CLU hires new Director of Student Life
Newbury Park native worked at Duke University
Melinda Roper will assist in the slated 2009 opening of Trinity Hall, a new residential facility.
Photo: Brian Stethem(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – July 15, 2008) A former Duke University administrator is the new Director of Student Life at California Lutheran University.
Melinda Roper directs 10 staff members and more than 50 student assistants and interns in her role overseeing student leadership, programs and community service at CLU. The university has about 3,400 students from throughout the United States and more than 50 countries. About two-thirds of undergraduate students live on campus and 80 percent are involved in intercollegiate and intramural sports. CLU has about 70 clubs and organizations.
Roper will assist in the slated 2009 opening of Trinity Hall, a new residential facility. She will also work to reshape transitional experiences for CLU’s growing student body and make stronger connections between the academic and student life programs.
At the end of her 13-year tenure at Duke University in North Carolina, Roper was both Senior Associate Director of Student Activities and Engagement and the Interim Director of the Women’s Center. Prior to working at Duke, she had served on the Student Affairs staff at Penn State University. She has extensive experience in student leader development, event planning and community building.
“Melinda brings to Cal Lutheran successful professional experience at two excellent universities,” said William Rosser, Vice President for Student Affairs. “We are so pleased to have her on our team in this position of such significance to the future of the university.”
A Newbury Park High School graduate, Roper earned a bachelor’s degree from University of California at Santa Barbara and a master’s degree from Penn State. She earned her doctorate in counselor education with an emphasis on student affairs administration from Penn State.
Roper began her new position on July 1. She replaces Angela Naginey, who is now CLU’s Director of Retention.