Enku Gelaye has been promoted to senior vice president and dean of campus life, effective May 1. Gelaye has served as Emory’s vice president and dean of Campus Life since August 2019.
“This promotion recognizes both the outstanding contributions Enku has made since joining Emory and the importance to the Emory community of her role as the leader of Campus Life,” says Jan Love, interim provost and executive vice president of academic affairs.
Gelaye is responsible for 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students in areas such as undergraduate residential life, health and wellness, athletics and civic engagement.
“Although my time at Emory has been brief, I have seen the impact of Enku Gelaye’s extraordinary leadership on our students, whose goals, ideas and concerns have been embraced and championed by her time and again,” says President Gregory L. Fenves. “Her achievements, in just two years at Emory, speak volumes about her ability to elevate the Emory experience for our entire community as well as the vital role she will play in shaping the university’s future.”
Under her tenure are such notable achievements as the opening of the new Emory Student Center and the renovations to student identity spaces in the AMUC, the appointment of Keiko Price as assistant vice president of Campus Life and Clyde Partin Sr. Director of Athletics, and residential students’ transition to remote learning in March 2020 due to COVID-19.
“Enku is a voice of compassion on campus,” says Love. “Throughout COVID-19, she and the Campus Life team have consistently led projects designed to ease the burdens the virus has placed on the Emory community.”
In March 2020, Emory launched the EmoryTogether Fund to reduce financial burdens associated with the pandemic such as travel, special housing circumstances, and remote learning needs.
Access to mental health resources expanded in summer and fall of 2020, with an increase in the number of Counseling and Psychological Services sessions available to students and a partnership with TimelyMD, respectively; now, Emory’s Anytime Health Services provide 24/7 medical and mental health assistance to all enrolled Emory students regardless of where they live.
Gelaye has led the Campus Life team to prioritize programs and engagements that deepen the student experience for students learning on campus and remotely. With her leadership, the Campus Life team provided students the infrastructure to host virtual as well as small, in-person gatherings, and developed safe, quality models of living and engaging for students who were temporarily living in isolation and quarantine.
Gelaye came to Emory in August 2019 as a nationally recognized leader in student affairs from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she served as vice chancellor of student affairs and campus life. She holds a J.D. from the University of Georgia and a bachelor of science degree in print journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.