Does Marist have its own Secret Society?

The Dean’s Circle is a highly selective member organization that helps provide opportunities for students to speak directly to the deans. Source: Katy Silberger, Flikr, 2.0 Generic CC BY 2.0

Many students mistake Pat Taylor to be the head of a secret society: the Dean’s Circle.  

“The Dean’s Circle is a highly selective member organization that helps provide opportunities for students to speak directly to the deans,” Taylor said, the Dean’s Circle Coordinator.

With only 3% of the undergraduate student body admitted into the organization, it is not a common topic of conversation across campus. 28 students from each class year are admitted, four from the six academic schools and four undecided students. At any given time, there are at most 125  students in the Dean’s Circle after the freshmen are inducted and before the seniors graduate.

Taylor does not choose who is selected as a Dean Circle member. It is up to each of the deans to narrow down the applicant pool.

“There is generally such a competitive applicant pool that the deans come to me trying to admit more students,” Taylor said.

Former president Dennis Murray wanted to create a space for top performing students to speak with one another by opening communication across disciplines. He wants them to share ideas and hold important discussions.

“He helped create a community of scholars,” Taylor said.
Taylor has helped to improve the sense of community among members as she coordinates off campus excursions as learning opportunities. 

Before the Walkway Over the Hudson became an established landmark, she took the Dean’s Circle on a field trip. There was nothing but chicken wire and boards between them and the treetops below. The group then got to meet with a manager from the Walkway over the Hudson and a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist who wrote a book about the Hudson Railway.

The school deans have also helped plan on-campus events for students by inviting speakers and panelists to discuss a wide variety of topics.

Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic forced any Dean’s Circle activities to be paused. The annual freshman welcome dinner and senior farewell banquet held in the Cornell BoatHouse had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Despite not getting to participate in the traditions of the Dean’s Circle, Evelyn Milburn ‘24 is ecstatic to have just been invited to apply. 

“I felt proud of myself because I didn’t think I would get in and when I did I was really excited,” she said. “I was grateful that my hard work had paid off and I had the privilege to have the support system. “