Dartmouth recently hired a new chaplain, Dr. Richard Crocker, who is currently senior pastor at Central Presbyterian Church in Montclair, N.J.
Crocker's duties as chaplain will include leading the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life within the Tucker Foundation and directing the diverse campus religious groups that comprise the United Campus Ministry.
Crocker will also be responsible for presiding over certain events and special services at Dartmouth and will serve as a general resource for students, he said.
He said that he hopes most to "help the Dartmouth community develop deeper religious concerns" and to "help people understand and appreciate the role of religious belief."
Dartmouth has not had a full-time chaplain in two years.
Until Crocker's arrival, a series of interim chaplains have filled the position.
Sylvia Langford, dean of upperclass students and a member of the search committee, was relatively unconcerned about the absence of a permanent chaplain for the past two years.
However, chaplains can "frame things from a faith perspective," something that the current Tucker administration will not do readily.
She envisioned Crocker working with students in small groups in areas like residence halls, carefully talking through faith-related issues.
Langford also said that the frantic pace of life at Dartmouth often prevents students and faculty from taking time for quiet contemplation. She hoped that Crocker could help to remedy that problem.
"Dartmouth is so busy that there's very little time to reflect," she said. "Maybe he can get us to go beyond the superficiality of the second, to take that moment and just stop."
Dean of the Tucker Foundation Stuart Lord noted that Crocker's intellectual abilities, his prior experiences in academia, and his background in counseling are particular strengths he brings to Dartmouth.
Crocker received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Brown University. He also obtained a Master's in Divinity in Pastoral Theology and Counseling and a Ph.D in Psychology and Religion from Vanderbilt University.
"He was a Rhodes scholar," Lord said. "He can raise the caliber of religious and spiritual life."
Langford also described him as "brilliant."
He also served as a dean of student life at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania and as a lecturer in religion and chaplain at Bates College in Maine.
"He comes to us with extensive experience with students," Lord said. "Students of his speak effusively about him. They've told us how lucky and blessed Dartmouth is to have him."
Langford called Crocker "candid" and "insightful" and praised his "firm grasp on issues of moral consciousness and activism."
Crocker said that he is "very excited" about his new position at Dartmouth and that he is "looking forward to working with Dean Lord and establihed religious groups."
Crocker will begin as chaplain on January 1, 2003.
