New Administrative Roles for Eight African Americans in Higher Education

Carmen Robinson, was appointed director of undergraduate education at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has been serving as assistant dean for student services in the College of Arts, Letters and Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Dr. Robinson holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Central Arkansas. She earned a second master’s degree from the University of Memphis and an educational doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Ruth A. Evans was promoted to director of public safety at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. She is the first woman to hold the position. She has been serving as assistant director of public safety and police captain at the university.

Evans is a graduate of Ashworth College in Norcross, Georgia. She is currently studying for a master’s degree in public safety.

Kenn Dixon is the new director of integrated marketing and public relations at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama. He was communications and media relations director for the Southwest Region Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and pastor of the Casalita Drive Seventh-day Adventist Church in Garland, Texas.

Dixon is a graduate of Washington Adventist University in Takoma, Park, Maryland, where he majored in religion. He earned a master’s degree in new media journalism at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida.

Brenda Hatton-Ficklin is the new director of alumni relations at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was the events director at St. Mark Baptist Church in Little Rock.

Hatton-Ficklin is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas, where she majored in business. She holds an MBA from Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri.

Ngondi Kamatuka is the new executive director of diversity and equity initiatives for the School of Education at the University of Kansas. He has been serving as director of the Center for Educational Opportunity Programs at the university.

Dr. Kamatuka is a graduate of Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Kansas.

Donald Outing was named the inaugural chief diversity officer at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was the chief diversity officer, director of the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity and an associate professor of mathematical sciences at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Dr. Outing is a graduate of the State University of New York. He holds a master’s degree in applied mathematics and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Belinda Smith was appointed program support coordinator in the Office of Graduate Studies at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. Her work will focus on helping international graduate students at the university.

Smith holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Alcorn State University.

Idella Goodson Glenn was named special adviser on inclusivity and diversity at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. She was director of diversity education and retention initiatives at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Earlier, she was an administrator for 18 years at Furman University in South Carolina.

Dr. Glenn is a graduate of Furman University. She holds a master’s degree in higher educational administration from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Clemson University in South Carolina.