Introducing Dale Peterson: Dean of Students

Throughout your time at YDS, you will all get to know a wonderful man named Dale Peterson. Some of you will get to know him simply because he's our Dean of Students, and so it's hard not to spend at least a little time with him. Some of you will get to know him because he is the keeper of the Candy Bowl, a nearly mythical oasis located outside his office. Many of you, however, will have the pleasure of getting to know him because he is incredibly friendly, knows everyone's name seemingly before they arrive on campus, and is a great deal of fun. In any case, we thought we'd offer you a brief introduction to the man and the legend before you set foot on Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, and so without further ado we give you Mr. Dale Peterson. 

Q: So Dale, how long have you been at YDS?

A: I arrived as the part-time interim dean of students on the last day of February 2000.  By the summer of 2000, I was the full-time interim dean of students.  By the fall of 2000, I was the full-time acting dean of students.  By early 2001, I was the full-time permanent dean of students, and it was made officially retroactive to September 2000.  Quite the evolution!  But, beginning in March 1988, and continuing till 2000, I made a visit to YDS once a week, in my role as Baptist Chaplain in Yale.  We had "Baptist Table" in the Old Refectory, and I ate and visited with students for a few hours during that weekly visit.  It was during those days, for example, that I first met Susan Olson*, who occasionally joined us at Baptist Table.  Susan's a Presbyterian, so I'll let her explain why she ate with the Baptists!  :)

Q: Can you describe what you do at YDS as the Dean of Students? What's the best part? The hardest part?

A: The best part:  hanging out with students and staff and faculty;  attending concerts and lectures and dinners;  being present for YDD presentations and Community Dinners and Fatted Cafes;  worshipping in Marquand and drinking coffee in the Common Room and getting food from Sandy in the Refectory;  standing by the Candy Bowl and visiting with folk who come by for a Milky Way and conversation.

The hardest part:  everything that must be taken care of that prevents doing all of the above.  As much as I love my desk and my phone and my computer, I'd rather be visiting with the wonderful community that is YDS!

Q: Alright Dale, what's with this Candy Bowl we keep talking about?

A: I placed a big blue candy bowl outside my office door on the very first day I arrived at YDS as dean of students (the last day of February 2000).  My office was on the first floor of Porter Hall, which was located near the Divinity Farm, but which was demolished several years ago.  I wanted to meet students, faculty, and staff, and to make everyone feel welcome at my office.  So, I thought of the candy bowl as a good way to say hello to folk as they walked by, and as they selected a piece of candy.  It was an instant success, really, and everyone stopped to have a conversation with me as they got a piece of candy.  I thought students would come by, but I was surprised at how many professors stopped by, too!  The first time I met Prof. Bob Wilson, I think, was when he stopped by and asked if I had any chocolate without nuts.  When my office moved to its current hallway, I placed the candy bowl outside my office door once again.  By this time,  it was something of a fixture in YDS.  Then-student Julie Parker purchased the stand on which the candy bowl sits to this day, at a tag sale at her church in New York.  We've had a few different bowls--  plastic, ceramic, blue, white--  but the basket we use now has been around for several years.  I like to say that the candy bowl budget is the one line item that Dean Attridge never reduced in all of his years as Dean!  I am greatly indebted to Mike Giaquinto**, of course, who has done the purchasing and hauling of the candy for the past five years, and who does a fantastic job of keeping the bowl full to overflowing. 

Q: What do you do when you're not being Dean of Students?

A: When I'm not in New Haven, I'm most likely in Virginia, visiting my family there.  My father died five years ago this year, on the morning of Commencement rehearsal, so I go to Virginia as often as I can now to visit my mother there.  Mother turns 90 years of age this year, so my visits home grow in importance to me as time progresses. 

   

Q: What is your favorite spot in New Haven?

A: On a beautiful Fall or Spring day, there is no place lovelier than the Divinity Quad.  On a clear, crisp Winter night, there is no sky more spectacular than the one above the Divinity Quad.  On a Summer morning, when all is quiet and calm, there is no place more inviting than the Divinity Quad.  And during Yale Commencement, the best party Yale throws all year, there is no single spot more conducive to lingering and celebrating than the Divinity Quad.  Fortunately, all of this is close at hand and very familiar, so the Divinity Quad is my favorite place in New Haven!  (By the way, the Divinity Quad is designed after my alma mater, the University of Virginia…  a place of incredible beauty just a bit farther south.)

