The Dean

One College administrator describes the domain of Dean of the College as "everything that leads to, or from, the classroom."

While that description might be something of an exaggeration, few deny that Dean Edward Shanahan's purview includes much of what is going on at Dartmouth today. A plethora of deans serve under him. He oversees a wide range of areas including Outdoor Programs, Career and Employment Services, Campus Police, the College Center, the Freshman Office, the College Health Service, the Dartmouth College Athletic Council, the Office of Residential Life, and the general academic advising and personal counseling of undergraduates. Moreover, Shanahan chairs the often unpopular Committee on Standards, the judicial arm of the College.

Since his appointment to Dartmouth in December 1982, Shanahan has been a key figure in the drive to revamp residential life at Dartmouth. He has been also been a tireless advocate of building a college community based on what he terms "integrity, responsibility and consideration." Over the last five years, he has been in the thick of some highly public controversiesincluding ROTC, anti-apartheid shanties on the Green (and their destruction by conservative students), the takeover of Baker Tower by students from the left, and the ousting of football coach Joe Yukica.

Shanahan has earned the grudging respect of some of his most ardent critics. One radical student, who preferred to remain anonymous because she had just incurred the dean's anger, admitted: "When the dean decides to move on an issue, he gets things done."

He certainly seems to work hard. Following an evening interview with the Alumni Magazine, he still had yet another engagement: he had agreed to cook pancakes at a midnight brunch for students living in the new dorms.