With the installment of a new dean and the departure of interim Chaplain Gwendolyn King, the Tucker Foundation will now enter an interim phase while examining students' religious needs.
King, who served the College for 16 years, left on sabbatical this summer with the intention of not returning to her previous position as acting College chaplain.
While the Tucker Foundation begins the process of finding a replacement for King, several members of the Dartmouth community will serve in the capacity of program coordinators for religious life during this interim period.
Their duties include "working with student groups and planning celebrations and programming for the Dartmouth community," according to Stuart Lord, dean of the Tucker Foundation.
Coordinators will help plan two to three campus-wide events per term, according to Lord. Such events will be determined by the coordinators according to their particular interests and strengths, Lord said.
These coordinators will serve the College over the following year, during which time the foundation will examine long-term ways to fulfill King's role in the religious community at Dartmouth.
During an interview process, three people were selected to serve in this position. Each coordinator was asked to serve for one term and commit approximately 15 hours per week to the position.
Coordinators include youth minister Nicole Leonard '88 for the Fall term, chaplain Suzanna Semmes for the Winter term and Roth Center Rabbi Edward Boraz for the Spring term.
Leonard is a 1988 graduate of Dartmouth. She has been involved in student life for 12 years, serving as a minister of the gospel at Grace Outreach and as an advisor of New Life Campus Ministries.
Leonard is also the acting advisor to Provision, a student religious organization.
Semmes, a graduate of Kirkland College who received her master's degree from Dartmouth, serves as co-chaplain to students for the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley and serves as co-chair of the cares and concerns committee.
She is also an editor and archivist for Tuck Publications and serves as an English department teaching assistant.
Boraz has served as Rabbi of the Upper Valley Jewish community for the past two years. His responsibilities include serving as executive director of Hillel and as an officer of the Tucker Foundation. He also heads the Roth Center for Jewish Life.
The program coordinators for religious life will be responsible for "overseeing the religious and spiritual needs of the student," Lord said.
The Tucker Foundation is currently conducting a study on the students' religious needs.
