PROFILES WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY VOICE STAFF
Todd Olson
New Position: Interim Vice President for Student Affairs
Old Position: Associate Vice President for Student Affairs
This summer, when former Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Juan Gonzalez took a position at Arizona State University, Olson stepped in to fill the vacancy. Many students view Olson as a welcome replacement for Gonzalez, due to his reputation as an administrator who puts students first.
Olson grew up in a small town in Minnesota, but lived for 16 years in Colorado, where he worked at the University of Denver. He moved along with his wife and son to D.C. last year to work at Georgetown.
Olson cites Capt. Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager as the superhero he’d most like to work with. “She was bold, a collaborative and decisive leader, and very authentic in all her dealings with others,” said Olson. Don’t be surprised if Olson boldly goes where no administrator has gone before.
Stephanie Lynch
New Position: Director of Residence Life
Old: Associate Dean of Students at Menlo College
Stepanie Lynch’s office looks like any other Georgetown administrator’s office: a cherry wood table, comfortable-looking chairs and a tidy bookshelf. But scattered among the banal Georgetown office are what anyone familiar with the movie Office Space will recognize as pieces of “flair”: a hot pink lei, a wooden cow, a Scooby Doo frame and a model of the Mystery Machine.
Lynch comes to Georgetown with a big task, to take over Resident Life department that hasn’t had a director for almost a year. Plus, Lynch has come to Georgetown at a turning point for student life-the opening of the new Southwest Quadrangle. Lynch spent much of her summer finalizing initiatives for the new dormitories, like the new Culture and Performance Living and Learning Community. “The role of res life around campus is changing. I’m here to help other departments meet the needs of our students,” she said.
Bill Fox
New Position: Associate Director of Residence Life
Old Position: Catholic University’s Office of Housing and Residence Services
It’s not surprising that Bill Fox, a former administrator at the Catholic University of America, was interested in coming to Georgetown because of its religious affiliation. And Fox will fit right in; after only a handful of weeks on the job, he is espousing the Jesuit ideals of tolerance and understanding. “I am excited to help students develop strategies for dialogue, to engage their curiosity of differences,” he said.
Fox’s experience as an RA while attending James Madison University as an undergraduate should help him in his new position as Associate Director of Residence Life.
He blushed a little as he related what he considered his most embarrassing moment from college. “You always hear about the ‘Freshman 15.’ Well, I managed to double that. I went home and no one recognized me. We had some great food at James Madison,” he said.
Charles VanSant
New Position: Interim Director of Off Campus Student Life and LGBTQ Community Resources
Old Position: Director of Residence life
As LGBTQ Coordinator, VanSant has the challenge of being the first person to fill a brand-new position that was created only after extensive efforts by students. “I really feel like I’m a steward of the position,” he said. “I’m trying to gather resources that will be helpful for the students and the community.” His efforts at Interim Coordinator will include organizing programming, training educators, and being available to students. As Interim Director of Off-Campus Student Life, VanSant will work to ensure that students contribute to a positive relationship between the University and area residents. Given local officials’ control over the University’s long-term plans, student behavior “affects the future of the institution,” he said.
After a 10-month hiatus between working as Associate Director of Residence Life and starting his new positions, VanSant is happy to have returned to the University. “It’s great to be back at Georgetown,” he said. “I missed it.”
Stephanie Colunga
New Position: Assistant Director for Student Services at the Center for Minority Educational Affairs
To hear Stephanie Colunga talk about Georgetown, you’d think she was working at a tiny liberal-arts college in Maine. “I’m excited to work in this small environment,” she said. But perhaps it’s understandable-she comes to GU from the 25,000-student Colorado State University.
Colunga grew up in Colorado, and wanted to go elsewhere after finishing her master’s degree in student affairs in higher education. Her position involves close work with leadership programs and the Community Scholars-a program that provides intensive study over the summer for incoming first-years who require addition preparation for college. At Colorado State, she worked with a similar program, the Governor’s Opportunity Scholarships.
