The Dickinson Admissions Department announced in August that Cathy Davenport, the Dean of Admissions and Vice President of Enrollment here at Dickinson, would be retiring from her position effective immediately. Davenport, an alumna of Dickinson from the class of 1987, worked at the college for more than 30 years, starting as an admissions counselor and working her way up to head the department. 

Many were surprised by this retirement announcement, right before the start of a new academic year, and especially at the abruptness of it. The Dickinsonian reached out to the current interim Deans of Admissions, Greg Moyer, and Molly Boegel about the current state of Admissions entering into the class of 2028 application cycle.

Moyer addressed the recent Supreme Court decision blocking Affirmative Action in college admissions and stated that Dickinson, along with all other American institutions of higher education, will be making changes in reaction to this landmark decision. Moyer also provided statistics surrounding first-year retention rates for the classes of 2025 and 2026, which were in the range of 89 to 92%, an increase from the COVID-19 years in which retention dropped. Finally, Moyer said that the class of 2027 was made up of students from 32 states and 19 countries, as a metric of the diversity that Dickinson tries to exemplify.  

In the search for a new Dean of Admissions, Dickinson’s President, John E. Jones III, has announced the creation of a committee made up of administrators and professors. This committee will be using the search firm WittKieffer, which was utilized in the search for the new Provost, Renée Cramer. President Jones also announced that the search committee would like to hear from members of the Dickinson community regarding their priorities for the new Dean, offering two Zoom sessions for faculty and staff members. 

We reached out to Cramer to ask her thoughts on the changes in the admissions department, and she said, “I’m so grateful for Cathy’s leadership during the time she served Dickinson, and really glad to have known her during the brief time that our work here overlapped. I’m certain that our Admissions team is doing tremendous work to enroll a strong class of ’28 – and I’m excited for the future here at the College!” The admissions department has presented this opening as an exciting opportunity to bring in new voices and perspectives to the incoming classes at Dickinson.

 This semester also saw the arrival of a new Dean and Provost of the college, Renée Cramer. Cramer is joining Dickinson from Drake University where she was the deputy provost for academic affairs. In her speech to the first years on the move-in day, Cramer discussed that as one of two students from her South Dakota high school to attend college, she understands the value and significance of the residential college experience.