Mission and Purpose

#BlackGirlOnCampus represents Black women and girls as students, staff, administrators, and faculty member in the post-secondary sphere, physically and digitally. This space serves as depository for collaborative efforts to document Black women's narratives in an effort to achieve a transdisciplinary approach to studying Black women. They include, but not limited to, reading lists, timelines, blog posts, webinars, and oral histories. The ultimate goal of the site will be to provide researchers, students, and stake holders within and beyond the academy with an accessible digital space to learn the realities of being a #BlackGirlOnCampus.

Nadrea R. Njoku is the Interim Director at the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute (FDPRI) of UNCF, where she conducts empirical research related to guided pathways and student success. In this role, she conducts empirical research related to guided pathways and student success, as well as support the evaluation of projects within the Institute for Capacity Building

In addition to her work with the FDPRI, Dr. Njoku’s research foci include Black women in higher education, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the influence of campus environments on student experiences, and student development theory. She uses critical race and feminist frameworks devoted to disrupting issues of race and gender within postsecondary education contexts.

A graduate of Indiana University's doctoral program in Higher Education and Student Affairs, she is popularly known as a member of IU’s #Great8. Having received her bachelor’s degree from Xavier University of Louisiana, she relates much of her scholarship to her own narrative of growing up and attending an HBCU in the American south.

Nadrea has worked across multiple functions of higher education—housing, student affairs, fraternity and sorority affairs, alumni relations, and evaluation. She is also the co-editor of a special issue of International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education explores the intersections of race and higher education and highlights the work of emerging scholars in the field of student affairs and higher education.

Lori Patton Davis is the Chair of the Department of Educational Studies and Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at The Ohio State University. She is best known for her important scholarship on racial and gender equity in education, culture centers on college campuses, girls and women of color in educational and social contexts, and college student development.

Dr. Patton Davis has written extensively about Black women in higher education. She is co-editor of Investing in the Education Success of Black Women and Girls, Critical Perspectives on Black Women in Higher Education and has also co-edited special issues on Black women for the NASPA Journal About Women in Higher Education, and the Journal of Negro Education.

Dr. Patton Davis is also lead author of Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice, the most widely adopted book in higher education graduate degree programs. She also is author of over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and other academic publications. 

Serving as an elected member of the ASHE Board of Directors and chair of the ASHE Bobby Wright Dissertation of the Year Award Committee are two significant leadership roles Lori occupied prior to being elected the Association’s president. In addition, she was the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division J Equity and Inclusion Officer for six years. American College Personnel Association (ACPA) members elected her to a two-year term as Director of Equity and Inclusion on the Association’s national governing board. Lori has received many national awards for her scholarly contributions. ASHE presented her its Early Career Award in 2010; ACPA named her a Diamond Honoree, its highest honor, in 2015; and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) presented her its 2016 Robert H. Shaffer Award for Faculty Excellence, to name a few. Also, Indiana University presented her a pair of awards for exemplary teaching in 2015 and 2016.

A frequently sought-after expert on a wide range of education topics, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Huffington Post, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and dozens of other media outlets have quoted Lori and featured her research. She has also advised university presidents and other senior administrators, philanthropic foundation executives, culture center directors, and educators in urban K-12 schools. 

Learn more about Lori by visiting loripattondavis.com