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A Lasting Legacy
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On a Friday afternoon in late October, Associate Dean of Students Victoria Angis will turn off the lights in her office, close the door, and at the same time, bring her more than 40-year career serving Castleton University and its students to a close. Angis – more affectionately known as VA to those around campus – will retire this fall after a long and distinguished career.
Humble Beginnings Angis completed most of her undergraduate coursework at University of New Hampshire. There, she found her passion for planning, particularly student activities.
“My sophomore year, this boy I liked said, ‘I’m going to a meeting in the MUB,’ which was what we called the student union, or the campus center. It was the Memorial Union Building. ‘Do you want to come?’” she said. “I said sure, like a puppy dog. I didn’t even know what the meeting was about.”
The meeting was to start a club that would coordinate big-name concerts on campus.
“I discovered that I wasn’t a great student, but I loved putting on events,” she said. “And I was good at it.”
Next Stop: Fitchburg State University Angis eventually packed up and moved to the midwest to finish her degree. She was working in a student union in Minnesota when she got a call from her former advisor. He was at Fitchburg State University in a newly-opened student union and wanted Angis to come work with him.
She arrived at Fitchburg that July and took on the role of assistant director of operations. After four years at Fitchburg, Angis was wanting more.
“I thought, I want my own place where I can make decisions and put my stamp on it,” she said. “Low and behold, a job at Castleton showed up.” A Place to Leave Her Mark Angis first came to Castleton in 1980. She applied for a position as coordinator of student activities/director of the campus center. After a day-long interview, Angis found herself in then-president Tom Meyer’s office.
Angis received a call from Meyer the next week offering her the job.
Transforming SOS Angis’ core job included responsibility for the Campus Center, student activities, student government, and orientation. Not long after her arrival, Angis and Dean of Students Joe Mark had their first introduction to Castleton’s orientation counselors. They immediately knew they had to change the perception of the group – starting with the name.
“One reason it was important to me is I remember in excruciating detail being a freshman in college in 1969 and how painful it was to walk on campus. Then I was greeted by my orientation leader and I knew I could get through this. Then, I became an orientation leader and orientation coordinator,” she said. “I knew what it meant to me to be an orientation leader, how it helped me become confident. It helped me to become secure in my place in the world as an awkward nerdy, big-haired shy person.”
New Challenges Ahead Angis has worn many hats during her time at Castleton. Most of her responsibilities have built on her work with students. Some came to her because she felt strongly it had to be done. Others required a leader who was detailoriented and could rally a group of people to collaborate for a common goal.
She served as assistant dean for campus life before stepping into her current role as associate dean of students. She also served as interim director of admissions and interim director of institutional research.
Today, Angis serves on 13 committees, chairing, co-chairing, or convening 10 of them. These include archives, commencement, cultural affairs, CU See Me, diversity, equity and inclusion, disabilities access, Green Campus Work Group, homecoming and family weekend, registration and orientation, sexual assault protocol, student wellness task force, veterans and military service team, and Women’s History Month.
Home Away from Home When you ask Angis to describe the Campus Center in one word, it’s home.
“When I first came here, I didn’t know anyone. I was very lonely, very shy. I spent far more hours in the Campus Center than I did in my apartment. And there are students who do that,” she said. “They find their place there. They find themselves there. I can empathize with that because that was me.”
When former president Dave Wolk announced the Castleton Student Initiative – a campaign that included building a new Campus Center – Angis was looking forward to being part of the process. She kept waiting for an invitation to meetings with the architect and contractors, but it never came.
“This went on for months and finally, I knew when the dean was leaving, and I knew where they were meeting so I went. And Dave was there, and he just said, ‘oh, hey Victoria!’ So I just kept coming,” she said. “I was the only female. I got to have a pretty good relationship with the architect because he had renovated a lounge in a student union, but he had never built a student union. And I’ve never built a student union too, but I figured I’ve been in a lot more student unions than he had. So, I was able to feed him information and they started to include me in decisions.”
Angis recalls walking into the newly renovated Campus Center when it first opened in 2009. “It was one of the pinnacles of my career,” she said. A Fond Farewell Five years ago, Angis’ friends started to mention retirement. At the time, she couldn’t even bring herself to say the word. It took her three years to be comfortable thinking about retiring.
Angis retires on October 29 – four days after her 70th birthday.
“I’m getting used to the idea that after October 29 this won’t be my identity. That’s part of it. It’s been my home away from home for so long and is so much a part of my identity. My new mantra is a quote from E.M. Foster. We must be willing to let go of the life we had planned, so as to live the life that is waiting for us.”
Read the full story: CASTLETON.EDU/VA
Learn more about the Victoria Angis Legacy Campaign: CASTLETON.EDU/CELEBRATEVA
