Three new staff members have joined the Office of Pluralism and Leadership in the past month, filling vacancies created by several recent resignations, including the departure of first-generation students advisor Karlos Santos-Coy on Sept. 4. The office also saw some restructuring this summer, reabsorbing the Center for Gender and Student Engagement.
Alysson Satterlund left the College on July 11, and CGSE director Reese Kelly — who began in the CGSE position after the departure of Kyle Ashlee earlier this year — stepped in as interim OPAL director.
CGSE, founded in 1988 as a part of OPAL, branched off several years ago as part of an initiative to connect CGSE with the women and gender studies department. Kelly said merging back into OPAL is appropriate because his previous role as an LGBTQ advisor in OPAL overlapped with work done by the CGSE, and associate Dean of the College Liz Agosto said the shift came from a desire to “honor students’ multiple identities” by improving cohesion and creating a place to explore intersecting identities. Though it is now part of OPAL, CGSE will retain its physical location in the Choates cluster, Kelly said, which students call a “retreat” from campus life.
As of Sept. 15, OPAL has filled all vacant positions with interim or permanent staff, Kelly said.
Community and student program coordinator Jeremy Guardiola ’12, who will temporarily cover Santos-Coy’s responsibilities, joined OPAL on Monday, Kelly said. Guardiola served as a presidential fellow in the Dean of the College office, according to his LinkedIn profile. Dia Draper, an associate director for the Tuck School of Business’s strategic initiatives, has filled the vacancy left by former advisor to black students T. M. Mosley, who departed in early July.
Shiella Cervantes, a former pan-Asian American community house director at the University of Pennsylvania, replaced interim advisor to pan-Asian students Edward Kim on Aug. 25. Kim began in the spring, following the departure of former assistant dean Aeriel Ashlee, who left for medical reasons.
Agosto, who began overseeing OPAL this summer, said recent departures made staffing a top priority, as the office wanted to ensure there was “no lag in support” for students.
Noting that she could not speak to others’ experiences, Agosto said that OPAL does “really high touch and often emotional and draining” work, which could contribute to staff turnover. Former advisors left to pursue other work opportunities and attend to family matters, she said.
Students often expect OPAL advisors to resolve questions about faculty retention, undocumented status and other concerns, Agosto wrote in an email, adding that this can be challenging for staff members, who do not directly control Dartmouth policy.
Before launching a director search, Agosto said staff will reevaluate the office’s structure.
“The staff is helping students understand the ways to make change, empowering students, engaging with them and asking and challenging them to think about what social justice and movements look like,” Agosto said. “That’s what the staff is invested in, and we want to allow them to do that work.”
Kelly said that no programming has been affected by the staff turnover, adding that he did not believe merging OPAL and CGSE this summer impacted the office’s “foot traffic.”
The turnover led to uncertainty among students, said Afro-American society president Bennie Niles ’15, a former OPAL black student advising intern and co-director of the Inter-Community Council.
Niles said that the departures surprised and upset many students who have built and fostered relationships with OPAL staff. Niles said that Draper’s hiring and his interactions with her have created “a better sense of community.”
OPAL staff, Niles said, are asked to do an immense amount of work, and he said he believes the College could do more to support them.
“I’m trying to rally the troops, so to speak, and to show other people in the community that people are still here and they do care,” Niles said. “I’m trying not to dwell on the fact that so many people have left, but to show people the resources that are on campus and available.”
OPAL’s remaining advisors include Latino student advisor Rodrigo Ramirez who began in March 2011, Native American program director Kapi’olani Laronal, who began in September 2013, and international student advisor Steve Silver, who began in 1999.
Agosto added that retention and recruitment across the College is a priority for senior leadership and that conversations around the issue should and will continue.
This year’s staff and structural changes follow several years of high turnover in OPAL.
In early 2011, former advisor to black students, interim center for women and gender director and acting OPAL director Samantha Ivery announced her resignation.
Following Ivery’s departure that June, Pam Misener, advisor to LGBTQ students, became the interim OPAL director and later chose not to seek the permanent position. Satterlund became director in February 2012.
Also in 2012, at the same time Mosley was hired, Aeriel Ashlee filled a position left vacant by former pan-Asian advisor Nora Yasumura.
According to a job posting on LinkedIn, the College is seeking a coordinator for CGSE.
The College is also seeking applicants for two new positions, one focusing on LGBTQ issues, the other on Native American programming, Agosto said.
Cervantes and Laronal did not respond to requests for comment. Ramirez and Silver referred requests to Kelly.
