Alums Who Never Left the Arms of Mother Harvard

While many of the members of the class of '92 can't wait to embark on life outside the University, four members of the class of '67 never left Harvard Yard.

It's not unusual for Harvard administrators to be graduates of the College. But an unusual number of the University's deans and directors are members of the class of '67. For them, working at the University is in many ways a fulfillment of the promise of the '60s.

Thomas A. Dingman '67, associate dean of the College for house life, said it is not surprising that students from '67 returned as faculty. The class presaged a period angered by the establishment, moved by passion and looking for change.

Although Dingman and the other administrators were a part of the anti-establishment movement of their college days, they said their work within the institution does not contradict the ideals they held as students.

According to Dingman, his work in the admissions office, in the House system as a senior tutor and now as an associate dean shows an old commitment to social services.

"Working at Harvard is an important opportunity to act on the values many of us held dear in '60s," says Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67.

As a graduate student in the School of Education, Fitzsimmons' research addressed issues of social inequalities. The dean says his current job in the admissions office reflects his goal to lessen inequality, although he has been sharply criticized of late for presiding over admissions policies which still give preferences to children of alumni.

The movements of the '60s--the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and the women's movement--impacted, and continue to impact, many of the members of the Class of '67.

Dudley F. Blodget '67, director of developmental and external relations at the School of Education, says many of his classmates have sought non-traditional lives in order to retain the values of that era.

"Those were pretty heady times," Blodget says.

This commitment is one that the students of today have built upon, according to Fitzsimmons.

"The experiences we had in the '60s raised a lot of issues of involvement," Fitzsimmons says. He adds that today's students are every bit as serious, if not more.

According to Fitzsimmons, Philips Brooks House and student government are much more active today than 25 years ago.

Sixty percent of the undergraduates now participate in social service activities.

Blodget says he remains awed by the changes that have taken place since he passed through tercentenary Theater.

"I'm always startled by the power of the development of each successive class," Blodget says.

Fitzsimmons stresses the importance of the College's aggressive multi-cultural recruiting. He decided to return to promote the dramatic diversification of the student body that took place since 1967.

"Harvard wasn't nearly as good as it is today," Fitzsimmons says.

Of the graduating students from Fitzsimmons' class, only 3 percent were members of minority groups. And women accounted for only one out of every four students 25 years ago, while the Class of '96 is 44 percent female.

The number of students on scholarship aid also increased from 25 to 45 percent.

Today, well over two-thirds of the Class of '96 hails from the public school system, compared to only half in '67. This shift corresponds also to the expanding geographic spread of the student body pool, away from the Northeast and out West.

"The Class of '67 stands in awe of the Class of '96," Blodget says. He says he wonders whether the graduates of his class could be accepted under the College's new standards.

"It's more difficult to get in now," Fitzsimmons says. Fewer students are admitted now than were accepted in '67, he says.

But along with the diversification, Dingman says massive bureaucratization has occurred since his student days.

"The place has gotten much more complicated," Dingman says.

Paradoxically, he says the University has also increased support systems for students, raising the level of contact between students and administration.

The advising system is one layer of the new bureaucracy that has fostered a more open and consultative atmosphere on campus.

"The complexity of the organization, the scope of the work, and the growth of he graduate schools has transformed the administration," says Harvey V. Fineberg '67, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health.

The class of'67 that remained at the University sees an institution that has changed dramatically. But it is one that still reflects the hopes of their undergraduate years.

"Harvard has changed a lot in some ways and has remained a real constant too," Fineberg says.