Colunga has been in her position since June 30. Over the summer she jumped right in to coordinating Community Scholars. “It was a great summer,” she said. “I’m really impressed with the way they communicate and come together.”
In addition to her work with student groups, she sits on the Diversity Working Group, the Martin Luther King Planning Committee, and the Sexual Assault Working Group.
Erika Cohen-Durr
New Position: Director of Orientation and Leadership Programs
Old Position: Director of New Student Orientation and Assistant Director of Student Programs
Cohen-Durr’s change of title reflects a shift in how the Center for Student Programs exists on campus. Student organizations and student programs, once under the same departmental oversight, have now been split into two separate entities.
Cohen-Durr won’t be around for much more this semester because she is due to have her first child on Sept. 25. She expects to return by January 2004.
Dr. John Kolligian, Jr.
New Position: Director of Counseling and Psychiatric Services
Old Position: Director of Training for Columbia University’s Counseling and Psychological Services
Kolligian comes to Georgetown after nearly 10 years in psychological counseling at Columbia University in New York. He replaces Dr. Paul Steinberg, who served as interim director since longtime director Dr. Charles Tartaglia left last year.
Kolligian, a native Bostonian, brings a wealth of experience in student counseling to CAPS. At Columbia, he started a training program for student counselors, in addition to maintaining a private practice in Manhattan. He is also a former faculty member of the Yale University School of Medicine
“I love campus life,” Kolligian said. “It’s a wonderful time to be a part of a student’s life.”
As Kolligian settles in, his first priority is to help students get the help they need. He noted that he would like to see CAPS more involved around campus. He foresees its staff giving talks around campus sponsored by student organizations, faculty, deans, and resident life about mental health issues such as stress management and relationship problems. Another long-term goal, said Kolligian, is to improve CAPS’ website.
After two months on the job, Kolligian is happy with his new home at Georgetown. “It’s a good service,” he said. “There are really excellent clinicians here.”
Kristan Cliente
New Position: Coordinator of Leadership and Transition Programs
Cilente works with students at the Georgetown Office of Leadership Development, co-advises the Georgetown Program Board, and will be responsible for advising over 30 SAC groups this year. She is also involved with the Sophomore Class Committee and New Student Orientation. She is from Hillsborough, NJ and loves college basketball, but is “still a Wildcat fan.”
Shannon Hunnicut
New Position: Sexual Assault and Health Issues Coordinator
Hunnicut, a graduate of South Carolina State, held a similar position at her alma mater until coming to Georgetown University on July 7. While functioning as the primary contact for those who have been sexually assaulted or who are at risk for relationship violence, Hunnicut is also in charge of organizing awareness campaigns, holding educational workshops for students and training administrators how to respond to sexual assault issues. This year, Hunnicut hopes to continue the ongoing process of “strengthening coordinated institutional responses to sexual assault.” Arriving in the wake of AFIRMS’ analysis of Georgetown’s sexual assault policy last year, Hunnicut believes that the presence of “lots of energy around sexual assault as an issue on this campus creates a real opportunity to do some really positive work in this area.” Hunnicut has shown extraordinary personal dedication to this cause – over the summer, she skydived with the fundraiser “Operation Freefall,” benefiting the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
Dr. Jim Marsh
New Position: Medical Director, Student Health Center and Associate Professor Department of Family Medicine
Old Position: Staff Physician at the Student Health Center
Dr. Marsh has been at Georgetown since 1995. He started working for Student Health when the old clinic was still in the basement of St. Mary’s Hall and has seen the clinic go through several major transformations during the past seven years. Dr. Marsh completed residency training in Family Practice at the University of Michigan Hospital. He has had interest in college health since doing research at the University of Michigan’s Student Health Service and working at teen pregnancy clinic.
This year, Marsh hopes to continue to expand access to appointments by promoting new web-based email service where students can request appointments.
Dr. Marsh lives here in DC on Capitol Hill and has two children. His favorite artist is Dave Brubeck and his favorite action hero is Spiderman.
