Roose to take year-long leave

One of the president's women will take a year off next year.

Diana Roose, one of College President Nancy Dye's most trusted and experienced assistants, is taking next year off to work for the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia.

Roose will leave on July 1 and plans to return to her post in 2000. Kathryn Stuart, who has been working as an assistant to the president this year, will take on Roose's responsibilities.

Roose is excited for the work she will be doing. "It's really fun work," she said.

She will head the AFSC's national peace-building program. She said she will do work similar to the work she does at Oberlin - management and program development. "I'll work to get all their programs facing in the same direction," she said.

Roose has worked on a range of projects at Oberlin, from serving as acting dean of student life and services after former dean Charlene Cole-Newkirk resigned, to heading the long-range planning effort two years ago. She joined the College shortly after Dye assumed the presidency, and has worked closely with Dye since.

Roose is no stranger to the AFSC's peace-building and non-violence work. "AFSC was my first job out of college," she said. "I have worked with them ever since. It's nothing new."

Roose: (photo by Beth O'Brien)