2 minute read
LEE EPSTEIN
Student Affairs, from left: Akita Mungaray (assistant dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion/director for Student Affairs), Deise Benitez (director of Registration Services), Maia Armaleo (assistant director, Student Affairs), Nickey Woods (associate dean for Student Affairs, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Dean of Students for the JD Program), Preston Ascherin (director of Externships), Malissa Barnwell-Scott (director, Student Care), Carla Golle (associate director of Registration and Records).
To Woods, DEI and Student Affairs are a natural fit, and she appealed for continued involvement in DEI during discussions about her new position. In the year since she was hired to lead DEI efforts, Woods has led numerous workshops and trainings, collaborated with student organizations, launched the Diversity Fellows and DEI Ambassadors programs, and used her talent for networking to forge new connections throughout campus, including involving USC Gould in professional development programming for student athletes developed by USC Athletics, which also partners in this effort with USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and USC Marshall School of Business. Woods was instrumental in bringing in Sean Kundu (JD 2007), vice president of corporate development for the San Francisco 49ers, as keynote speaker at a networking luncheon for USC football players. Woods also was the connection to other alumni including Casey Schwab (JD 2013), founder and CEO of Altius Sports Partners, which works with university athletic departments on NIL programs and athlete education, and Linda Hoos (JD 2001), associate vice president for USC’s Office of Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX, who Woods also brought in as a speaker.
OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE
A born networker, Woods is constantly on the lookout for opportunities that might benefit the law school and students. She recently chatted up USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay and Gordon Stables, director of Annenberg’s School of Journalism, about collaborating on projects. She also worked with a 1L who was president of her undergraduate improv group to set up an improv night for 1Ls in early October.
The word is getting out about the changes in Student Affairs, Woods says.
“I see a new energy among the team, and others in the law school tell me they notice it, too,” she says. “It feels really good. We’re going to do great work.”
