October 9, 2014
Vice President and Dean of Students Nancy Thompson and Associate Dean of Students for Student Engagement and Leadership Lisa Magnarelli ’96 spoke to HALT about the actions of the Dean of Students Office and the way Hamilton and its social environment has changed in the past few decades. Magnarelli, Class of ’96 (a former president of PBX), said her favorite change since she came to work here in 2000 was the renovation of Sadove and relocation of Student Activities to a central location. Magnarelli loves that her job allows her to do all sorts of things from Student Assembly to scheduling to working on the Sacerdote Great Names lecture series. Her advice for similar jobs is to recognize you are never going to make everyone happy. Thompson arrived in ’86, when the campus was still very divided by both the legacy of Kirkland and the Apartheid divestment movement and sit-in. She discussed the work done over the years to unify the campus, physically and communally, she expressed that diversity has always been a topic of debate, but major progress has been made to make the campus more welcoming (during the nearly 30 years she has been here).
Both of them spoke about the ’95 Res Life decision, that called for 100 percent residential campus with all housing maintained by the college—a goal which will be completed when the former Minor Theatre has been turned into a residence hall. Magnarelli, a junior at the time of the decision, was in favor of it, describing the Greek houses as in disrepair, isolating to the student inhabitants who often did not socialize outside of their frats and generally unsafe (especially for students perceived as female). Thompson remembers well the difficulties of making the decision and the various options discussed; deciding to foster a community in which all students lived on campus emerged as the choice most in line with the values of this institution.
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