Meier Hall resident fellow and Frosh 101 director Cheryl Brown has been named the new assistant vice provost for Residential Education (ResEd), effective at the start of winter quarter on Jan. 6.
She will take over ResEd as the University begins to implement a series of reforms recommended by the ResX task force to transform the residential experience, including an end to the housing draw and the creation of student “neighborhoods” on campus.
Brown’s appointment by Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole comes 18 months after the post was first vacated. In July 2018, Brubaker-Cole announced the departure of longtime dean Deborah Golder, writing in an email to ResEd staff members that she would be taking ResEd “in some different directions.”
Since then, Koren Bakkegard has served as interim associate vice provost, presiding over ResEd as it took steps toward addressing controversies over Greek housing and pay equity for student residential staff.
Brown comes into the role with a decade of experience at Stanford. She was the college director for Freshman-Sophomore College (FroSoCo) before becoming a resident fellow at Meier Hall, a four-class dorm on West Campus. She has also served as the associate director for African and African American studies and an advisor for undergraduate students. In 2011, the Black Community Services Center selected her as its Faculty/Staff Mentor of the Year. A year later, she became the Associated Students of Stanford University’s Teacher of the Year.
As assistant vice provost, she will lead over 40 professional staff, 70 residential fellows and 500 student staff members in creating the “overall educational program of the undergraduate residences in alignment with the ResX vision.” Members of all three constituencies — including just one student — joined the 10-person search committee for her selection.
Brown will also manage ResEd’s day-to-day operations, including budget oversight, dining on the Row and general support for the more than 70 undergraduate residences at Stanford.
In a post announcing Brown’s appointment, Brubaker-Cole praised her “entrepreneurial spirit driven by student interests and the needs of our community.”
“Cheryl knows how to build community among Stanford students, she has a firm grasp on the nuts and bolts of our residential system, and she has earned the respect of students,” Brubaker-Cole wrote.
Contact Erin Woo at erinkwoo ‘at’ stanford.edu.