Jennifer Dize becomes Director of Student Conduct

Kathryn Kelly ‘19

Contributing Writer

After a nationwide search and a three-month long process, Lafayette has hired Jennifer Dize as Director of Student Conduct.

A self-described “sarcastic neat freak,” Dize has a “wealth of experience” in the field of student conduct, Dean of Students Paul McLoughlin II said. She is the second person to hold the position at Lafayette, replacing Greg Meyer who served for three years.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Va., Dize earned a degree in communication studies from Longwood University in Virginia, and earned an M.S. in college student personnel, or student affairs, from Miami University in Ohio. Dize was selected for the Lafayette position from a pool that originally consisted of 75 applicants.

“We were looking for someone who was very familiar with the student rights end of the process, and…how to protect the rights of both accused students and anybody might be accusing students of violations,” saidVice President of Campus Life Annette Diorio, who served on the search committee for the position.

According to Dize, the most difficult part about handling conduct review is that she often “meet[s] people who tend to be in situations that don’t represent who they are as people.”

However, it’s especially rewarding for her when these same people are able to make critical changes in their lives.

“I once had a student come back to me and tell me that partially as a result of our conversations he was in his sixth month of [Alcoholics Anonymous] and he had really turned his life around,” Dize said. “It’s important to me that people know that I don’t think that they themselves are only that one moment of their lives. They’re more than that.”

“Jenn has impressive and relevant experience working with students in situations like the ones she will be responsible for at Lafayette,” McLoughlin wrote in an email. “Students, faculty, and staff who interviewed Jenn as a part of the search process were impressed by her demeanor, commitment to students, knowledge of student codes of conduct and federal legislation, and [by] what she could offer to Lafayette.”

“I think students will find her approachable, competent, caring, and equitable,”McLoughlin wrote.

As the director of student conduct, she will be handling most of the conduct review cases on campus, along with twelve conduct officers. Her day-to-day job will be, as Diorio puts it, “to be sure that students understand both their rights and their responsibilities relative to the code of conduct.”

Diorio said Lafayette has seen the rates of rule violations go down since the position was added three years ago.

Dize previously worked as the Assistant Director of Residence Life of Moravian College, and most recently at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) as the assistant dean of students. She originally started at FDU as the community standards coordinator.

A member of Lambda Pi Eta, Mortar Board, and Psi Chi honorary societies, Dize has been passionate about conduct review since her undergraduate years at Longwood University, where she was on a conduct review committee of students called the Honor Board.

“We had the power as undergraduate students to do anything, from assigning someone to write a paper to completely expelling someone from the university,” Dize said. “It was so formative for me that I then sought out conduct opportunities in every other position until ending up full time doing conduct at FDU.”

While the short commute from Bethlehem to Easton is definitely an advantage to working at Lafayette, Dize said that what really drew her here is Lafayette’s educational mission of “Cur Non,” which she feels has great potential to be applied in the conduct realm. She was also impressed by the college’s school pride, beautiful campus and all-around friendly environment.

“Everyone I’ve met has been such a pleasure to speak with,”Dize said. “I’m friendly and I would really love it if people said hello. As I’m out and about I would love to meet people. Don’t be shy.”

Dize and her wife of two years live in Bethlehem. Her wife is the owner and operator of the restaurant Jumbars, located in Bethlehem. They live with their two cats, Dude and Ellie, and their chihuahua, Tinkerbell.