Rich Ramos was the associate dean of students for 34 years until the end of the 2022-2023 academic year, when he announced his retirement.  

Now, the college has hired Steven Strope to take over the spot that Ramos held for decades. Strope will help advise and direct individual student organizations and activities such as the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Campus Activity Board (CAB).

Strope previously worked with students doing academic planning and life coaching. He also directed residence life at Cornell and Coe College prior to coming to Simpson. 

Ready for the next step in his career, Strope wanted to get back to working directly with students. He was very excited when this opportunity to work at Simpson opened up. 

Strope started at the beginning of this academic year, which has primarily been filled with lots of learning and figuring things out. 

“Rich had been here for 34 years, meaning he knew the ins and outs of everything. He handled a lot of things behind the scenes,” Zamaria Barnes, CAB President, said. “So, the initial transition was a bit rough, but working with Steven has been a great learning process for us both. He is a great help to the CAB execs and during our events.” 

Strope knows that his role comes with some big shoes to fill.

“Rich was beloved by students that worked with him,” Stope said. “I know from working with colleagues at other institutions that because of his experience, he was very active and very involved in organizations. It’s never easy to be the person to follow the campus legend.” 

Strope is working with the CAB team to ensure that all traditional events and activities are being planned and executed as efficiently as possible. With the chaos of the new year and transitioning from one advisor to another, Zamaria was happy to see a bit of an increase in student engagement from previous years, but they are always aiming for more. 

He plans on being very intentional with any change that he proposes. He believes that there must be a reason for change and these reasons come from the feedback of students, student groups, and advisors. 

Right now, and this first year, Strope’s big focus is on learning and understanding where his presence fits into the culture at Simpson. He hopes to “forge [his] own path in a way that will work best for [him], and so that it will work best for all of the students, the student groups and advisors.”