Anthropologist will lead U. of La Verne
Pardis Mahdavi sees her mission to balance inclusion and academic excellence
On a warm Tuesday afternoon, in a crisp, white suit, she stood poised upon the steps outside Founders Hall at University of La Verne, at ease among the ever-present buzz of students as the second day of the semester settles in.
Pardis Mahdavi is the new president of the 132-year-old institution. She takes over the position as her predecessor, President Devorah Lieberman, retired earlier this year.
Mahdavi is no stranger to academia, having started her journey up the ladder of higher education in 1996 and eventually earning two master’s degrees and a doc- torate by 2006.
From there, she went on to work for several universities, such as Arizona State University and Pomona College in Claremont, in various faculty and leadership positions. Her most recent position as president and director of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College aided in her perspective of leadership.
She approaches her current position through anthropology, allowing her to ask more introspective questions about complicated topics, she says. Making the strange familiar and the familiar strange are hallmarks of anthropology, Mahdavi said. This makes her very curious and dedicated to learning more about her environment. “One of the things that I’ve always fought against in higher education is this false dichotomy of access versus excellence,” Mahdavi said. “In other words, there is this false notion that the more accessible something is, the less excellent it must be. And conversely, the more excellent something is, the less accessible something should be.”
She speaks passionately with her hands about what she hopes to accomplish at the university and says she’s striving to develop La Verne’s reputation for inclusion.
“I want to be at an institution where we measure our
selves by who we include, not who we exclude,” Mahdavi said.
Providing more online and hybrid courses as a way to make higher education more accessible to all students regardless of age or background is a top priority, she said. Her devotion to inclusion comes at a time when higher education still is working out the effects of affirmative action, which was struck down earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tony Revier, chair of the university’s board of trustees, said he expects great things for the university with Mahdavi at the helm.
“I couldn’t be more excited, and every time I meet with her, I get more impressed and more excited about the decision that the board made,” Revier said. “I think she’s going to be quite impressive to the university in our growth and looking at all kinds of dynamic programs, certificate programs, and other things that she has a lot of experience with.”
In addition to being an academic, Mahdavi is an author, having written and contributed to seven books.
One of her titles, “Hyphen,” explores the journey of the grammatical mark and how it became a signifier for diverse communities that exist in between spaces.
A single mother of three, Mahdavi herself is a “hyphenated” individual as an Iranian-american, she mentions.
She also touches on how the hyphen helped unify her two countries and cultures, using that space in between to help define her character. She understands more about being both Iranian and American, she says, rather than having to choose one over the other.
Mahdavi’s excitement about what she hopes to accomplish in her time leading the unversity is evident as she discusses her goals, pausing only briefly to ponder questions before answering.
She looks forward to celebrating and acknowledging university staff and students’ accomplishments, she said, and contributing to providing more handson learning opportunities with internships.
“My first internship was at the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and that’s what got me going,” Mahdavi said. “We learn so much in an internship, and it’s an opportunity for you to test out your learning from the classroom in the real world. So the internship pathway is really important to me.”
As an ethnographer who studies cultures and peoples, Mahdavi, said she is adept at listening. She expressed an interest in conducting a listening tour where she could sit down with different members of the campus and learn more about how she can support them.
As the university’s second female president, Mahdavi prides herself on creating an inclusive campus and ensuring she is approachable.
“She was so generous and outgoing,” said Paul Alvarez, a 37-year faculty member and president of the Faculty Senate. “There was a huge sense of relief for those who weren’t on the search committee to say, ‘Oh, great, you know, she’s accessible. She’s personable.’”
An inauguration ceremony for Mahdavi is set for 4 p.m. Oct. 13 at the University of Laverne’s athletic pavilion. For reservations, go to laverne.edu .