Rochelle Calhoun, VP for student affairs, leaving for Princeton

W. Rochelle Calhoun, Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs, has been named Vice President for Campus Life at Princeton University, effective Sept. 1, according to an announcement by Skidmore President Philip A. Glotzbach.

At Princeton, Calhoun will collaborate with the Dean of the College and the Dean of the Graduate School to advocate for student needs while building community and culture. She will lead six units, including athletics, career services, religious life, the Pace Center for Civic Engagement, and university health services, with a staff of more than 300 and responsibility for a budget of nearly $49 million.

In his all-College memo, Glotzbach acknowledged, "This transition marks a bittersweet moment for me. I applaud Rochelle’s move to take on new professional challenges but I will miss her deep concern for students, critical intellect, and positive spirit. Over the past seven years, as a trusted and valued colleague, she made many enduring contributions to the Skidmore community. She was a productive member of the President’s Cabinet and a passionate and committed advocate for Skidmore’s students. I have appreciated her creative approach to promoting such strategic objectives as intercultural and global understanding and responsible citizenship, as well as her leadership on the co-curricular dimensions of Skidmore’s educational mission."

As Skidmore’s chief student affairs officer, Calhoun has been responsible for overseeing all student services, including athletics, residential life, leadership activities, religious and spiritual life, volunteer services, student diversity programs, Student Academic Services, the Career Development Center, and the Health and Counseling centers, among others.

Her Skidmore achievements include co-leadership of a new student housing initiative, which involved the planning, design, and construction of the $42-million Sussman Village, and collaborating with Academic Affairs to develop programming that strengthened the link between academic and residential life. She also led a campus-wide revision of Skidmore’s Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Policy, restructured and renamed the Career Development Center to better support student needs, and supervised the development of a $78-million comprehensive athletics facilities plan. She was a regular attendee at home athletic contests of the Skidmore Thoroughbreds, cheering athletes on the field and court in all seasons.

Her broader community involvement included service on the boards of directors of Home Made Theater, Planned Parenthood of the Mohawk Hudson Valley, the Greater Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, and the Sponsor-a-Scholar Program, through which she also served as a mentor.

Calhoun joined the Skidmore community in July 2008 as Dean of Student Affairs, coming to Skidmore from Mount Holyoke College, where she was executive director of the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association and earlier served in a series of positions in student affairs. She holds a B.A. in theater arts and politics from Mount Holyoke and an M.F.A. in theater from Columbia University.

Glotzbach announced that beginning Sept. 1, Gail Cummings-Danson, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Athletics, will serve as Interim Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs for the coming academic year. He said, "As many of you know, Gail has served the College admirably since June 2005. I very much appreciate her willingness to step up and take on these new responsibilities, and I have full confidence in her ability to fulfill them. In the coming months, we will complete a national search for our new Dean and VP for Student Affairs. Details regarding this search will be forthcoming in the near term."

Calhoun will depart Aug. 31. There will be a reception from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, at which friends and colleagues can gather in her honor. An invitation to this reception will be sent soon.

Glotzbach concluded, "In the meantime, I know the Skidmore community joins me in offering sincere thanks to Rochelle for all that she has accomplished here along with our very best wishes for her future success."