By: Chloe Smith and Kyla Wetmore
In an email sent to the Southern Adventist University community on the morning of Nov. 6, President Ken Shaw announced the resignation of Dennis Negrón, vice president of Student Development and Title IX coordinator. The email stated that Nov. 18 will be Negrón’s last day of service.
“Dr. Negrón has been a valued member of the Southern family for 33 years, dedicating much of his professional life to serving our students and university community,” Shaw stated in the email.
According to the email, Negrón, an alum of Southern, previously served as a residence hall dean for 14 years and as an English Department faculty member for seven years. He has been in his current role for over a decade and has been the Title IX coordinator for over five years.
Shaw also expressed gratitude for Negrón’s many years of service.
“Dr. Negrón has my heartfelt appreciation and respect for his many years of dedicated service to Southern Adventist University,” Shaw stated. “I hope you will join me in recognizing and celebrating his faithful commitment and wishing him God’s richest blessings as he begins this next chapter of his life.”
Negrón’s resignation comes two weeks after concern was raised about an inappropriate social media repost on his personal Instagram account, according to previous Accent reporting. In a previous Accent article, he said the repost wasn’t of his doing, and he didn’t know how the content ended up on his account.
After Shaw’s announcement of Negrón’s resignation, Ingrid Skantz, vice president of Marketing and University Relations, stated in an email to the Accent that administration had conducted an investigation.
“The conclusion of that investigation is that there was no wrongdoing by Dr. Negron, who willingly participated in the investigation,” she stated. “Dr. Negrón’s decision to resign was his own and we respect his decision. Southern remains committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for all students and to addressing concerns through appropriate university processes.”
Skantz stated further in her email that students with Title IX concerns may continue to contact the university’s designated Title IX deputy coordinators or complete the online form using “report an incident” found at southern.edu/titleix. Students can direct Student Development concerns to the Student Development office, where staff can help or connect them with the appropriate individual.
Administration is considering how Student Development and Title IX responsibilities will be filled after Negrón’s departure, according to Skantz, and will share more information as it makes decisions on how to move forward.
