“It almost brought me to tears,” he said.

But McCarthy’s strongest ties are to Quincy House, the “home within Harvard” where he also lived as an undergraduate.

“I love all my students, but Quincy House has aways been very good to me. It’s going to be very hard to leave,” he said.

Quincy House Senior Tutor Maria J. Trumpler praised McCarthy for his “wit and intellectual breadth.”

“He is going to leave a huge hole here,” she said. “He plays intramurals, he eats at the [Quincy] Grille, and he does more things than any normal person can do.”

Steven Biel, director of undergraduate studies in History and Literature, said he is not surprised that McCarthy is moving on after just four years as a lecturer.

“This is great for him. I have always assumed that he would move on to bigger and better things. While part of me hopes he’ll be back, I also want him to get a great tenure-track job after his fellowship,” Biel said.

While McCarthy enjoys notoriety as a social and political force on campus, his outspoken politics have also drawn harsh criticism.

In November 2001, McCarthy attracted national attention when he was placed on a list of 117 academics notably “short on patriotism,” a list published by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

Looking Beyond Cambridge

McCarthy says he plans to spend one year at Chapel Hill doing research for a book on race and American social movements, which will be based in part on his experience rebuilding churches.

Following that, McCarthy hopes to find a tenure-track position at another university, and says he has already begun the long process of applications and interviews.

McCarthy says the time was right to leave, despite his personal attachment to the University.

“I believe that you should never overstay your welcome,” McCarthy said. “I have known since this summer that it is time to move on, personally and professionally.”

Despite his continued scrutiny of Harvard policies, McCarthy says he remains deeply loyal to the University.

“I am only critical of Harvard because I love it so deeply,” McCarthy says. “I believe that all people should have agency to affect change.”

“Sometimes you have to be in the belly of the beast to give it indigestion.”