Face to Face
Who to recognize on campus
In 2004, Roderick McDavis became the 20th president of Ohio University. He is from Dayton, Ohio, and graduated from OU in 1970. He is the second OU alumnus to hold the position of president.
Pam Benoit is OU’s executive vice president and provost and serves as the university’s chief academic officer. She began working at OU in 2009. She received a Ph.D. in communication from Wayne State University and also has worked at Bowling Green State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Ryan Lombardi is OU’s dean of students and associate vice president for Student Affairs. More often than not, both he and Vice President for Student Affairs Kent Smith can be found at numerous athletic and student events around campus. Follow Lombardi on Twitter @OUDean.
Kyle Triplett was voted president of OU’s Student Senate in May. He just finished a two-year term as an OU student trustee. Student senators work to gather the opinion of the student body and pass it on to university administrators.
Tracy Kelly was re-elected for her third term as president of OU’s Graduate Student Senate in May. Similar in function to Student Senate, Graduate Student Senate represents graduate students at OU.
Joe McLaughlin was re-elected as the chair of Faculty Senate in May. As with the other senates, Faculty Senate represents the opinions of OU’s faculty members and relays concerns and suggestions to the university’s administration via legislation.
Kent Smith was named the vice president for Student Affairs in 2006, after spending time as dean of students and chief student affairs officer at Auburn University. The Student Affairs programs are designed to create “a supportive environment that enhances the personal development and learning of all students,” according to OU’s website. Follow Smith on Twitter @OUVPSA.
Mickey Hart became the full-time director of OU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center in 2003. He is a native of Laurelville, Ohio and a two-time OU alumnus. Hart’s work as director has put the center on The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students’ list of best 100 campuses in the nation for LGBT students.
Susanne Dietzel joined Ohio University in 2007 and is the director of OU’s Women’s Center. The center, founded in 2007, is designed to respond to the needs of female students, faculty and staff at OU.
Brian Bridges, formerly the associate director of the American Council on Education’s Center for Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Equity in Washington, D.C., was named OU’s vice provost for the office of Diversity, Access and Equality in 2008. The office looks to infuse “diversity ubiquitously throughout institutional programs, policies, practices and curricula, leading to a supportive, affirming and positive environment for all students, faculty and staff,” according to OU’s website.
Danielle Parker and Allison Arnold are OU’s current student trustees. Parker, a junior studying public relations, will begin her second year as a student trustee. Arnold, a junior studying public relations and political science, begins her first term as a student trustee this year. Student trustees are approved by the governor and sit on OU’s Board of Trustees to bring student concerns and opinions to the board.
