Stamford native named first black dean of Smith College
STAMFORD — When Deanna Dixon attended Westhill High School in the early 80s, she wanted to become a doctor.
However, after attending Smith College, she realized she was interested in other careers. Dixon, 52 and now a resident of South Hadley, Mass., went down a winding career path, dabbling in business, real estate and hospitality, before going back to her roots. She is now set to become the first African American dean of admissions of Smith College in Northampton, Mass., on July 1.
Dixon was born and raised in Stamford and went through city schools, also attending K.T. Murphy Elementary and the now-defunct Burdick Junior High. She was drawn to Smith for its open curriculum and welcoming atmosphere.
“Everyone from Smith made me feel I was already part of the community,” Dixon said. “A big part of that in my experience was with the Stamford/Greenwich Smith Club. They were certainly part of the decision.”
At Smith, Dixon studied biology and AfroAmerican studies. She graduated with degrees in both subjects in 1988 and went on to work in the corporate business world. She earned her master’s in business at Washington University in St. Louis in 1999 and went on to run a bed and breakfast on Cape Cod and work in real estate.
In 2002, Dixon moved from the Cape back out to western Massachusetts to be in a familiar and family-centric area for her young daughter. In the two decades since she’d left the area, she’d continued to stay involved with her local Smith Club wherever she went as an admissions volunteer. In 2006, she joined the college staff part time as an admissions counselor and started full time in 2009, working her way up to becoming the associate director of multi-cultural recruitment.
Dixon said when she went to Smith in 1984 that she was prepared for a less diverse population than she was used to in Stamford. Since then, she said, the college has worked with community organizations across the country to drum up interest in Smith and invite these groups to campus for tours. Dixon said the college has worked with groups including the Boys and Girls Club and Reach Prep, which helps black and Latino students from underserved communities in Fairfield and Westchester counties gain admission into independent schools.
“I’m sensitive still to that idea as a culture shock for students coming from diverse communities to an institution that is predominantly white,” Dixon said. “But Smith has continued to make great strides in improving diversity as Smith understands diversity benefits everyone.”
In her new role, Dixon hopes to continue to build on relationships with community-based organizations so more first generation and diverse students consider Smith “as a place they can thrive,” she said.