Wonnacott Remembered as Compassionate Leader

Author: Tim McCahill

Erica Wonnacott, Dean of Students Emerita, passed away last Saturday after a prolonged struggle with cancer. News of Wonnacott's death was relayed to the Middlebury College community in an all-campus e-mail written by Acting President Ronald Liebowitz.

"Erica's compassion, fair-mindedness, sense of humor and her cheerful presence were an inspiration to generations of students, to her colleagues and to her family," Liebowitz wrote at the conclusion of the message. "We will miss her very much."

Wonnacott worked at the College in a variety of administrative capacities, serving first as Assistant Dean of Women under Elizabeth Kelly for the two years following her arrival in 1968. She subsequently assumed the position of Dean of Students, working closely with the student body until her retirement in 1988.

The early years of Wonnacott's tenure were tumultuous ones for both Middlebury and the United States, characterized by student protests of the Vietnam War and the broader social activism of the civil rights movement. On a smaller scale, those years also heralded the end of the College's so-called "coordinate system" and the advent of equal access to programs for both female and male students.

Dean of Advising and Assistant Professor of American Literature and Civilization Karl Lindholm remembered Wonnacott as "the perfect person to be here then."

Lindholm, a Middlebury alumnus who graduated in 1967, met Wonnacott in a professional capacity when he became Assistant Dean of Students in 1976. "She had a terrific intuitive judgment," he commented. "Everything she did was at a human level."

Lindholm explained that one of Wonnacott's lasting contributions to the College was her enduring commitment to and strong affiliation with students. Scheduling her day around meetings with students, Lindholm recalled, was one of the defining features of her time at Middlebury. "She just liked to do the 'guts' of the job," he said. Her "high regard for the students" was one of her greatest accomplishments, Lindholm continued.

Wonnacott also played a pivotal role as one of the first women in the country to be appointed dean of students. At a time of great transitions this was not an easy feat. "She was one woman in a boy's club," Lindholm explained, "and the boys respected her."

Matt Longman, dean of the commons that bears Wonnacott's name, knew the Dean of Students Emerita on both personal and professional levels.

Also a Middlebury alumnus, Longman graduated one year after Wonnacott's retirement but rented an apartment from her in her Weybridge home at the beginning of his work as a College administrator in the early 1990s.

"Everything about her was authentic," Longman recalled. "She gave everything."

"We need to have people on campus who are beacons, people who are concerned," he continued, explaining that Wonnacott embodied both of those qualities in her roles as administrator and mentor.

Wonnacott was also a fixture beyond College Street, working locally to establish a recycling program for the town of Weybridge, volunteering at the town's elementary school and serving on the boards of both the United Way of Addison County and the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op on Washington Street.

"Erica treated everyone with respect," Longman remembered. "That legacy is something we [the Wonnacott Commons administration] have tried to sustain."

A memorial service will be held for Wonnacott this Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m. in the Congregational Church in the town of Middlebury.