Dear Students and Colleagues,
I write to share with you that Eleanor Daugherty, who has served as the Dean of Students and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at UConn since 2013, recently let me know that she has accepted the position of Vice President for Student Affairs at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and will be leaving UConn in January to assume this new role.
On behalf of the Division of Student Affairs and the entire university administration, I want to thank Elly for her exceptional service to UConn. It would be difficult to overstate the positive impact Elly has had on our university and on student life here over the last nine years.
From her first day, she set about rebuilding a Dean of Students office that had previously been disbanded as a result of a reorganization, so she was our first true Dean of Students in many years. In addition, the offices of Student Health and Wellness, Residential Life, the Offices of Student Care & Concern, Off-Campus & Commuter Student Services, and Community Standards were all assigned over time to report to her.
In addition to her countless day-to-day interactions with our students and her colleagues, Elly played essential roles in multiple major university efforts and initiatives, including as a key leader of task forces on student mental health and sexual assault, both of which led to important changes and advances at our university in these important areas.
And she was instrumental in the unprecedented efforts UConn undertook to contend with the Covid-19 pandemic, playing a vital leadership role and advocating tirelessly on behalf of our students. Her exceptional work, and that of her whole team, was invaluable in allowing UConn to reopen and operate successfully beginning in the fall of 2020 and every semester since.
A major reason for her success was that she truly cared about her work, the university, and, above all, our students – your health, your well-being, and your success at UConn. That sincere commitment was unmistakable and ever-present. It meant showing both compassion and resolve, having difficult conversations, confronting adversity, and many long days and late nights.
Elly has set a very high bar. While we are pleased for her personally on opening this new chapter of her professional life, we are very sorry to lose such a dedicated colleague and friend.
The Division of Student Affairs will announce an interim staffing plan in the coming week.
Please join me in thanking Elly for her service to UConn and in wishing her all the best.
Sincerely,
Michael Gilbert
Vice President for Student Affairs
For more information, contact: Janice Canniff at janice.canniff@uconn.edu