April 21, 2010
Forty Years of Evolution in Student Life
Janet Dickerson
Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton
Minutes of the 29th Meeting of the 68th Year
President George Hansen called the meeting to order at 10:15. Following the invocation Charles Gray read the minutes of the April 14th meeting on T.R. Reid's talk, "How the Rest of the World Provides Health Care. (It's Not All Socialized Medicine." Two guests of Ev Pinneo, Carol Christofferson and Wardell Robinson-Moore, were introduced. The membership then approved two changes to the by laws, the first changing the age for becoming emeritus from 86 to 85 and the second changing the beginning of regular meetings from the middle of October to the middle of September.
Joe Bolster introduced Janet Dickerson, Vic President for Campus Life, Princeton University, speaking on the topic of "Forty Years of Evolution in Student Life." Vice President Dickerson did her undergraduate work at Western College for Women, later merged with Miami University of Ohio, and obtained a masters degree in educational guidance from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to her appointment as Vice President for Campus Life at Princeton in 2000 she held positions as Vice President for Student Affairs at Duke, Dean of the College at Swarthmore, and Associate Dean of Students at Earlham College. In announcing her coming retirement this June, Princeton President Shirley Tilghman noted that Vice President Dickerson had championed many improvements to student life and had personally touched the lives of many students.
The general theme of Vice President Dickerson's presentation was that college students, and more generally universities, both reflect social changes and act as forces in promoting social change. She used her personal life experiences and events at Princeton University as a backdrop against which to illustrate changes that have occurred over the past forty years. A major change that has occurred on the campus is the increased diversity or democratization of the university, described as transitioning from a monocultural institution to a multicultural institution, a change from "no longer separate but not equal to no longer separate and now equal." She herself grew up on a historically black college campus in South Carolina, "as different from Princeton University as one could imagine," in a segregated environment. When she came to Western College in 1961 she had never talked to a white person in her generation. From there she went on to administrative positions in colleges and universities that were coeducational, integrated, and with students from all over the world. More generally, universities have become more open to students of all backgrounds and sexual orientation.
Along with changes in the nature of the student body have come changes in the roles and responsibilities of deans of student life. She asked: "What is the role of deans of students and campus life: gatekeepers, shepherds, community builders, maintainers of order and discipline?" As a high school and college student she was a leader who participated in planning student protests and meetings with administrators. She described it as ironic when as a dean at Earlham she was on the other side of the table. At one point she had to tell students who had entered the president's office to take their feet off the president's desk. When asked if she was talking to them as Janet or as the dean, she responded: "There's one person here. My name is Janet the dean, so get your damned feet off the president's desk." As the administrative officer responsible for all nonacademic aspects of student life there is the need to be concerned with all aspects of student health, including the mental health needs of students experiencing the stress of college life. Often there is the need to counsel students and parents about the wisdom of taking time off even if it means not graduating with one's college class, an important part of one's identity at Princeton. In addition, as vice president for campus life, there is the need to deal with personnel problems, such as sexual harassment, where they impact on students or other members of the community. Vice President Dickerson concluded by noting that she and others who are doing this work "are not only products of history but are shapers of history…It's been a great privilege to be in this business for all these years…I hear from students all over the world who tell me they think I made an impact on their lives."
In the question and answer period Vice President Dickerson made the following points: 1. Princeton University continues to be elite but elite on a different basis than the past.
2. The administration tries to be alert to students and others under stress that might lead to homicide or suicide.
3. The University has been developing programs to combat the problem of alcohol abuse among students.
4. The University has been developing a program under which students spend a year abroad prior to their freshman year as part of making them and the student body generally more cosmopolitan.
Respectfully submitted,
Larry Pervin
Joe Bolster introduced Janet Dickerson, Vic President for Campus Life, Princeton University, speaking on the topic of "Forty Years of Evolution in Student Life." Vice President Dickerson did her undergraduate work at Western College for Women, later merged with Miami University of Ohio, and obtained a masters degree in educational guidance from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to her appointment as Vice President for Campus Life at Princeton in 2000 she held positions as Vice President for Student Affairs at Duke, Dean of the College at Swarthmore, and Associate Dean of Students at Earlham College. In announcing her coming retirement this June, Princeton President Shirley Tilghman noted that Vice President Dickerson had championed many improvements to student life and had personally touched the lives of many students.
The general theme of Vice President Dickerson's presentation was that college students, and more generally universities, both reflect social changes and act as forces in promoting social change. She used her personal life experiences and events at Princeton University as a backdrop against which to illustrate changes that have occurred over the past forty years. A major change that has occurred on the campus is the increased diversity or democratization of the university, described as transitioning from a monocultural institution to a multicultural institution, a change from "no longer separate but not equal to no longer separate and now equal." She herself grew up on a historically black college campus in South Carolina, "as different from Princeton University as one could imagine," in a segregated environment. When she came to Western College in 1961 she had never talked to a white person in her generation. From there she went on to administrative positions in colleges and universities that were coeducational, integrated, and with students from all over the world. More generally, universities have become more open to students of all backgrounds and sexual orientation.
Along with changes in the nature of the student body have come changes in the roles and responsibilities of deans of student life. She asked: "What is the role of deans of students and campus life: gatekeepers, shepherds, community builders, maintainers of order and discipline?" As a high school and college student she was a leader who participated in planning student protests and meetings with administrators. She described it as ironic when as a dean at Earlham she was on the other side of the table. At one point she had to tell students who had entered the president's office to take their feet off the president's desk. When asked if she was talking to them as Janet or as the dean, she responded: "There's one person here. My name is Janet the dean, so get your damned feet off the president's desk." As the administrative officer responsible for all nonacademic aspects of student life there is the need to be concerned with all aspects of student health, including the mental health needs of students experiencing the stress of college life. Often there is the need to counsel students and parents about the wisdom of taking time off even if it means not graduating with one's college class, an important part of one's identity at Princeton. In addition, as vice president for campus life, there is the need to deal with personnel problems, such as sexual harassment, where they impact on students or other members of the community. Vice President Dickerson concluded by noting that she and others who are doing this work "are not only products of history but are shapers of history…It's been a great privilege to be in this business for all these years…I hear from students all over the world who tell me they think I made an impact on their lives."
In the question and answer period Vice President Dickerson made the following points: 1. Princeton University continues to be elite but elite on a different basis than the past.
2. The administration tries to be alert to students and others under stress that might lead to homicide or suicide.
3. The University has been developing programs to combat the problem of alcohol abuse among students.
4. The University has been developing a program under which students spend a year abroad prior to their freshman year as part of making them and the student body generally more cosmopolitan.
Respectfully submitted,
Larry Pervin