Linda Gates: Named acting dean of studnets.

Linda Gates, Associate Dean of Student Academic Services and Student Support Service Program Director, will assume the position of Acting Dean of Students on July 1.
She will be replacing Peter Goldsmith who passed away from cancer on April 23.

Gates worked closely with Goldsmith to implement the class dean system implemented during his tenure and is the Dean to the class of 2004.

“Everyone I’ve spoken with has said the class dean system works beautifully,” Gates said. “It’s hard to imagine how we got along without it before. It’s a great student support system, and facilitates communication between faculty, staff and parents on any situation that develops.”

Gates said she is not worried about the transition from supporting about 500 students to roughly 3,000.

“I’ll help anyone who comes to my door,” Gates said. “I’ve worked with many others outside my class. I don’t think that anyone feels exclusively identified with one class.”

Gates said she identifying people to fill her place in SAS and Student Support Services so she can devote herself to the responsibilities of the dean of students’ office.

Gates will be responsible for finding a new permanent Dean of Students. She will move to the Dean of Students office in Wilder but expects to return to her office in Peters when the search is complete.
Gates’ appointment is the latest of the College’s efforts to rebuild the Dean of Students office which has been decimated by the deaths of Goldsmith and Associate Dean Rachel Beverly and the imminent departure of Associate Dean William Stackman, who recently accepted a position at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.

College President Nancy Dye said that the College would have an interim Associate Dean in place by the end of the year.

Gates acknowledged the challenges of her new position.

“The position includes a lot of responsibilities that have not been part of my current position,” she said. “I reported to Peter [Goldsmith] and worked closely with him, but he oversaw a lot of departments and had a much larger staff.”

Gates praised Goldsmith’s work as Dean of Students.

“I very much admired Peter and enjoyed working with him,” Gates said. “He was a wonderful friend and model of leadership. For support you couldn’t have asked for a better person. I certainly will try to honor his legacy with the fairness and humility that Peter demonstrated, but also with the strong sense of principle Peter demonstrated in dealing with everyone on campus.”
Gates said Goldsmith’s work to unite the College’s Division of Student Life would make her job easier.
“It’s a great comfort to know that we’ll work well together,” Gates said. “We kno
w each other well. We share the same values and vision for the division and the work we do with students.”