This past July, Elizabethtown College welcomed a new Vice President for Student Life, Celestino Limas. Limas’ appointment followed the retirement of former Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marianne Calenda.

Though Limas attended three large universities – he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa, his master’s degree from the University of Nebraska and his doctoral degree from the University of Oregon – he has spent his professional life working at small liberal arts colleges.

At small schools, “there is such a great compression between issues and solutions,” Limas said.

Prior to joining the Etown community, Limas held administrative positions at Heritage University, Lafayette College, Lewis and Clark College and Vassar College.

Factors that drew him to Etown include the College’s reputation for high student-faculty engagement, our historical commitment to peacekeeping and social justice and the recent efforts in sustainability.

One point on which Limas is clear is that he does not intend to immediately enact change.

“It is critical for new people such as myself to learn the students, faculty [and] structures [before creating change],” he said.

However, Limas arrived in his new role at a fraught time: the height of the situation in the Vera Hackman Apartments.

Such a “forced moment,” as he describes it, required him to take initiative and be responsible for the situation.

Because this “situation does not exist in a vacuum,” Limas intends to investigate the factors involved in the microbial growth situation and use the knowledge he gains to inform his future actions.

For now, however, Limas is focused on getting to know the Etown community and its members.

This is not to say that Limas lacks ideas for future developments. On the contrary, he expressed possible improvements to off-campus transportation, sustainability and residence hall selection, among others.

However, Limas’ true passions lie in involving and listening to students and other campus community members.

“I am committed to the idea of shared governance,” he said. Moving forward, he intends to “amplify clear pathways for student involvement,” as well as allow all faculty members and educators a say in Etown’s future.

He is committed to being as transparent as possible about future plans and “explicit about what’s happening next” in the Etown community.

Many students have already expressed their gratitude for Limas’ attention to and care of their concerns. Senior Angela Wesneski reached out to Campus Security in mid-August about several lamps that were out near Steinman.

She was concerned that the dark area would make navigating campus at night difficult for people with low vision or new students not yet familiar with campus. When Campus Security had not fixed the issue in a few weeks, Wesneski decided to reach out to Limas.

“It took one email to Dr. Limas to just fix the problem completely,” she said.

The lights were fixed, and Wesneski was informed of the underlying issue within a day.

“Dr. Limas is genuinely interested in student opinions and is sharing that with us,” she said. “It feels like he cares.”

In situations such as the microbial growth in the apartments, one of Limas’ roles is to advocate for students, a position he takes seriously.

“Advocacy…comes down to investing the time to learn,” he said. “Before I do anything, I take the time to learn.”

Limas considers his present learning the first step to integrating into the Etown community; following this, he will “build bridges” by forming relationships with community members and tackling problems together.

The final step is “circling back” by following up and listening to feedback. By doing this, Limas ensures understanding and “gain[s] trust and credibility” with students. He cites these steps as his reason for spending little time in his office – he must “be in the community to understand it.”

Limas hopes that students will come to him with ideas, questions, critiques and celebrations. He encourages students to reach out to him via email at limasc@etown.edu, and it is clear that he wants to engage with students and work together to improve the Etown community.

As Wesneski put it, “When Dr. Limas hears questions and concerns, he hears them as a way for the community to grow and improve.”