet to decide whether he would appoint a new faculty director of the Phillips Brooks House after the former director stepped down this summer.

Deming confirmed that PBH would continue to have a director, but said its future leadership structure remained uncertain. Associate Dean of Civic Engagement and Service Travis A. Lovett is currently serving as director.

PBH underwent an administrative overhaul this summer alongside the College as a whole during the Faculty of Arts and Sciences workforce planning process, a broad restructuring aimed at centralizing administrative functions and reining in an estimated $365 million structural budget deficit.

On Tuesday, Deming said that he had yet to settle on a long-term vision for PBH, though he reiterated his commitment to public service programming.

“I think it’s fair to say we need a little time to let things settle and figure out what the forward-looking vision for it is,” he said. “And that’s true for other offices in the College too.”

Former faculty director Julie A. Reuben left her position at PBH in June, though her departure was unrelated to the restructuring. Reuben was the inaugural faculty director, appointed in 2019 by then-College Dean Rakesh Khurana in an initiative to integrate academic and co-curricular public service offerings.

That programming was divided in the summer’s overhaul, which brought the bulk of PBH programming under the Dean of Students Office while shifting oversight of the Mindich Program in Engaged Scholarship to the Office of Undergraduate Education. Eleven of PBH’s 23 staff positions were affected by the restructuring.

On Tuesday, Deming pushed back on the suggestion that the overhaul reflected a shift in the College’s commitment to public service, noting that many of the affected positions had been moved rather than eliminated.

“That ‘moving around’ affected a lot of positions. But it’s not the case that there’s less public service activity happening. There’s just as much as there was in the past, and we’re still very committed to public service,” he said. “Nearly half of Harvard College students do public service while they’re here. I’m very proud of that, and I hope that continues and even grows.”

The Phillips Brooks House Association, the student volunteer arm of PBH, reported its highest number of volunteers this fall since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Deming said Tuesday that the College as a whole had been left in “preservation mode” after the summer’s staffing cuts, noting that roughly one-third of the restructuring cuts had occurred within the College.

“I think it’s important for us to just make sure we can do the things we did before,” he said, adding that administrators could then turn to developing a “forward-looking vision.”

He also acknowledged that the transition to a new administrative structure had been difficult, particularly for staff.

“It’s been really hard. Honestly, I think staff feel stretched. They feel a lot is being asked of them, and I know that they know that,” he said.

“I think it’s fair of them to say, ‘Okay, we’re doing our part, and you know, you, the dean, and the leadership of the College have to do your part to support us,’” Deming added. “And I’m committed to doing that, and that’s an ongoing process.”

—Staff writer Sebastian B. Connolly can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at sbc.23. Follow him on X @SebastianC4784.

—Staff writer Summer E. Rose can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ser.85. Follow her on X @summerellenrose.