Acorn

Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News

Media Credit: drew.edu Erec Smith

Drew University will say goodbye to another one of its key players this semester. Special Assistant for Diversity, Assistant Professor of English and Director of the Writing Center Erec Smith will resign as of June 1. Smith said he will relocate to the Philadelphia area to work at Ursinus College, which is not only his alma mater, but also where he met his fiancee.

Along with the new job, one of Smith's primary reasons for his departure is a happy one-he is getting married.

"I like Drew a lot and it was a very difficult decision," Smith said. "But this is one of the first times in my life that I actually made a decision that weighed domestic issues as well."

Dean of Campus Life and Student Affairs Dawn Williams worked with Smith as part of the diversity initiative, particularly in creating diversity education components of freshman orientation. "I think that [Orientation] is one of the most important places that you can get the students to set the tone for the University regarding expectations," Williams said. "He's worked really hard."

Provost Pamela Gunter-Smith said Smith's work with students and diversity was invaluable, as he led the "Fireside Chats" series and the "Faces of Drew" mural project this year. As Writing Center Director, he helped make the center's services more readily available for all students, including those from the Graduate and Theological Schools, Gunter-Smith said.

Williams said Smith's latest project was the organization of the American Conference on Diversity, which Drew will host in November for members of the Drew community and local institutions. Gunter-Smith said that because Smith will leave before the conference takes place, she is working with President Bob Weisbuch to find someone to replace his vital position in its organization. Gunter-Smith said she would prefer not to hire someone new for the conference, but instead choose someone who is already a member of the Drew community to take Smith's place.

Although Smith said he is sorry to leave his work on Drew's diversity initiative, he is proud of the steps the University has taken since the initiative began two years ago. "I think we've taken some strides and I take solace in that," Smith said. "Over the last couple of years, we are farther along in discussion of diversity and it's on the administrative forefront."

Continued...

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