A new vice president for student affairs will join Georgetown University at the beginning of 2023, serving as the culmination of a year-long search process to fill the role.

The university announced Oct. 22 that Eleanor Daugherty will assume the position Jan. 10, 2023, after nearly eight years serving as the associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students at the University of Connecticut. While the university conducted its national search to fill the vice president position, Jeanne Lord served as the interim vice president of student affairs. Prior to Lord, Todd Olson held the position for 19 years before departing in July 2021.

Daugherty said she hopes students will show her Georgetown through their own eyes and personal experiences, allowing her to better understand campus culture and student life.

“Georgetown is special and has been special for hundreds of years, and making sure my greatest priority is to immerse myself in that culture and understand that culture and then emerge as a leader is going to be very important to me,” Daugherty said in an interview with The Hoya. “So I think you’re gonna see a lot of me around campus, both in professional attire and Uggs late at night, and that’s exactly how it should be.”

University President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) said Daugherty has a strong understanding of the student experience after many years working in higher education that will enable her to support students at Georgetown. 

“For more than two decades, Dr. Daugherty has engaged in all aspects of student life from admissions to advising as well as alumni relations at multiple institutions,” DeGioia wrote in a statement shared with The Hoya. “She shares a deep knowledge of the student experience and unwavering care for students’ well-being.”

Rosemary Kilkenny, Georgetown’s Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity who served as co-chair of the search committee, said Lord’s work as interim vice president helped  Georgetown throughout the pandemic.

“Not only has she paved the way for a smooth transition for our new Vice President of Student Affairs, she has also supported countless students and colleagues as we have navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic and a new school year,” Kilkenny wrote in a statement shared with The Hoya. 

Daugherty said her experience at the University of Connecticut showed her the importance of being a figure who others can trust in uncertain times, and she hopes to become a person that Georgetown students can trust as well.

“I think there is a deep and sincere love for students that Georgetown has that has resonated with me deeply throughout this process,” Daugherty said. “And I look forward to approaching my work with that same love.”

Daugherty said throughout her career, she has sought to embrace students as whole, multifaceted and complex people, rather than just seeing them as smart students. 

Daugherty said she decided to accept her new position at Georgetown because the university reflects her values.

“And so the university that I care for is the university that shares that commitment to students, and that outlook on students as a whole person, not a perfect person, and a student who is trusting us with one of the most important times of their lives,” Daugherty said. 

The first step she will take to embrace diversity and inclusion on campus is to listen to the stories of the students on campus, Daugherty said. 

“After we establish those points of connection, we’re really able to cultivate, bring those identities into our sense of community and have a sense of being a Georgetown community,” Daugherty said. “And that’s where I start.”

Ricardo Ortiz, an English professor at Georgetown who co-chaired the search to fill the position, said Daugherty’s integrity and experience will allow her to relate to and work with members of the Georgetown community.

“In Elly Daugherty, Georgetown students will find an ally who listens, an ally who cares and an ally who leads,” Ortiz wrote in a statement shared with The Hoya. “The Georgetown community in general can look forward to welcoming, and working with, a new member with an impressive record of professional accomplishment, integrity, and collaboration.”  

Daugherty said she also plans to connect with students in the environments they feel most comfortable in to allow relationships with students to flourish. 

“What I’ve always enjoyed in the past is, as I meet with students and get to know students, I go to them in their places and spaces that have meaning to them, and for some, that’s a corner of the library,” Daugherty said. “For others, that’s a traditional event.”