home > news_and_events > news_articles >

The Crady Perspective

Dartmouth's new dean of the College fields questions on listening, learning, and in loco parentis

In January, Tom Crady moved to Hanover from Grinnell, Iowa, to serve as the dean of the College, a position that covers nearly every aspect of students' out-of-classroom Dartmouth experience. Crady's family will join him early in the summer after his children finish school in Grinnell. More than twenty-four years at Grinnell College prepared him for a variety of responsibilities. While progressing from associate dean to dean to vice president and dean of student affairs and finally vice president for student services, he oversaw everything from academic advising to large construction programs. For seven years, he also supervised admissions and financial aid. For one year, he was the acting dean of Admissions and Financial Aid.

Since arriving at Dartmouth, Crady has put in long days (and evenings) meeting with students, faculty, and staff. This interview took place in his office on the first floor of Parkhurst Hall, overlooking the Green.

Why did you choose to come to Dartmouth?

The academics are topnotch, and I wanted to continue to work for an academic institution that is of the highest caliber. I have a couple of friends who are Dartmouth alums, so it has always been of interest to me, and the Upper Valley location is a big attraction for us as well. When I went through the interview process, it felt like a good fit.

What would you like to accomplish?

There are a number of things. It's important to provide students with an exceptional out-of-classroom experience and build on what's already in place, while realizing that the number-one reason they're here is for the academics, and really supporting the academic program. The main thing right now is that I get a chance to listen to students, faculty, and staff about what they think the Dartmouth experience is, what the culture is, how that works. I've had well over thirty-five meetings with student groups in the evenings since I've been here. And it's been good. Students are fun to talk to: they have different opinions, thoughts, and ideas. Probably the most common thing I hear is how much students love Dartmouth.

Did you interact much with parents when you were at Grinnell? Has it been different at Dartmouth?

I had a lot of contact with parents. So far I haven't noticed any differences between Grinnell and Dartmouth. Parents everywhere, as you might imagine, are concerned about their son or daughter's welfare. The contact I've had so far with Dartmouth parents is generally pretty positive. The idea of "helicopter parents" is overstated to a certain degree.

Prior to the late 1960s, many colleges and universities were guided by the doctrine of in loco parentis (“in the place of a parent”). Some have argued that that doctrine is making a comeback nationally, in practice if not in name. What's your perception?

In the early sixties it was definitely true that many colleges functioned in loco parentis. That changed in the late sixties and early seventies to the point where a lot of student life programs viewed students as adults and treated them as such. What's been increasingly interesting about this is there's been a lot of legislation at the federal and often at the state level that requires more intervention with students than ever before. These laws and regulations swing the pendulum back a little farther to the center than it has been in recent years. My view of working with students is that they're adults—we treat them as adults. We work with them in a positive way.

Speaking of Latin phrases, your responsibilities include overseeing the corpore sano half of mens sana in corpore sano (“a healthy mind in a healthy body”) at Dartmouth: the Outdoor Programs Office, athletics, the Dartmouth Skiway, Morton Farm, and the Hanover Country Club. Of those areas, where would we most likely find you recreating?

In a lot of different areas. I've been to the Skiway. I'm an avid fly-fisherman. We love to kayak. It's not uncommon for me to spend time in the wilderness on remote fishing trips with some faculty friends I have at Grinnell. My wife and my kids and I are really looking forward to taking full advantage of the outdoors up here. Everybody in the family skis even though we lived in Iowa. We spent a lot of time going to different places every winter.

Humorist Garrison Keillor recently wrote of today's college students: “This generation craves closeness. They are not snarky in the slightest....They are capable of writing a term paper on James Joyce and then running a couple of miles and then going to a Bad Hair party, meanwhile keeping in touch with eight of their closest friends. They cover the waterfront.” What do you think of that assessment?

Students can definitely multitask. Probably much more than we've ever seen before. And that's the nature of the technology we've seen evolve over the past several years. Students here are very involved in multiple activities. You talk to a student who might be a member of a Greek letter organization and part of the Outing Club and spends time playing rugby in Scotland or England. There's no question we see more of that than we used to. It's a product of where society is, being connected all the time. Everybody's carrying some sort of handheld device.