Mickey Toogood left his position as judicial affairs administrator in September after two years in that capacity, according to an email announcement to faculty from Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon on July 12.
Toogood has continued to work remotely from his new home of Seattle, while Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Raymond Ou oversees the search for a director of community standards to replace him, according to McMahon.
The Office of Student Affairs will be involving staff, faculty and students in the search for his replacement, McMahon said.
"We’ll never be able to replace Mickey, but we hope to hire someone similarly appreciated by students," McMahon told the Daily in an email.
In his time as judicial affairs administrator, Toogood led more than 500 conduct cases, revised the university’s judicial sanctions and worked closely with a number of campus groups including University President Anthony Monaco's Sexual Misconduct Prevention Task Force and the Greek life advisory group, according to the announcement from McMahon.
“Mickey’stwo years in the role have had a tremendously positive impact on Tufts students and on our day-to-day functioning as an office and a division in Student Affairs,” McMahon wrote in the announcement.
Upon taking up his new role, Toogood said in an interview with the Daily that when working with students, he hoped to be seen as more of an equal than as an administrator by opening up communication.
“I’m trying to move away from students viewing me as a principal, from feeling like I’m their high school principal who’s calling them in to yell at them, and instead trying to shift the conversation to be more about community standards,” Toogood said in the 2014 interview.
Toogood also worked as a faculty advisor for Theta Chi Fraternity, according to Theta Chi Vice President of Health and Safety Qais Iqbal.
According to Jake Lissoos, a brother of Theta Chi, Toogood’s role included attending occasional chapter meetings, overseeing general fraternity administration and helping with judicial concerns.
“He gave feedback to the executive board on how we could run things more smoothly, so he was pretty involved in helping us out in ways that we wanted,” Lissoos, a junior, said.
Iqbal appreciated Toogood's work in his role as faculty advisor of the fraternity. According to Iqbal, Toogood worked well as a sounding board for ideas because he could help effectively bring them to life.
“He was always good at deliverables or action items so I would throw ideas around at him,” Iqbal said.
Toogood was also helpful with budget allocation and in linking brothers of ThetaChi to contacts in other parts of the university, according to Iqbal.
According to Lissoos, Toogood was successful in his goal of being approachable and communicative during his time at Tufts, which helped strengthen the fraternity's relationship with the Office of Student Affairs.
Iqbal and Lissoos both expressed concerns about the way in which Toogood’s departure from Tufts might impact the communication between the fraternity and the administration. Iqbal also described his worries about Theta Chi having a faculty advisor.
“With the departure of Mickey Toogood, it’s kind of like stepping back in the relationship that [Theta Chi] had with the administration … I think the biggest fear is not being understood,” Iqbal said.
Lissoos had similar concerns about the change.
“I’m afraid that they won't understand and see the positives of Greek life," Lissoos said. "I think it will be really hard shoes to fill. I don’t think whoever comes and replaces him will be able to do as good of a job as he did. I think we will always miss him."
McMahon stressed that Toogood was appreciated as a resource for both students and his colleagues across campus.
"He has connected wonderfully with students in some of their most difficult moments," she said.
Mickey Toogood to leave role as judicial affairs administrator
