"Whenever I've come to him with something, he'salways been responsive," Offut says.
In addition to holding weekly office hours,Jewett regularly attends student events, includinghockey games, and canoften be found visiting teamlocker rooms after the game.
"I enjoy contact with students. It's not aburden," Jewett says. "I've never turned down arequest for someone to see me or to go down andtalk to a group."
Earlier this year, when he was in the midst oftrying to reform the much-criticized Committee onRights and Responsibilities, Jewett made a pointof going to visit each house committee to answerstudent questions and hear their complaints.
But Jewett's interest in students does not stopat social life. Although he did his post-graduatework at a professional school--graduating from theBusiness School in 1960--his strong intellectualinterests have kept him tied into Harvard'sacademic environment and help him relate to bothstudents and faculty members.
"He's very bright, and it is absolutelyessential that somebody in the job [of dean of theCollege] have the credentials of an academic evenif he isn't one," says Bossert, who is also ArnoldProfessor of Science. "We [faculty members] speakto him and he speaks to us as an intellectualequal."
But Jewett downplays his intellectual prowess."I consider myself to be interested in academicissues and goals," Jewett says. "Whether I do thatas well as a person with a Ph.D, I don't know."Thirty years have passed since Jewett graduatedmagna cum laude, but he has never given uphis interest in academia. In fact the governmentmajor, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, has taken atleast one course every semester he has been atHarvard.
This semester, the dean attends every meetingof Slavic 155, "Dostoyevsky," and History 1081,"The Roman Republic," stretching out at the backof the room. Although he says he has enjoyed allthe classes he has taken, some courses arefavorites. "I loved Fine Arts 13 and WallaceMcCaffrey's course on the Tudors [History 1400,]"Jewett says. Of course, his selection is somewhatlimited. "I'm pretty much restricted to 12 to 1p.m. classes," he says. "That way I skip lunch,not work."
Unlike many administrators, who guard theirhome addresses and phone numbers carefully,Jewett's home phone number at 48A Linnean St. islisted in the student directory. Few otheradministrators have as keen an understanding ofthe the problems unique to Quad residents asJewett does. From his home on Faculty Row, he canhear the noise of the Quad renovations and hiscommute to work consists of a ride on the shuttlebus. "Living on campus has helped me to do my jobbetter because I have contact [with students]outside the office," he says.
The house masters said they appreciate thatJewett lives on campus and therefore has a keenunderstanding of what their job entails. "Housemasters are not used to having their working daysend at 5 p.m., and he isn't either," Bossert says."House Masters walk into his office when enragedand he calms them down."
The bachelor dean says that aside from thepractical reasons for living on campus, he enjoysthe Harvard residential life. "I wouldn't do it ifI didn't like it," he says. "It has provided someof the informal recreational life that one mighthave had with a family."
Except for a year he spent travelling in Franceon a Tower Fellowship after his graduation andsabbaticals from his various deanships, Jewett haslived and worked at Harvard continuously since hemoved into the fifth floor of Matthews Hall as afreshman in 1953. While an undergraduate, hehelped pay his tuition, according to theregulations of his financial aid package, andworked 10 to 15 hours a week on dorm crew.Eventually, he became a dorm crew student captain.
After college, the Taunton native travelled andstudied in France for a year before returning toHarvard in quest of his MBA. While attending theB-school, Jewett was a freshman proctor, and uponreceiving his MBA in 1960, became one of the firstsenior advisers to freshmen. From there he movedto the admissions office, where he worked for 23years, including 13 as dean.
As dean of admissions, Jewett maintained theCollege's need-blind admissions policy andorganized the merger of Harvard and Radcliffeadmissions. He continues to take a strong interestin College admissions and has been known to bringprospective students' folders with him to hockeygames. Sometimes, Jewett stills return to ByerlyHall to help out a bit with the process.
In his 13 years as of dean of admissions,Jewett accepted more than 25,000 students. Hesays, "I have very few regrets about the people Iadmitted. I only regret those who waste theiropportunities."
Jewett finds praise even for the studentmembers of SASC, who last spring built shantiesoutside University Hall, providing him with anexcellent view of the structures from his officewindow. He says that the group is comprised of"people who participate actively and throwthemselves into something."
Improving student life and education is one ofJewett's primary interests and goals as dean ofthe College. "I'm concerned in general terms withthe question of advising and student-facultycontact," says Jewett, who also serves as academicadviser for 10 freshmen each year. "I'm alwaysinterested in trying to facilitate communicationwithin the College between students and facultyand students and administrators."
"I would also like to increase the interest ofpeople in the College in public service," he adds."I'd like to expand and give support to the kindof activities [sponsored by] Phillips BrooksHouse."
Whether or not these issues turn out to beJewett's main focus in the next few years, peoplewho work with him say that they are sure he willdo something meaningful, and do it well.
"Dean Jewett is not the type who's going to sitaround and be stuffy," says Offutt. "I think he'dget bored if he wasn't tinkering with things."