Meredith Davis
The Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience today announces the appointment of Meredith E. Davis, Ph.D., as the new associate vice president of student engagement. Davis begins her new role on Feb. 3.
Davis joins Syracuse University from Rhodes College where she serves as the associate dean of students, divisional strategy, inclusion and involvement. In this inaugural role, Davis developed greater connections and intersections across the student experience in areas of student involvement, Greek life, orientation, diversity and inclusion. In her six years at Rhodes, Davis also supported the college’s creation of a first-year experience seminar, bias education response, student programming board activities, and intercultural and cross-cultural training.
“Meredith brings an incredible depth of experience spanning student life. Throughout her more than two-decade career, she has consistently led innovative initiatives that engaged students and advanced the values of diversity, inclusion and equity in programs, policies and practices,” says Rob Hradsky, vice president for the student experience. “Her deep commitment to building community and supporting student achievement in and out of the classroom will help us continue to elevate the engagement, leadership and identity development of our students.”
Prior to her positions at Rhodes College, Davis served as the manager of school programs and instructional relations at the National Civil Rights Museum, co-founder and associate director of the Office of Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, director of the Upward Bound program at Coppin State University, and director of the African American Cultural Center at Towson University. At the core of all these experiences is a student-centered, inclusive and creative approach to her work ̶ the same principles she looks forward to bringing to her role at Syracuse University.
“Syracuse University offers incredible opportunities for students to get involved, cultivate their leadership capacity, grow and learn about themselves and others, and build skills and relationships that change their lives. I look forward to joining the University community and working with students, faculty and staff to advance our student engagement model and the multi-dimensional approaches toward inclusion and community, so that we can support student success, co-curricular satisfaction and personal development.”
Davis earned a Ph.D. in women’s and gender studies from Rutgers, an M.A. in African American studies from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a B.A. in sociology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She has extensive teaching experience, previously teaching courses in cultural diversity, African American literature, Africana women in historical perspective, American literature, men and masculinities, issues in women’s leadership, and gender and popular cultural.
As associate vice president for student engagement, Davis will oversee the offices of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, Multicultural Affairs and Student Activities, and Student Centers and Programming Services, the Center for International Services, the Disability Cultural Center, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center.
