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Despite SU’s empty campus and the silence in the Hendricks Chapel throughout winter break, Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz stepped into the role of Hendricks Chapel’s interim dean. She rolled up her sleeves and tried her best to get organized, but something was missing – the students.

“When People’s Place closes, the building just gets very quiet,” Kantrowitz said. “I had a moment where on the one hand I really appreciate that it’s quiet and on the other hand like where are the students? Where are the chaplains?”

Earlier this month, SU announced that Kantrowitz is serving as interim dean following Dean Rev. Brian Konkol’s departure to Valparaiso University, a small, private Lutheran college in Indiana.

Kantrowitz said she was honored when SU Chancellor Kent Syverud asked her to step into this role.

“I’ve been very blessed to be able to have great opportunities and work with great people,” Kantrowitz said. “On a college campus, there’s such a diversity of people and ideas and the ability to really grow and to accompany people who are doing the same.”

Before her appointment, Kantrowitz was the first ever to serve as associate dean of Hendricks, working closely with Konkol. She focused on internal programming for the chapel — including supporting its 15 chaplains and over 25 religious organizations.

Bits of Konkol are left behind at Hendricks — colorful artwork lining the walls of Kantrowitz’s new office.

Kantrowitz said she plans to carry forward pieces of Konkol’s leadership style, including his signature mantra: “Model the world you want to live in instead of mirroring the world you see.”

During her time as associate dean, Kantrowitz worked closely with her former office neighbor Rev. Devon Bartholomew, Hendricks’ nondenominational Christian chaplain.

Kantrowitz has always had an accessible, open-door policy, Bartholomew said. For the past 12 years, he said he’s spoken with Kantrowitz nearly every day they’ve worked next to each other.

The two first met while Kantrowitz was interim senior vice president and dean of student affairs in 2013. At the time, Bartholomew said he was still “young in his role” as chaplain and needed assistance with organizing a disaster relief trip to Nepal.

“I remember being nervous, anxious, but I found her just so approachable,” Bartholomew said.

When he found out Kantrowitz would be temporarily leading Hendricks, Bartholomew said he felt immediate joy.

“She has a heart for people.” Bartholomew said. “She’s here and eager to support the work that happens on campus, especially our chaplaincy.”

Although Kantrowitz has moved from the chapel’s chaplains suite to the dean’s suite, she said she still plans on supporting the chaplaincy and has scheduled one-on-one meetings with each Hendricks staff member.

A core part of Kantrowitz’s new role involves representing Hendricks as a member of the Chancellor’s Executive Team and Chancellor’s Council. She said she will ensure to support the chancellor and senior leadership team.

The new interim dean has over 10 years of senior leadership experience at SU. She served as the university’s director of residence life before becoming Hendricks’ associate dean in 2018, just months after Konkol’s appointment.

Before that, Kantrowitz worked as a resident hall director at SU in the late 1980s before going on to work at the University of California, Berkeley as a residential life coordinator and later as assistant dean of Hamilton College.

At Hamilton she met her husband, Robert Kantrowitz, a professor of mathematics. Robert and the interim dean were both at SU during the 80s — he, a grad student and she, a resident hall director — but didn’t cross paths until they both took jobs at Hamilton college.

Robert said although her new appointment was “unexpected,” he was confident his wife could handle the responsibility.

“She’s not judgmental and she’s an extremely hard worker. She’s very, very dedicated and in particular, she’s dedicated to Syracuse and Hendricks,” Robert Kantrowitz said. “We’re both purely orange-blooded.”

While the two try their best to avoid talking about their roles in higher education, they attend SU men’s basketball games together.

Born and raised in Buffalo, Kantrowitz said her love for the university environment began when she was just a teen.

Kantrowitz served as a resident’s assistant during her undergraduate years at Allegany College in Pennsylvania, where she quickly realized working with students was her calling. Kantrowitz received her master’s in counseling from Niagara University, where she also served as a hall director for two years and then the dean of students.

Kantrowitz said she enjoys helping students meet their needs so that each student can have an “unsurpassed experience.”

Since starting her time at Hendricks, Kantrowitz has focused on helping with student-led projects. She relocated the chapel’s Coach Mac Food Pantry near the Chaplain’s suite and formed the Student Assembly of Interfaith Leaders, a service-based leadership group assembled of students from different backgrounds.

“We want to make it as easy as possible to help [students] out so that they can have the same experience that every other student has on campus,” Kantrowitz said. “I just love to work with the students who are just so bright and have so many great ideas.”

Mian Muhammad Abdul Mahid, an SU graduate student studying applied data science, met Kantrowitz through SAIL. As someone who always has struggled with anxiety, Mahid said he was intimidated to apply to a leadership position at SAIL his sophomore year, but Kantrowitz helped him find his confidence.

“She’s been a really big mentor for me. She really motivated me and mentioned that she would help me along the way,” Mahid said. “Since then, me and Rebecca meet every week and she always checks up on me and how I’m doing.”

Kantrowitz helped Mahid secure a grant through Hendricks’ Student Opportunity Fund, available for students who need financial support to reach their academic goals.

For Mahid, receiving the SOF allowed him to fulfill his dream of studying abroad. While he was worried about the cost of living while in Madrid, he said the SOF helped him tremendously.

Along with the SOF, Kantrowitz also created employment opportunities for students. She’s created student positions such as SOF grant coordinators who interview applicants and connect them to campus resources.

“Of things accomplished at Syracuse University near Hendricks Chapel, that’s one that I’m very proud of,” Kantrowitz said.

Kantrowitz said her work at Hendricks has not only satisfied her desire to better student life, but also aided in reaffirming her Jewish faith. Kantrowitz hopes to continue Hendricks’ mission as a place of interfaith practice — an initiative Konkol touted during his tenure.

“I’ve learned a lot,” Kantrowitz said. “I think the interfaith piece has really resonated with me, and the importance of just bringing people together.”

She’s explored other faith traditions, including a Muslim Jumu’ah prayer, one of Father Gerry Waterman’s masses and buddhist meditation during various Interfaith Exploration Weeks, a Konkol-era initiative she said she is excited to oversee this year.

As Hendricks begins the search for its new dean, Kantrowitz said she plans on assisting with the search while also fulfilling her new duties. Above all, Kantrowitz said she’s always looking for new avenues to reach students and improve their college experience.

“I just really enjoy working in higher education,” Kantrowitz said. “I think working with students is really meaningful and I think students are our future.”

Published on January 28, 2026 at 10:52 pm