Everyone who has gone through the hallowed halls of an academic institution, from pre-school through higher education, knows a Dean B. That’s the administrator who’s got the ear of the students and the pulse of each class. Maybe you were fortunate to have one where you went to school.

He or she knows the students by name, attends every academic or athletic event, and is there for the celebrations as well as the tough times. Life just wouldn’t be the same without this Dean B. And schools without one just don’t feel the same.

LaGrange College has been fortunate to have a Dean B since I’ve been here. Whether it’s a football game, lacrosse game, play, or induction ceremony for Psi Chi, the psychology honor society, Vice President and Dean for Student Life and Retention Linda Buchanan has been there. And she doesn’t just show up. She’s there to engage the participants as well as the attendees.

It broke our school’s hearts to learn that she will be leaving LaGrange. Our loss will be Iowa Wesleyan’s gain. But by “our,” I don’t just mean our college.

Avid readers of The LaGrange Daily News will recognize her name from the by-lines, where her columns provide thoughts about everything from honor and honesty in baseball to the breakdown of bipartisanship in politics. Participants in the First United Methodist Church will always remember her devoted membership and strong loyalty to friends much beloved in the community.

But what separates Dr. Buchanan from all the other Dean B’s I’ve met or even heard of is her contributions to the country. For nearly 25 years, she served in the United States Navy, much of it in Naval Intelligence. Such a sacrifice in time and energy was particularly acute at the onset of the War in Iraq.

As she departed for parts unknown, LaGrange College was a bit under siege as well. Folks had the mistaken impression that the school was unpatriotic or something. Amid packing her bags for service during a scary time for our nation, she had to field calls from angry local residents, critical of a rally a few held for peace in the Middle East.

At an event marking her temporary departure for her call to duty, she instructed us to carry around a small glass pebble, until the conclusion of the conflict. Noting that several other students, possibly moved by her own commitment to serving our country in war, had enlisted, I began wearing a small set of wristbands, one for every student going abroad to defend our homeland. It’s not a statement for or against the war, but the tiniest of constant reminders of what’s going on in a place many Americans seem to have forgotten about. I probably would have never thought to have done so without our Dean B.

It really hasn’t hit me that Dr. Buchanan is really going off to join our former Academic Dean Jay Simmons at Iowa. But it will at the beginning and end of every school year. That would be the time that our Dean B would give a short speech that provides for the rest of us the context, hopes, and fears that every student from a particular class faces, setting the tone for the new year and reminding us why the past was worth it all. The least I can do is write a similarly short note that captures the essence of a great person leaving LaGrange. We’ll miss you Dean B!