Getting to know Dr. Andy Morgan, ISU’s new assistant vice president/dean of students

Photo provided by Illinois State University 

NORMAL, Ill. – Dr. Andy Morgan has been announced as Illinois State University’s new assistant vice president/dean of students. Morgan assumed his new role on January 17th, the first day of the spring 2023 semester at ISU. 

Dr. Morgan is a graduate of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he also served a total of eighteen years at the college as a coordinator of fraternity and sorority life, associate dean of students and more. Dr. Morgan later began working as the dean of students at Indiana State University. 

Listening is the first step on Dr. Morgan’s itinerary. He feels that students at ISU should have their voices heard, in order to take his first step forward in his new position.

“…More importantly, getting to know the students and finding out what their needs are. So, whenever you start anywhere new, there’s a lot of learning that needs to occur and by learning, there’s a lot of listening that needs to happen,” stated Dr. Morgan. 

During his time at Indiana State University, Dr. Morgan renovated the African American Cultural center, the Women’s Resource Center and other multicultural services. With recent instances of anti-LGBTQIA+ behavior on campus, Dr. Morgan believes that safety is a top issue and imperative to the growth of students. 

“The main thing is we want our students to feel safe. If you’ve ever taken a psychology class, there’s the Maslow hierarchy of needs and the foundation is safety, food, shelter,” said Dr. Morgan. “If you don’t feel safe, you don’t have food, you don’t have shelter, you’re not going to grow, you’re not going to learn. Those are the basic things we need to make sure all of our students have so that they can feel comfortable going to class, being involved on campus and if anyone is preventing our students from feeling safe, we need to address that.”

In his 25+ year administrative career, Dr. Morgan’s focus was on diversity. At ISU, things won’t be changing. Underrepresented groups will continue to be a focus while Dr. Morgan is in his new position. 

“Indiana State is the most diverse school in the state of Indiana. SIU-Carbondale, was rather diverse as well, actually more diverse than Indiana State,” stated Dr. Morgan. “Working with populations of students who don’t look like me, that’s what I have a lot of experience with. Advocating for them, being an ally and just supporting them. That’s something I’m very proud of, that’s in my DNA, that’s how I was brought up, that’s how I was involved in my undergrad, and that’s how I’ve been as a professional.”