Remembering Deren Finks

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

The Dream Team—Deren Finks far right

He was born and raised in South-Central LA, but his laugh could fill counties. He attended a local college, and started working in its admissions office, where his natural instincts for the work, and for people, were evident at the jump. People who met him for the first time didn’t just like him; they loved him, and had to summon everything they could not to end their first meeting by hugging this giant, effusive, teddy-bear of a man.

Word spread about this guy in the college admissions community, and it didn’t take long before he was dean of admissions at Harvey Mudd College, one of the most prestigious science and engineering colleges in the world. Quick on his feet, a keen study of human nature, blessed with a heart of gold, there was no one else you wanted in charge of a place that could become a nerd shop in a hurry. Deren simply didn’t allow it.

If you wanted to work for Deren, you had to put people first, always. Some would argue that’s easy to do at a college that has more applicants than slots, but some of the highly selectives can be pretty standoffish about their status. That didn’t work with Deren. His attitude towards work was that he hired good people, and let them work as they see fit. If some of them spent an afternoon on Facebook—and he knew if you did—he didn’t really care, as long as the work got done, and got done the right way. Deren was one of those bosses who truly believed you should have a life and a job.

Poor health led Deren to take some time off from his work, even though his employer said Deren could work from home and do as much or as little as he wanted. After a few years of healing, he returned to college admissions as a dean of college counseling at a school where the expectations were high, and the counselors were married to their job.

It wasn’t the kind of place for a guy who brings his dogs to work, but they offered it to him anyway, and he changed it overnight. Deren told his veteran staff he knew they could do his job, maybe even better than he could. This quintet became known throughout the country as The Dream Team, with Deren shaping a college counseling program that was rich with heart, joy, wit, purpose, and humanity.

And those parents with high expectations? Whenever a parent called, he waited until the next day to call back, knowing that a return call the same day would be with a frazzled parent who wanted their kid in Princeton NOW, but a call the next day would be more rational. It was magic.

Trying to change an old school prep school is tough work, and Deren’s health began to suffer again. He worked at a smaller school for a while, then left the field again. To the despondence of an entire profession, he died due to complications from kidney failure, and the admissions world was silent for a week.

October is usually seen as hair-pulling season in college admissions, where college folks spend too much time on the road, and high school folks wait for the next parent to yell at them. Deren Finks waltzed into this field with a love for all that is right and good, and showed us all how we, and our work, could be right and good. Here’s hoping we always remember the lesson of the jovial teddy-bear from Compton Country Day.