Dean of Students Liz Braun announced today that Liliana Rodriguez will join the Swarthmore community as the College's associate dean of diversity, inclusion, and community development, beginning August 5. Rodriguez, a social scientist and practioner, is currently the director of the Davis Cultural Center at Williams College.

"I think Lili is an amazing person and will bring a new type of energy that is rarely seen on this campus, as well as an interesting approach as an administrator with a clinical psychology background," says search committee member Andrew Hernandez '13, a history major from Ontario, Calif. "Her commitment to diversity, institutional change, and devotion to students is readily evident the moment you begin a conversation with her. As an almost-to-be alum, I am very excited about the direction this campus will take next year with Lili at the front."

Rodriguez's work investigates barriers to college access, retention, and success. Her specialty is identity development in young adults, with a particular focus on social group memberships and their relationship to academic experiences and psychological well-being.

Rodriguez received her B.A. with honors in psychology from Williams College and her M.S. in clinical psychology and Ph.D. in psychology from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is also a lecturer at Williams, teaching "Cycle of Socialization." Rodriguez previously served as an educational consultant, as well as a mental health and substance abuse counselor, for Hampshire College and Berkshire County, Mass., before returning to Williams in 2006 to serve as director of diversity recruitment for the admissions office.

"What excites me about joining Swarthmore is that I will be a part of a community with the courage to reflect on what it means to provide the type of education that inspires one to make a difference in the world," Rodriguez says. "That process is never easy, and never completed, but always transformative."