Vol. 18, No. 36	July 8, 1999

Zenobia Hikes named vice president at Spelman College

Z enobia Lawrence Hikes, assistant to the vice president for student life, will become vice president for student affairs and dean of students at her alma mater, Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga., effective Aug. 2.

"Because she possesses a strong vision of the important role student life plays in the education of young people, and because she will bring the outstanding dedication, creativity and energy she has exhibited in all of her work at UD, I have every confidence that Dr. Hikes will experience much success in her new position," Roland Smith, vice president for student life, said.

At Spelman, Hikes will be responsible for providing leadership in student affairs and supporting its academic mission. Specific duties include creating an atmosphere of community on campus that reflects a strong commitment to students first and promoting a strong student service orientation among staff. Other responsibilities include serving as the focal point for student concerns, initiating and coordinating policies programs and responses related to a broad range of student issues.

Spelman College, founded in 1881, is a private, nonsectarian, four-year liberal arts college. The oldest historically and predominantly black college for women in the U.S., it enjoys considerable prestige in the academic community and is nationally ranked by both U.S. News & World Report and Money magazine.

Hikes earned her bachelor's degree, cum laude, in English from Spelman in 1977. She earned her master's degree in education from Georgia Southwestern University in 1982 and her doctorate in educational leadership with an emphasis on administration and policy from UD in 1998. She attended Harvard University's Institute on College Admissions in 1994 and Bryn Mawr College's Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration in 1993.

Before serving as assistant to the vice president for student life, Hikes was associate director of admissions at UD. Prior to coming to Delaware, she was the assistant director of admissions and recruitment at Louisiana State University, worked as a media specialist at the Navy/Marine Corps Family Service Center in Okinawa, Japan, and taught high school English in Georgia.

She is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and has published articles on Afrocentric recruitment and retention, decoding college admissions for first-generation families and recruiting against the odds.

-Beth Thomas