He's Redefining Acceptance at Harvard
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The following article featuring William Fitzsimmons, a former Harvard standout, appeared in the December 1 issue of the Boston Globe.
By Tracy Jan
Globe Staff
CAMBRIDGE - He set his sights on Harvard University while in
middle school, after stumbling across it in the encyclopedia.
Though he lived in a nearby town, the son of a gas station owner
had never visited the campus. The nuns at his Catholic high school
refused to write him recommendations, proclaiming the college full
of atheists, communists, and rich snobs.
Not only did William Fitzsimmons get in, one of just a handful of
students on a nearly full scholarship the 1960s, he has spent his
nearly four-decade career in Harvard admissions helping transform a
bastion of privilege into one more accessible to students from
backgrounds like his.
Now, as the admissions season kicks into high gear, the
65-year-old dean traverses the country on recruiting trips, sharing
his tale of how a working-class youth managed to make the trip from
the modest streets of Weymouth to Harvard Yard, just 15 miles away
but seemingly a world apart. It’s a story line he imparts
frequently to put Harvard on the radar of students who might have
dismissed an Ivy League education as a pipe dream.
Complete article can be accessed via the Globe Web site by clicking here.