Beth Cooney
New Position: Social Norms Coordinator
Cooney graduated from Georgetown Nursing and Health Studies in 2003 and returned to the university on Aug. 25, after a summer working for a health multimedia company. Cooney is in charge of coordinating the SMURF campaign (Students Marketing Under-recognized Facts), which works on raising awareness around campus of the “actual norms of underage drinking,” which Cooney asserts are much lower than perceived, but this misperception itself can lead to overdrinking. Cooney is the creative force behind the project, replacing Derek Inokuchi, and is in charge of creating innovative advertising campaigns for SMURF and overseeing their new endeavor, “The Stall Seat Journal.” She hopes this year for increased student involvement and creativity. While a Georgetown student, Cooney was the chair of GUSA’s Health and Safety Advisory Committee, and a member of FRIENDS Initiative and Mask & Bauble.
Justin Green
New Position: Director of Debate
Old Position: Head of Debate Coach at the University of North Texas
Green is from Houston, Tex., and has moved to Washington to serve as the Head Coach of Georgetown’s Traveling Policy Debate Team. He describes coaching debate as “not very top-down driven.” While he spends a great deal of time researching topics-this year’s topic is the United States’ relationship with the European Union-his debaters are motivated to do a lot of the work involved on their own. They begin the season already having digested 20-30 books.
Despite being Georgetown’s debate coach, Green doesn’t spend all his free time arguing with friends (he also enjoys playing guitar and gardening) and does not consider himself a particularly combative person. “Combative, no. Confrontational, yes,” he said.
The team’s first tournament is on Sept. 20 at Georgia State University.
Scott Minto
New Position: Interim Coordinator of Off Campus Student Life
Originally from Rhode Island, “a quaint and beautiful state nestled deep in the heart of Red Sox nation,” Minto serves in his new post here at Georgetown as a resource for students living off-campus and acting as a liaison between the University and the neighbors who live in the surrounding community. Minto is an SFS alumnus. He graduated in 2002 with a major in International Security. His favorite band is Holiday.
Russ Watts
New Position: Director of Outdoor Education
Old Position: Teacher in Italy
Watts is from Davis, California, graduated from the University of California-Davis, and lived in Washington, D.C. for a year before moving to Italy. In Italy, Marsh spent time teaching. Now, he is the Director of Outdoor Education. It sponsors GO-POP, an outdoor pre-orientation program designed for incoming freshmen. They go on trips that include climbing, hiking, sailing, and kayaking (sea and river rafting) Watts advises and plans the outdoor education trips and is very enthusiastic about outdoor education here at Georgetown.
His favorite musical artist is Bela Fleck, a bluegrass/banjo group, but he generally likes all types of music.
Dennis Williams
New Position: Interim Associate Dean of Students
Williams has worked at Georgetown since April 1997 when he became Director of the Center for Minority Educational Affairs. Prior to coming to Georgetown, Williams served as the Director of the Learning Skills Center at Cornell University. In addition to his responsibilities as Director of the CMEA, Williams now also serves as the Interim Associate Dean of Students. In his new post, Williams hopes to more effectively integrate academics and student affairs. “If a student succeeds academically, student affairs deserves some credit. If a student fails, student affairs deserves some of the blame,” he said.
Jeanne Lord
New Position: Interim Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Temporary Interim Director of the Woman’s center
Old Postion: Associate Dean of Students and Director of Off Campus Life
After serving as Associate Dean of Students and Director of Off campus Life, Lord recently picked up new administrative responsibilities, currently working on issues of student conduct, student programs, the Sexual Assault Working Group, the LGBTQ Working Group and the Emergency Response Team. A resident of Georgetown, Lord is a favorite administrator who students describe to be very tuned into student life. Her colleague Mary Dluhy describes Lord as “a trooper who goes above and beyond the call of duty.” Through her work in student affairs, Lord has a large presence in student offices and also had two daughters graduate from Georgetown. According to Lynne Hirschfeld, “we’re lucky she’s here.”
