Continuity, inclusivity emphasized in Hendricks dean search session
The Hendricks Chapel dean search committee hosted a virtual session posing questions for students and faculty over the qualities a prospective dean should possess. Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.
The committee tasked with the search for the next dean of Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel heard campus-wide input regarding the qualities, goals and background a desirable candidate for the role would possess in a virtual session Wednesday.
Led by Vice President for the Student Experience Dawn Singleton, the last of three Zoom sessions posed an open conversation with members guiding participants on their preferences for the prospective leader of Hendricks.
Singleton first asked the students, staff and faculty in attendance what they hope the next dean accomplishes. Christina Papaleo, a learning and development specialist in the Office of People and Culture, was the first to offer input. Papaleo looked back on the prior leadership and the lessons that could be learned in her answer.
According to Papaleo, former dean Brian Konkol “redefined what it means to have a life of faith.”
Konkol held the role of Hendricks dean from 2017 to 2025 and now serves as president of Valparaiso University. Faculty in the meeting, including Director of Parent and Family Services Missy Mathis-Hanlon, praised the state of Hendricks amid Konkol’s absence.
“The current state of Hendricks Chapel is in a very good place. I think there are a lot
of opportunities already there,” Mathis-Hanlon said. “Of course, you can always do better, but I think maintaining this point happening now is really important.”
Others, including Cheryl Fabrizi, associate vice president of auxiliary services, hope the next dean will focus on helping students find purpose and community regardless of their background.
“One of the things that I personally witnessed is some of the students,” Fabrizi said. “They’re desiring that belonging and that moral grounding.”
Singleton then shifted the conversation toward specific qualities listeners believe are necessary for the next leader of Hendricks. The first to respond was Karin Botto, a senior human resources business partner at SU.
“(We need) a really good listener, a person that can bring groups together, listen, understand different components of empathy, compassion,” Botto said.
In addition to these personal skills, Botto emphasized the need to maintain the same volume of revenue streams under Konkol that finance the organization and allow it to continue operating.
Botto cited wanting to maintain two things with Hendricks’ new dean — the continual fundraising and ability to continue building on its 70 years of success.
Singleton asked the group what makes them proud to be part of the Syracuse community, and what might inspire a candidate to join SU. Amy Smith, a paralegal in SU’s Office of University Counsel, mentioned the impact Hendricks had in helping her find a place in Syracuse.
“I really quickly got connected with the Christian staff and faculty association, (which) helped me to put down roots really early on. And it gave me a really good foundation, apart from the work that I do here,” Smith said.
Despite being a secular university, Smith underscored the SU community’s “strong faith” and the opportunity for the new dean to connect to the “vibrant” interfaith community among students, faculty and staff.
Respondents focused on proposing a new dean who is community oriented, well connected and welcoming to all faith traditions, but Papaleo emphasized the need for Konkol’s successor to be personable and remove the common “barriers” in higher education.
“Meeting them where they’re at …. meeting them at the dining hall, having the dean attend events, translate from one faith tradition to the next, letting students know this person is here,” Papaleo said of what she hopes to see. “It would be really helpful for the next dean to be visible.”
