One Year Later :

On Monday, September 12, 1977, President Bok ended a controversial and confusing 11-month search for a new athletic director at Harvard by naming John P. Reardon Jr. '60 to succeed the retiring Robert B. Watson '37.

Reardon assumed his new duties amid pressure to aid the formidable fund-raising task facing Harvard, which was in the midst of improving its athletic plant. The University community was also struggling with over-crowded facilities burdened by the ever-increasing interest in athletics.

Now, almost one year later, Jack Reardon has begun to settle into the business of trying to administrate and fund Harvard athletics. But he still faces daily dilemmas; and in an interview this week, he shared some of the following thoughts on his position atop the Crimson athletic world.:

For Jack Reardon, 12 months as the Harvard athletic director has been only a beginning.

"I thought the job would be complex," he admits, adding that his duties involve a certain amount of diplomacy.

"A head coach feels there is nothing more important in the world than his sport," he says. The one-time manager for the Harvard football team during his undergraduate days in Cambridge says he is faced with a "challenge in logic" each time he negotiates with a coach.

He explains that a coach will come to him with requests for some equipment or funding and as athletic director he may have to provide reasons why those requests can't be met.

"But for every reason why not, they'll give your 42 reasons why," Reardon jokes. "Sometimes this place is more like a business than I though it would be. You just have to say no sometimes," he explains, referring to his responsibility for the budget. Reardon says that as a consequence of being forced to withhold funds at the end of a year "probably less people like me than did a year ago."

But Reardon seems comfortable with his position at the head of an athletic department that aims to stress participation of the masses more than success of the gifted few. He holds a special regard for the ideal Harvard athlete--the one who finds a balanced lifestyle with sports as a part of the university experience.

"I just hope no one makes the decision to come to Harvard for athletics per se. I hope athletics doesn't get in the way of studying," he says. "I worry about kids who comes here with inflated opinions of themselves as athletes. They don't make it on the fields, and they often end up as just average students. These are some of the most unhappy people I've seen. They just don't adjust and end up hanging out at Charlie's Kitchen for four years."

But Jack Reardon aims to provide a program that will satisfy the athletic appetites of all types, from the intercollegiate addict to a once-a-week jogger. And as athletic director, Reardon, from Day One, has been grappling with the problem of providing enough room for all athletes to pursue their pleasures.

He has been caught in the middle of the on-going expansion of athletic facilities here, and he seems pleased with much of the progress during his tenure.

"We've just begun work on the ice rink, and it's a little bit frightening seeing all those holes blown in the walls," Reardon said. "But we'll rebuild it in a manner that won't remind us of what we had there. Maybe the heat will even work."

The $2.8 million renovation of Watson Rink, Reardon estimates, should be completed by April 1979; and although the rebuilt facility was an alternative to a more expensive new rink that was originally planned, Reardon is pleased with the renovation.

Aside from resurfacing the Palmer-Dixon courts and completing minor refurbishments of the indoor track and tennis building, Reardon has presided over the renovation of the Dillon Field House, now almost completed. Despite those pleasantries, one amenity eludes his grasp: a new basketball facility.

'Outasight'

"The IAB has just been an out-a-sight situation. The typical high school student often has better floor space," he admits. He hopes with some aid from a major fund drive by the University, currently just in the planning stages, Harvard can soon afford a new basketball arena--a three court affair, with a minimum seating capacity of 2000.

But as Reardon says, "Money is the key" in this area.

Reardon's concern for adequate floor space in many ways reflects his desire to encourage and accomodate all students in the University who want to participate in athletics.

Athletes Galore

"Nowadays, everyone thinks of himself as an athlete in some fashion," Reardon says. But he notes that the major growth in the number of athletes at Harvard has come--especially during the last year--because of the explosion in women's athletics.

"There are just more women coming in with strong athletic backgrounds," he says, adding that early training soon will change the role of Harvard women in the athletic world.

Reardon says that while in the past some women came to Harvard and did well on two or three teams, the rise in the number of skilled women athletes will make the two or three-sport star more scarce.

"Only the unusual athlete will play two sports successfully," Reardon predicts.

Bit of Wisdom

Reardon acknowledges the intense seriousness of many athletes and coaches with a bit of reserve--perhaps it is wisdom. He sits back in his cozy, padded arm chair in his 60 Boylston St. Office and says, "I took this job because I think the athletic program is important. It should be well run and well represented in the community.

"But I think some of our students and others in the athletic department can take themselves too seriously at times. When it comes down to it, (sports) is still a game--though a great one; and it's possible to overdo it and overplay it."

Reardon says one needs perspective and balance; he readily admits his job has helped him find that tempered view.

"I suppose if I were at Notre Dame I'd have a different perspective," he suggests. "But then again, that'd be a different world."