“Dessert Before Dinner with the Dean” (Dessert with Dean) is a biweekly event that is meant to provide students with a platform to share their thoughts with Dean of Students Nichole Gonzalez. Gonzalez marked the last scheduled Dessert with Dean on Wednesday, April 5. The event was held in the Blue Bean with dessert catering available. The events often feature Gonzalez greeting students walking through the Baugher Student Center (BSC) Concourse and inviting them to share their thoughts about student life, academics, athletics or anything else occupying their minds.
Many students may not be aware of what a Dean of Students usually oversees. At Elizabethtown College, the Dean of Students focuses on many facets of student life that include the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities, Student Wellness, Community Living, Counseling Services, Office of Spiritual and Religious Life as well as many other offices that are concerned with ensuring that Etown students have a positive experience during their college years.
During the event, a family was taking a tour of the College, and Gonzalez invited them to get some dessert and water or lemonade. Through that conversation, a member in that family said that they were Etown graduates from ‘96. Gonzalez makes it clear that the purpose of the event is to build better connections with the Etown community.
“I do this [Dessert with Dean] because I want to have a time where we are coming to where students are,” Gonzalez said when asked why she decided to start holding this event. “Not everyone feels comfortable coming into my office and to talk about things on their mind, but I also wanted to give the time for people to either stop by or just say ‘hi.’”
The reason why the Office of the Dean of Students oversees many different offices and departments is that the office’s mission is “to foster an engaging, supportive, and culturally vibrant living and learning environment where each student feels like they belong.” This means that the Office of the Dean of Students often performs many different tasks and sometimes may be forgotten because students do not often interact with the office but with the other student life offices that the Dean of Students oversees.
“I invite guests to join me [at Dessert with Dean] because I want to give other people the opportunity to interact with students as well as give students the opportunity to meet with different people involved on campus,” Gonzalez said about that Dessert with Dean visitor, Director of Leadership & New Student/Family Orientation Stacey Zimmerman. “I have had guests all semester. Most of the academic deans have come at least once and several SLT (Senior Leadership Team) members have also joined me at these events. Kesha [Morant Willians] has done it with me, Bob Kerin has done it, Brian Falk, as well as Matt Skillen.”
Gonzalez joined the College in August of 2020. She started off as the Director of Title IX, Compliance Programs and Intercultural Affairs. Less than a year later, in July 2021, she was promoted to her current role as Dean of Students. She joined Etown with 25 years of experience in the field of student life, having served in the Student Affairs Division at St. Bonaventure University in Western New York.
Gonzalez came in with a background that aided her transition into Dean of Students, having served in Residence Life and Housing, Student Conduct, Title IX and Diversity, Equity and Belonging. During her time at Etown, she has worked on strengthening many facets of student life and worked on empowering student lids culture, programming and diversity, equity and belonging efforts.
“Some of my favorite interactions have been when I was talking with small groups a couple of times who were just having their own meetings in the BSC,” Gonzalez said, “and then they would come over to just talk. Honestly, my favorite interactions have been the informal conversations that I have had with student groups.”
Dessert with the Dean is scheduled to remain next year because of Gonzalez’s belief in the importance of being available to students and giving them time to quickly stop by the event and share their thoughts and concerns.
“For next year, I was thinking about maybe getting portable fire pits and having them outside the BSC,” Gonzalez said when asked if any changes were planned for next year. “I also would like to have the event in a place where it’s more visible and also better market the event to students.”
Being able to refer students to many different offices and answering questions about any of the aspects of student life makes Gonzalez a great resource for students. The student body is encouraged to join Gonzalez for dessert before dinner, even if they do not have anything in mind and just wanted to connect with her. For any questions related to Dessert Before Dinner with the Dean, students are encouraged to reach out to Amy Berra.
