Student activities director Rob Turning resigns

Director of Student Activities Rob Turning, who also served as an advisor to Greek Life, recently handed in his resignation.

It is unclear why Turning will not be returning. He could not be reached for comment.

Associate Dean of Campus Programming Tiffany Sanchez offered some insight into Turning’s responsibilities, and how the administration might choose a replacement advisor. Sanchez said Turning will leave the University at the end of May.

“We hope to have the new Director of Student Activities begin work here at Hopkins by August 17, hopefully earlier. We will be posting the position soon. It’s really important to us that students are involved in the hiring process; particularly in meeting the candidates that we bring to campus,” Sanchez wrote in an email to The News-Letter.

The administration is currently considering whether to create an official Greek Life director position, distinct from the director of student activities position.

According to former Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) President Tom Laughlin, Turning made a positive impact on the Greek community during his time at Hopkins.

“I enjoyed working with Rob throughout the year on various issues that the IFC has dealt with,” Laughlin wrote in an email to The News-Letter. “He has been supportive and always available to talk to me about problems that we have seen.”

As a graduating senior, Laughlin expressed concern for the future of Greek Life at Hopkins.

“I’m very concerned about the future of Greek Life, but that has nothing to do with the decisions that the previous two Greek life advisors made by leaving. If there are any concerns I have about administrators it is that they have made the position of Greek Life advisor a very difficult one to have success in,” Laughlin wrote. “The amount of students involved in Greek Life is approaching a third of the undergraduates, but the advisor seems to be given too little support and authority, considering the large portion of the student body that he/she represents.”

Laughlin hopes the new director hired by the administration will have more authority over students in the Greek community.

IFC President-elect Daulton Newman countered Laughlin by explaining that he is not concerned about the future of Greek Life at Hopkins.

“I’m not worried about the stability of Greek Life in the coming years. Fraternities and sororities have a great presence on campus, and, despite all the negative media reports, we do great things at JHU,” Newman wrote in an email to The News-Letter. “These past two years, we’ve had two hard-working coordinators who had to part with us for personal reasons. We have no control over that. We still have great administrative leadership in place that will find the best possible coordinator for our school.”

Rachel Drennen, the previous Coordinator of Greek Life and Orientation, left suddenly last summer, and Turning took over many of her responsibilities. 

Junior Nina Ignacio, the Panhellenic Council president, offered her opinion on Turning and his impact on the Greek community. She said she does not know why he will not be returning next year.

“I haven’t spoken to him, but I know it was a personal matter. I think he was a great advisor. He was very prompt in answering us... He had so much good input and advice. I actually don’t know how I would’ve been Panhel President without him. He was more like a dad to us,” Ignacio said.

Ignacio said she believes appointing an actual director of Greek Life would be beneficial for students.

“I hope the new advisor has great communication with us, very transparent the way Rob was with us. I wish the new person would build a relationship with the students. I hope [they appoint a director] because Rob’s position right now is not just Greek Life. By appointing someone separate for Greek Life it will allow them to concentrate more and do their duties for Greek Life,” Ignacio said.

Junior Class President and IFC Treasurer Jahan Mirchandani said that Turning served as a valuable resource to students.

“Rob played a very supportive role when it came to working with both the IFC and SGA. Rob did a fantastic job providing guidance, answering questions and giving advice/suggestions. His presence will definitely be missed,” Mirchandani wrote in an email to The News-Letter.

Janice Bonsu, the SGA executive president, agreed that Turning was an asset to the Hopkins Greek community and SGA.

“Rob was an amazing advisor and mentor, he always prioritized the needs of the students. It’ll be an enormous loss, but I am excited to see what he does next and confident that the office will be able to find new leadership to help move us along in our mission,” Bonsu wrote.

Tiffany Sanchez also wrote that due to the nature of Turning’s position, overseeing both student activities and Greek Life, he had a wide range of responsibilities that the new advisor must also address. Sanchez detailed what she is looking for in an advisor and discussed the possibility of bringing an actual director of Greek Life to Hopkins.

“We are looking for someone who has had experience working with fraternity and sorority communities on a college campus. Candidates all have some background in leadership development, a history of developing positive working relationships with students, a solid background in fraternity and sorority governance, and experience working with NPHC and multicultural greek organizations,” Sanchez wrote.

According to Sanchez, the administration is looking for a candidate with more than five years of experience working with fraternities and sororities.

“We invited consultants from the National Interfraternal Council’s Fraternity and Sorority Coalition Project to visit campus to provide us with an external review of our fraternity and sorority life community,” Sanchez wrote.