After 19 years of working at Dana Hall as a house director and taking care of the girls at Grey Lodge Dormitory, Diane Peterson Seaborn is saying goodbye.
During the dorm meeting on Thursday night, my dorm-mates and I were shocked after knowing that Diane, our dorm parent, is leaving Dana Hall.
Diane graduated from Middlebury College with a B.A. in German major and two concentrations in religion and mathematics before going to Boston University to receive a master’s in elementary education (M. Ed.).
Diane worked as a second-grade teacher for a few years, then worked at the School of Education at Boston University for several years, and finally moved into the position as House Director at Dana Hall. Diane and her husband, Eric, moved to JHC when their son, Graham, was just one year old. By the time they moved to the Grey Lodge dormitory they had expanded their family by two– Grace and Rudy. And now, 19 years later, Graham is almost 20, Grace is 17, and Rudy is 15.

Diane was in the seminary for four years and obtained a master of divinity which allows her to become the pastor at the church. “I recently accepted a position as Interim Associate Pastor at the Wellesley Village Church in the center of town. I’m very excited to serve the congregation there,” she said.
She explained to me, “I have been very focused on helping people for many years, and now with my seminary degree complete, I want to begin my service in ministry.”
“It feels a little bittersweet to leave Dana. It has been a wonderful, warm, rich community. It is rich in the sense of the loving, close community feeling and the way people take care of each other here,” Diane said.
“It is strange to think about not living in the dorm anymore but I do feel like it’s time to move on. I feel I’m ready to enter my next vocation.” Diane said.
For me, as a boarder who is currently living in Grey Lodge, I couldn’t feel more fortunate to have Diane as my dorm parent. She has always supported me through thick and thin during my time at Dana Hall. Her kindness makes me feel as if I am not living in the dorm, but home. I am very happy for her, and I couldn’t be more excited to see her success in her new journey.