Director of Residence Life Frank Robinson gave his notice of resignation last Wednesday, effective immediately. That’s fine, administrators come and go from the University all the time, right?
Last spring, the University announced the selection of Robinson in the position previously held by Bethany Marlowe. Back in July, Robinson, who prior to Georgetown had served as Assistant Director of Residence Life at Ohio University since 1986, optimistically voiced his vision that “[m]uch can happen in the residential experience that is congruent with the ideals of Jesuit education.” Indeed, upon his arrival at Georgetown, Robinson believed that he could use his administrative position to enhance students’ experiences within the Jesuit university context.
When, then, did the University’s glass move from half-full to half-empty in Robinson’s eyes? Rumors swirling around the fifth floor of Leavey say that Robinson’s swift departure was due to his inability to deal with “constraints” presented to him by the University.
If this is true, Robinson is not the first person to leave the University for this reason. As a higher education entity, Georgetown is inevitably riddled with bureaucracy. On top of this, as a Jesuit institution, Georgetown has the added constraints placed on it by the Catholic Church.
In just the past six months, a steady stream of high-level administrators have left the University for various “official” reasons. While regular turnover is to be expected, a closer look at the types of positions that are being vacated makes one wonder if there is any similarity to be found between the “unofficial” reasons for the departure.
For instance, last April, Director of Student Programs Mary Kay Scheider left Georgetown for the University of Florida. In her position in the Office of Student Programs, Scheider had worked closely with student leaders and was a personal friend to many students. She was actively involved in diversity programming and attended the meetings concerning the proposal of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender student resource center last spring. This past June, Director of Special Programs Ellen Nelson van Bever also left the University after nine years of attempting to bring diversity promoting programs to both the student body and the faculty.
Before the end of this year, several more student-friendly administrators will have left our midst. Student Services Coordinator for the Center for Minority Educational Affairs David Rivera announced his resignation yesterday, and Director of the Women’s Center Nancy Cantalupo will also be departing this February.
All of these administrators held or hold positions which allowed them to work closely with students, and more importantly, they dealt daily with issues that were not the University’s strong suit. This alone made them popular with students who agreed that the University was in need of such things as diversity programming, but at the same time, did not make them so popular with the higher-ups. Their popularity is grounded in their evident devotion to the students of Georgetown-?a trait that is seemingly lost in many of their colleagues?and their willingness to be vulnerably honest with students. The vast majority of the administrators noted above were wont to tell students how they really felt about an issue off-the-record. While they were obligated to voice the University’s official position in on-the-record settings, students were always appreciative of these individuals’ willingness to speak their minds.
Speaking one’s mind, when it is in opposition to official University stance, is not encouraged by one’s superiors, however. Being repeatedly muted by University constraints has its obvious toll on one’s ability to perform well in a job, and more importantly, in maintaining one’s motivation to perform well. Constraints can eventually become too suffocating for anybody to take. The solution: Leave Georgetown. And they do.
Whatever the reasons for Robinson’s, and every other administrator’s, departure from the University, this apparent pattern should not be ignored. Yes, we must accept that administrators come and go … but why does it always have to be good ones?
