Comings and Goings: Ahlquist Departs After 17 Years

After 17 years on Palatine Hill, Charlie Ahlquist is saying farewell to Lewis & Clark and starting a new voyage. Charlie has made a huge impact on the College and has assisted thousands of students over the years, always with the steady, humble, fair approach to situations large and small.

After completing his BA at L&C in 2007 (Music and Psychology), and then his MAT at the Graduate School of Education and Counseling (Music Education), Charlie served in Campus Living for seven years, bringing his diligence and fun to six residence halls and developing the residential education models that serve as the foundation for our Living Learning Communities. Charlie developed and coordinated the Pioneer Success Institute, a program that has enhanced the first semester for every new undergraduate student since 2014. Whether he was assisting student organizations like ASLC or helping to build community in the residence halls when he worked in Campus Living, there are few aspects of Student Life that Charlie has not been a part of.

During his six years as assistant dean, Charlie led the Welfare Intervention Network (WIN), assisting countless students in need and role-modeling that L&C cares and responds to our students in compassionate ways. Charlie became the first director of Student Rights and Responsibilities, managing the student code of conduct and transforming our approach to behavioral referrals to a conflict resolution model grounded in restorative practices; Charlie always handled issues big and small in a fair, even handed manner with student learning at the center of everything he did. He supervised the work of the offices of Student Leadership and Service, Student Activities, and Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement, and served as a key member on the Student Life Leadership Team for many years. In addition to his work in Student Life, for ten years, Charlie served as assistant choir conductor for Kathy FitzGibbon. He helped to grow the choir program to its current format and facilitated multiple choir tours to destinations including Hawaii, Canada, and Egypt.

Charlie will be missed for his ingenuity, willingness to always go the extra mile, his wry sense of humor, poor taste in puns, and of course for his vivid and colorful outfits. Charlie will certainly be a lifelong member of the L&C community with roots in every part of the institution (and though he didn’t attend the Law School, his wife, Meredith Price BA ’07, JD ’13, is a double alumna and spent a lot of time there). His absence will be felt for years to come. Please join me in wishing Charlie the best in his future endeavors and thank him for his many years of service.

There are no new hires at Lewis & Clark, but some continuing employees have taken on new roles and responsibilities:

Susanne Falenczykowski, project coordinator, National Crime Victim Law Institute; Jason Holmgren, occupational health and safety manager, Facilities Services; and Blair Orfall, program coordinator, Dean of the College.

The following people have left Lewis & Clark. Here’s wishing them good luck in their new adventures:

Katherine Bucko, administrative assistant, National Crime Victim Law Institute; Julie Couch, lead dispatcher, Campus Safety; Jason Feiner, director of special events, Student Activities; Arthur Haubenstock, executive director, Green Energy Institute; Sierra Lavoy, laboratory coordinator, Biology; and Natalie Tran, assistant athletic trainer, Physical Education and Athletics.