Five African Americans Who Have Been Assigned to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Rose Mercier was appointed director of human resources at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. For the past seven years, she was human resources manager at the Allegis Group, a privately-held staffing company headquartered in Hanover, Maryland.

Mercier is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University. She earned a master’s degree in human resources development from McDaniel College.

Verna Orr was appointed the special assistant to the president for planning and institutional effectiveness at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Orr is a former teacher and administrator in Washington, D.C., public schools and served as a confidential assistant to the president of Howard University.

Dr. Orr holds a bachelor’s degree in music education, a master’s degree in education, and a doctorate in educational policy and administration, all from Howard Univerity. She also holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Brad Jennings was promoted to director of public relations at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama. He was an enrollment marketing specialist and admissions recruiter at the college. Earlier, Jennings was the development and communications manager at the Birmingham Education Foundation.

Jennings holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Victoria N. Nichols is the new director of undergraduate admissions at Virginia Union Univerity in Richmond. She was the assistant director of recruitment at Virginia State University.

Nichols holds a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from Virginia State University and a master’s degree in educational management from Strayer University.

Kayton Carter is the new executive director of Academic Advising Enrichment at the University of California, Davis. He was the founding director of the Center for African Diaspora Student Success at the university.

Carter earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a master’s degree in higher education administration with an emphasis in student affairs from Michigan State University.

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