Side by Side with the Dean: Kaitlin Fritz Wins Contest

Congratulations to Kaitlin Fritz, the winner of the college’s 2017 Side by Side with the Dean contest.

The contest is designed to give one student an opportunity to see what it’s like to be dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, while giving the dean the chance to walk in a student’s shoes. On March 22, Fritz and Dean Jeff Braden will spend the day together, attending classes, meetings and events on each other’s calendars. The dean will accompany Fritz to her classes: English Honors Seminar, History of the World and Designing Web Communication. Fritz will accompany the dean to meet with key faculty and campus leaders, consider issues that affect the future of the college and attend a special event featuring activist and writer Anil Dash.

Fritz is a senior majoring in English, with a concentration in language, writing and rhetoric and a minor in design studies. In addition to her busy life as a student, Fritz is service co-director for the Omega Phi Alpha Service Sorority. A former Windhover essayist and current member of the Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Beta Kappa and W.E.B. DuBois honor societies, she has presented art history papers at two recent conferences and works part-time for VIF International Education. In 2016, Fritz’s volunteer/nonprofit venture, Pop-Up Publications, was a finalist at NC State’s annual entrepreneurship competition, the Lulu eGames, taking home a judge’s choice award in the Arts Feasibility Study Challenge.

If her call to service and academic prowess weren’t enough to win her a day with the dean, her creative essay earned the attention of the judges. Fritz’s essay was inspired by and adapted from Dr. Seuss’ Oh! the Places You’ll Go:

Congratulations!
You want to be a student for a day!
You’re off to the classrooms,
Don’t be late. That’s all I have to say.

You’ll be an interdisciplinary student now, but with your background you should be fine.
You’ll be with me as I take courses in writing and theory, in English and in Design.
You’ll experience the English Honors Program and independent research in design and art history.
You can be an out-of-state student, researcher, writer, and club member with me.

Besides being a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Beta Kappa, and soon to be W.E.B. DuBois Honor Society,
I am a service director for Omega Phi Alpha Service Sorority.  
You’ll see my drive for scholarship, empathy, understanding, and success,
And the mentorship, inclusion, and involvement showcased by CHASS in this four year process.

As Dean, I’ll take you places with honor and great care.
Make meetings with students and professors, in your big office chair.
With my four years of experience, I have some changes in mind,
For the promotion of the humanities and social sciences to excel past the time.

I want to impact the students’ experiences and allow them to share their thoughts,
Increase involvement among peers and within the community.
Unleash all the talent, drive, and passion this College holds,
As we fight social issues, unite the Wolfpack, and promote diversity.

Will you succeed at being me?
Well, of course. You already have your degree!

Tompkins, Winston, and Withers, the places we will go, Dean!
I’m off to great places, hopefully graduate school, you see.
The 22nd of March we’ll get on our way,
When we can spend time as student and dean, together for a day!

“I am excited for it all,” Fritz said. “I feel like as students we often do not recognize the time, energy and dedication it takes to run such a diverse college like Humanities and Social Sciences. It will be a busy day, but I know it will be one I will never forget.”