New Dean of the College Will Focus on Public Service Dean

When McKay Professor of Computer Science Harry R. Lewis '68 takes the helm as dean of the College July 1, he will usher in a new era at Harvard.

For the first time in more than 20 years, a faculty member will be in charge of Harvard College. That status, colleagues say, will give Lewis a unique perspective and possibly an advantage in managing the College's academic affairs.

"The Faculty of Arts and Sciences [FAS] is a self-governing body, and Dean Lewis is one of those enfranchised faculty members, and so he has a passport to speak to any educational issue that falls within the purview of the faculty," said Secretary of the Faculty John B. Fox Jr. '59. "I think faculty members have sometimes felt that deans who came up on the administrative side did not have such a passport."

Lewis' status as a faculty member is especially relevant because the College will embark next year on a review of its most central educational requirement--the Core.

"I really think that it will be a kind of a broad-based and multifold set of him to his new post," said Dean for Undergraduate Education Lawrence Buell. "It will be fruitful not only with respect to the role he may have in Core review but in other areas as well."

Lewis said he has mixed feelings about the way the Core is structured.

"My impression is that the Core is full of excellent courses--there is much better quality control than there was under the old [General Education] system by the time I started teaching in the middle [seventies]," Lewis said in an e-mail message last week.

"On the other hand, I don't think the Core is perfect for various reasons; for example, I think it's too bad there is not some better opportunity for progression of courses or taking advantage of prior knowledge within the Core," Lewis added.

"And I think it's too bad that courses in mathematics, technology and the like don't fit anywhere, though I know the Core was never meant to be all-inclusive," he said.

But Lewis hastened to add that these are opinions and not a formal plan.

"These are just some personal opinions at this point, not an agenda," he said.

Prevention of Alcohol Abuse

Next fall, Lewis will look into the College's alcohol policy in hopes of improving current prevention and treatment programs.

A reevaluation of the College's handling of drinking on campus was prompted in part by a recent study at 140 campuses throughout the nation reporting that nearly half of college students binge drink.

Henry Wechsler, a lecturer on social psychology at the School of Public Health, who conducted the study, found that 44 percent of students binge drink, or consume five drinks on a single occasion, at least once every two weeks.

"Just on the basis of the Wechler data and anecdotal information, I do consider the severe and extreme abuses of alcohol as dangerous for the students as affected as an important and serious issue for the College community," Lewis said.

"I don't think this is a simple problem with any single silver-bullet solution, and I will want to work with a variety of people at Harvard over the summer to develop a number of coordinated approaches to the problem," he added.

Lewis has already begun to consult with Director of the University Health Services David S. Rosenthal '59, who said he has tried to inform Lewis of the problems that the College faces in trying to curb campus drinking.

"I gave [Lewis] a lot of information and literature," said Rosenthal, who will continue to meet with Lewis over the summer. "I think our first meeting to discuss this was a very good one."

Rosenthal said that he is interested in focusing on prevention and dealing with the second-hand effects of underage drinking.

"[We] are trying to deal with the issues of more and more students that are having difficulty dealing with the second-hand effects of alcohol," said Rosenthal. "On the medical side, what we are trying to do is to help the College deal with the prevention issue."

Rosenthal suggests that a solely educational approach to underage drinking is not sufficient because students do not need to be told not to drink. Instead, the College should try to present alternatives to binge drinking for students.

"We know that teaching students about the adverse effects of alcohol--students don't need that," said Rosenthal. "[We are] trying to find acceptable alternative behavior."

Another difficulty the University faces in reshaping its alcohol policy is that state law prohibits College officials from suggesting alternative drinking strategies to students. The law mandates instead that Massachusetts colleges only advise their students to abstain from any use of alcohol whatsoever.

The Problem of Public Service

Lewis will also be charged with selecting a new assistant dean for public service and director of Phillips Brooks House (PBH), a position created by his Report on the Structure of Harvard College (please see story, page B-1).

The report, which he co-authored with Administrative Dean of the Faculty Nancy L. Maull, recommended fundamental changes to the structure of public service at Harvard: the creation of the assistant dean post and also of a faculty standing committee on public service.

But the search committee contains none of the faculty members PBH recommended.

"I never got an explanation of what happened," said Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities Robert Coles '50, one of the people the students on the PBHA (Phillips Brooks House Association) suggested. "I've wondered out loud and it has never been explained to me."

Since the search committee was still taking last-minute applications as of last week, the list of members will not be finalized before Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett steps down July 1.

Lewis will therefore have the responsibility of choosing a dean who reflects all the constituencies of the College.

"I'd like just to see that the best person for the job gets appointed and I have not been close to the search process so far," Lewis said.

Some student members of PBHA charge that the search process is merely a ruse to let go of Greg Johnson, the organization's director.

