Following a four-month search process, Assistant Director of Career Services Rodrigo Ramirez '06 has been appointed assistant dean and advisor to Latino students, according to a Feb. 9 e-mail to select students sent on behalf of Inge-Lise Ameer, associate dean for Student Support Services, obtained by The Dartmouth. Ramirez, who will assume his new position on Mar. 21, will replace Jennifer Matos, who stepped down in spring 2010 to complete her dissertation, continue work as a social justice educator and have more time to spend with family, according to an e-mail sent by Matos to students.
Nora Yasumura, who has served as the Office of Pluralism and Leadership's acting Latino Community Liaison during the search, will vacate the position once Ramirez arrives, according to the e-mail. Yasumura will continue her work at the College as OPAL's advisor to Asian and Asian-American students.
Ramirez applied for the position last year but was initially denied, according to Alexander Tejeda '12, president of the student organization La Alianza Latino.
"It's something that I've wanted for a long time," Ramirez said.
Ramirez will need to focus on increasing the visibility of the work that students have already accomplished on campus and building an empowered and supportive community for students who want to learn what it means to be Latino, according to Yasumura.
Ramirez said he plans to promote student leadership and community in his new position, though he said it is too soon to share a specific agenda.
"The community is stronger than what I perceived it to be as a student, but a lot of issues that were around when I was a student are still present," Ramirez said. "I want to really find solutions with the help of faculty and staff."
Ramirez stood out as a candidate because he is an alumnus and a current College employee, the e-mail said.
Tejeda said he and other students were worried that Ramirez might have been selected for the wrong reasons. Although Ramirez is familiar with campus, he does not possess significant advising experience, Tejeda said.
"There were some concerns in the community that with all the recent changes at OPAL, they were settling on someone who would require less training and adjustment to Dartmouth," he said.
Acting Director of OPAL Pam Misener said she is confident that Ramirez will adjust well to his new role.
"There's always a learning curve when you enter a new position but I think that can be steeper when you come from a different organization or institution," she said. "I think [Ramirez] has such a recent experience with Dartmouth he'll be able to really apply himself immediately."
Ramirez will likely "bring a lot of innovative ideas to the community," Yasumura said.
"He has been somebody who works very hard and is very centered around the idea of students and building community," she said. Tejeda said he hopes that Ramirez will stay in the position longer than previous advisors.
"Since my freshman year, we've had a new advisor every year," he said. "It would just be ideal if [Ramirez] stayed for a longer period of time but I'm happy because we really needed a Latino advisor. I can't speak for everyone but I think he's going to do a solid job."
Kevin Estrada '11, president of La Unidad Latina Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc., said Ramirez's familiarity with the campus will help him adjust to his new position.
"The biggest issues about advisors in the past were related to their disconnection from the community, but [Ramirez] is relatively young and knows what's going on because he still talks to students and comes to events," Estrada said.
Although the position had been empty since last spring, the search for Matos' permanent replacement did not appear on the College website until the middle of Fall term, according to Misener.
Misener and Keysi Montas, associate director of campus Safety and Security, co-chaired the search committee, which included a variety of constituents including several students and other members of the Latino community, according to Misener.
Tejeda said students were more involved in the later parts of the search process.
"A couple students actually got to read the applications, but most of the student involvement was when they allowed students to eat dinner with the final four candidates and attend their presentations," he said.
Ramirez double majored in psychological and brain sciences and Asian and Middle Eastern languages and literatures at the College.
Ramirez is the vice president of the Dartmouth Association of Latino Alumni and moderator for the Latino Advisory Council at the College.
After graduating, Ramirez worked as the assistant to the senior associate director of the Collis Center for Student Involvement and Student Activities.
This is Ramirez's fourth year working at Career Services, where he began as the outreach and program coordinator.
