On June 30, Jim Ralph stepped down from his position as Dean of the Faculty, passing the baton to Professor of American Studies Roberto Lint Sagarena. Ralph had agreed to the transition in the spring of 2023, having served in the academic administration since August 2008.
“I am looking forward to returning full-time to the ranks of the faculty and to having more time to spend with my family and on my scholarship. It has been a privilege to be able to work with so many people over the years to try to make Middlebury a better institution,” Ralph wrote in an email to The Campus.
In the coming years, Lint Sagarena will be focused on comprehensive faculty support: Advocating for fair pay and wellbeing, helping departments function effectively and restoring academic communities in the wake of the pandemic’s disruptions.
“At this point in the year, I'm especially focused on bringing new faculty into the fold, but faculty at all points in their career need strong collegial relationships of care and mentoring, relating is the foundation of everything we do,” Lint Sagarena wrote.
Ralph and Lint Sagarena both emphasized the importance of working with people in their administrative philosophy, particularly from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.
“Working directly with people has been at the heart of my time at Middlebury. Teaching here is incredibly rewarding—our students’ curiosity and enthusiasm constantly amaze me, and building mentoring relationships has been the most meaningful part of my work,” Lint Sagarena wrote.
In his time at Middlebury since 2008, Lint Sagarena has helped launch the Anderson Freeman Center (AFC) and First@Midd, an orientation program for first generation college students. He has also done research on religion, colonial history and cultural traditions.
Lint Sagarena took a winding path into academia. Having lost both of his parents before college, he dropped out of high school in 10th grade, ranking in the bottom 10% of his class.
“I was an avid reader who found my high school curriculum profoundly uninteresting. When I prepared to take the GED, my high school advisor told me that taking the exam meant I would never go to college,” Lint Sagarena wrote. “I then spent eight years on and off taking night classes at a community college (still thinking I would never progress in higher ed beyond dabbling) until an academic advisor explained how to transfer to a four-year university. That conversation changed everything for me and both advisors really showed me how much one person can impact a student's future for better or worse.”
Growing up between Mexican and American cultures, Lint Sagarena’s academic interest focused on how cultures with similar historical links appear so different. He pursued a BA in Art History and Philosophy at UC Santa Cruz, then an MA and PhD in Religions of the Americas at Princeton. Now, he lives with his wife and 12-year-old daughter in Shoreham, down the road from president emerita Laurie Patton.
In rapidly changing times for higher education, Lint Sagarena hopes to acknowledge the reality of Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially how it has already integrated into daily life.
“As a learning community, we need to recognize what AI does well while emphasizing the irreplaceable value of human thinking and creativity. Rather than being AI boosters or retreating into nostalgia, we should be clear-eyed about these tools. This means remaining conscious that AI might help us with tasks but human thought, the deep, sustained reasoning at the heart of liberal arts education, remains essential,” Lint Sagarena wrote.
Through these changes, including threats to funding, Lint Sagarena hopes that a community-based approach will be most effective.
“AI's impact on learning, changes in student preparation, and shrinking research funding are just some of the current issues that require a team lift to engage,” Lint Sagarena wrote. “Academic careers are demanding, and we need to work together as much as possible to address that reality.”
Rachelle Talbert '28 (she/her) is a News Editor.
Rachelle previously served as a Copy Editor. She intends to major in English with minors in Art History and Linguistics.
