New University of Tennessee chancellor: AD search, Title IX top priorities

If there’s one thing that disturbs Beverly Davenport, it’s sexual assaults on college campuses.

"It’s something I’ve spent a great deal of time on and frankly, if there’s one issue that keeps me up at night that one, out of all the things I deal with, is the one that probably does," Davenport said, recently speaking in the first hourlong interview she's given since being named chancellor of the University of Tennessee.

Davenport has seen first-hand the effects of campus sexual assault as a former interim president and administrator at the University of Cincinnati, an experience that will undoubtedly inform her as she takes over as the first female chancellor at UT next week.

In July, UT settled a lawsuit alleging the school had fostered a "hostile sexual environment for women," resulting in a list of changes to be implemented and ongoing efforts to evaluate the way the university handles allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.

But the aftermath of the Title IX lawsuit is also just one of several issues Davenport will be tasked with tackling in her new role, a job in which she will earn a base salary of $585,000, along with up to $95,000 in additional compensation in her first year.

Her predecessor, Jimmy Cheek, will assume a faculty position teaching higher education administration in August and will initially earn 75 percent of the $454,000 base salary he made as chancellor.

The issues Davenport will face also include the ongoing search for a new athletic director, one of the most high-profile jobs on campus, and she also stands to fill up to four other positions in her cabinet, including that of provost. She will have to navigate the tension between a campus that champions diversity and state lawmakers who diverted funds for the Office for Diversity and Inclusion after a number of controversies last year.

"Tennessee has a pretty full table set for me," said Davenport, 62, speaking recently from her car while en route to Knoxville from Cincinnati. "We need to hire an AD, and I need to hire some very key senior leaders. I need to help this campus re-imagine how we will bring some understanding about difference and how we will organize our activities and our commitment to our students, our faculty, our staff. That’s a pretty full agenda."

Title IX education

Davenport said she couldn’t talk specifically yet about the Title IX fallout at Tennessee, but the issue is one she feels passionately about, and also has some experience dealing with in the past.

In December, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that allegations of a “sexually hostile environment” at the University of Cincinnati spurred a federal investigation into how the university handles complaints of sexual assault. That's the same language UT was confronted with in the recently settled lawsuit brought by eight anonymous women.

“’It’s On Us’ is the central lesson I’ve learned,” Davenport said, referencing the sexual assault awareness campaign launched by former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in 2014. The campaign, she said is “something I have internalized and strongly believe in.”

“It has nothing to do with where it came from (the White House), but everything to do with the conflict and challenge that sexual assault brings with it. It’s on all of us," she said.

When asked if more needs to be done to raise awareness of Title IX issues within athletics, given that a number of the allegations made in the recent lawsuit were against the football program, including specific players, Davenport said yes – but added that it doesn’t stop there.

“There are a lot of students on campuses, and there are faculty and staff. We’re talking about an entire campus culture of consent,” she said. “You can never do enough education. Education is how you change a culture. It has to be part of all that’s done.”

The AD search

When it comes to the athletic director search, Davenport said it’s being worked on. The university announced last month the selection of a search committee and firm to assist with the process, though no firm timeline has been put in place.

“We are working very, very quickly and we are going to do this work as diligently and efficiently as we can,” she said. “To come to a final decision, that’s going to take a little more time.”

Meeting with the search committee is at the top of her list for her first few days on campus, which right now are shaping up to be very busy.

“I need to get my keys, set up my email and everybody wants to meet the first day,” she said. “I said, ‘Oh my God, I can’t meet with everybody the first day.’ But (the athletic director search) is at the top and we’ve been working on it.”

New Tennessee chancellor Beverly Davenport a cheerleader for athletics

Also on the list - figuring out the future of the Office for Diversity and Inclusion and setting the tone for how the campus responds to diversity issues.

Diversity a top issue

Last year the state diverted more than $400,000 away from UT's Office for Diversity and Inclusion after Republican lawmakers denounced the rise of Sex Week, a week of awareness surrounding issues of sexuality as well as sexual assault and prevention. Postings by office staff promoting the use of gender-neutral pronouns and encouraging staff to move away from religious-based holiday parties also contributed to the diversion of funds.

