Community: The 10 Saddest Things About Dean Pelton

Films and television have explored the various trials and tribulations of school life for decades, but none have done it quite the same as Dan Harmon’s Community. Set in Greendale Community College, teachers and students alike embark on a variety of high concept and emotional adventures that are the furthest thing from education. If anything, Greendale itself has become the embodiment of a cesspool that can accept anybody but lets go of no one.

Taking charge (and some responsibility) over that effect is none other than the community college’s dean, Craig Pelton. Most people would say that Craig isn’t exactly the ideal candidate for the job but he sure was the perfect fit for Greendale chair. After all, it’s sort of fitting since he proved he was just as flawed as the rest of them.

10 People Undermining Him As Dean

While the Dean has had his shortcomings, he is the lead administrator within Greendale who works hard to maintain a school of rejects and outcasts. Despite how admirable his efforts have been and how high his position is, Craig hardly gets any respect for it.

Seen more as a nuisance at worst and a pawn at best, people are constantly undermining his authority if they are not already outright laughing at it. Vice Dean Laybourne, played by John Goodman, was able to both easily take over his school as well as force Craig to shave off a new goatee. His new administrator in Season 6, Frankie, even went into a passive-aggressive tirade insulting him for his stupidity.

9 His Incompetence

As well-meaning as Dean Pelton is, he does kind of deserve some of the flack he gets. While Greendale’s issues could go much further back than his tenure, plenty of the school’s current and long-lasting issues are a direct result of his overspending, poor leadership, and destructive ideas. His paintball games have ruined the school on multiple occasions.

He’s wasted funds on things like a convoluted school commercial and a giant, replica fist that had no purpose whatsoever. Let’s not forget how he constantly rehired Ben Chang despite his lack of teaching qualifications and his repeated history of threatening the school. If literally anyone were to challenge his role at the school, they could take his job in a heartbeat.

8 His Work History

It’s no secret that the Dean has done a shoddy job at running Greendale. While many could quickly point out the school’s own inherent limitations and quality of students, there is some empirical data that implies that Craig shouldn’t have had his job in the first place.

Off-handedly, the Dean has mentioned that all of the past schools that he’s worked at have all mysteriously shut down. It seems like the common denominator here is Craig Pelton himself, whose resume should’ve been less of a list of accomplishments and more of a memoriam to the establishments he’s ruined.

7 His Insecurities About Greendale

It’s not as if the Dean isn’t aware of the state that Greendale is in. As air headed as he can be, Craig is a well-educated individual who can pick up a few details every now and then. His insecurities about the school are at full display in the episode “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux.” Here, the slight prospect of getting Luis Guzman to perform in his own commercial for Greendale sets the Dean on an entire, obsessive tirade for perfection.

It’s soon revealed that he was just trying to dress up the project as nice as possible to look the least like Greendale. Much like most other characters in the series, Craig has always felt that he was better than Greendale, mainly because of his own, higher education, and never actually appreciated the very school that accepted him when no one else would.

6 His Financial Issues With Greendale

While Craig Pelton may be responsible for some financial burdens over Greendale, there are some systemic issues that have kept resources low in his school. With few funds coming from the city or his own administration, the Dean has had to make a few, infamous cutbacks across the series to keep the school afloat – such as the time he depended on a variety of external investors to maintain the school.

This includes the time that the Subway corporation literally enrolled in his school as a person and the time he let an app developer turn his school into a dystopian nightmare. With few resources to begin with, Craig has always had the unenviable job of duct-taping Greendale together.

5 His Dances

Greendale Community College may not have a successful football team, a lot of academic awards, or a proud student body. But, if Craig has done anything, he’s given the school more dances than any school has ever cared to support. During his little spiral in his documentary episode, the Dean revealed that he’s only run as many dances as he has because he can’t offer much more to his students.

Rather than try to fix Greendale’s problems, Craig has just tried to hide the cracks in a wave of dances, proms, and events, hoping that the idea of fun could distract from his own failures.

4 His Favoritism Towards The Study Group

There are few characters in Community that are as needy as Craig Pelton. With some low self-esteem for an administrator and an academic record with few glowing points, the Dean’s main highlight in all of Greendale has been the one group that has constantly made the school interesting.

Filled with the kind of diversity that he likes being seen around, an ex-lawyer that he kind of has a crush on, and people that actually don’t mind talking to him (too much), the study group has tempted Craig with the same positive energy that has driven so many characters insane. Given that the Dean has literally harassed other students to give the study group favors, Craig really needs to find some new friends.

3 His Obsession With Costumes

If anyone has ever seen one episode of Community, it becomes immediately apparent that the Dean has a proclivity for cosplay. Always arriving at the study room dressed in some themed garb to promote an event that struggles to justify it, the Dean is rarely seen wearing the same outfit twice.

In “Paradigms of Human Memory” and “Virtual System Analysis,” the Dean has had to come to terms with how silly and frequently he’s dressed up just to talk to the study group. However, the thing that makes this situation sad is the fact that the Dean feels like he can only be himself when he is with them. As evidenced by “Virtual Systems Analysis,” he is genuinely surprised that he never received any abuse when he went to the bank dressed in his costume. He really did think he would have been rejected by those outside of Greendale. It just makes fans wonder what other insecurities he hides.

2 People Defining Him By His Sexuality

While it’s a bit of a running gag in the series, Craig Pelton has enjoyed the freedom that comes with his sexual ambiguity. Not quite ready or willing to define himself with a hard term, Craig has rarely felt ashamed for who he is, that is, until his colleagues get involved. The Dean has been insulted on a couple of occasions for his sexuality, such as in Vice Dean Laybourne’s entire rant on him.

In “Queer Studies & Advanced Waxing,” the Dean’s famous flamboyance is even exploited to get the school board some sympathy points. It’s unfortunate for Craig, who has so much more to his personality to be boiled down to a single dimension.

1 His Obsession With Jeff

Unrequited love is one thing that sitcom characters often struggle with. Outright obsession is another when it comes to the Dean’s relationship with Jeff Winger. Whether he just has a crush on the study group leader or just wants to be close to his magnetic energy, The Dean has brought out his worst when it comes to Jeff.

He’s abused his administrative abilities to read Jeff’s emails, bought the apartment next to his, and got into a long-running, “secret” relationship with some Japanese kids who were pretending to be Jeff, not suspecting for one instance that their niceties were a trick. He even still managed to tie in his feelings for Jeff in his imaginary scenario where he kills the study group.