RWU Appoints Dameian Slocum as Associate Vice President for Student Life

BRISTOL, R.I. – Before his official start date as the new associate vice president of Student Life at Roger Williams University, Dameian Slocum was already on campus last weekend helping students move in and get ready for spring semester.

As part of his new role, Slocum will manage all aspects of the student college experience for RWU undergraduates and will help lead student disciplinary and bias processes. He will also work closely with the University’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leaders on building a more equitable and inclusive community for students.

Working with Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution, Residence Life, and Student Programs, Leadership & Orientation, he will also dedicate time to redeveloping the Spiritual Life program and provide services and support to commuters, off-campus, and graduate students. Additionally, he will serve as interim director of Residence Life this semester while a search proceeds under his direction.

“Dr. Dameian Slocum is an experienced and proven student life administrator dedicated to holistic student development and creating communities that support and help students from all backgrounds thrive,” said John King, vice president for Student Life. “Our students and staff will find him to be an approachable, knowledgeable, and thoughtful student life leader who demonstrates high emotional intelligence.”

Slocum’s first day is Jan. 27.

One of three finalists, Slocum was selected following a nationwide search and interview process that included various campus forums. 

A distinguished higher education professional, Slocum most recently served as an associate dean of students for Student Services at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, where his work focused on DEI as well as improving resilience, sense of belonging and goal-setting for both undergraduate and graduate students within and across student populations. He has served as a mentor and advocate for first-generation, BIPOC and LGBTQ students. As part of the JWU Providence Campus CARE team, he also provided leadership for housing operations at three branch campuses in Florida, Colorado, and North Carolina through 2021. Since 2018, he chaired a campus-wide, cross-functional committee focused on student success and engagement initiatives.

Slocum has a B.S. in marketing, an M.B.A. with an international trade concentration, and an Ed.D. in educational leadership, all from Johnson & Wales University. His doctoral dissertation examined the perceptions and challenges encountered by mid-level student affairs professionals in providing students services during the first months of the pandemic.

In a Q&A session, Slocum shared his hopes for the new position, how his past experiences will benefit his new role, his reasons for joining the RWU community, and more.

You spent your educational and professional career thus far at Johnson & Wales. What was it that attracted you to join the student life leadership team at Roger Williams University? 

What drew me, when I heard about the position, was the call of equity and being student-forward. Equity, diversity, and inclusion are really important to me, and I heard that echoed both with students and professional staff members that I met with during the interview process. I like to say I answered your call in terms of what the institution is looking to do next and where it’s looking to go. I would like to be a part of that, and I’m excited to be here to join in that effort.

How have your experiences at JWU prepared you for this role at RWU?

My history at Johnson & Wales is quite long. I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of different students and departments in my time at JWU. I’ve had a lot of relationships that I’ve built from the ground up. I understand how to collaborate well and look for partnerships that really advance the work that we do with students and in ways that create equity among the student body. I think that those skills will serve me well here.

What have you found to be the most authentic ways to foster inclusion and belonging on a college campus?

The easiest way is to listen and to be open to what students are saying. In order for a community to be successful, you’ve got to be able to have those conversations – some that might not be easy to have. Where I’ve typically found the most success in working with folks is getting to a place where we can all agree that we want this community to be the best that it can be. We might have different ideas about how to get there, but as long as we all stay invested in that process, we can get to a place where it’s better than it was.

In particular, what strategies and approaches have you found to be most successful in supporting first-generation and underrepresented populations?

Being a first-generation student myself, one of the things I recall, and it’s resonated with me even as I’ve talked to first-generation students today, is how scary and disorienting the experience can be. The key strategy is to reinforce with those students as often as possible that you belong and work to create a sense of belonging for those individuals. Don’t just look at them as a monolith but think about their individual needs. What does it take to create a sense of belonging for that (individual) student? How can I be a part of that and how can I bring others on board with being a part of that for different students?

