New leadership in assisting and retaining African-American students at Northern Kentucky University is about to arrive.

Dean of Students Jeffrey Waple announced in late April that Dannie Moore has been named the incoming Director of African-American Student Affairs.

Moore previously served as assistant director for multicultural affairs at the University of Texas-Arlington. He will begin his work at NKU June 1.

“Mr. Moore comes to NKU with strong experience in student programming, student learning outcomes assessment, advising student organizations and student retention initiatives,” Waple wrote in the announcement email.

Students, faculty and staff participated in a series of forums on campus to meet each of the candidates for the position.

“The students were amazing,” Moore said. He added that getting to know students will be his first priority.

“I think the first thing is familiarizing myself with the student leaders and providing service that they are happy with,” he said.

According to Dean Waple, student input played a “huge role” in the decision to hire Moore.

“I met with students who were involved with the search, about 11 in all,” Waple said. “They provided valuable insight and thoughts on who could be the next director.”

Moore said this was the right move for him professionally, even if it does require him to move nearly 1,000 miles away from his current university.
“The position was everything I was looking for,” Moore said.

Moore was chosen from a pool of four candidates, which included current Interim AASA Director Willa Green. The other two candidates considered were Brandi Elliott, associate director of ethnic programs and services at the University of Cincinnati, and Adrian Deloach, director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at Radford University in Virginia.

Story by Jesse Call