乐播传媒

The nonstop Don Harward gives a grudging glimpse of a presidency in motion

Story and photos by Phillis Graber Jensen

Don聽Harward has little patience for a camera pointed in his direction. 鈥淒o we own stock in Kodak?鈥� he asked a few years ago after I pressed the shutter one too many times while photographing him (not by his request, of course) with a visitor in his Lane Hall office. At the time, I interpreted the comment as a barometer of his fiscal prudence. Yet in the two months I鈥檝e shot documentary photos of his work, I鈥檝e discovered frugality doesn鈥檛 adequately cover his distaste for photos where he鈥檚 the centerpiece.

Besides an academic鈥檚 disdain for what he might consider the predictable, the trite, and the hackneyed (he鈥檒l grant that not all reportage qualifies as such), the sixth president of 乐播传媒 College wants to protect the anonymity – and thereby the integrity, in his view – of his myriad commitments to both the institution and its people. Keenly aware of the authority his position gives him, he quite naturally fears upsetting the dynamic between him and a student or a colleague, who might think he鈥檚 using this photographer to buttress his 鈥渓egacy.鈥�
As a president who has worked tirelessly to gain the trust of students, faculty, staff, and administrators, Harward is not inclined to jeopardize that confidence by opening up his world to a little black box, some nosy lenses, or an insistent strobe light that bounces crazily off the ceiling. Every click reminds the president that it鈥檚 not just he and Ludwig Wittgenstein in the room. (A portrait of the Viennese philosopher hangs in the president鈥檚 office.)
Harward鈥檚 desk alone contains about eight feet of files. (It might be fun to measure how far the sheets of paper within would stretch if placed side by side.) The documents within the file folders (printed in the president鈥檚 favored 10-point, Times New Roman font) reflect the president鈥檚 mastery of thousands of topics, from the confidential applications of seniors for prestigious post-graduate fellowships to the reports on needed repairs to the Chapel masonry.

The documents don鈥檛, however, reveal the periodic but pure pleasure that marks exchanges with those he encounters. A parent sends an e-mail filled with gratitude for a comforting talk the president delivered during a post-Sept. 11 dinner. Two students – part of a coalition pushing 乐播传媒 to purchase non-sweatshop clothing – register delight during a conference call with Harward, chaplain Kerry Maloney, College Store director Sarah Potter 鈥�77, and Trustee Joe Matzkin 鈥�66, as the team creates an ethical purchasing policy. Prior to the annual 乐播传媒 holiday meal for faculty and staff in December, Ann and Don Harward tie on aprons to serve dining service employees their meal.

鈥淒ay-in-the-life鈥� stories have been around since Erich Salomon, the father of candid photography, took unposed pictures of German diplomats in 1928. Today鈥檚 leading news magazines offer a regular diet of photojournalism of behind-the-scenes Washington. These images are historical documents and also offer the public an opportunity to see their leaders as human beings – through an isolated gesture or an expression – rather than bureaucratic figureheads. For 乐播传媒, photographs of the president can be a simple but meaningful part of the College鈥檚 history. At least, that鈥檚 what I told Don seeking permission to take them. Perhaps seeing how the project might serve a 乐播传媒 purpose, he finally agreed.