Dean of the College-designate James Larimore is busy completing his doctorate dissertation in Stanford, Calif., but is closely watching the proceedings surrounding the Board of Trustees' Five Principles in anticipation of assuming his position as dean on July 1.
"My mind has been full of Dartmouth since February ... especially after the announcement of the Trustees' Initiative," Larimore said. "With the Trustees' Initiative I recognized right away I was going to be one of the busiest deans in American higher education."
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Larimore said he has spent portions of his five visits to the Upper Valley since the announcement of his appointment, getting a sense of how students were reacting to the Initiative - a sense he said he could not get by watching the events unfold from the West Coast.
"What you don't get on the web is the quiet, thoughtful, reflective analysis about what people like about Dartmouth and what they might want to do differently."
Larimore said he personally feels the Principles "are a healthy sign that the Trustees and the president were willing to draw people into a very rich and thought-provoking discussion."
Saying he doesn't subscribe to "doomsday scenarios," the College's next dean said he thinks "thoughtful people can engage each other and come up with reasonable strategies" for implementing the Trustees' vision of reformed Dartmouth social and residential life.
While he said the Principles will make his job harder than he initially imagined, he said it will make the financial side easier because of the monetary commitment which accompanied the Initiative.
"I knew the Trustees wouldn't make such passionate a statement about the importance of residential and social life without putting a significant quantity of resources behind it."
Larimore said the content and message of the Initiative was not a total surprise to him, even though he did not know the specifics when he was hired in the beginning of the year.
"When I spoke with Jim Wright back during the Fall term it was pretty clear to me that he was a president who was concerned with students' residential experience on campus ... At that point I had a sense that was an issue he cared a lot about, but I hadn't met any of the Trustees at that point and I didn't know how they'd approach it. The timing and the process was a bit of a surprise."
The Initiative's impact was felt quickly and directly by Larimore. Shortly after the announcement he was scheduled to give a speech to the Dartmouth Alumni Club of Silicon Valley - a speech that would need to address the bombshell the Trustees had dropped on the Dartmouth community.
Larimore said there were a lot of angry people there that night but he expressed positive opinions on the Initiative. "I thought this was a call to a very deep conversation."
In addition to monitoring the Initiative and its progress, Larimore said he has also spent his time during visits to Hanover, meeting with administrators in the Dean of the College Office and elsewhere as well as mingling with students at many College functions.
He said these frequent visits have cemented his enthusiasm for his new job and the challenges ahead and added he has no regrets about accepting the position. "I have come back from every single visit just feeling more excited about the part of our lives Karen [my wife] and I are about to start."
Life before the Initiative
Larimore's involvement with Dartmouth did not begin during the dean of the College selection process. The 38-year-old Ph.D. candidate has a history that brought him to Hanover more than once.
Larimore served as assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth from 1983 to 1985. His sister Colleen graduated from the College in 1985 and also directed Dartmouth's Native American Program. His niece, Laura Duncan, is a member of the Class of 2001.
In an interview with The Dartmouth shortly after the announcement of his appointment, Larimore said the size, location and liberal arts tradition of the College convinced him to return to Hanover.
He graduated from East Texas State University in 1982 and obtained a master's degree in education from Stanford University.
In addition to dealing with the implementation of the Trustees' Five Principles, Larimore will also have other controversial issues to confront upon his return.
Possibly the most problematic will be the long-standing debate over residence hall door locks. Acting Dean of the College Dan Nelson decided to delay the decision of whether or not to lock the doors until after a more solid image of the future Dartmouth residential system is in place.
Since that means Larimore will be dean by that time, he will now be responsible for making that decision - something he said he has not considered extensively.
"I've given it just a little bit of thought. It's one of those issues that means very different things on different campuses," Larimore said. "It has a very big symbolic meaning for people in the Dartmouth community and I just want to understand that better."
He said he plans on getting a better picture of student opinion before making that decision.
In addition to door locks, Larimore, as dean of the College, will also be responsible for policies and activities relating to the First-Year Office, Upperclass Deans Office, the Office of Residential Life, the Office of Student Life, Safety and Security, Career Services, the College Health Service, the Athletics Department, the Native American Program and the Women's Resource Center, among others.
Larimore will be taking over for Nelson, who has served as dean in an acting capacity since Lee Pelton resigned shortly after Commencement last year to assume the presidency of Willamette University in Salem, Ore.
