Nora Yasumura, assistant dean and advisor to Asian and Asian-American students in the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, announced her resignation on Saturday in an email to the Diversity Peer Program. Yasumura will be leaving OPAL on April 2. Students interviewed by The Dartmouth said that Yasumara's work at the College will have a lasting impact on the community and that they were concerned about yet another loss of a female minority advisor.
Yasumura is accepting a part-time social work position with Iora Health and will be a part of the Dartmouth Health Connect practice in Hanover, she said in an email to The Dartmouth.
"This is an amazing opportunity for me to be part of a team of professionals who are trying to revolutionize the primary health care system," she said. "I am not sure what I will be doing for the other half time of my position."
Yasumura, who started working at the College in 1999, is the founder and coordinator of DPP, the advisor to the Inter-Community Council, the advisor to over 25 student groups serving the Pan-Asian community and is an individual mentor to many students.
She said that she is excited to bring the insights and skills that she has learned over the past 12 years to her new position.
"Although there is much more work to be done, I am proud of the many accomplishments that collectively OPAL and the students have made over the many years," she said.
Despite her resignation, Yasumura said she believes in students' collective ability to continue to create a more inclusive Dartmouth community.
"I regret that my decision may trigger feelings of loss and raise concerns about the social issues that we all are committed to and passionate about," she said in her email to DPP. "I have not lost hope."
OPAL Director Alysson Satterlund said that Yasumura has great enthusiasm for her new role and hopes that they can continue to work together in the future.
"[Yasumura] lights up when she talks about her new position it's thrilling to her," Satterlund said. "I know that she has been thinking about this work and about the students and the community members for a long time and worried about, very thoughtfully, what a transition might mean for the communities that she supports and has built such long and lasting relationships with."
The College is better prepared to handle the efficient search and hiring of a new advisor than it has been in recent years, advisor to LGBT students Pam Misener said. In the past, OPAL has had to reorganize itself repeatedly due to staff vacancies, but the College has since moved forward in filling all positions, she said.
"There are particular hiring cycles in higher ed, and we're on the precipice of that," Misener said. "We're waiting to catch the hiring wave that starts about this time of the year."
Shimul Begum '12 and Jyotsna Ghosh '12, who are both Pan-Asian Community interns, said they were shocked and saddened by Yasumura's decision to resign.
"We were a little confused as to what would happen to our community as a whole," Begum said. "[Yasumura] makes sure that things run and she's the advisor to all these groups."
Yasumura's mid-year departure makes the transition even more difficult, Ghosh said. She said that there is a huge sense of loss among students because Yasumura also acted as a personal mentor to many students.
"She was the rock of [OPAL]. She was there through everything and through other resignations," Ghosh said. "It feels like the glue has come undone."
Yasumura's decision marks yet another resignation in a string of female OPAL administrators leaving the College. Former advisor to black students Samantha Ivery and former Acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears, who served as OPAL director prior to her promotion and former Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students Colleen Larimore all resigned last winter. Misener assumed the position of interim director of OPAL in June 2011 upon Ivery's departure and chose not to seek the permanent position.
People should take notice of this trend, Ghosh said. Yasumura had an impact on the entire College that many students are unlikely to see, she said.
"We do see a disturbing pattern of minority women leaving the College, and it's almost scary because she wasn't temporary," Ghosh said. "She has been here for 12 years, and she's been personally invested in fighting for us for that long."
Ghosh said that many students are concerned that the PAC will suffer without Yasumara's presence.
"We're worried that the PAC will only become something on paper and won't touch people as much as it has up till now it has changed our Dartmouth experience and really empowered us," she said.
Ghosh said that a temporary position would not solve the problem because no one could fully understand and encompass all of the roles that Yasumura took on.
"It's full of uncertainty and no one has reached out to the PAC," Ghosh said. "I think the issue goes beyond minority students and OPAL, though, because it's a full campus issue of losing people who are advocating for students."
Begum said that Yasumara's impact as an advisor and "adult figure" for the organizations she helped will not go unnoticed in her absence.
"A lot of institutional memory is going with her, and she helped all the organizations she advised come together as a community," Begum said. "It's sad that she'll be around, but won't be with us they're leaving a huge population of campus without any support."
Damaris Altomerianos '13, who first met Yasumura through the Dartmouth Asian Organization, also said that it would be difficult to find someone who can fill Yasumura's shoes.
"Fortunately, the students that [Yasumura] has inspired and trained to become leaders among the student body are very motivated to continue to devote themselves to social impact and social change," Altomerianos said.
Yasumura has been a good resource to the College, Ming Koh '15 said. Koh first met Yasumura on a recent DPP retreat.
"Although my encounters with her were brief, they were very meaningful, and I got a sense she was someone who is really dedicated to her work and who actually cares about the students," Koh said. "It's sad and a step back for OPAL that someone like [Yasumura] is leaving."
Yasumura said that she looks back on her time at the College positively.
"I'm so honored and proud to have served as the first and only advisor to Asian and Asian-American students at Dartmouth for the past 12 years," Yasumura said. "I can say with confidence that they have been the best years of my professional life."
