Innovative pair leaves College community

Author: Lea Calderon-Guthe

Come December, the College will lose two esteemed staff members as they move closer to New York City because of pressing family circumstances. Shirley and Alfredo Ramirez came to Middlebury at the end of 2006 when Shirley was hired following a report from the 2006 Human Relations Committee, which stated a need for a chief diversity officer who worked directly with the president. Shirley has since become the Vice President of the Office for Institutional Planning and Diversity, while Alfredo has established himself as a liaison between the Athletic and Student Life Departments.

When the Ramirezes came to work for the College, they both found functional systems within their respective departments. When they depart in December, they will both leave behind a trail of improvements in those systems.

"I came to Middlebury because I knew it was well-positioned for serious change," Shirley said. "I came to Middlebury also because I knew that it was serious about the work that it wanted to do around diversity, and we have a president who is really bold and not afraid to push the limits of what we should be doing as a college."

Shirley reconfigured her office so that it integrated both planning and institutional research with typical diversity issues, making the structure of the College's diversity work unique.

"The president has moved the responsibility of planning over to this office to make sure that the diversity work and the goals are at the heart rather than at the margins," Shirley said. "[Diversity] is not some special topic-we want to think about it in all facets of what we're doing."

While working to infuse diversity throughout more traditional areas of the college during her two years at Middlebury, Shirley worked on three things especially: faculty diversity and development, curriculum and assessment and the development of a new academic center at Carr Hall focused on the comparative study of race and ethnicity. The distinctive demands of Shirley's position, including managing the center at Carr Hall, are drawing attention from many potential candidates for her successor. Special Assistant to the President David Donahue, who is heading the committee searching for Shirley's replacement, thinks the many demands will limit the candidate pool.

"I think it will be more difficult to find candidates who have both the planning and the diversity experience, " said Donahue, "but I also think experienced administrators who have done work with diversity will be capable of doing planning work, even if they have to do a little bit of learning on the job."

The search for a replacement is still in its early stages, but Donahue hopes to extend an offer of employment by late November. Shirley Ramirez will not be on the selection committee, but she will serve as a resource and an advocate for applicants. Even with advice from Shirley, her replacement will find her's a hard act to follow.

"[Shirley] has enhanced our efforts with diversity on many levels, in particular, at the top," wrote Associate Dean of Institutional Planning & Diversity and Director of International Student & Scholar Services Kathy Foley-Giorgio in an e-mail. "She has empowered members of the College community to be bold and take action. She will leave us in a better place than when she came, and more committed to the ideals that we envisioned when we proposed her position back in 2006."

Alfredo does not leave without having made his mark, either. He filled a role the athletic department did not realize it had a need for until things ran more smoothly under Alfredo's care. He has begun to implement changes in the intramural sport program that will last after he goes. He called attention to campus issues in athletic department meetings and represented the athletics program in deans' meetings. He also spent time with students serving as one of several staff members who traveled with the athletic teams to away games and as the coordinator for many of the Language School sports programs.

"[Alfredo] does things that are really enriching for our department and for students and that I think have great potential," Athletic Director Erin Quinn said. "There is value in having a physical presence in student life - his office was in McCullough - to be a physical presence, and having him was a luxury."

Together, Shirley and Alfredo greatly impacted policy, structure and community at the College, whether through their work or through their personal interactions with faculty, staff and especially students. Many Middlebury community members wished to publicly express their gratitude and occasionally awe towards the Ramirezes, but The Middlebury Campus could not publish them all.

The general sentiments expressed showed a sorrow to see the Ramirezes go, but happiness for them in their new life in Easton, P.A. at Lafayette College, where both will continue their work.

"When we made this decision, we agonized over it because we are leaving Middlebury with heavy hearts," Shirley said. "This is a fabulous place with tremendous energy and magic. We are very blessed that we are able to go to another great college and have our family be together, but it is not easy to leave Middlebury."