Kent State’s LGBTQ Student Center is looking to hire a new director this year after its program coordinator, Roxie Patton, left this past summer.

As the president of Pride! Kent, junior criminology and justice studies major Brandon Stephens worked closely with Patton.

“Roxie did a wonderful job at the center, and she’s a wonderful person with an incredible wealth of knowledge,” Stephens said. “She had an opportunity to further advance her career at a different school, and I think she made a good choice.”

Stephens said that the new director must be knowledgeable of issues happening within the center.

“The director will have a new position from the coordinator that will require a lot more work,” Stephens said. “We really need someone who knows what they’re talking about and who has a lot of experience in their field. They need to be able to work on making the center more successful as well as being there for students.”

Stephens said Patton’s departure had nothing to do with the changes in the center.

Gina Campana, special assistant for the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, said that the new director of the center is going to be one of the many changes happening.

“We have a lot of things planned for the center to make the students feel more at home,” Campana said. “I’m really excited to see who the director will be and what they will bring to the center for the students.”

Heather Adams, executive director of the Women’s Center, will make the final decision who the new director will be. There is also a board, which Stephens is a member of, that helps make that decision.

“I want students to know that I’m helping to make the decision of the new director with them in mind,” Stephens said. “I want them to feel free to reach out to me and tell me what they would like to see happen for the center.”

Contact Elizabeth Randolph at [email protected].