Early this fall, on a quiet evening, Community Council Co-Chair Roni Lezama ’22 was in his dorm room doing homework when he received a call from Baishakhi Taylor, the dean of students and Lezama’s fellow Co-Chair of Community Council.
“Where are you?” he recalled her saying. “Come to Old Chapel.” Lezama, fearing the worst, hopped on his bike and zipped across campus as fast as he could, just as the sun was beginning to set. But when he arrived at Taylor’s office, it was clear that no school-wide, calamitous emergency had taken place. Instead, Taylor just wanted Lezama’s advice to ensure student voices were represented in the midst of confusion and pushback in response to the announcement regarding the installation of new security cameras.
To Lezama, this immediate inclination has characterized Taylor’s overarching mission as Middlebury’s Dean of Students — to have each and every voice within the student body inform her decisions. Known for responding to emails in mere minutes, she has been described by those who worked closely with her as exceptionally communicative and uniquely receptive.
“I can’t even put into words how accessible she was to students,” Lezama said. “There was a sense of urgency, but not from an optics perspective. She actually cared about what students were thinking about.”
Such instincts, in essence, make clear the sorrow that many are feeling in response to the news of Taylor’s departure. President Laurie Patton, in a school-wide email earlier this month, announced that Taylor would be leaving Middlebury to assume the position of Dean of the College and Vice President of Student Life at Smith College, a private women’s college in Northampton, Mass. and member of the Seven Sisters, effective July 1. As an assistant professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies and the faculty mentor for the BOLD Women’s Leadership Initiative, women’s education has been paramount within Taylor’s own life.
“I came to the U.S. to study women’s studies,” Taylor, who grew up and completed her undergraduate education in India, said. “More than ever, I would like to focus on women leadership at an institutional level, and I’m grateful that Middlebury prepared me for that.” She also cited accessibility to her family as another motivation for the transition. The majority of her family lives in India, and proximity to a major airport — Boston Logan in this case— has proven to be even more critical in the context of her father’s passing last year. Her husband works in Washington, D.C.
Before coming to Middlebury, Taylor served as the Associate Dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University, where Patton was her mentor and supervisor. Taylor was also a faculty member at the Duke Center for South Asian Studies and the program in Education.
A focal point of Taylor’s tenure at Middlebury has been fostering a productive, harmonious relationship between academic and student life. Once a week, she fielded advice and facilitated conversation with her student advisory group, which is composed of students representing different grades, interests and backgrounds.
“No process is perfect, but I’ve tried to get us to a more student-centric approach,” she said. “It’s about how we continue to meet student needs in a holistic and integrated way.”
Student Government Association President Varsha Vijayakumar ’20, who worked closely with Taylor, expressed gratitude for her insight and support during her presidential term, specifically citing her balanced feedback, institutional knowledge and general openness.
“She’s really good at tapping into our thoughts and is really keen on listening to our fears and what excites us,” Vijayakumar said. “She harnesses that and truly takes it into account.”
For Vijayakumar and Lezama, Taylor has stood out as a member of administration who has routinely kept them and other students in the loop regarding the goings-on in Old Chapel. While Taylor may have paved the way, they hope this precedent will continue.
“She was not afraid to separate her role as an administrator and [her role], dare I say, as a friend,” Lezama said, also noting her consistent support for first-generation and low-income students. “She just wanted to care for and support you, and if she couldn’t do it through her powers as an administrator, she would use whatever devices she had.”
Vijayakumar also believes that having closer, more personal relationships with administrators will only serve to help promote more productive and empathetic conversation.
“[Baishakhi] should be the rule, not the exception,” Vijayakumar said.
Lezama believes that the next dean of students will have big shoes to fill when it comes to student advocacy and administrative clarity. “I’m really going to miss her,” he said.
Meanwhile, Taylor’s advice for her successor is simple: “Listen closely to the students.”
Lily Laesch '23 is the Campus’s editorial director.
She previously served as an opinions editor and a layout editor.
Laesch is joint majoring in Geography and Political Science with a minor in History, focusing specifically on foreign policy, border relations, international migration flows, and immigration law.
Outside of the newsroom, Laesch plays on the women’s ultimate frisbee team, dances with RIDDIM World Dance Troupe, and leads outdoor orientation trips.
