After a nationwide search, Dean of the College Lee Pelton appointed Giavanna Munafo, an experienced doctoral candidate from the University of Virginia, the head of Dartmouth's Women's Resource Center.
She will start on Sept. 1. The position was filled for the past year by Interim Director Sandra Spiegel.
"She is good at multi-cultural and innovating programming," said English Professor Ivy Schweitzer, who headed the search committee. "She is committed to making the Women's Resource Center a place where women of all different backgrounds can feel comfortable."
Munafo was the program assistant of Women's Studies and program coordinator of the Women's Center at the University of Virginia.
Munafo was unavailable for comment.
The Women's Resource Center, founded in 1988, sponsors and co-sponsors many activities both inside the center and throughout the campus dealing with issues related to women.
It also offers counseling to administrators, faculty and students. In the past, the center has sponsored multi-racial dinners and contributed to the Sexual Harassment and Rape Education Network.
Pelton said last night that Munafo brings intelligence, experience and a strong background in programming to the post.
He added that Munafo will bring new "programs that represent the diversity at the College."
Schweitzer, who said Munafo was the committee's first choice, said Munafo is energetic and creative -- two key elements needed for the job.
She added that one of the people who sent a letter of recommendation to the College called the new director a "practical visionary."
She received her master's degree from the University of Iowa and is scheduled to receive her doctorate in the fall.
Schweitzer said Munafo's thesis is titled, "The Properties of Whiteness: Contemporary American women's novels and the figuring of racial identity."
According to a press release, at the University of Virginia, Munafo developed "In Our Words," a feminist newspaper which has a circulation of 10,000.
The search for a new director began in the Winter term and the committee received more than 150 applications for the spot, Schweitzer said.
Both Pelton and Schweitzer said they did not know what Spiegel's role would be now that a new director has been found. Schweitzer said that a lot of people would like for her to stay "in some capacity."
Pelton said he did not know when a decision would be made.