I had a taste of being new at Roger Williams when I was here during move-in. When I arrived on campus, I had some butterflies. (I thought) I’m going to have to learn what all the acronyms are. I’m going to have to find my place. I have to figure out what buildings I need to be able to get into. It’s a disorienting experience. I think with first-generation students in particular that newness lives with you in a way that other students don’t have. There are conversations that family members can have to prepare their students for being part of this environment and community, and many first-generation students miss out on that. Creating that sense of belonging and filling in those gaps is incredibly important.

One of RWU’s strategic priorities is student success. How are student services foundational to student academic success?

We work hand-in-hand. For a student to be successful, they have to be successful inside of the classroom as well as in the co-curricular environment. The experiences they have from a student life perspective should reinforce what they’re learning in the classroom and should also make meaning of some of those experiences. The growth that a person goes through in this environment, it’s not all academic. It’s also community-based, and it’s personal. Those relationships reinforce one another. That’s the work for Student Life.

What are some lessons you took away from your doctoral dissertation research, and from your direct experience at JWU, that would help RWU adapt and enhance our student services to the evolving needs of students during Covid-19 – and particularly for BIPOC students who may face additional hardships and inequities as a result of systemic issues related to and exposed by the pandemic?

Particularly for BIPOC students, and not just students but BIPOC communities in general, the pandemic was a really interesting moment and a stressful moment because you had the weight of the pandemic, but you also had the social impact of what was happening around us. Many of my students from Asian descent experienced the pandemic in a really interesting way, with regards to how many folks in the country began to treat them differently. They experienced some incredibly challenging moments as a community. We bring all those things with us as we start to repopulate campuses. You can’t un-ring that bell. Those experiences have been heard, and they’re a part of us now. People want to talk about them and think about their lives in very different ways. We have to create space for ongoing conversations. We have to care about everyone’s experiences. We can use those things that have happened and that are happening to talk about how we shape leaders going forward. All of those are things that I have done at Johnson & Wales and are things I look forward to doing here at Roger.

Quite often when I’m in spaces, I may be one of a few, if I’m lucky, people of color who are represented, and one of the things that I really strive to do is to amplify the voices of the folks who are left outside of those conversations. That has been a meaningful strategy: to get my teams to start to think about who this is serving and who’s being left behind.

What are you most looking forward to about this new role?

The students. I know that the staff and faculty at Roger Williams care and are deeply invested in the work that they’re doing. Being a part of the community is going to be professionally rewarding for me in ways that I may not even understand yet. But what’s really pulling at my heartstrings are the students that I’ve met. I’ve had the opportunity to see how incredibly gifted and talented they are, even some who may not even realize their own strengths yet. Their ability to advocate for themselves and for one another and to ask poignant questions is amazing. I think that’s a hallmark of this generation that cannot be denied.

How do you plan to approach your first 30 days?

My role here in the first 30 days isn’t to try and change everything or figure everything out. It is to learn and listen. I believe in being focused on understanding the students that we serve and their individual needs and understanding the strengths and opportunities of the departments I’ll be working with and where I can get a feel for what we’re doing well and what the challenges are. And talking to as many stakeholders as I possibly can to round out my frame of reference. It’s important for new leaders to spend time understanding the institution. That’s my goal for the first 30 days: get up to speed.

What would you like RWU students to know about you?

I think it’s important that they understand my identity. I’m not just a Black man. I’m a gay Black man who’s married. I’m from New Orleans originally, but I’ve been living here for 20-plus years. I’m interested in talking with students, connecting with them and understanding their experience on this campus. I want to be an individual who helps create a sense of belonging and who they can talk to about what’s challenging them and how to help make Roger a stronger community. I hope they take me up on that offer.

What do you do for fun?

I just finished my dissertation last year, so I am really enjoying having downtime for the first time in three years. Spending time with my husband and getting reconnected is important to me. And we have a dog.  

We are arts-based folks and supporters of the performing arts: Broadway shows, Philharmonic concerts, museums. I like TV as well. One of my favorite shows just ended – Insecure on HBO.

That’s where you’ll find me when I’m not working – either with family or exploring something creative.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I would ask that folks are patient with me and allow me to really understand their perspectives. If I ask questions, it’s coming from a place of trying to understand.