As her two-day campus visit draws to a close, Janet Dickerson sits in the empty office that former Dean of Student Life Janina Montero left in December. The only indication of its new owner is the name plate that hangs next to the door.
But as Dickerson speaks of her plans for student life at Princeton, it becomes obvious that she is not in the business of reflecting on the past. Behind her soft voice and gracious mannerisms is a woman prepared to take on her role as the University's first vice president for campus life.
"I'm a change agent, a person who espouses change and also who, as in my case, is seen as reflecting the desire of institutions to be a community builder," Dickerson — currently Duke University's vice president of student affairs — said in an interview Friday.
Dickerson already is forming ideas about how she can improve campus life. She said next year will be a "critical time" for the University. Her role will be to coordinate many of the larger programs relating to student life, such as the alcohol initiative, the opening of the Frist Campus Center and the expansion of social alternatives in conjunction with the recently approved increase in the size of the student body.
She noted the importance of balancing students' academic and social experiences at the University. "You aren't just an intellectual person. You are a social person, a person who's concerned about your health and about your relationships and about your spiritual development. I'm just delighted to have responsibilities for all of those areas — or almost all of them," she said.
Dickerson will also be responsible for continuing to oversee the trustees' alcohol initiative. This will not be her first experience with such a program, as she coordinated a similar alcohol abuse initiative at Duke.
"I think what we're trying to do is not likely to result in an overnight transformation of a culture that has existed since the beginning of the institution," she said. "I think the trustees' initiative, as I understand it, is intended to be respectful of those traditions and the independence of eating clubs but to acknowledge that the university's obligations are not just to create an academic environment on campus."
In addition to providing a valuable academic experience, Dickerson added, the University must "provide a social environment that supports healthy student life that doesn't compete with the clubs or the 'Street' but really provides an alternative to those activities."
"Traditions are very old, very ingrained. People may recall them with a great deal of fun. For the most part they are fun, but we know — and have learned more and more over these recent years — that there may be risks involved in that," she said.
Community interaction
Dickerson said she hopes the new campus center, which is scheduled to open this fall, will serve as a venue for bringing many groups together, including minorities on campus.
"I'm hoping Frist Campus Center can be the site of lots of conversation. Not formal necessarily, but as a location for interaction — programs and activities that might improve relations."
She added that she is an advocate for enhanced community relations and will also work to promote an appreciation for the arts on campus. "I want to make sure as we talk about expanding opportunities for community interaction that we include the performing arts and those other arts — painting and things — that can contribute and complement a rich community life," she said.
Though she only has read an executive summary of the Wythes report, Dickerson said Duke has been considering increasing enrollment by 200 students, principally in the engineering school. She added that she would hope to take an active role in preparations for the larger student body.
"I would raise questions and hopefully as a representative on the [president's] policy group, I would want to be thinking with my colleagues about all those areas that are likely to be impacted by having more students," she said. "That's what planning is all about. I would wish to be part of that conversation."
Dickerson said choosing to leave Duke after serving there for nine years was a difficult decision, but noted that her shift to Princeton provides an opportunity to contribute to the life of a different institution.
"I think in some ways one's impact is greatest if you don't stay there all your life," she said. "I have had the privilege of moving from one great and distinctive setting to another. At Duke I feel like I have accomplished many of the goals I set for myself, and I recognize among other things that I probably wasn't going to achieve everything that I wanted to accomplish," she said.
"People have said, 'Well, God, you've been to the Final Four. What is greater than that?' But then I saw the lake and the new house for crew and the new little theater in the Frist center and just all the opportunities here," she said. "It's going to be great."
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