Archie C. Epps III, who served for 28 years as Harvard’s last dean of students, died Thursday, Aug. 21, of complications from heart surgery. He was 66.
Colleagues remember Epps as an advocate for improving student life, a dean who was unafraid to stand alone in policy debates and a central figure in efforts to improve race relations at the College.
During his tenure as dean of students, which spanned from 1971 until 1999, Epps presided over a host of changes concerning student life: final clubs lost official College recognition, the Undergraduate Council was instituted, the first-year dining hall was moved from the Freshman Union to Memorial Hall and Loker Commons was constructed, among other changes.
Even his departure constituted a change, as former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 dissolved the dean of students post after Epps stepped down. The position’s responsibilities were divided among three associate deans.
“Throughout his long tenure there, Archie gave everything of himself to the College and to its students,” Secretary of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences John B. Fox Jr. said in a statement. “His firm, often very firm, guidance as well as his deep sympathy for those in difficulty benefited very many students of all backgrounds, as well as the College itself.”
Epps was an easily recognizable figure on campus, sporting his trademark pinstriped suit and bow tie as he took jaunts through the Yard, lunched in Loker and interacted with students. In fact, his wife, Suffolk University Professor of Law Valerie C. Epps noted with an affectionate, reminiscent laugh that Epps owned “well over 50 bow ties” at the time of his death.
Epps was unafraid to be an outspoken advocate of his policy stances, often throwing his weight behind projects opposed by Lewis and publicly disagreeing with his boss about the nature and aim of Harvard’s undergraduate education. He prided himself on independent thought.
“I come out of the tradition of the solitary dean,” Epps said.
And this self-image led him to pursue his own agenda.
“I was a free-ranging citizen who spoke with whomever needed to be spoken with,” Epps said in 2000.
Former Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth ’71, who was appointed by Lewis to handle student group matters after Epps’ departure, was nothing resembling the dissenting voice his predecessor had been.
In 1984, Epps oversaw the stripping of official College recognition from final clubs and fraternities that would not permit membership from both genders, and in 1997, he issued a report that condemned the clubs.
“To me, they still represent anti-intellectual, highly social, high-risk activities for students,” Epps said in 1995 of fraternities and sororities.
At the same time, Epps said that it was difficult “for students to meet each other” and acknowledged “a weakness in social life” that led him to push for the creation of Loker Commons. Epps in later years challenged Lewis’ opposition to the creation of a student center.
In addition to his activism in policy matters, Epps was known as someone who touched students at a personal level.
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