"I think this whole search process is illegitimate," said PBH Association Treasurer Andrew Erlich.

Lewis will have to grapple with the desire of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to impose order upon a program whose funding is often chaotic, and the desire of PBH students to maintain some sort of autonomy.

Totally Random

A perhaps less politically charged but just as controversial issue is Jewett's recent decision to randomize the first-year housing lottery (see story, page C-4.)

Next year, students in the class of 1999 will enter the housing lottery with 16 blockmates but will not, as in previous years, be allowed to list their top four choices. They will instead be randomly placed into one of the 12 undergraduate houses.

The Maull-Lewis report recommended complete randomization of the housing lottery.

Jewett says his rationale is one of diversity.

But 82 percent of students, according to an Undergraduate Council poll, are opposed to randomization. Thirty-seven percent, on the other hand, feel there is a greater need for diversity in the houses.

Many students who oppose randomization say they like being able to live with people who have interests similar to theirs. Others say they want to have freedom of choice. Still others assert that just because students of different backgrounds or races live next to each other does not mean they will become friends.

A protest on May 23 brought 200 people to University hall to rally against randomization.

Lewis wrote in an e-mail message last week, however, that the decision will stand, at least for a few years until the system is proven to succeed or fail.

"I have no immediate plans to reconsider Dean Jewett's decision on this, and I agree with his statement that the decision ought to stand for three or four years before it is evaluated," Lewis wrote.

Getting to Know You

In the upcoming months, Lewis plans to continue meeting with numerous University officials in hopes of solidifying his vision for the College.

"I've been getting to know many people associated with the College whom I did not already know, and getting to know many of them better," he said.

Lewis said that during the past semester he has attended Administrative Board meetings, met with leaders of student groups and met with several alumni groups.

Former Undergraduate Council Vice President Brandon C. Gregoire '95 said he does not think that Lewis has met with any council leaders, but is not sure.

"No one in our organization was consulted about the [Maull-Lewis] report suggestions," said Greogire. "I would hope that in the future, when they want to discuss council matters, they willconsult our leadership."

"[I hope that he will] just be willing to speakwith the leadership of the UC and have [an]open-door policy," said Gregoire.

Lewis may not yet have spoken to all theleaders he hopes to meet with, but he said thatwhat was meant to be some time away from Harvardhas become anything but that.

"What started out in January as a sabbaticalleave of absence has turned into a pretty fullschedule of finding out what people think aboutthe College," Lewis said.

Biography

Lewis attended the Roxbury Latin School from1959 to 1964. He is now president of the board oftrustees. Lewis, a mathematics concentrator,graduated from Harvard summa cum laude in1969 and wrote his senior thesis on the graphicaluses of computers.

After two years as a mathematician andcommissioned officer in the U.S. Public HealthService, Lewis spent another year traveling inEurope on Harvard's Sheldon Traveling Fellowship.

Lewis returned to Harvard in 1971 and earned amaster's degree in 1973 and a Ph.D. in 1974, bothin applied mathematics.

After receiving his doctorate, Lewis joined thefaculty as an assistant professor of computerscience, a post he held for four years beforebeing promoted to associate professor. In 1981, hereceived tenure.

He has served on University committees rangingin focus from athletics to information technology.

Lewis lives with his wife, Director ofAdmissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis '70, and twodaughters, Elizbeth, 16, and Anne, 10, inBrookline, Mass

"[I hope that he will] just be willing to speakwith the leadership of the UC and have [an]open-door policy," said Gregoire.

Lewis may not yet have spoken to all theleaders he hopes to meet with, but he said thatwhat was meant to be some time away from Harvardhas become anything but that.

"What started out in January as a sabbaticalleave of absence has turned into a pretty fullschedule of finding out what people think aboutthe College," Lewis said.

Biography

Lewis attended the Roxbury Latin School from1959 to 1964. He is now president of the board oftrustees. Lewis, a mathematics concentrator,graduated from Harvard summa cum laude in1969 and wrote his senior thesis on the graphicaluses of computers.

After two years as a mathematician andcommissioned officer in the U.S. Public HealthService, Lewis spent another year traveling inEurope on Harvard's Sheldon Traveling Fellowship.

Lewis returned to Harvard in 1971 and earned amaster's degree in 1973 and a Ph.D. in 1974, bothin applied mathematics.

After receiving his doctorate, Lewis joined thefaculty as an assistant professor of computerscience, a post he held for four years beforebeing promoted to associate professor. In 1981, hereceived tenure.

He has served on University committees rangingin focus from athletics to information technology.

Lewis lives with his wife, Director ofAdmissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis '70, and twodaughters, Elizbeth, 16, and Anne, 10, inBrookline, Mass