One Complaint Filed Against Tewhey, Provost Says

   By Josh Hartmann
   
   Photography Editor
   
   Only one complaint was filed against former Associate Dean James R.
   Tewhey during his tenure here and that was without merit, Provost Mark
   S. Wrighton said yesterday.
   
   Meanwhile, the former associate dean for student affairs continued to
   defend his six years leading the Residence and Campus Activities
   section. "At no time have I ever received either a verbal or written
   reprimand for anything I have done," Tewhey said. "It is inevitable
   that there are going to be complaints. You make a lot of decisions
   about very controversial issues."
   
   Tewhey, who resigned April 20, said he had considered resigning since
   February, shortly before filing his own personnel complaint, claiming
   that a colleague had created a hostile working environment. In the
   weeks before his resignation, Tewhey and Katherine M. Nolan, the
   financial aid officer with whom he had an 18-month affair, obtained
   restraining orders against each other, which prevented contact between
   the two.
   
   In their requests for temporary restraining orders, both Tewhey and
   Nolan alleged the other had engaged in harassment. Tewhey's request
   for an extension was turned down by a Cambridge District Court judge
   the morning of his resignation, while a Newton District Court judge
   approved a six-month extension to her restraining order against
   Tewhey.
   
   "He felt the time had come to resign," Wrighton said. "I agreed with
   his assessment and accepted his resignation without any prejudgment on
   the harassment allegations involved in the court order."
   
   Reports in last week's editions of _The Tech_ attributed a statement
   that there were several complaints against Tewhey to an anonymous
   source. The Thistle reported there were as many as eight complaints.
   
   "A male colleague propositioned a male worker," Tewhey said. "That
   individual was spoken to about that issue, as well as some other
   work-related issue." Tewhey said this was the basis of the formal
   complaint, which reached the provost's office. He would not name the
   complainant.
   
   Tewhey said he believes a full investigation will clear his name. "My
   belief is that a fair and independent evaluation of what has gone on
   would show that I am the one who has been harassed and not the other
   way around," he said.
   
   Wrighton released information about Tewhey's complaint only after
   receiving the complainant's explicit permission, Wrighton said. An MIT
   spokesman refused further comment on the matter, citing the
   Institute's privacy regulations.
   
   Tewhey remained close-lipped about future plans, saying he fears
   continued harassment. "I had approached [Dean for Undergraduate
   Education and Student Affairs Arthur C.] Smith back in February about
   leaving, because I felt the whole situation had not been handled well.
   It was increasingly difficult to do my work. I have several options
   available. I will be doing something in September. Given how ugly this
   has gotten, I don't have any intention of making generally public what
   I'm going to be doing."
   
   Smith said yesterday that a search committee to find a successor was
   being formed and would include undergraduate and graduate students.
   

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Copyright 1993 by The Tech. All rights reserved.
This storied was published on Tuesday, April 27, 1993.
Volume 113, Number 24
The story was printed on page  1.
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