Taking A Break From U-Hall

Assistant Dean of the College Karen E. Avery ’87 affectionately wipes the “sludgy“ nose of her two-month-old son and places him in the Gymini, where a toy rooster and other animals hang from two criss-crossing poles above him.

The baby is not amused.

“My daughter, she loved that thing,” Avery says, reminsicing about the hours of peace while her daughter Angela—now two years old—entertained herself inside the “activity mat.”

But her son—Avery David Chapman—is a bit more difficult to keep busy, she explains, as she speaks to him and her dog Bacchus in silly voices.

“This is what I do,” she says of her time at home. “I talk to an eight-week-old.”

Her days often extend to the wee hours of the morning and she finds herself tuning in to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” on Nickelodeon’s TV Land at 4 a.m.

“My days don’t really end because he doesn’t have a regular sleep schedule,”Avery says. “Literally, I’ve been only getting three or four hours of good sleep a night. That’s definitely sleep deprivation.”

The hours Avery keeps two months into her maternity leave are definitely a lot more like those of the average Harvard undergraduate than those of her colleagues back at University Hall.

But then again, Avery is not the typical Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) administrator.

“I think she’s the kind of person who is not afraid to think outside of the box,” says Associate Dean of College David P. Illingworth ’71, who has worked with Avery in the admissions and College dean’s office for 10 years.

Avery livens up a College administration in which she is one of the youngest deans and one of the only women. And she is one of the few administrators in the entire University who is known for her dynamic personality.

“She’s also the person who lights up the room when she comes in,” Illingworth says. “She has a wondeful personality and she exudes warmth, charisma and a sense of humor.”

A Working Woman

Avery’s characteristic warmth and sense of humor help with her job as the assistant dean of the College who deals with issues of co-education, sexual assault and harassment. She is also director of the Ann Radcliffe Trust.

As a liaison between women’s groups and the office of Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68—who in the past has clashed with women’s groups—Avery holds a sensitive position.

For the most part, she has satisfied both undergraduates and fellow deans.

“I feel like she does consider the opinions of undergraduates, especially when formulating her plans with the Ann Radcliffe Trust,” says Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) Co-President Natalia A. J. Truszkowska ’04.

Women’s Leadership Project Co-Chair M. Kate Richey ’03 says she sees Avery as an incredible resource—someone who is helpful and responsive.

“It’s nice to have someone that I can go to to sort of serve in that advisory role which I haven’t had in other campus organizations that I’ve participated in,” Richey says.

Truszkowska says Avery keeps in close contact with the women’s groups on campus through monthly meetings of the board of the Trust.

Illingworth agrees that Avery serves women well.

“I think she’s first of all very capable of what she does and I think she cares deeply about students,” he says.

Since Avery’s departure in December, Julia G. Fox, who is director of the Harvard Parents Association, has been taking on Avery’s duties.

“We all miss her,” Fox says. “Like any mother on leave, she has a lot to do. She’s in close touch with us here so its not as if she’s off the scene.”

And there has been quite a bit for Avery to keep up with.

Late last month, Lewis announced in his annual report on the College that there would be a change in way the College deals with allegations of sexual assault. Beginning in September, cases will first be evaluated and then—if they are deemed likely to be resolved—the Administrative Board will investigate.

Though Avery has not yet had the chance to read Lewis’ report, she says the new rule won’t affect her.

“My role is to be an adviser about the process and procedures in place,” Avery says. “My role doesn’t change in that regard.”

And this month—after a year and a half delay —The Women’s Guide to Harvard finally made its way to students.

Avery says she is “thrilled” the project is finally done but is not sure whether she will be able to find students who are interested in revising the book—which, on account of its delay, may soon be outdated.

“I don’t know its future,” she says. “Obviously it makes sense to revise it.”

Though Avery has tried to maintain contact with University Hall, sometimes news takes a while to reach her.

