Tashika Griffith is kind of a big deal.
“When I was first extended the offer to come here,” Griffith, associate dean of students, said, “I did a post on my Facebook saying, ‘I’m a really important person; I have many leather-bound books.'”
An “Anchorman” fanatic and Bahamas native, Griffith has been working hard the past two months to re-brand herself as a Tennessee Volunteer.
Formerly the associate dean of students at Miami University, Griffith came to UT seeking something new and unfamiliar – something outside her comfort zone.
“When I talk to students about challenging themselves, it’s important for me to understand what it felt like to be challenged,” Griffith said. “In order to do that, I needed to put myself in a situation that’s different. Tennessee was different for me, is different for me.”
In fact, it was this same desire which drew Griffith to America. Hoping to study Shakespearean and African American literature, an opportunity not available in her homeland, Griffith enrolled at Florida Atlantic University. There, Griffith enjoyed enormous support from administrators, leading her to catch the student affairs “bug.”
“It was kind of scary at first being away from my entire family, but administrators were the ones — specifically in multicultural affairs — to really bring me in the fold and adopt me as one of their own,” she said. “In undergrad, I always had so many strong influences with faculty and my administrators.”
Though initially intimidated, Griffith said moving to the U.S. was the best decision of her life – this is where she found her husband and her career. She fondly recalls her early American experiences, like touring the U.S. with her college roommate, stopping at every McDonald’s on the way to get Big Macs.
“We took a picture of ourselves in every state on the way up from Florida to Maryland at a McDonald’s with a Big Mac in our hands,” Griffith said.
These days, Griffith’s time is spent a little differently. Lately, she’s been busy familiarizing herself with the student population.
“I’m just trying to meet as many students as possible, just to get a sense of what they need, what their challenges are, what they love,” Griffith said. “A lot of my weekends so far have been Welcome Week, the first football game, the second football game, family weekend.”
Griffith’s goal for the year is to increase “foot traffic” in the Dean of Students Office. Her primary responsibility, after all, is to support students – not unlike the Florida Atlantic administrators who once supported her.
“We have a lot of great initiatives that we are planning to get students to come in the office and see us as more than just ‘we don’t want to go there,’ or ‘am I in trouble?’ but instead say, ‘wow, they’re really here to help me through my four or five years of my time at UT,'” Griffith said. “Even if just to say ‘hi’ or ‘what’s up Dean Griffith?’ that’s what I want to see.”
