Founded in 1854 and affi liated with the United Methodist Church, Hamline University is Minnesota’s first university. Hamline strives to be recognized as a diverse, learning-centered university that is rooted in a tradition of liberal education, dynamic and actively inclusive, locally engaged and globally connected, and invested in the personal and professional growth of individuals.
Dr. Alan L. Sickbert, dean of students, leads the Division of Student Aff airs, comprised of 35 full-time and 12 part-time staff members across various departments within the division, including the Offices of Student Activities and Leadership, Orientation and First Year Programs, Campus Recreation, the Center for Student Success and Transition, and the Wesley Center for Spirituality, to name a few.
Hamline is proud of its long history of commitment to diversity, inclusion and social justice, which dates back to
its founding. More than a guiding principle, Dean Sickbert highlights that discussions of diversity and inclusion begin for staff members at the application process and continue as a key component of ongoing professional development and annual performance reviews.
It is clear that administrators hope that staff members find the ideals of diversity, inclusion and social justice
infused in all aspects of the Hamline experience. Assistant Dean of Students Patti Klein says, “We have an overall
expectation that we will do our work in a just way and we ask tough questions and have meaningful, sometimes difficult conversations. The commitment to diversity has an individual, office and division expectation.”
It is this strategic and comprehensive commitment to Hamline ideals of diversity, inclusion and social justice that
guides their division and makes student affairs at Hamline one of this year’s “30+ Promising Places to Work in Student Affairs.”