It's Been a Long Year, Fred

"WHAT DOES THE Dean of the College do?" might have asked present Dean L. Fred Jewett '57 during one of his briefing sessions with former Dean John Fox '59. "Oh, not much," Fox probably responded, "just go to a bunch of home hockey and basketball games--that way you can stay in touch with the students."

Since assuming the top position in the College's patriarchy, however, Jewett has been up to a lot more than simply attending home sporting games. Predictably, the new dean on the block initially tried to avoid any potentially divisive issues.

Take alcohol policy. "Take it" said Dean Jewett as he successfully dealt with one of the first issues facing the college this fall; "Take it to the Undergraduate Council for a while, then we can say we solicited some student input."

Jewett learned early on that a quick and easy fix to the student input problem was always the Council. Maybe it was better in the days when Fox got his input direct from Kirkland House--at least it was better as far as alcohol is concerned.

In the end the alcohol policy was really all things to all people. It gave the administration the ability to hide behind a shield of having a stated policy. It gave the students an opportunity to drink at college events. And it sure didn't hurt the poor guy in the Zone who sells fake IDs. 'Emergency identification cards' one of the signs reads. Sure is an emergency when you're stuck at a Leverett keg party and someone asks to see ID.

And for a real emergency we got Hurricane Gloria in October. The new dean was the one to close down the college, and therefore deserves the credit for the ensuing parties.

And talking of potential storms that end up fizzling out, there was the varsity football fall. Despite a promising season, Crimson's triumph turned out to be a flash in the pan as our football team lost The Game for the second year in a row. I guess the difference between Jewett's and Fox's cheering didn't change the team's success.

IN JANUARY, El Fred Jewett, as the CBS Evening News affectionately called him, was quickly thrust into a controversy which he had no initial role in. Leverett House's favorite master, John Dowling, had arranged for the construction of metal bars over a set of heating grates behind the house.

The Fred quickly became the apologist for the University's cold policy. But, behind the scenes he was also involved in the final resolution. By the time the grates were removed, everyone was relieved. Harvard's fair name left the media spotlight, the bums again had their sub-standard shelter, and Leverett students got charged up over an issue.

Certainly the exposure Harvard unwittingly gave the homelessness issue helped raise national consciousness. If Jewett tires of his U-Hall responsibilities, he knows he can be an effective consciousness if not conscience raiser on the national level.

By early February the year was looking pretty long. While drinking chocolate milk in one of the dining halls, Jewett must have been feeling slightly frustrated over his ability to deal with several of the campus's big issues. While professors were taking money from the CIA, alleged sexual harrassers were back and teaching, and a South African internship program was exposed to be a farce, Jewett was unable to deal with the growing student discontent caused by the issues.

Anything having to do with the faculty falls under the authority of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences A. Michael Spence. L. Fred has no authority over A. Michael, so he has to send any grievances with faculty members or faculty policy upstairs for a resolution.

Speaking of resolutions, Jewett has yet to resolve the controversy over the Committee on Rights and Responsibilites. After Jewett held many meetings with Council members, House Committee chairs and other students, he has managed only to convince the faculty council to set up yet another committee to look into the disciplinary system.

Jewett actually lucked out when you think of it. There were many times this year when anti-apartheid protesters might have gone so far as to provoke the University to unleash its infamous CRR. Luckily for Jewett and the protesters, this proved unnecessary.

Perhaps another tidbit of advice from Fox to Jewett might have been, "watch out for the spring, that's when all those radical types who hate the University emerge from the brick and ivy." Fox never really liked the Southern Africa Solidarity Committee, but then again I'm sure the feeling was mutual.

Despite the construction of several non-gothic structures outside his window, many of which clash with the Yard's normal appearance, Jewett has managed to keep a rapport with the protesters. Throughout the spring's long protest season, there were no serious confrontations, at least none worth trying to discipline anybody for.

As Jewett's first year comes to a close he must be wondering about a lot of the seemingly inexplicable events that happened: the sudden appearance of several new campus publications this spring; the K-school's award to an undistinguished attorney general; a contra's aborted speech attempt and subsequent half-baked success; Derek Bok's unfair electioneering in the Board of Overseers elections.

THE FACT is another year's over and next year won't be that much different because of it. Three-hundred and forty-nine years down, at least 349 more to go. Sure, Hurricane Gloria seemed important back in October, but except for some taped up windows, everybody forgot about it by November. Sure, Harvard made a mistake by putting the bars over the grates, but they'll make worse mistakes in the future.

As for Jewett, he's managed to swim along with the currents without making any major waves so far. And he got to go to some great hockey games.