Dean Coole
With his extensive background in sports medicine and natural compassion, Dean of Health and Wellness Gordon Coole has found a job that suits him perfectly. His people skills and passion for helping others make him a figure that students trust with their crises and fully confide in.
Growing up, Coole didn’t imagine himself a career in academic administration. Coole didn’t excel in his classes in high school but lived for sport. “I pretty much fit the stereotype of the ‘dumb jock,’” he laughed.
Coole grew up in a military family and joined the Air Force following graduation. His service lasted for six years and he spent most of it maintaining and repairing navigation equipment in B-52 bombers, a job that helped him discover his interest in problem solving. Coole said that despite his interest in the machinery, his work still felt incomplete. “I really enjoyed the process of troubleshooting but there was something missing,” he said. “I realized that the missing ingredient was the human component.”
In the last eight months of his service, Coole worked in a Utah hospital in the physical therapy clinic. After hearing Coole’s background, the lead physical therapist there recommended he pursue athletic training. At the end of his service, Coole completed his undergraduate studies at the University of New Hampshire and then went to graduate school at the University of Virginia.
Coole spent 28 years as an athletic trainer at PEA. He enjoyed his close proximity to athletics and working with people to help their recovery. Coole said that the human component of his work made it much more interesting. “You can have two people with the exact same injury but you’d handle those two situations completely differently,” he explained.
“He’s relatable and easy to talk to. He is a very knowledgeable individual and has provided me with great tips throughout my Exeter career.”
Coole said that he liked to tell his staff, “We don’t treat athletes with injuries, we treat people with problems.” The athletic trainers are not the only members of the community who benefit from Coole’s wisdom. When he hears a quote that resonates with him, he writes it down to refer back to. Coole makes his quotes public to the community through The Exonian’s Life section each week. They can also be found in the entrance of the dining halls. “I don’t know who reads them but if it helps one person, it’s worth it,” he said.
Coole’s current job bears many resemblances to his former one. As an athletic trainer, his goal was to reduce the risk of injuries and keep athletes playing. When injuries occurred, however, he was there for them and managed the situations expertly. After acute treatment, he’d settle in for the long haul and provide therapy and guidance until the athlete was back in peak condition. Now, Coole’s work to prevent crises mirrors his work to prevent physical injuries; he offers guidance and works closely with PEA’s Health Services to encourage students to take good care of themselves. When a student is struggling, he still plays an integral part in the initial help. After ensuring that a student is “stable” he steps back and leaves the therapy to other adults. While Coole continues to check in with students throughout the process, the work is not as consistently hands-on as sports medicine.
Christopher Thurber of Counseling and Psychological Services at the Lamont Health and Wellness Center, one of the many adults Coole works closely with during these processes, praised Coole’s commitment to students’ health and wellness. “Dean Coole is a doer,” he said. “He always has the best interests of students in mind.”
In addition to doing important work as Dean of Health and Wellness, Coole played an integral part in creating the position. The former position was known as Associate Dean of Health Concerns, a part time post that addressed problems as they arose. Coole wrote to deans to suggest a full time, more proactive job in its place. In the summer of 2014, the position was reworked and renamed Dean of Health and Wellness. “He has tried to tie together all of the facets of a student’s life at the Academy that contribute to his/her/their health and wellness,” Thurber said. “It’s a work in progress, but one to which Dean Coole is strongly committed.”
Coole has also done extensive dorm duty as the head of Wentworth then as an affiliate of Knight House. Although Coole gave up dorm affiliation when he became a dean, he still has a group of advisees.
Senior Tom Appleton, one of those advisees, said that he was thankful to have had one of the “Exeter greats” as an adviser. “He’s relatable and easy to talk to,” Appleton said. “He is a very knowledgeable individual and has provided me with great tips throughout my Exeter career.”
Coole said that his family is the most important thing in his life and that they influence his interactions with students and other members of the community. “I never feel like I have to go to work. Everything I do for students here is the same as what I do for my own family,” he said.
Coole truly enjoys his work and looks forward to the rest of his time as Dean of Health and Wellness. “It’s fun to be me right now,” he said. “I really feel at this point in my life that I’m doing exactly what I was meant to do.”