Remembering Eric Estes

a dear friend with a heart of gold

mourning our loss and celebrating his life & legacy

Eric S. Estes, PhD, a longtime champion of CHAS and past chair (2016-19) of our steering board, died suddenly and unexpectedly on the morning of June 4, 2024. Eric was a legendary and beloved figure in student affairs. Informed by his own experiences as both an academic (having previously taught at Duke and Syracuse) and a former two-sport varsity athlete, he was a true scholar-practitioner, gifted in bringing together disparate perspectives from across academic and student affairs.

At the time of his death, he had been serving as vice president for campus life, and as an adjunct assistant professor of American Studies, at Brown University (since 2016), as well as a Trustee of Trinity College (since 2019). Prior to arriving at Brown, he served in a variety of capacities at Oberlin College over twelve years, from director of their Multicultural Resource Center to vice president and dean of students.

Eric understood and valued his background in diversity and inclusion work as being critical to succeeding in his role as an upper-level administrator. In an oft unforgiving role, Eric was committed to working with community members to work through seemingly irreconcilable issues, insisting on including all voices in the process. He built relationships and helped cultivate wise decisions arrived at collectively, as most recently evidenced by his involvement in negotiations regarding divestment, as well as his engagement on issues concerning public safety and student labor.

Consistently creative and caring, Eric was widely respected as a leader in the field. He served as a mentor and trusted confidant to so many students, faculty and staff, including professional peers. As someone who happily made himself available if anyone had a concern, question, or dilemma, many of us benefitted from his thoughtful guidance.

Eric served as Oberlin’s institutional representative to CHAS from 2009 to 2011, and as a member of our steering board from 2011 to 2022, bringing Brown aboard the Consortium in 2016 and culminating in Brown hosting our first post-pandemic student of color leadership conference in 2022. After stepping down from the steering board, he remained actively involved with CHAS. This winter, he hosted a dinner for current board members at his home during our annual board retreat. In April, Eric joined us at this year’s student of color conference, as a featured panelist on “Skinfolk or Kinfolk?: Building Trust between BIPOC Students and Administrators.” His legacy lives on through the work of CHAS.

Eric was the ultimate advocate for students and everyone on campus. Few are as caring, inclusive, and committed to equity and social justice in higher education. Our journey to sustain this work should be inspired by his example. Eric truly walked the talk.

– Ed Pittman, founding CHAS board member and past CHAS steering board chair

Most important to Eric was connecting with people to make a difference. He was real, genuine, gentle and empathetic. He made me feel like family from the moment I met him. He will be missed.

– Karlene Burrell-McRae, current CHAS steering board member

Eric was a difference maker. He cared deeply about students and all he encountered. His beliefs were grounded in what was fair, equitable, and just. I miss him already.

– Carolyn Livingston, currrent CHAS steering board chair

What allowed him to be so effective was his genuine ethos of care for all involved, and his commitment to help people think through the implications of potential decisions for various groups, especially those whose perspectives have historically been overlooked, or dismissed as unreasonable. Yet those groups, too, have a responsibility to consider the real needs of others. I loved that about him. It was rooted in a deep sense of justice, learning, and community. More importantly, he was a true friend, and I’m incredibly sad he left us way too soon. I’ll miss him dearly.

– Rafael Zapata, past CHAS steering board chair