"Every single person in our office was very excited that she's going to be taking over for Karl next year," Damerville said.
In 1987, Laskaris began working in the College's Office of Admissions as an assistant director of admissions. She held several positions in the office until becoming the director of admissions in 1996.
In addition to being an administrator and a mother to two teenage daughters, Laskaris is an experienced dancer. As an undergraduate at Dartmouth, she danced in the Hopkins Center Youth Ballet, before which she had spent two summers participating in Jacob's Pillow, America's longest-running dance festival.
While working at the admissions office, Laskaris has used her dancing experience to choreograph several winter performances of the Dartmouth College Glee Club. Laskaris said she enjoys working with her husband, director Louis Burkot, as well as interacting with students.
"It has really helped me to understand what we mean in the office when we talk about impact," she said. "The whole is so much greater than the sum of its parts, and each student contributes something to the broader Dartmouth community."
Laskaris first arrived at Dartmouth in 1980 as an undergraduate. Upon graduating, she began working for a nonprofit educational organization in the Upper Valley developing curriculum supplements for elementary schools in the area. It was at one of these elementary schools that Laskaris was given her first opportunity to work in a school system when a principal offered her a job teaching kindergarten. She taught there for two years.
This winter, Laskaris choreographed the Glee Club's performance of Iolanthe, where she exemplified her leadership skills, according to Glee Club member Kristen Limbach '08.
"She's really encouraging," Limbach said. "Before the show, she gave us sort of a pep talk saying that she does admissions and sometimes it looks like everyone is sort of the same, but she was really glad that she had let us all into Dartmouth because we were all wonderful."
Limbach also said that Laskaris has a good sense of humor, noting a few of the comedic aspects of Laskaris's choreography for the show.
"She had the boys skipping around on stage in their fairy costumes," Limbach said. "And we had a kickline."
Fellow Glee Club member Caroline Maxwell '07 praised Laskaris's strong work ethic.
"She makes everyone feel included, but is still able to move things along and direct people when she needs to," Maxwell said.
Assistant director of admissions Caroline Kerr '05 said that while working under Laskaris, she has been impressed by Laskaris's sense of vision and ability to manage the daily work within the office while keeping in mind big-picture ideas.
"The College should be really excited -- we're about to see a period where admissions will continue to move at light speed," Kerr said. "[Laskaris] is someone who will take all the momentum that Karl has been generating and move it forward."
