Leigh-Anne Royster will provide resources & programming for Elon and the broader community about issues of inclusivity and identity.
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Provost Steven House has announced that Leigh-Anne Royster will serve as director of inclusive community well-being at Elon University.
In her role, Royster will provide educational resources and programming for Elon and the broader community about issues of inclusivity, equity, intersections of identity and use of inclusive language/strategies in the classroom. She also will teach two courses a year in women’s/gender studies, and coordinate the inclusive community training, response and education teams.
Royster has been with Elon for more than seven years as coordinator for personal health programs and community well-being and, most recently, as director of health services and health promotion.
Prior to coming to Elon, Royster held leadership positions in violence prevention, workforce improvement and inclusive community development at UNC Chapel Hill, the criminal justice system and the nonprofit sector. She has been integral in Elon’s inclusive community strategic planning and capacity building efforts by combining the ability to respond to immediate needs while enacting longer-term strategic goals.
Royster received her bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from UNC Chapel Hill. She completed her master’s of public administration at the University of Colorado at Denver in the Graduate School of Public Affairs with a program concentration in domestic violence program management and policy development.
In 2010, she completed the Public Health Leadership Certificate in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill and is currently completing a doctoral degree at UNCG’s School of Public Health Education.
Royster is trained through multiple national anti-bias groups and has successfully led Elon’s effort toward building a comprehensive approach to preventing gender-based violence while also addressing root causes of that violence. She has provided leadership to expand university infrastructures to support policy and structural developments that will build a stronger, more inclusive community.