Currier Residential Dean Quickly Replaced

Emily G. Rosenthal, sophomore advising coordinator at Pforzheimer House, will be the new Currier resident dean, House Masters James L. Cavallaro and Nadejda Marques announced in an e-mail sent yesterday to Currier residents.

Interim Resident Dean and Tutor of Currier House, Allison D. Diop-Frimpong, announced her resignation from both roles in an e-mail to Currier House residents last Thursday.

“I have decided to step away from my role as Interim Resident Dean and Tutor of Currier House to take more time to be with my family,” she wrote in the e-mail, explaining her departure.

Diop-Frimpong and her husband, Benjamin, have a 10-month-old son.

Diop-Frimpong became Interim Allston Burr Resident Dean at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, replacing Katherine Stanton, now the assistant dean of undergraduate education.

Undergraduates in Currier expressed mixed feelings about Diop-Frimpong’s performance as resident dean and many said that they rarely interacted with her.

“I’m really not particularly familiar with her. She wasn’t a particularly hot topic of conversation,” said Currier resident Louis R. Evans ’13.

Of those who knew her, many students said that she was extremely nice and approachable.

“She’s very kind and she seems very easygoing,” said Currier resident Peter A.D. Curtis.

But some students were critical of Diop-Frimpong.

An e-mail sent Wednesday over Currier Underground—an e-mail list exclusively for Currier undergraduates­—criticized Diop-Frimpong as resident dean, saying that she was absent at House events and she did not promptly respond to e-mails.

The e-mail suggested that Diop-Frimpong was applying to be a permanent resident dean and questioned whether she would do well in such a role.

Some Currier residents echoed some of the e-mail’s objections during interviews yesterday.

“There were some students who felt she wasn’t doing as good a job as she could have,” said Currier resident Rebecca Bergena ’13.

Others said that they had heard few complaints regarding Diop-Frimpong’s performance before the e-mail was sent over Currier Underground.

“The e-mail was the first I heard of it,” said Currier resident Meylakh M. Barshay ’13.

“She was a good resident dean,” said Currier resident Megan M. Blewett ’11. “I’ve never had any problems with her. Whenever I needed something from her, she always responded.”

—Staff writer Monika L. S. Robbins can be reached at mrobbins@college.harvard.edu

—Staff writer Hana N. Rouse can be reached at hrouse@college.harvard.edu