In the cover letter accompanying his application for vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at Carleton, Art Rodriguez ’96 recalled visiting campus for the first time. It was a frosty April evening and he’d flown direct from Baldwin City, 30 miles east of Los Angeles, where he was raised by his mother and grandmother. “Minnesota was very different from California,” he says with a characteristically infectious chuckle. “And I remember saying to myself on the ride from the airport, ‘What was I thinking coming out here?’ ”
Less than 48 hours later, the soon-to-be first-generation college student returned home wearing a Carleton sweatshirt. His mother, whose family hails from Mexico, knew her only son had made up his mind. “There was a warmth and openness on campus that, to this day, remains a draw,” Rodriguez says. That fall, thanks to an “essential financial aid package,” he enrolled at Carleton, eventually declaring a special major in environmental geochemistry.
Before leaving Minnesota to earn a master’s degree in education from Harvard University, Rodriguez spent a few years, between 1996 and 1999, as Carleton’s director of multicultural affairs. During that time, he was mentored by a number of staff and faculty members, who remained influential as he went on to accept leadership positions in admissions at Pomona and Vassar Colleges. One of those influencers is Paul Thiboutot, retiring Carleton vice president and dean of admissions, whom Rodriguez will replace in July.
“There’s a commitment at Carleton to ensure that students from a range of life experiences and backgrounds have the financial resources to attend,” says Rodriguez. “And that’s not just in terms of tuition. There’s also a real focus on ensuring that a support structure is in place for all students to thrive. That’s what Carleton gave to me. And that’s a big reason I’m coming back.”