The Fairfield community is torn between commending the new administration switch-up and vehemently opposing it.
Effective Jan. 1, current Vice President of Student Services William P. Schimpf will retire and current Dean of Students Mark Reed will take his place. Current Acting Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life Tom Pellegrino will take Mark Reed’s place and become the new dean of students.
“I will miss the wonderful staff with whom I work and the students – both present and graduates – who I have had the pleasure of knowing,” said Schimpf, who has served Fairfield for 37 years.
“I think that Mark [Reed] is a very talented individual who has significant experiences at Fairfield which prepared him for this position,” Schimpf said.
Some faculty members challenge these new administration appointments.
“I am appalled by the lack of a national search to fill these two very important positions,” said Susan Rakowitz, assistant professor of psychology.
Rakowitz said the decision “does a disservice to the students, who deserve the best available administrators.”
She criticized University President Rev. Jeffrey von Arx on the diversity issue.
“The upper echelons of the administration are probably the whitest and malest sector on campus,” Rakowitz said.
Von Arx said “that’s not the case” and Martha Milcarek, assistant vice president for Public Relations, pointed out that the vice president for Information Services and Fairfield librarian, James Estrada is Hispanic, more specifically Mexican-American.
“We remain totally committed to increasing and improving diversity on campus,” said von Arx.
He said some steps toward enhancing diversity include the increase in minority enrollment in the freshman class and the significant increase in minority faculty this year, which is not because of affirmative action.
Pellegrino, who has served on von Arx’s task force to increase diversity, does not feel that von Arx’s administrative decision has moved away from diversifying Fairfield.
“The decision makers I see in meetings-the people who set university policy, who articulate thoughtful and engaging directives and who inspire and challenge me-hail from diverse backgrounds, are of both genders and represent many different age groups,” said Pellegrino. “In terms of fresh ideas…I do not shy away when it comes to challenging the status quo, nor am I intimidated by the question ‘can we do better?’ My track record here will speak for itself. He [Reed] has left large shoes to fill indeed.”
Reed, who said he was humbled by the more than 70 kind and congratulatory e-mails from faculty, staff and students, said he was unaware faculty were concerned about the lack of an external search for his position.
In terms of students being afraid of him, Reed said, “This usually makes me chuckle, as well as those who know me. I’ve never thought of myself as an intimidating person.”
“I hope that students who know me outside of my ‘discipline role,’ and even those students who have seen me in that role, can attest to the fact that I am fair, I listen and I always try to consider the totality of the situation,” said Reed.
Rob Pun ’06, captain of the rugby team for two years, said he met with Reed last year because his team was “in trouble.”
Pun said, “He [Reed] was a nice guy to us,” although he is “personally unaffected by the administration change.”
Other students are angry about the lack of an external search.
“We already know that Fairfield University is an organization whose president is chosen from a privileged pool of select Jesuit priests,” Tom Dehnel ’06 said. “The favoritism displayed by this human resources blunder mirrors that perennial error, only at a lower administration level.”
“I think that no matter the criticism to Fr. von Arx’s decision, what needs to be looked at is will both these men do great jobs in their new roles, and the answer to that is definitely,” said FUSA president Jess DiBuono ’06 said.
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