A thank you to Vice President of Campus Life Penny Rue

Left to right: Cherise James, Marianne Magjuka, Betsy Chapman, K. Monet Rice-Jalloh, and Zachary Blackmon

The following is a guest post from Cherise James, associate director of orientation, and Betsy Chapman, executive director of family communications.

Earlier this summer, Vice President of Campus Life Penny Rue announced her intention to retire. Her last day will be December 31.

Dr. Rue’s work at Wake Forest, which began in 2013, built on a distinguished career of leading student life teams, including those at the University of California-San Diego, the University of Virginia, and Georgetown University.

Penny Rue

Another hallmark of her leadership has been her commitment to lifelong learning and the professional growth and development of Wake Forest staff members. This has manifested in two important ways: advocating for financial support for doctoral programs and serving as a committee member on staff members’ doctoral committees.

In Fall 2015, the Division of Campus Life piloted the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), proposed by Campus Life Staff Development Committee members Zach Blackmon, Cherise James and Shelley Sizemore. The adoption of the TAP program highlighted Dr. Rue’s commitment to encourage and support the interests of Campus Life employees who wish to advance their personal and professional development while still working full time.

We have both personally benefited from Dr. Rue’s academic mentorship: she served on both of our dissertation committees. She asked tough and important questions and pushed us to be better researchers and scholars. For that, we will be eternally grateful.

As the University looks to honor Dr. Rue in her retirement, we want to recognize the important contributions she made towards the following staff members’ doctoral degrees, and the resulting expansion of knowledge within the field of higher education.

Zachary Blackmon, Ph.D. in Educational Studies
University of North Carolina – Greensboro
Dissertation: Microaggressions, Sense of Belonging, and Sexual Identity Development among LGBQ Students: A Moderation Analysis

Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. in Educational Studies*
University of North Carolina – Greensboro
Dissertation: A Quantitative Examination of the Ways Parents and Families Interact with their Students’ College Following Campus-Sponsored Engagement Opportunities: Events, E-newsletters, and a Daily Blog

Cherise James, Ph.D. in Educational Studies
University of North Carolina – Greensboro
Dissertation: Conflict Management Skills Acquisition and Usage in Student Affairs Mid-Managers: A Phenomenological Study.

Marianne Magjuka, Ed.D.
University of Pennsylvania – Higher Education Management
Dissertation: Deliberative Dialogue as a Tool for Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement

K. Monet Rice-Jalloh, D. Min
Duke University
Dissertation: No More Gallery Sections: Exploring Spiritual Wellbeing for Descendants of Enslaved Africans at Predominately White Institutions of Higher Education

We are grateful for the significant support that Dr. Rue and Wake Forest provided on our doctoral journeys.

In honor of Penny Rue’s 46 years of dedicated service to student affairs, we ask that you consider making a $46 gift (or of any size) to the WFU Chaplain’s Emergency Fund, which offers help to students, faculty, and staff in times of financial hardship. http://go.wfu.edu/cef

*Dr. Chapman is not a member of the Division of Campus Life but is included in this list because of the role Dr. Rue played on her dissertation committee.