The late Harvey Vetstein didn’t originally think higher education was for him. After just a year attending Northeastern, he dropped out to join the army. But he felt compelled to return. After re-enrolling, he earned a degree in liberal arts in 1961. He continued pursuing higher education, earning a Master’s in English and American literature and a PhD in higher education administration. He then built his career at Northeastern, working at the university for 40 years.

During his tenure at Northeastern, Vetstein held many roles: he served as an advocate for disabled students, worked as a professor to develop the curriculum for the first African American literature class, and mentored students as the student publications advisor. “His life surrounded the university,” says Vetstein’s son, Scott.

After Vetstein’s passing in 2023, Scott and his siblings, Michael and Amy, wanted a way to commemorate their father’s legacy at the university. Knowing how much their father loved working with the students at Northeastern News, they established the Harvey Vetstein Fund to help support future student journalists, just as their father had done during his tenure as an advisor to the paper.   

Mentoring student journalists at Northeastern News 

Vetstein served as the student publications advisor for the student paper from 1967 to 1983. (Today, The Huntington News is the student-run publication that follows in the News’ footsteps.) The student editors were living in tumultuous times; as the Vietnam War raged and students were actively protesting, the writers and editors needed to make tough decisions about how to cover current events. “[Working with Harvey] gave me the freedom and confidence to take some action that I would’ve been reticent to,” says Len Gamache, who served as the editor-in-chief of the paper from 1970-71. “[He] set me up for success, to manage a staff and a team.”

Vetstein would also support the editors when they wanted to make changes at the paper. Larry Rothstein, who worked as managing editor at the paper from 1969-71, remembered wanting to go from a weekly publication to a daily. “Harvey was a great advisor,” Rothstein said. [He was always] backing you up,” he said – even if they were offering critiques or tackling those harder topics. 

Scott Kaeser, a student at the paper in the early 1970s, wrote about his experience and Vetstein’s mentorship: “Harvey was invariably reassuring. Be mindful, be professional, even consider the concerns of the president, he would argue, but believe that the angst would not seem so pressing Monday as it had on a Friday afternoon, for anyone on either side. Tell the truth, he said. It’s a great defense.”  

Getting the gang back together 

In 2020, the original team of writers and editors who had worked at the paper in 1971 came back together for a 50th anniversary edition. Vetstein also stepped back into his role as an advisor. The group fell back into familiar patterns, brainstorming, pitching and writing for a deadline. “[We had] the camaraderie of a college newspaper,” Rothstein remembers. Students from The Huntington News also joined their Zoom calls, creating a bridge from one generation of writers to another. Topics for the anniversary edition of the paper ranged from reflections of becoming a female DJ at Northeastern to how the university had changed in the past 50 years. Vetstein also wrote about his time at Northeastern, reflecting on his time at Northeastern News as an advisor. “I’ve had many responsibilities during my close to 40 years at Northeastern, but none more pleasurable than serving as the student media adviser and friend to so many talented soon-to-be professional journalists,” he wrote. The writers published 38 pieces total, all of which can be found online at https://nunews50.com/articles/. 

A lasting legacy

Vetstein had a major impact on all of the students he worked with at Northeastern News. “He was a good man,” Scott says. “People wanted to be around my dad.”   

Contributions from the Harvey Vetstein Fund will go to an undergraduate or graduate student and offer financial support for “for expenses that include but are not limited to support of educationally related international travel, international study, stipends to work on faculty led research, and/or support for student led research or creative projects.”