On Friday, Sept. 1, Lacy Frewerd started her role as Director of International Student Services (ISS). Frewerd previously worked at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Wisconsin for fifteen years in their International Programs department, where she was responsible for recruiting and advising international students. Frewerd entered her role on the heels of former Director of ISS, Dena Reuben, who left after just one year at Lawrence.
Frewerd’s role as Director of ISS is to lead initiatives of the ISS team and support international students with their academic and enrichment goals. Since beginning her position, Frewerd said she is in constant learning mode and hopes to meet the needs of the team and the students. She hopes to be innovative by developing practices that align with Lawrence University’s mission and values.
Michael Reed, who transitioned into the role of Student Life Specialist in January, will help support Frewerd in this new position, as this role provides student support and program assistance to the Director of ISS. Additionally, he manages the overall usage of the International House. Reed has been working at Lawrence since 2018, and his previous positions at Lawrence were also dedicated to student support. He has dedicated his time to assisting in various departments, such as being a lab manager for behavioral neuroscience in the psychology department. He has also assisted Associate Professor of Biology Israel Del Toro’s pollinator lab in the biology department, provided administrative support in the office of Student Engagement, Activities, and Leadership (SEAL) and helped to supervise the Viking Room.
Some students have raised concerns regarding their experience with the ISS. Senior Caleb Yuan, an international student from Beijing, China is among those who have had a mix of negative and positive experiences with the ISS. Yuan reported initially having a positive experience with the former Director of ISS, Leah McSorley, when he first arrived at Lawrence, adding that she showed immense support to incoming international students. Yuan stated that he appreciated the effort and care that came from her even during COVID-19. McSorley left in June 2022.
“Even though it was the COVID year, I still appreciated her effort to reach out and care for me,” Yuan said. “When I was on the Lawrence International (LI) Board as an Event Coordinator, Leah showed us immense support on all the events we ran. On a personal level, even though I didn’t communicate with Leah as often, I knew whenever I wanted to talk to her, she would be there to support me. It’s like she would always go the extra miles for our international students.”
Yuan said that he heard complaints from other international students after Reuben became the Director of ISS. These complaints mentioned that Reuben did not respond to students’ emails in a timely manner regarding deadlines for important paperwork. Some students also felt that there was a lack of effort under Reuben’s direction to aid transitions to campus for international students, such as providing buses to retrieve a state I.D. and a phone number. As for the new staff running the ISS, Yuan stated that while it’s too early to make any judgements, he did appreciate a more blended orientation for both domestic and international students.