UMD Vice President of Belonging Georgina Dodge to retire on Independence Day

Mara K. Bell
Adele H. Stamp Student Union at the University of Maryland, College Park, Md. (Sophia Parkins/The Black Explosion)

The Vice President for Belonging at the University of Maryland, Georgina Dodge, will retire on the Fourth of July, the University President Darryll Pines announced Tuesday. 

Dodge led the office of Belonging & Community, formerly known as the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, for seven years, helping “build a more inclusive and connected campus community,” the email stated. 

The office oversees a variety of units, including the Nyumburu Cultural Center, Bias Incident Support Services, and the LGBTQ+ Equity Center, with the larger aim of supporting “anyone who needs help establishing a sense of belonging and finding a nurturing community,” according to the site.

The retirement comes days after Dodge denied allegations from the Nyumburu Cultural Center’s student ambassadors that the center’s interim director, Psyche Williams-Forson, would be prematurely terminated by the end of the month. Dodge announced that the search for a new director will begin in the coming weeks.

When Dodge began as vice president in 2019, the director of Nyumburu at the time, Ronald Zeigler, accused Dodge of micromanaging the center at an open forum. Dodge told The Black Explosion that she’s addressed those concerns with Zeigler since. 

Within Dodge’s time at Maryland, Pines stated that, along with bringing additional units to Belonging & Community, she also spearheaded the launch of the Belonging and Community at UMD Survey, with the primary goal of measuring how UMD community members feel about the university’s climate.

Dodge also guided the implementation of the 25 critical issues identified by Black student leaders in 2020. The list was removed from the university’s website for most of last year. It has since been reinstated with limited functionality and information.

The university has removed several other websites relating to marginalized groups in the midst of President Donald Trump’s attacks on higher education since he entered office in January of last year.

The email stated that Stephanie Chang, Assistant Vice President for Belonging, would step in as interim vice president after Dodge exits her role in July. The email stated that Stephanie Chang, assistant vice president for Belonging, would step in as interim vice president after Dodge exits her role in July, which lands on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Dodge wrote to The Black Explosion, “Of course it’s a little cheeky to select the Semiquincentennial, but as a Navy veteran and Air Force brat, I celebrate this country with all its bumps, wrinkles, and glory. And I wish that everyone would stand up to defend our hard-earned freedoms.”