Cassidy leaves Student Activities for `new challenge'
By ERIN LaRUFFA
Assistant News Editor
After overseeing the addition of numerous student organizations, the denial of official recognition to OutReachND and the probation of the Progressive Student Alliance, Student Activities director Joe Cassidy left Notre Dame in July to become the associate dean of student affairs at Dartmouth College.
"I loved [Notre Dame]. It was very difficult to leave," said Cassidy. However, he explained that he was looking for a more challenging job and realized that it was such a position would not open at Notre Dame in the near future.
"I was ready to move up to that level and there wasn't an opening [at Notre Dame]," Cassidy said. "I was very happy … but I was ready for a new challenge."
Cassidy explained that it was important for him to leave Notre Dame for another "top-notch" institution.
"I was very selective — there were very few positions I applied for. I feel very fortunate," Cassidy said.
Cassidy's new position is comparable to an associate vice president of Student Affairs at Notre Dame, a step up from Student Activities Director. This was also a good time for his family to move, he said, because his oldest child is entering kindergarten this year.
Mary Edgington will serve as acting director of Student Activities for one year while the University conducts a national search for a permanent director. Previously the assistant director for facilities, Edgington said she was organizing retreats and learning her new role at the beginning of the school year.
David Moss, assistant vice president of Student Affairs, said that the University will begin advertising the vacancy in October. Interviews would begin sometime around February, and the University would like the new person to be on staff around June. Moss did not rule out the possibility that the new director will come from within Notre Dame's existing staff.
The University would like the new director to develop programs targeted at a broader base of students "to make campus the place to be," according to Moss. Experience in a similar position is another factor the University will consider when making hiring decisions.
"A lot of vision and direction will come from that individual," said Moss. "We're looking for someone who has the best interests of the students in mind."
The director of Student Activities has many responsibilities, including overseeing LaFortune Student Center, determining whether new clubs will receive University recognition and working with student groups.
The director also advises the Student Senate and represents Student Affairs at Senate meetings. In addition to making sure the Senate follows proper proceed under its constitution, the director helps the Senate present the group's ideas to the administration and advises on how the administration would react to certain proposals, according to student body vice president Brooke Norton, the Senate's chairperson. She said that Cassidy helped the Senate formulate ideas without forcing students to change their ideas.
Cassidy consulted with Norton and student body president Brian O'Donoghue on major Student Activities' decisions, according to O'Donoghue. Although the three had official meetings every other week, O'Donoghue said he and Norton spoke with Cassidy at least two or three times a week.
"He would involve us in every decision he had to make, and we were grateful for that," O'Donoghue said. "Joe always had the best interests of the students in mind. It's a great loss to the University, but a tremendous opportunity for Joe."
Some students, however, had less positive interaction with Cassidy.
OUTreachND, a student-based organization that seeks to help homosexual students, applied for official club status from the University in March. Indicating that Notre Dame preferred to serve homosexuals on its own, Cassidy wrote a letter to club leaders in April denying the request.
"I hope that the next administrator is more willing to work with OUTreach instead of working around us, so there's hope for the future," said David Wyncott, president of OUTreach.
O'Donoghue admitted students would sometimes disagree with Cassidy's decisions, but O'Donoghue said it was difficult to argue with the reasoning behind those decisions.
Cassidy was not always the only admistrator involved in decision-making, but he was sometimes responsible for informing students of unpopular decisions.
"He had a tough job because he had to tell students what they didn't want to hear," Norton said.
Wyncott said that he does not believe that Cassidy alone was responsible for denying OutReach recognition. Instead, Wynscott sees the denial as part of a "larger institutional homophobia."
The number of student organizations at Notre Dame did increase over Cassidy's 13 years in Student Activities. Cassidy said that he believes the quality of the clubs also improved during that time.
The accomplishment Cassidy considers his most significant was increasing student leadership training and recognition — including creating retreats and awards ceremonies.
"The Athletic Department was doing these large banquets — as they should … We had recognition for students who excelled in the classroom," Cassidy said. "When I first started at Notre Dame, there was very little in terms of student leadership training and student leadership recognition."
Since students who lead outside of the classroom and off the playing field have a significant impact on campus, according to Cassidy, he wanted to recognize them as well.
As his last official act at Notre Dame, Cassidy endowed a student leadership award in honor of Sister Jean Lenz, the assistant vice president of Student Affairs. He described Lenz as a "mentor" who attended his wedding and his children's baptisms.
In addition to Cassidy, other staff members have also left Student Activities recently for reasons such as retirement, according to Moss.
"We're really short-staffed right now," Edgington said, though she added that because the staff has been doing "double duty," Student Activities programs have not been affected.
"We are excited about this time … We feel we can bring in some great people [to fill all vacancies]," Moss said.
It is unlikely that the change in directors will effect Student Activities or student government, according to both O'Donoghue and Norton.
"Joe, before he left, put us in a very good position to do everything we wanted to do," said O'Donoghue. He has not yet had time to sit down with Edgington to plan for the remainder of his term. Norton said she does not expect major changes in the Student Senate since it is primarily student-run.
O'Donoghue said, however, that he regrets that Cassidy left before students had a chance to honor him publicly.
"When Joe told me he was leaving, I had never had such mixed feelings in my life," said O'Donoghue. "I was happy but at the same time I was sad to see him go … I considered him a friend."
O'Donoghue and Norton presented Cassidy with a Notre Dame chair on behalf of the student body, engraved with the words, "In gratitude for service and friendship to the students of Our Lady's University."
Cassidy grew to love Notre Dame, he said. While director, he received an MBA degree from the University because, as he put it, "I wanted to be a Domer."
All News Stories for Friday, August 25, 2000