When asked about the resignation of Dean of FAS Jeremy R. Knowles, Avery was very surprised.

“Wow,” Avery says, as the four-day-old news sinks in. “He’ll be missed.”

While she often calls the office, she has yet to sort through a sizeable pile of mail, and she checks her e-mail only once a week.

“It’s hard to do it one-handed,” she says, explaining how she has to hold her baby while navigating her keyboard.

Motherhood

Since going on maternity leave, Avery doesn’t have much time for one-handed e-mailing anyway.

Her days at her Brookline home are spent tending to her two children, her husband Richard H. Chapman ’86 and her black-and-white, mixed collie-labrador.

Avery is also reviewing the third wave of applications for Trust grants and has attended the organization’s dinners.

“This time on leave I’ve been a lot more in touch,” she says. “This is my second child, so the whole having-the-baby thing is less shocking.”

Much of her time is spent running errands—picking up her daughter from daycare at 3 p.m. and going to doctor appointments.

During the car-ride home from daycare, Avery turns on the radio and encourages Angela to sing along to the music, Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me”—anything, she says, to not listen to Sesame Street.

“The weird thing,” she confides, “is that you look forward to things like going to CVS for free time.”

Avery’s lifestyle as a young mother contrasts with that of most College administrators—many of whom have older children or none at all.

But there’s one way in which Avery is similar to her colleagues—she has been at Harvard forever.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard in psychology and social relations in 1987. In 1990 she earned a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has been working at the College ever since, some 13 years.

Before Lewis appointed her an assistant dean in 1996, she was a freshman proctor, a senior adviser (now called assistant dean of freshmen), a Radcliffe administrative assistant and a senior admissions officer.

“It’ll be interesting to see if one day I’ll be able to cut the cord with Mother Harvard,” she muses.

Avery met her husband, Chapman, while she was an undergradauate. The couple has been together for 11 years and married for the past seven.

“He used to date my roommate,” she says of her Mather House days. “So you never know. Check out who your roommates are with.”

Harvard people and places also come up in conversation when Avery talks about her dog, King Bacchus. When she was a freshman proctor in the Yard, she acquired him through M. Suzanne Renna, now the associate director of the Bureau of Study Counsel.

She says upon returning from a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, she sat looking at all the Bacchus-labeled paraphernalia before her and came up with the name. (The “King” part was later added at the insistence of her mother who wanted to keep the tradition of having names beginning with “K” in the family. )

A Changing Harvard

Over the years, Avery says she has seen Harvard change significantly.

For one thing, the College’s rules regarding alcohol are now stricter—proctors manned the kegs when she was a first-year, she remembers.

Many of the developments, she says, have been for the better.

And she thinks the increased awareness of and attention to women’s issues is part of that improvement.

“Those issues were very much under the table,” she says. “I think there has been a big improvement—better education, better outreach.”

Avery will return to Harvard to work on those issues a couple of days a week starting April 29 and will go back full-time June 3.

She says Harvard gives its employees 13 weeks for maternity leave—and she is using her vacations to extend her absence to a five-month period.

“I like easing back into work,” Avery says. “I think it would be very strange to be home and then [all of sudden] be at work.”

When she returns, Avery says she will begin designing a new pamphlet for the Trust and will meet with the Sexual Assault Working Group. She says this group encourages students and administrators to comment on issues surrounding sexual assault.

The group will hold its fourth meeting in early April.

Avery also plans to start organizing the next Amy Smith Berylson ’75 Lecture. Past speakers have included Whoopi Goldberg and Martha Stewart.

This year’s lecture was cancelled due to Avery’s maternity leave.

Though Avery will not officially be back in her office for a while, she will be back in University Hall quite soon.

Avery will attend the Trust’s annual Winter Tea this Monday afternoon in the Faculty Room of University Hall—and this year, she’s bringing an extra guest.

—Staff writer Nalina Sombuntham can be reached at sombunth@fas.harvard.edu.