Interview with Sonia Mañjon

Issue 14 · Spring 2009
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By Faraneh Carnegie ’05

Sonia Mañjon, PhD, is Wesleyan’s first vice president for diversity and strategic partnerships. Coming to Wesleyan after having served in President Roth’s cabinet at California College of the Arts (CCA), Dr. Mañjon is the right woman for the job. She brings to the position more than 20 years of experience in higher education and nonprofit administration, a refreshing creative dynamism, and an obvious affection for her colleagues and her work. I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Mañjon at her home on Mount Vernon Avenue.

How have you acclimated to life and work at Wesleyan?

Sonja Mañjon: I’m acclimating; I’m still in the process. Since CCA is a private art college and Wesleyan is a liberal arts college, I’ve had to adjust to a new campus culture.

Are the differences more prominent in the administrative or the student culture?

SM: I see the differences more in the student culture. Both CCA and Wesleyan students are very intellectual. I found CCA students to be more creative and spontaneous, whereas the students here are more methodical and curious. I appreciate both.

In what ways did you find CCA students more spontaneous?

SM: Art students are like “I want to go from point A to Z and skip all the steps in between. Whatever happens happens.” I think that Wesleyan students are more visionary in their thinking: “How do we get from point A to point B?” From what I’ve seen, they map out the terrain down to the final details. I’ve been impressed with the ways in which students here can identify a vision and detail the methodology and implementation to execute the plan. I met a student early in September who was creating a prison education program in partnership with Cheshire Prison. Now at the end of his senior year, he’s completed the project, down to the last detail of figuring out seed funding for the first two years of the program.

How do you come to meet students like that? Do you hold regular office hours?

SM: After Danny Teraguchi, former dean for diversity and academic advancement left last fall, I stepped in to work with several of the students and student groups he’d been working with. I have an open door policy and students are welcome to make appointments whenever they’d like.

At CCA you served in a number of capacities. How did you juggle your many responsibilities?

SM: I was on the faculty, and I taught two to three classes a year. I chaired two academic programs, directed the Center for Art and Public Life, and developed a new major. It was relatively easy to juggle everything because it was all interconnected, and each project grew out of my work with the others.

Your responsibilities here at Wesleyan are similarly wide in scope. How are you managing?

SM: My role is much less hands on and functions mostly at the policy level. I’m essentially overseeing the work of some very impressive individuals. My team includes Frank Kuan, director of community relations; Janice Astor del Valle, artistic director of the Green Street Arts Center; Jessica Carso, managing director of the Green Street Arts Center; Benjamin Michael, general manager of WESU; Dianna Dozier, associate director of affirmative action; Cathy Lechowicz, director of community service and volunteerism; and Donna Thompson, director of the Upward Bound Program. I’m working with people who are doing some of the things that I was responsible for when I was at CCA, but what makes it easier is that they’re on the ground implementing the programming, and I’m overseeing and strategizing with them.

Another important part of my job is ensuring that the areas I oversee are fully understood at the cabinet level and integrated with the other departments on campus.

Are there specific programs that you’d like to see developed?

SM: I’ve presented my vision about seeing Wesleyan as a more externally engaged institution and ensuring that our students graduate with a keen sense of their potential to affect change.

How does your position differ from Dean Teraguchi’s?

SM: The major difference is that Danny’s position was mainly programmatic. He worked with the Dwight Greene interns and WesDEF (Wesleyan Diversity Education Facilitators), managed the campus climate log and student of color events, and was responsible for collecting a lot of the data around our diversity work.

My position here focuses more on how that data is used to assess the overall impact of the various programs.

How are you measuring that?

SM: I’m working with Human Resources and Student Affairs to develop an affirmative action plan for the institution which would set targeted goals for departments in terms of assessing who’s in the department and who we are recruiting. However, it’s not just a numbers game—if we get 32 percent of students of color on campus, we’re not necessarily good to go.

Once you start increasing numbers, you have to evaluate the impact on student and campus life. How are the students doing? Are they graduating at the same rate as other students? Are their grades as good as other students? Is their academic experience comparable? It’s important to me that our assessment be both qualitative and quantitative. How are people feeling? What are their needs? Then we have to ensure that the programs being implemented are addressing those needs.

Are there plans to replace Dean Teraguchi’s position?

SM: The position still exists, but with the economic climate the way it is, it’s important that we’re really thoughtful in determining the campus’s needs. Dean Teraguchi’s work focused on students, but it seems that now students are doing a tremendous job of making diversity a priority. We may need the diversity position to also strategize with faculty.

What is your sense of where Wesleyan is diversity-wise?

SM: I think that we’re much of the way there. What’s been missing so far is someone tasked with overseeing and documenting the initiatives to be sure that we’re maximizing our resources and our efforts. So far I haven’t seen the information cultivated in a way that makes the community aware of the specifics of Wesleyan’s history of diversity. Michael Benn (former director of affirmative action) created an affirmative action plan for the institution, but it didn’t really go anywhere because no one used it. I’ve slowly been uncovering that information, making meaning of it, and seeing where we should go from here.

Are there ways in which you’d like to see the alumni of color become more involved?

SM: I’m meeting with alumni now—getting to know them and getting a sense of what their issues were and what the issues still are and reconnecting them with Wesleyan. Students here are eager to be connected to the larger network and to be mentored by alumni. I think that it’s up to alumni to make themselves a little more visible and accessible so that students know who they can call. I’d also like to see the institution continue to bring alumni back to campus to come to events and participate in programs like Legacies of Success, so they can share their insights and experiences about life after Wesleyan.

Is there anything that you’d like to say to the alumni of color community?

SM: I really look forward to meeting them and working with them. I’ve had some alumni gatherings and luncheons in New York and California and hope to continue this summer and next year.

Please take some time to share with your fellow alumni what you’ve been up to recently! Send us commentary, photos and/or articles of your latest happenings. Please forward your submissions to Sandy Tello ’06, 77 Pearl Street, Middletown, CT 06459 or stello@wesleyan.edu.