The Pacer A Tribute to
Ben James
Rusty Shunk, Retired Member Past President, PACAC & NACAC
Dr. Benjamin D. James, a founder of PACAC and first Dean of Admissions at Dickinson College, passed away in July at the age of 102.
admissions counselors would advance the professionalism of the office through collaboration and cooperation in the context of friendly competition.
I first heard of Ben James when I was on the admission staff at Lafayette, I met him through a colleague when I served at Wilson who said he had much experience to share, and then got to know him as a friend when I joined the staff at Dickinson.
Ben once told me in a conversation regarding the roots of PACAC that after discussing concerns, particularly about college nights, he said to Mary Rose McWilliams of Cedar Crest College, “Let’s do this thing.” I am sure others were involved in the earliest stages, but readers of our history will know that Cedar Crest hosted the first Admissions Officers Invitational Conference in 1954. Secondary school counselors were added at the 1957 meeting at Penn State, and the Pennsylvania Chapter of NACAC was founded at the conference held at the Milton Hershey School in 1960.
Ben was the beloved “Mr. Dickinson” to generations of graduates—he admitted, coached, counseled, and taught many of them, and even after he retired they called on him to talk with their children and then their grandchildren about Dickinson. Sometimes history is lost on us in the busyness of what we do. But it is important to remember that admission counseling is a relatively new profession, born out of the registrar’s office. NACAC was founded by 13 Midwestern institutions in 1937. The post-WWII era would herald an unprecedented increase in college attendance thanks to the GI Bill. It was in this context that Ben was appointed the first dean of admissions at Dickinson. He and his generation of
Ben and others in that era were legends; they were the role models and mentors for the next generation of professionals. That age-old tradition continues today in individual institutional offices and through professional development offered by PACAC and NACAC. They set high standards for honest and honorable treatment of students in the process. Continued on page 15
WHAT’S INSIDE 2014–2015 Executive Committee 2 President’s Letter 3 My PACAC Story 4 The Ultra-Modern Differences of a 21st Century College 5 Book Review 6 Counselor’s Corner 8 PACAC Conference 2015 9 R.each Y.our F.ull P.otential 10 PACAC Summer Institute 2015 11 NACAC’s Emerging Admission Professionals Summer Institute 12 Camp College 13 PACAC Postings 14 Calendar 2015 15