Students, administrators praise new dean of students

Kathy Humphrey believes college administrators need to change with the times, the student body… Kathy Humphrey believes college administrators need to change with the times, the student body and the institutions they work for.

As Pitt’s new vice provost and dean of students, Humphrey hopes that she can make a difference at the University.

“Nothing is ever static in this environment,” Humphrey said. “You are always a student. If you don’t make those adjustments, you become part of the institution. You have to be flexible, you have to be astute.”

While serving Saint Louis University students for almost five years and earning degrees in education and higher education administration, Humphrey acquired a wealth of experience in dealing with both students and administrators.

Humphrey learned to be flexible, not only for her office, but to keep up with her 13-year-old twin sons.

“[My] twins forced me to become a learner of basketball, which I’ve learned to enjoy,” she said.

Other administrators and students at SLU remarked that Humphrey’s personal qualities have helped her as an administrator, inside the classroom and out.

“Her door is always open for students to stop in and talk with her about what is going on in their lives,” said Chris Clark II, executive vice president of SLU’s Student Government Association, in an e-mail.

“She is an invaluable resource to all those who have the privilege to work with her,” he added. “I have looked to her for guidance in my four years here at SLU.”

As Humphrey developed relationships with students and administrators at SLU, she left an indelible mark on some of the people she worked with.

“She is going to be very hard to replace,” said Mary Bruemmer, who has worked at SLU for more than 50 years.

In 2000, SLU honored Humphrey with the Mary Bruemmer Award, an honor that recognizes the administrator who contributed the most to improving campus life for students.

“I have watched women administrators come and go,” Bruemmer said, “[Humphrey] brought with her a new kind of commitment that I haven’t seen before”

“One thing we appreciate, and that you will appreciate, is her personal concern for the individual.”

The praise continued from Clark.

“She is the ultimate student advocate,” he said. “She worked very closely with the SGA this past year to approve a new meal plan system that would better benefit the student.”

Pitt’s Student Government Board president, Brian Kelly, said that he hopes Humphrey’s addition to Pitt’s administration will bring positive change, especially in getting more students involved on campus.

“She’s a very hands-on person, and I like that,” Kelly said.

The International Student Federation of SLU named its diversity award The Kathy W. Humphrey Award for Diversity in 2001, a recognition symbolic of another aspect of her character.

And the SLU students weren’t the only ones to take notice. A Pitt administrator commended Humphrey for her efforts to improve diversity at SLU.

“We want people who are engaged in [diversity affairs],” said Patricia Beeson, an executive administrator at Pitt. “We think it’s an important part of what Pitt offers.”

Humphrey credits her willingness to change to something she learned while working as vice president for student development at SLU.

“You have to be listening,” she said. “Students change.”