Affirmative action director appointed

Anita Jenious, assistant director of Vanderbilt University's Opportunity Development Center, was named executive director of the University's Office of Affirmative Action on Friday. "We are delighted that [Jenious] has agreed to accept the position of executive director of the Affirmative Action Office here, and we look forward to her starting at the University by April 1," said Stephen Schutt, University President Judith Rodin's chief of staff. Although Jenious's appointment comes at a time when the goals and future of affirmative action are being extensively re-examined and debated nationwide, Jenious said last week she is "pleased and excited about working with the Penn community." "The reputation of the community was a major factor in my decision" to come to the University, Jenious said, adding that the "dynamic" presence of University President Judith Rodin was also an attraction. A Vanderbilt graduate, Jenious became that school's first assistant director of financial aid for minority affairs in 1988, after receiving her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. As an undergraduate, Jenious was president of Vanderbilt's chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, which has a city-wide chapter in Philadelphia that includes students from Bryn Mawr College and the University. AKA City-Wide Chapter President Brynee Gandy, a Bryn Mawr junior, said she was happy to hear of her "soror's" appointment. "In our sorority we have many experiences that help us prepare [for life], so I know that she'll be very successful in all of her undertakings," Gandy said. Jenious has also served as disability services coordinator for Vanderbilt's Opportunity Development Center and as a graduate assistant in the University of Tennessee's Office of Affirmative Action. Additionally, Jenious currently hosts a weekend radio talk show in Nashville called "Express Yourself," and is a consultant to educational institutions and government agencies regarding issues of diversity, racism and sexism in the workplace. Bob Schoenberg, coordinator of the Program for the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community at Penn, said Jenious's experience with respect to mutliculturalism is especially relevant and makes her well-qualified for the position at the University. Jenious's selection follows a national search that began in October 1993 -- when former Affirmative Action Director Joann Mitchell left the University to become associate provost and affirmative action director at Princeton University. Sharon Harris, assistant director of the Office of Affirmative Action, has been serving as interim director since Mitchell's departure.

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