Vice President for Student Development and Mission

The current organization of the Division of Student Development and Mission (formerly Student Affairs) appears to have originated in 1960 when Rev. Charles J. Dunn, S.J. was appointed Dean of Men. Prior to this appointment, the Dean of Discipline Office was responsible for the functions now associated with Student Affairs.

Rev. Charles J. Dunn, S.J. was appointed Dean of Men during the summer of 1960. Fr. Dunn holds a B.A. and M.A. from Boston College. Fr. Dunn was promoted to Vice President for Student Affairs in 1966. He left the college in 1968 and held various positions at other educational institutions. In 1981, Fr. Dunn returned to Holy Cross to the Office of Gift Planning. He is now retired but remains a member of the Holy Cross Jesuit Community.

John E. Shay Jr. was appointed Dean of Students in September 1967 and he was promoted to Vice President of Student Affairs in 1969. Shay earned a A.B. from University of Florida in 1955, a M.A. from Teachers College of Columbia University and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1966. Prior to his tenure at Holy Cross, he was the Dean of Student Affairs at Marshall College in West Virginia. Shay resigned in 1971 after accepting a position at the University of Rhode Island.

Donald T. McClain was hired as Dean of Men in 1968 and three years later, he was promoted to the position of Dean of Students. McClain received a B.A. in history and a M.A. in Sociology from State University of New York, Albany. Before his tenure at Holy Cross, he served as the assistant director of housing at the State University of New York at Buffalo. McClain resigned from the college in the spring of 1979.

Rev. Earle L. Markey, S.J. attended St. Peter’s Prep and the College of Holy Cross before completing graduate work in Education at Fordham University. He entered the Jesuits in July 1953. Fr. Markey held various teaching positions before returning to Holy Cross in 1976 to become the Associate Dean of Students. He became the Dean of Students in 1979. The division of Student Affairs was reorganized in 1985 and at this time, Fr. Markey was named the Vice President of Student Affairs/Dean of Students. He held this position until 1996. Currently, Fr. Markey is the Associate Director of Admissions, Jesuit Relations.

Jacqueline D. Peterson held the position of Vice President of Student Affairs/Dean of Students from 1997 to 2017. Prior to her tenure at Holy Cross, she held positions at Pitzer College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Peter earned a B.A. in psychology from John Fisher College and a M.S. degree in education from Nazareth College. She also completed doctoral work at RIP in multicultural organizational development.

Michele Murray was appointed Vice President of Student Affairs/Dean of Students in 2017. Previously, she held positions at Seattle University, Loyola College in Maryland, University of Vermont and Oakcrest School for Girls in Washington, D.C. Murray holds a B.A. in rhetoric and communication studies and psychology from the University of Virginia, a M.Ed. in higher education and student affairs administration from the University of Vermont and a Ph.D. in education policy and leadership in higher education from the University of Maryland. Her title changed to Senior Vice Preisdent for Student Development and Mission in 2022 after President Rougeau instituted organizational changes to the College.

On July 1, 2022, the name of the division was changed from Division of Student Affairs to Divsion of Student Development and Mission.