Marsha Ray, vice president for College Advancement, resigned from her position on Oct. 2, creating a vacancy that has yet to be filled.

Staff members from the Office of Advancement declined requests to comment on Ray’s resignation, which Roseman announced in a college-wide email on Friday, Oct. 2.

“Marsha Ray has chosen to pursue other professional opportunities and I thank her for the good work she has done over the past two years,” said Roseman in a statement on Oct. 7. “She and her colleagues have positioned the college well in terms of increased alumni engagement and philanthropic support. And of course, I wish her the best in her next endeavors.”

As vice president of Advancement, Ray oversaw the department’s efforts to engage alumni and to develop and steward donations for the college.

Roseman said that Brian Falck, associate vice president for College Advancement, Coco Minardi, assistant vice president of Engagement and the Dickinson Fund, and Jessica Jones, assistant vice president of Relationship and Research Management, would collectively assume Ray’s responsibilities as the administration searches for her replacement.

Roseman said in her email that Ray had been working at Dickinson for about two years, and her position includes “alumni and parent engagement, leadership giving, planned giving” and several other areas of advancement, according to a description of Ray’s position on the Dickinson website given after she began her post in 2013.

During Ray’s tenure at Dickinson, she helped to increase personal visits to donors by over 700 visits, which has set up a future of more support to Dickinson College. Ray also set in motion the One College One Community program which united all parties involved in the Dickinson campus (alumni, parents, faculty/staff and students) through community-inclusive discussions about topics such as art and climate change.

The purpose of the One College One Community events is to link the educational and social atmosphere, thereby making students more aware of the network they had through the college institution. Likewise, Ray facilitated an event called Day of Giving last spring, which raised $495,494 in contributions from alumni, parents and students in one day.

Roseman also stated in her email,  “the Advancement team recruited a group of students, known as the Devils’ Advocates, to raise philanthropy awareness among the student body and work to instill a sense of responsibility to the college that will create a legacy of support in the years to come.”

The Devils’ Advocates will aid in holding the Dickinson community and students more accountable for helping to expand the foundation of support that Ray was building through her work at Dickinson. This is a way to get everyone in the community involved in uniting alumni, parents, students and faculty rather than having the vice president for College Advancement and their team solely responsible for that role.