Joe Moon, 45 years

Tell us a little about the work you've done at Emory throughout your career.

The summer of 1978 when I came to Emory as Assistant Dean for Men, the movie Animal House had just been released to the delight of college students everywhere.  The movie’s plot featured a renegade fraternity called the Delts, led by John Belushi’s character, Bluto, who had an ongoing conflict with the College Dean, Vernon Wormer.  

There were many memorable scenes from this film, but one featured a Delt toga party where a beer keg was thrown crashing through a second-floor window of the frat house as part of the festivities.  

And, you guessed it, Emory had a Delt house and, the first time I visited the house, during a reprisal of this famous scene a keg crashed through an upstairs window and landed with a thump at my feet. The “drinking age” in Georgia was 18, so frat parties were...epic. Welcome to Emory, Dean Wormer – I mean Moon.  

I’ve spent the bulk of my time at Emory as Dean of Campus Life at Oxford College and have been privileged to be part of student life on both campuses.   

What are some of your favorite memories of your time at Emory?

In the early 1980’s when I was in Campus Life in Atlanta, it was a very special time.  Among my memories are the principled leadership of President James T. Laney (who handwrote notes of appreciation), the transformational Woodruff gift, and the idealism of a young staff in Campus Life who were committed to improving the experience of undergraduate students. Emory, then, had no Counseling Center, paid little attention to diversity, an inadequate Student Center (AMUC) and poor gym facilities.  However, those of us lucky enough to be at Emory during this time of intense change often referred to the place as Camelot – where anything was possible. 

What are some of the most significant changes you have witnessed over the course of your career?

When I arrived at Oxford in 1988, the campus was “historic” (aka not well resourced), the student body consisted of around 500 souls, mostly from the Southeast US, and long-serving faculty were responsible for many of the administrative roles. Still, Oxford was (and is) an intensely proud place where relationships mattered, and students were both challenged and supported. Oxford alumni, then and now, recall these two years as among their best educational and social experiences.  

Fast forward 35 years and the growth and transformation at Oxford College has been nothing short of extraordinary.  With a diverse and international student body of just under 1000, new and/or renovated buildings, applications for the new class exceeding 20,000 from around the globe, Oxford has really come into its own.  And yet in most all ways, the spirit of Oxford remains strong as always, with an engaged student body and talented faculty and staff to teach and support them.  

What do you hope for the future of Emory?

It will be exciting to see what unfolds on both campuses in the years to come.  Whatever it will be, I am confident that the institution’s core principles will remain strong and students will be grateful for their experiences in and out of the classroom.   

Anything else you would like to share?

I suppose I am a unicorn at Emory to have remained so long; I think I am the longest serving Emory “dean.”  Oddly, I am a person who enjoys change, and Emory and Oxford, both, have grown and changed so much that I have always felt challenged with something new to learn.