Kathy Humphrey: Dean of Students and a students’ dean

During a semester riddled with bomb threats, Kathy Humphrey was a constant voice of calm on… During a semester riddled with bomb threats, Kathy Humphrey was a constant voice of calm on campus — a testament to her place in students’ hearts as one of the most prominent and well-liked members of Pitt’s administration.

“Yes, I tried to be there,” Humphrey said. “The students let me know it was important for them to know they weren’t alone. Student Affairs is just trying to keep them as comfortable as possible.”

James Landreneau, the president of Student Government Board, said Humphrey practically lived on campus during the constant threats.

“Even at 4 a.m. [during bomb threat evacuations], she was there to support students in the tough times,” Landreneau said.

With seven years under her belt as the vice provost and dean of students, Humphrey has been the force driving the Division of Student Affairs, providing support to students through services for health, legal matters, counseling, career and leadership development, disabilities, residence life and immigration. But while her workload is diverse, one thing remains central: her devotion to Pitt’s students.

Shawn Brooks, the associate dean of Residence Life who has known Humphrey for more than 10 years, said in an email that there is a special trait that makes Humphrey excel at her job.

“She loves students, and they love her,” he said. “Unlike deans at other institutions across the country, Dr. Humphrey is here on campus late into the evening most nights so that she can interact with her students.”

Part of Student Affairs’ initiative to create more well-rounded and culturally enlightened students is the relatively new Outside the Classroom Curriculum. Created by Humphrey, the program endorses various events around campus, from rallies to performances, and by attending several of these events, students can earn an OCC certificate when they graduate.

“The OCC is about saying to students, ‘while you’re developing inside the classroom, make sure you’re developing outside of the classroom,’” she said. For her, the program is about embracing the college experience and cherishing every moment.

Cherishing moments is something she strives to do in her life, as well.

“That is how I live my life every day — I try by investing in the students. They are why I exist,” she said. Having recently been devastated by the passing of a close nephew, Humphrey said that embracing life is more important to her now than ever.

“Whenever it is my time to go, I want to say I lived a full life. You don’t have to wait to do that. You can live every single day,” she said.

Summer Rothrock, the assistant director in cross-cultural and leadership development, said the dean can be seen wholeheartedly embracing this lifestyle.

“Dr. Humphrey lives her values every day in her work. She leads by example and is a role model for her staff and students,” Rothrock wrote in an email. “Her personality is contagious. She is excited about her work. It shows in her dedication and commitment to the University.”

The dean also regularly hosts activities for students with free food and her personal counsel at her monthly Dean’s Hour — usually hosted at the William Pitt Union.

“One of the reasons I have Dean’s Hour is so I can hear the concerns of the students,” she said. “I don’t want to find out things secondhand — I love working with students.”

This is part of what makes her popular with the student body; so popular that, for three years running, students have voted her to be the Pitt Administrator of the year in The Pitt News’ “Best of” edition in the fall.

Kenyon Bonner, director of student life and associate dean of students, has worked with her for seven years, and, in that time, regularly found her walking around campus participating in student life or chatting in elevators with students.

Humphrey said, “I can tell how students are doing just by one elevator ride.”

John Lea, an assistant dean and business manager in Student Affairs, has worked with her for six years. He said that few encounter Humphrey without having their lives touched personally.

Erika Hess, who graduated last year with a degree in applied developmental psychology, is one of the many students whom Humphrey has impacted.

She particularly recalled a visit from the dean after the renovation of Amos Hall three years ago, when her sorority, Delta Delta Delta, decorated a suite for an open house.

“She was so amazing. We talked for a while, and she said we were her favorite suite. She toured all the floors,” Hess said.

What impressed Hess the most was Humphrey’s intimacy.

“Whenever we’ve talked, it’s always just been in snippets,” Hess said. “But every time I’ve seen her, she’s remembered who I was. She even remembered my name at the OCC recognition dinner and awards ceremony.”

Kristin Kutchak, who just graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, also had several opportunities to interact with the dean as a First Year Mentor helping freshmen get on track with college goals in a program called First Year Experience.

“She knew we all worked for First Year Experience, and she always thanked us for our work, even though she was the one taking the time to check us out,” Kutchak said. “She would interact with students attending our events, asking them if they were having a good time and stuff like that.”

Kutchak considered the dean’s presence to be a rare privilege not common at most universities.

“To me, it seems like if you ask people at other schools about their dean of students, they’ll be like, ‘I didn’t know we had one.’ But here, a majority of students know her,” she said.

A family woman herself, the dean has two twin boys, Daniel and David, who are also Pitt students.

“I enjoy being a mom; I enjoy being the dean. I enjoy being a wife — I’ve been one for 27 years. And I even still like him,” Humphrey said with a laugh.

Asked whether she sees herself as a maternal substitute for students away from home, she responded with a mix of feelings.

“I never really think about it, so it must be an automatic mode. I just try to be someone who’ll listen; someone who is part of the administration who’s pulling for the students to do well.”

However, she does feel an intimate connection with Pitt.

“There is something very special at Pitt,” the Dean said. “I will tell you: I truly love Pitt students. I love them.”