‘Inside UVA’: Unofficial ‘Hype Girl’ Explains How She Brings the Energy

February 1, 2023 By Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu

Audio: ‘Inside UVA’ With Tabitha Enoch(26:00)

Associate Dean of Students Tabitha Enoch talks about being accessible and relatable, especially to first-generation and lower-income students, in the third episode of season 2, “Inside UVA.”

Transcript

Tabitha Enoch, the associate dean of orientation and new student programs, is known as the University of Virginia’s unofficial “hype girl.” How the fun and accurate title came about is one of several engaging topics Enoch explores with President Jim Ryan in the latest “Inside UVA” podcast.

When new students arrive at the University for summer orientation, Enoch, as director of new student orientation, provides the welcome address, making her one of the first official faces the incoming students see. Enoch also recruits and supervises the 52 student leaders who are integral to the program.

A Boston native, Enoch has been UVA for more than 20 years. She initially planned to become a lawyer. However, she took a work-study job in the University’s Career Center, and that position put her on a trajectory for working with student affairs.

Enoch brings her background as a first-generation college student into her work and makes herself accessible and relatable to the students, “but specifically to our first-generation, lower-income students,” she said. “That community is really diverse, so there is no one experience. I try to make room for all of that. Their stories really matter and that is amplified for me with first-generation college students.”

Find this and all previous Inside UVA podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

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Matt Kelly

University News Associate Office of University Communications