It is a truth universally acknowledged: UChicago College students really love Dean John W. Boyer, AM’69, PhD’75.

Proud “Dean Boyer groupie” Grace Chapin, AB’11, thinks she knows why: “Dean Boyer is to the University of Chicago as a good mustache is to a face: it completes it, makes it better. He is the mustache of the University of Chicago.”

Chapin is not the only one who waxes eloquent about Dean Boyer. At this spring’s Dean Boyer Appreciation Day, College students and alumni expressed their love for Dean Boyer—in words, photos, and fake mustaches.

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Emily Hatch, ’15, concocted the celebration of Boyer’s contributions, garnering financial support from the  Uncommon Fund. As soon as you meet Boyer, Hatch says, “you can just tell how much he cares about his school, his students, and improving the experience. ... He’s always privileged the academics, but he’s really put so much concerted effort into student life. I’ve had a great time as an undergraduate and benefited from the work he’s done—yet a lot of students don’t necessarily know how much he does.”

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The day’s festivities included a make-your-own-mustache station and a table to write a thank-you note to Dean Boyer, Austrian edibles like apple strudel and bratwurst (a nod to Boyer’s academic specialty, the history of the Habsburg Empire and modern Central Europe), and a vote-off between Boyer’s iconic mustache or equally iconic bicycle (rumor has it that Boyer cast his ballot for the bike). Boyer also led students on a bike tour (one rode a unicycle) with a stop at the Ryerson Mansion at 48th and Drexel—which Boyer pinpoints as one of the sites where the University was conceived, via conversations between William Rainey Harper and Martin Ryerson.

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As the celebration continued—feeling like the UChicago version of a Beatles concert—Boyer cheerfully signed copies of his books and posed for pictures with students, along with their bicycles and DIY versions of his mustache.

The celebrants gleefully shared their take on the Boyer-mania, relishing the opportunity to tell me and each other why they love their dean.

“People come to the College for academics. They stay for Dean Boyer.”—Robin Ye, ’16

“Every day is Dean Boyer Day in my head. Every time I see him, I think, ‘Dean Boyer, I appreciate you.’”—Grace Chapin, AB’11

“He’s done a good job of valuing things across campus, not just academics. Arts, for instance. It’s nice to feel like that can fit into the life of the mind. And his mustache is pretty nice too.”—Benjamin Heller, ’14

“Every time I see [Dean Boyer], he says, ‘It’s good to see you again’—and that’s great. You acknowledge that you’ve met; you may not know the person’s name, but you do know them. It’s a social skill I’ve learned to apply in life.”—Mitch Salm, AB’09

“Deanie B. is my favorite.”—Nick Popp, ’13

“I like that every time I ask him what he wants for lunch—I work in Admissions and plan events for them—it’s always just a cup of tea: ‘A cup of Earl Grey, please.’ Every time.”—Callie Brown, AB’09

“He’s this iconic figure who just has so many aspects to him that are personable and interesting that you almost forget all he actually does. I mean, he manages to do all this incredible stuff—as a historian, as dean of the College—and yet be so interesting too. What makes him so cool is that you can connect with him over these little things that he likes so much.”—Emily Hatch, ’15

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Dean Boyer himself said the event was wonderful: a great way to “bring students together for good conversation and activities outdoors—but it doesn’t have to be in my honor. Maybe a William Rainey Harper Day or a Martin Ryerson Day?”

Later, as student after student said Dean Boyer Day should be an annual celebration, he gave in and joked, “Okay, fine. As long as there’s no statue, I’m okay with that. Invest in students, not in statues.”

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