Dr. Zenobia L. Hikes
Vice President for Student Affairs
Dr. Zenobia Lawrence Hikes, joined Virginia Tech as the new vice president for student affairs on August 25, 2005. At Tech she provides leadership oversight for 15 university departments, including housing and dining programs, career services, student health, recreational sports, and the Corps of Cadets. She is responsible for an annual budget of $82 million and 2,000 employees. She comes to Virginia Tech from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as the vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students.
At Spelman College, Dr. Hikes provided leadership for 13 departments in Student Affairs. Further, she drove innovative leadership and student development, served as an advocate for the development of human potential, and founded the Women of Excellence Leadership Series at Spelman College as well as other leadership programs to empower Spelman students.
Previously, she served in Student Life at the University of Delaware and in the field of public relations in Okinawa, Japan. With more than 20 years of administrative and leadership experience in the areas of enrollment management and student support services, she has written and presented papers on race-specific student recruitment and retention, first-generation college admissions, and leadership development. Her successful recruitment and retention model for African American college students is presented in the text Instructing and Mentoring the African American College Student: Strategies for Success in Higher Education. Dr. Hikes’ research has also appeared in ENCORE: Journal of the National Association of Dramatic and Speech Arts, Black Issues in Higher Education, and The Admissions Strategist. Additionally, her work has included co-authoring a W. K. Kellogg/NERCHE grant on civic engagement and a Mellon Foundation grant on collegiate living and learning. And she has served as advisor for a Goizueta grant on 21st-century leadership.
An avid supporter of ethical leadership and development, Dr. Hikes has provided expert commentary to CNN, NBC News, CBS News, Fox News, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and other national television and radio stations regarding the negative images of African American women in hip hop music and their impact on society.
Beyond her professional experiences, Dr. Hikes is very active in both the civic and higher education arenas. Her civic focus includes building multi-racial coalitions and empowering disenfranchised women and children. She has served on the boards of the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition and the Governor’s Tourism Advisory Board for the State of Delaware.
Dr. Hikes earned her doctorate from the University of Delaware in educational leadership: administration and policy. She holds a master's degree in education from Georgia Southwestern University and a bachelor’s degree, with honors, in English, education, and mass communications from Spelman College.