Tricia Smith, Anthony Scott fill key positions in the Division of Student Affairs
Virginia Tech has announced two appointments that will support the Division of Student Affairs’ commitment to inclusion and diversity.
Tricia Smith has been named director of Multicultural Programs and Services and Anthony Scott will be the director of the newly formed unit of Community Engagement and Inclusion.
Multicultural Programs and Services serves underrepresented and historically marginalized populations on campus. Located in Squires Student Center, the department coordinates major cultural heritage celebrations, provides student leadership training, diversity training, and community building activities.
“Tricia Smith builds powerful and connected teams and will do so with compassion and care,” said Patty Perillo, vice president for student affairs. “Working in collaboration with Anthony Scott, the two will enhance and align divisional and university efforts to offer a welcoming, affirming, and inclusive environment for all.”
Smith previously was associate director of housing and residence life. She came to Virginia Tech in 2005 as an area coordinator and assistant director of residence life. For the past three years, she has provided departmental leadership to a professional staff of 35 and a student staff of 230, managing planning and program evaluation in one of the largest university residential populations in the country.
She received a bachelor's degree from Clemson University, a master's degree from Texas A&M University, and a MBA from Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business.
Smith is a member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, ACPA-College Student Educators International, and the Association of College and University Housing Officers International.
Scott, who served most recently as senior director of operations in Virginia Tech's Office of Diversity and Inclusion, will oversee initiatives which include community-based cultural programming, non-academic student-veterans support, and diversity and inclusion training.
“Anthony Scott is committed to the work of inclusion and he knows that this happens best when we operate at both the individual and community level,” said Perillo. “He will be an exceptional addition to our leadership team.”
Scott has an extensive knowledge of issues concerning veterans having served 10 years in the United States Army. He received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana Wesleyan University and a law degree from Indiana University School of Law.
Before coming to Virginia Tech in 2013, Scott served as director of admission and student services in the Herron School of Art at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
He is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association, the Indianapolis Bar Association, and is former secretary of the Minority Coalition for Alternatives in Public Policy.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
Tricia Smith, Anthony Scott
Tricia Smith and Anthony Scott.
