Swift To Leave Post As PSN Director

Public Service Network (PSN) director Meg Brooks Swift ’93 said last Tuesday that she will step down from her post next month.

Swift is one of two administrators overseeing Phillips Brooks House (PBH), an arm of the College that provides resources for public service programs.

Her resignation comes less than a year after the restructuring of PBH, which transferred power from a single PBH administrator to the directors of its two umbrella organizations, PSN and the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA).

Swift said that she will be leaving the College to work for the Klarman Family Foundation in Brookline, Mass., but she said that she hopes to return to Harvard in some capacity in the future.

“I have a young daughter, and the many evenings and weekends were getting harder to do as she got a little older,” Swift said yesterday. “The chance to work part-time for this foundation is good for the short-term.”

As director of PSN, Swift oversees about 35 other public service groups, as well as the Center for Public Interest Careers (CPIC). Swift also serves on several college-wide committees, including the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Standing Committee on Public Service.

Last November, Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd vacated the posts of PBH director and assistant dean of public service, leaving both Swift and PBHA Executive Director Gene A. Corbin to assume Kidd’s former responsibilities.

“When Dean Kidd was promoted to University Hall, Meg inherited many of her administrative tasks and was charged with working closely with me on these administrative tasks to ensure that the department supports all public service groups,” Corbin wrote in an e-mail.

These particular administrative changes expanded Swift’s role as PSN director and gave PBHA more say in the general direction of public service on campus.

Swift, a former social anthropology concentrator at the College, first assumed the post of director of PSN in February 2001.

“I had a really great experience as an undergrad, both through my time at PBHA and through other extracurricular work I’d done,” Swift said. “I really wanted to be involved in that again through a non-student capacity.”

According to Swift, PSN has seen its number of student groups expand from around 20 to 35 during her tenure.

Kidd, who founded PSN when she arrived at the College in 1996, said she and Swift have worked closely over the years, strengthening PSN and creating CPIC, which now serves more than 100 applicants a year seeking public service internships and fellowships.

Students and colleagues alike said that they will miss Swift’s cooperative approach.

“Meg is extremely committed to public service, incredibly capable, and possesses a naturally collaborative spirit,” Corbin wrote in an e-mail. “Meg has been the humble force that makes public service at Harvard possible, and I and many others will miss her greatly.”

“I think it’ll be somewhat hard in the interim,” said Megan E. Lebow ’06, an executive producer for CityStep. “There are a lot of things that Meg knows. Particularly with an organization like PSN, it’s hard to bring in new people because you need to bring in someone that knows the people and the area that they’re working with.”

PBHA president Shaw Natsui ’05-’06 said Swift’s absence will also have implications for his organization.

“Especially following the restructuring process, PBHA and PSN have had to work very collaboratively to figure out the best way to support public service at Harvard and make decisions that affect both PBHA and PSN programming,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Kidd said she will chair a search committee for Swift’s replacement. Corbin, as well as student leaders from PBHA and PSN, will interview finalists and give final recommendations, she said.

—Staff writer Margaret W. Ho can be reached at mwho@fas.harvard.edu.