Cheek, Davenport's predecessor, defended the university's commitment to the diversity office, a move that pitted him against lawmakers who then called for his resignation.

Davenport said the issues the office represents are essential and will never go away, but “I don’t know enough about its history" to say whether she foresees funding for the office being reinstated.

“We will always work to have an inclusive and welcoming campus community. What each college campus in the country is facing is what our nation is facing," she said. "I have a lot of listening to do. I’ve heard a lot about this issue, but there’s a lot more for me to know. It’s right up there at the top of my issues to address.”

'A brilliant communicator' 

Born in Bowling Green, Ky., Davenport grew up not far from the Tennessee border with two sisters and a brother. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father owned a dry cleaning business.

She studied journalism with a focus in public relations at Western Kentucky University, where she also interned in the public relations office and learned to write putting together news releases. Today she also has a master’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Her academic research has focused on communications and those who know her say communication is one of her biggest strengths.

“That’s where a lot of her passion comes from; her research actually assists with her day-to-day administration job,” said Terri Reed, assistant vice president for economic development in the Office of Research at the University of Cincinnati and a professor of chemical engineering. “Some faculty do fundamental research that may or may not have immediate real world kind of applications, but Beverly’s research absolutely fed into the real world."

John Zomchick, UT's interim provost, also said that one of the things that most struck him about Davenport when he met her was her people skills.

"She's a brilliant communicator," Zomchick said. "I think that will be really successful here. She will reach out to the campus, and she's also down-to-earth and matter-of-fact. All of those things (will be helpful), but especially her communication skills."

Research and women's leadership

Davenport started her career at the University of Kentucky, where she worked her way up from the director of the Communication Internship Program to chair of the Department of Communications.

She's also held administrative posts at the University of Kansas, Virginia Polytechnic and State University and Purdue University.

It was at Purdue that Davenport helped lead the creation of Discovery Park, a research and learning complex dedicated to tackling some of the world's great problems - climate change, cancer, the environment, energy.

The experience is one that could help inform her as UT continues on its own quest toward becoming a Top 25 research institution - a challenge first proposed by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen in 2009. UT is currently tied at 46th among public colleges and universities, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Reed said Davenport also worked on research initiatives at UC, for example, helping to start a department of engineering education for the first time on campus.

"The work she did (in that department) was about moving a nascent field forward in their ability to lead, which is a struggle for a lot of new fields as they're emerging," Reed said.

She's also helped others to lead. While at Purdue, Davenport created Purdue Women Lead, an initiative to support women in leadership roles on campus, and served as the first chair of the Susan Buckley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence, aimed at offering leadership training for women. Later, she developed a similar initiative at UC, called UC Women Lead.

“It was exciting. That’s a hallmark of my career,” Davenport said of UC Women Lead. “I've had a lot of opportunities to start new things, a lot of new programs at Purdue, and at UC.”

'Feels like home'

Davenport said she has yet to find a permanent house in Knoxville and for the time being will be staying someplace temporarily, but she’s excited to be on campus.

As for her colleagues in Cincinnati, some said that while they were surprised and saddened to see her go, the opportunity seemed like the right one.

"I certainly just couldn’t be more struck by what a wonderful match it is for her," said Eileen Strempel, senior vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Cincinnati. "It’s a perfect fit on both sides. You just get that sense when someone is called to go somewhere that feels like home."

When she brought her adult daughter to Knoxville for the first time, Davenport said she took it as a good sign that her daughter told her the place felt familiar.

Most of Davenport’s 30 years as an educator and university administrator, including the years she raised her two children, have been spent in college towns with large universities.

And with several family members in Nashville, the family always made frequent trips to Music City.

“Knoxville is a college town,” Davenport said. “I think that’s what made it familiar to my daughter, and it was more southern than we’d ever been, so it felt like home.”