The DEI Champion Spotlight features Rowan community members leading the way in DEI initiatives across campus. Champions featured in the spotlight serve as a great example of how DEI can be reflected throughout the campus and within our broader communities. This month, we’re excited to highlight the accomplishments of a leader within our Division of DEI! Join us in congratulating Dominique Pierson for demonstrating excellent leadership in the Office of Social Justice, Inclusion, and Conflict Resolution (SJICR) for the past two years and for her newly promoted position to lead the office as the Manager of SJICR.
Dominique (Dom) Pierson, she/her
Currently, the Manager for the Office of Social Justice, Inclusion, and Conflict Resolution (SJICR), Dominique embodies her personal mantra “lead with love.” Over the last five years, she has been serving the Rowan University community, amplifying student voices and curating brave and humanizing spaces in which community members can connect across their differences. Specifically, after graduating with her Bachelor’s degree from Montclair State University, Dominique's dedication to Student Affairs continued when she joined Rowan University's Residential Learning & University Housing (RLUH) department as a Resident Director and simultaneously completed her Master's degree in Higher Education. Prior to degree completion, Dominique served as an intern for the Office of General Counsel and Office of Student Equity and Compliance, focusing on policy development and reform. In 2021 she accepted the Area Coordinator position in RLUH and, later that year, assumed the Assistant Director (AD) for Leadership Programs position in SJICR. Dominique's work as a social/racial justice advocate stretches beyond institutional lines as she partners with organizations to build community alliances and champion local activist efforts. She also serves as a board member for both the Mercer County Community College’s Legal Advisory Board and the Rowan University’s Student Conduct Hearing Board. As a scholar-practitioner and proud first-generation college student, Dominique advances educational equity and belonging and will remain committed to centering love, criticality, and intersectionality in her approach to servant leadership.
Upcoming goals as SJICR Manager:
- To develop a reimagined structural identity for SJICR that resonates with the campus community;
- To disrupt institutional inequities and injustices, champion social/racial justice efforts for historically marginalized populations, and cultivate interest in and understandings of allyship;
- To restructure the Dr. Harley E. Flack Student Mentoring Program, providing opportunities that meet the intersectional needs of program participants;
- To offer resources, services, programs, leadership opportunities, and other intersectional interventions that enable students with various intersecting identities to feel seen, represented, and adequately supported;
- To foster connections through cultural celebrations and maintain a commitment to centering joy as a means of learning and engagement;
- To offer experiential learning opportunities that support academic engagement, enrichment, and advancement;
- To promote identity development, community building, and connections across differences amongst Rowan students and the broader Rowan community;
- To prioritize a community of practice and care for enhanced student learning and belonging.