Following the recently-announced decision of Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students Colleen Larimore '85 to resign on March 4, members of the Dartmouth community have expressed sadness and raised questions regarding the College's relationship with minority faculty members.
Larimore served the Dartmouth community for approximately 14 years and has held her current position for almost two years, The Dartmouth previously reported. During her time at the College, she also worked as an admissions counselor for four years, a director of the Native American program for three years and an assistant dean in the First-Year Office which merged with the Upperclass Dean's Office in 2009 for five years.
Larimore's resignation was announced in a Feb. 16 e-mail composed by acting Dean of Undergraduate Students Deborah Tyson and addressed to the Dean of the College division, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Larimore declined to comment for this article.
Larimore's departure will be a "major blow for students" and a "sad turn of events for Dartmouth," education professor Andrew Garrod said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth. "She has been one of the most impressive administrators and people I worked with in my 25 years at Dartmouth," Garrod said. "Balanced, totally dependable and completely committed to serving the students under her care, she was a remarkable and rare person to work with."
Assistant Dean of Faculty for Undergraduate Research Margaret Funnell said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth that she was sorry to hear of Larimore's resignation. Larimore served as an "effective advocate for students," she said.
"I've known her for many years and we've worked together on a variety of initiatives, including study groups for Native American students and the First-Year Summer Research grants," Funnell said. "She has left her mark on Dartmouth, and we will all miss her calm presence and thoughtful approach to every issue."
Lawrence Anfo Whyte '13 said that when he was charged with academic dishonesty during his freshman year, Larimore guided his mother and him through the situation and was "extremely helpful."
Anfo Whyte said that although he does not know Larimore's motivation for resigning, he worries that "the administration is doing something wrong."
History professor Annelise Orleck said in an interview with The Dartmouth that Larimore directed the Native American program with vibrancy and was committed to building "community across lines of difference."
Orleck added that she was "disturbed and disheartened" by the "sudden" resignations of Larimore and acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears.
Spears announced her decision not to apply to serve as permanent dean of the College in a January meeting with The Dartmouth Editorial Board. Spears, who will vacate the position when her two-year appointment ends on June 30, said she "carefully considered" a host of factors before making the decision, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Spears is out of town and could not be reached for comment, according to Justin Anderson, director of media relations for the College.
Samantha Ivery, assistant dean of student life, advisor to black students and acting director of the Center for Women and Gender, announced on Jan. 31 that she would leave the College in June. Ivery declined to comment on her decision to resign but said she experienced racism and sexism in the Dartmouth work environment, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Anderson said the three resignations should be considered individually and are not representative of a greater trend.
"They all have their own very personal reasons for leaving, and I can't speak to their motivations, obviously," he said. "I don't think it's any one thing."
Anderson said the "dynamic" nature of institutions such as Dartmouth creates an atmosphere with "a lot of movement" in which "people are constantly coming in and leaving."
"[Larimore] has been here the better part of 14 years, and before that, she was a student at Dartmouth," Anderson said. "She's been a long-time member of this community and served in so many capacities and has done a great job. I think she's spent more time here than a lot of people spend in one place throughout their career."
The resignations are not "abnormal" and do not signify a lack of support for minority administrators at the College, he said. Anderson said that the College hired 375 people last year and that it is "not unusual for faculty and for staff to come and to go."
The resignations of Larimore, Spears and Ivery appear to constitute a "disturbing exodus of women and people of color" from the College, English and women's and gender studies professor Ivy Schweitzer said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth. Faculty, staff and students should receive more information about the reasons behind the three resignations, she said.
Mason Cole '13 said the recent resignations of several high-level administrators are "slightly worrisome."
"I'm very concerned about why they are all resigning at the same time," Cole said. "I am concerned about how quickly new staff will be able to adjust to the Dartmouth environment without the support of people who have been there for a long time."
Phoebe Gardener '11 expressed concern regarding the administration's role in the resignations. Gardener said the College's rural location in the predominantly white Upper Valley community is a "very valid" factor that may contribute to low retention of faculty and staff members of color, but that given the current job market, individuals choosing to leave the College are likely influenced by other factors.
"It's definitely not a coincidence that they are all women of color," Gardener said. "When three women of color leave the administration, it's a red flag that something is going on."
Linda Welch, a former program administrator for the Native American Studies department, said the departures of Larimore, Ivery and Spears represent and ongoing "crisis" caused by the College's budget cuts. Welch, who said she was laid off by the College in an e-mail to The Dartmouth, said that the Dartmouth community is "breaking apart."
Due to the recently-announced departures, staff members in College departments such as the dean of the College division now fear losing their jobs, Welch said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Such fear hinders employees' performance, she said.
"It stifles their creativity, it holds back the progress of the departments and programs they're connected with [and] it stagnates the environment," she said.
The fact that College departments are "short-staffed" negatively impacts the student experience, Welch said.
"I have talked with many faculty members who are livid about this," she said. "They tried to organize, and write a letter to the Board of Trustees, and nothing came of it. It's starting to affect them in a negative way."
Dean of the College division staff members' lack of involvement in the search for a new dean of the College is also "disturbing," Welch said. There are no dean of the College division staff members serving on the dean search committee.
At a Feb. 7 meeting with College President Jim Yong Kim sponsored by the Afro-American Society, Chief of Staff David Spalding said that 45 individuals from the dean of the College division approximately 15 percent of the division's staff attended an open session to provide input for the search committee. Welch said she was "not surprised" by the low turnout given the "dissipating" level of comfort among staff at the College.
"I just think there's a lot of people who are afraid to speak up and that's not the way it was before," Welch said.
Emily Holt-Foerst, former Assistant Dean of First-Year Students, will assume Larimore's responsibilities on March 7, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Tyson could not be reached for comment by press time.