Q: What is your favorite part of New Haven in the summer?

A: New Haven is part of a beautiful and long shoreline, stretching from Milford and West Haven to Guilford and Madison.  The natural beauty of the beaches and wetlands is compelling all year, but maybe especially so in the summertime.  I love to walk on the beach, and the weather almost always cooperates in the summer.  I love to eat outside in the summer, and the many restaurants and cafes of New Haven and the adjoining shoreline towns, including those on the water, have outdoor seating, which I love.  My single favorite spot in the summer is Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, the longest stretch of public beach in Connecticut.  It is a great place for walking and swimming and eating outside!

Q: What would be one word of advice for incoming students?

A: Please let us hear from you!  This is a place of grace and mercy and of people ready to help in whatever ways you need assistance, but we need to hear from you in order to be helpful.  Please do not suffer or struggle in silence, but please let us know how we can help.  There are resources in the university and divinity school to which we are connected, and we are happy to connect you with those resources, too.  I am available as needed, by phone or email or text or in person…  please call on me.  

Q: If you could spend one day as another person at YDS, who would it be?

A: Colin Britt***.  I could eat candy all day long and not gain weight.  I could sing loudly in Chapel and not have folk turn around to discover the source of the noise.  I could stand in the middle of a room, raise my hands, and get everyone's attention--  plus, they would do whatever I did, repeating my words and singing my tunes.  And I would be on time to every Chapel service, because I would have to be (rather than missing nearly every Prelude and Call to Worship as I usually do!).    

Q: Now the tough question: Where do you go for pizza in New Haven, and what do you order?  

A: Well, I am featured in a Travel Channel program called "Pizza Paradises," on which I extol the wonders of Pepe's Apizza, New Haven's wonderful and legendary pizza restaurant in Wooster Square.  I talk about the crunchy, smoky flavor of the brick-oven pizza, while my friend Nicole (Yale College 1998, now a resident of NYC) talks about the wonderful memories of pizza at Pepe's during her undergrad years (going so far as to say that Pepe's is better than any pizza in NYC!).  I do love Pepe's, and I love Sally's, and I love BAR.  But, my regular pizza place is none of those places.  When I go out for pizza, or pick-up a pie to eat at home, I go to Modern Apizza on State Street.  Most often, I get a "medium pie, peppers, onions, and mushrooms, mozz and red sauce."  But I love spinach, broccoli, bean & escarole, fresh garlic, and fresh tomato, too!     

Q: And most importantly, what's your favorite thing about Esther and Patrick?      

A: Patrick is from North Carolina.  He is from Asheville, where my mother's people are from.  He went to Chapel Hill, where many of my relatives went, and which I grew up loving till I went to UVA and suffered split loyalty (a condition that persists to this day).  Plus, he has some Baptist in his background, which means we're related somehow.  This is most evident when a plate of barbeque is placed before him.  And a large glass of sweet tea.

Esther went to Colby College, which I first visited in 1982, when I was doing campus ministry at Dartmouth College.  It is a beautiful place and it became the quintessentially Maine college for me, and I love it.  The daughter of my best friends went there, too, an individual to whom I am "Uncle Dale."  Esther's father teaches at a Baptist college in Pennsylvania, and she has a little Baptist in her background, too, so we're related somehow, too.  Esther loves to sing a capella and I love to listen to a capella singing.  

But mostly, I love Patrick and Esther because they are amazingly wonderful students who care deeply about the YDS community and about the BTFO program.  They are smart, organized, creative, and great fun, and it is a joy to work alongside them!

Thanks, Dale! As ya'll continue to prepare for arrival at YDS throughout the summer, you may find yourselves in need of some candy or some guidance, both of which overflow from Dale's office with abundance.

*Susan Olson is the Director of Career Counseling at YDS, and ya'll be officially introduced to her later this summer.

** Mike Giaquinto is currently works for Dale's office, and is sadly leaving YDS this summer to attend law school. He will be sorely missed, although we're all very excited for him.

***Colin Britt is the Director of Chapel Music in Marquand, and he really loves Twix.