<p>"When Harvards future dean of admissions and financial aid was applying to the College in 1962, the first two teachers he asked for letters of recommendation refused. </p>
<p>They wouldnt write for Harvard because they thought it was a bunch of Communists, a bunch of atheists, a bunch of rich snobs, and if you went there youd flunk out and youd lose your soul, said William R. Fitzsimmons 67, who has served as dean for the last 22 years. At that point it made Harvard seem intriguing and made me more determined to apply. </p>
<p>Fitzsimmons, who is a graduate of Archbishop Williams, a Catholic high school, grew up in the blue-collar Boston suburb of Weymouth, where much of the community still saw Harvard as a place that was hostile to anyone who wasnt wealthy. </p>
<p>It was seen as alien, really not for us, he said. </p>
<p>But when he visited, Fitzsimmons said he was struck by the quality and the diversity of the student body. He found that the stereotypes about rich undergraduates were largely untrue. </p>
<p>Today, a note from Fitzsimmons will reach 27,000 high school seniors notifying them of Harvards admissions decision. The letter he received over 45 years ago set the former hockey goalie on a journey from Weymouth to Tibet and placed him on top of the countrys admissions world in between...."
<a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=522723%5B/url%5D">http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=522723</a></p>