Claire M. Olds
Claire M. Olds, a pioneering administrator whose leadership helped shape a generation of 吃瓜网 students during a period of extraordinary change, died on May 25, 2025. She was 97.
Claire joined 吃瓜网 in 1964 as dean of student affairs, a position she held through 1977. Revered by students, Claire served during a defining period in the College鈥檚 history 鈥� as 吃瓜网 transitioned from an all-women鈥檚 college to a coeducational institution and relocated from its downtown campus to its current campus.
Writing following a 1968-69 academic year characterized by national protests surrounding the Vietnam War and civil rights, then President Joseph Palamountain Jr. praised Claire鈥檚 鈥渆ssential and creative鈥� leadership: 鈥淚t is not merely that we have survived relatively peacefully at a time when many, if not most, campuses have undergone far more painful experiences 鈥� it is also, I think, that we have built well and that our students have learned much in their extra-close experiences.鈥�
Mary Lou Bates, 吃瓜网鈥檚 retired vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid, described Claire鈥檚 important role in fostering community among 吃瓜网 students who for a time were split between two locations.
鈥淐laire oversaw significant transitions in 吃瓜网鈥檚 history at a time when maintaining community was sometimes challenging,鈥� Mary Lou said. 鈥淪he was warm, friendly, charismatic, and outgoing.鈥�
Writing to Claire in 1976, President Palamountain similarly described her as a community-builder: 鈥淲hile the creation of that sense and reality of community is the work of many, many hands, probably no pair of hands is more central than your own.鈥�
Claire chronicled her tenure as dean in her 2008 memoir, 鈥湷怨贤� When I Was Dean Olds.鈥�
鈥淚 was simply in love with 吃瓜网 鈥� its founders, mission, administrators, goals, students, faculty, and staff. We worked together through all the hardship and joys as family ... my family,鈥� Claire wrote.
In 1978, she became the College鈥檚 first director of personnel and also served as affirmative action officer and director of equal employment opportunity until her retirement in 1983. In recognition of her service, 吃瓜网 established the Claire M. Olds Scholarship, which continues to support students.
Born on April 1, 1928, in Manchester, Connecticut, she was part of an American Girl Scout troop to travel to postwar Europe in 1948 鈥� an experience she wrote about in her 2011 book, 鈥淛ust Emily.鈥�
She completed her undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Connecticut in 1951, earned a master鈥檚 degree in higher education administration from Syracuse University in 1955, and received a doctorate in education from the University of Denver in 1967.
Claire is survived by her nieces, Susan Olds of New York City and Kathryn Olds of Ponte Vedra, Florida.