After two months of limbo, Crotty named Wilson director of student life

Wilson College announced Regan Crotty ’00, who worked in the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, as its new director of student life Tuesday afternoon, following the departure of Michael Olin.

Olin was appointed as the new associate dean of undergraduate students last summer and has been serving both positions for the past two months. As one of four associate deans, Olin oversees emergency and crisis response and is ODUS’ liaison to the residential colleges.

Wilson College Dean Lisa Herschbach said the search for a new director of student life would have typically taken place in the spring. But Cole Crittenden GS ’05, left that post for a deanship in the graduate school over the summer, and Olin replaced him as associate dean in September while serving as acting Wilson DSL. The DSL replacement process did not begin until then.

Olin said the sequence of appointments followed an “unusual timeline” that required him to serve as both a director of student life and associate dean simultaneously.

“Of course whenever you're trying to juggle two positions at once, it becomes an exercise in time management,” he said. “That's where my colleagues in Wilson and my colleagues in ODUS were very helpful. Everyone was pitching in.”

Olin added that he will miss the more direct student contact that he had during his time as a DSL, but at the same time he said he is now looking forward to having a “wide-reaching effect” on campus life.

Crotty said she is looking forward to having this direct student contact.

“The college really promotes social justice and has a history of that,” she said. “And it also promotes individuality. It's a great place to be, and I want to be a part of that.”

Crotty came to the University in September 2011 after working at a law firm in the area. Last year, she investigated serious disciplinary cases for ODUS. From March through August, she served as executive director of planning and administration in the Office of the Vice President of Campus Life.

“There's no better place to work in the area than Princeton University,” she said. “It's such an integral part of my life that I want to be part of the community and get back into it.”

When Crittenden’s new position, associate dean for academic affairs for the Graduate School, opened last spring, Crittenden said he felt very “lucky.”

“I was a grad student here, so I’ve always had a great fondness of the graduate school,” he said. “That was my own motivation.”

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Crittenden said he was confident in his successor, citing Olin’s experience as a DSL.

“He understands residential colleges very well,” Crittenden stated. “He’s a natural choice.”

“We miss him terribly, but we realize he’s been called to serve the University in a higher capacity,” Herschbach said. “We’re glad he stayed at Princeton. We still have him as a colleague, and we get to work with Regan, too. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Wilson Director of Studies John Axcelson also noted that he is looking forward to working with Crotty, a former Wilson student.

“She has energy, enthusiasm and love of the institution,” Axcelson said.