Dear Campus Community,
On the evening of Thursday, November 30, members of Student Affairs and Campus Life leadership had an important student conversation regarding coverage and coordination of the BIPOC Unity Center in the wake of the recent departure of Angélica Carrington, Director for the BIPOC Unity Center. We held this meeting to respond to student questions and concerns. The meeting addressed questions about the HR performance review and improvement process, outlined our interim plans for staff coverage and support for the BIPOC Unity Center, and started a dialogue on how to best actively involve students in the college’s upcoming search for a new Director. We are sharing this message to provide an update to the wider campus community of our current plans regarding staff coverage during this transition and the timeline for hiring for the vacant Director position.
Effective immediately, Marsha Dawson, Dean of Students for Student Affairs and Campus Life, will be stepping in to serve as the Interim Director for the BIPOC Unity Center in addition to her duties as the Dean of Students. Marsha will serve in this role as Interim Director until a permanent Director for the BIPOC Unity Center is identified. To accommodate Marsha’s additional responsibilities as Interim Director for the Center and assist her ability to provide meaningful support to students, Vice President Bonnie Prunty will assume some of the work responsibilities currently part of the Dean of Students portfolio.
In this dual role, Marsha will work with the team in the BIPOC Unity Center to make sure students continue to receive the support they need. She will also provide critical leadership and coordination to ensure the continuance of programs, events, and initiatives sponsored by the Center.
"I look forward to working and supporting the students and the professional staff team in the BIPOC Unity Center,” said Marsha Dawson. “The former Director, the Assistant Director, and the students have done great work this semester and have set in motion several phenomenal engagement opportunities and initiatives for the spring. Being able to support them with their ideas, while also cultivating new ones is something I am truly looking forward to. In general, I have lots of learning, and unlearning to do, while also collectively, we have some healing and forward-thinking to navigate, and I am simply honored to be a part of that process."
Shadayvia Wallace, current Program Director for the First Generation Center and the MLK Scholars Program, will also provide a key layer of support for the BIPOC Unity Center during this time of transition. Shadayvia will serve as Chair of the planning committee for the college’s upcoming MLK Campus-Wide Celebration. She will also lead the search to hire the new Administrative Assistant/Program Coordinator in the BIPOC Unity Center. Shadayvia will also assist the BIPOC Unity Center by serving as a Title IX confidential report resource, since this responsibility conflicts with Marsha Dawson’s reporting obligation as the Dean of Students. Shadayvia’s office is in Egbert Hall #342, located within the same office suite as the BIPOC Unity Center, on the third floor of the Campus Center.
The college anticipates launching a national search to identify a new permanent Director for the BIPOC Unity Center in January 2024. It is the college’s intention to have the new Director in place with a start date to be during the early summer. We anticipate sharing more details regarding the search process during the Spring 2024 semester and plan to include students in a variety of ways including student representatives on the search committee.
If you have any questions regarding staff coverage and/or future plans for the BIPOC Unity Center, please contact via email at bipocunity@ithaca.edu.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Solt Prunty
Vice President for Student Affairs and Campus Life