The office of Campus Life recently announced staff promotions and a hire.
Mike Hayes has joined the University as executive director of Campus Life and director of Greek Life. Leslie Heusted has been promoted to director of the Danforth University Center. Julia Macias Garcia has been promoted to assistant director of Campus Life and assistant dean in the College of Arts & Sciences.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with these people,” said Jill Carnaghi, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for students and dean of Campus Life. “They are such competent professionals. With other Campus Life staff, they will work to shape the future direction of how we work with students in their co-curricular activities.”
Hayes began working at WUSTL this summer. He previously served as director of fraternity and sorority life at the University of Maryland. He also has worked with graduate and professional students at Cornell University and alumni at Indiana State University and served as assistant dean and acting dean of students at DePauw University and in student activities at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
“By bringing together Campus Life, Student Activities and Greek Life staff, we hope to provide a more seamless structure for students wanting to become engaged with their community and to find and select organizations and leadership positions that complement their curricular pursuits,” Carnaghi said. “With Mike’s diversity of institutions and experiences, I am excited about the possibilities of conceptualizing our work with students a bit differently.”
Working closely with Hayes, Garcia works with the Annika Rodriguez Scholars and serves as a four-year adviser in the College of Arts & Sciences.
She also will be working with Campus Life staff related to topics of diversity and inclusion as well as the advisement of student organizations.
Heusted has been with WUSTL since last September as assistant director for programming and marketing at the Danforth University Center. Prior to that, she served as director of student involvement at Maryville University of St. Louis.
She also worked with students at the University of Charleston in West Virginia and at Doane College in Crete, Neb. She has served as events manager at the Kansas City Convention Center and the Kansas City Zoo.
Heusted is a member of the board of directors of the National Association for Campus Activities.
“Leslie made significant contributions toward successfully launching the Danforth University Center during its first year of operation, and I look forward to her working with University Center and Event Services staff to create a team that will effectively and efficiently serve the campus community during a challenging financial climate,” Carnaghi said. “She brings many years of experience and expertise to this position.”