As Rockefeller’s gift brought the school closer to its fundraising goal, the search for a new leader dragged on until the following year.

In April 1955, over two years after Sperry’s retirement, Pusey announced the selection of Douglas Horton, Minister of the General Council of Congregational Churches, as the new dean. With a background in a movement committed to promoting unity among different Christian denominations, Horton fit in with Pusey’s vision for a Divinity School faculty that represented a greater diversity of religious traditions.

‘REVIVAL OF RELIGION’

Pusey said that his personal faith, weak while an undergraduate here, strengthened after graduation.

In November 1953, Pusey told students at Congregational Church that he himself had not been interested in religion as a student, believing it was “a kind of ancient superstition no longer needed and holding back progress.”

But as President, he emphasized that theology had earned a place in his own life and fit into his vision for higher education.

“Living and practicing religion must supplement the mere studying and reading about it,” he said.

According to an April 1954 Crimson report on religion at Harvard, some students were concerned that the devout Pusey might try to impose his own views on the University, but these fears were allayed by his willingness to let individuals dictate their own involvement.

“Students and faculty alike were at first afraid that Pusey might attempt to reestablish compulsory chapel or assembly similar to that which [was] conducted at Lawrence,” The Crimson wrote. “[H]e has made clear that he is not interested in compulsion or revivalism in the prayer-meeting sense. But he is intensely interested in providing facilities for religious study and participation for those who want them.”

Historian Keller says he does not believe Pusey’s own beliefs influenced his decisions as president, arguing that Pusey’s legacy rests in his work to make Harvard a more meritocratic institution.

“I would say for the most part if you look at his presidency there’s not much reflection of his religiosity in it,” Keller says. “He understood that his job was to see to it that Harvard got the resources to be a great university, and that’s what he worked on. It was as though there were two sides to him, the University president and then the person with his own beliefs, and he kept them pretty well separate.”

While Pusey’s decisions throughout his tenure—including his willingness to hire Jews to the Faculty—reflected this separation between his personal views and his official stances, his first year also marked a time of increased religious interest on campus, as membership in religious organizations rose and more students attended local churches.

“There are all sorts of explanations, vague ones like ‘the religious tenor of the times,’ specific ones such as the example set by the personal devotion of President Pusey,” The Crimson wrote in an October 1953 editorial. “But regardless of cause, a revival is in the offing.”

Before Pusey took office, the future of the Divinity School had been uncertain, as the increased emphasis on preserving Harvard’s non-sectarian identity and devoting resources to scientific study had led some of the University’s leaders to wonder if the school was a relic of the past that should be eliminated.

While Pusey did not solely focus on the Divinity School at the expense of other graduate schools, his early commitment to theological studies made it clear that the University would not take the route of shutting the school down.