Davis Resigns as VP for Student Affairs, Thorne to be Acting VP
After nearly six years, Dr. Abigail Davis will resign as the Vice President for Student Affairs at Toccoa Falls College, effective Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. Current Director of Housing and Residence Life Katie Thorne will begin new duties as Acting VP for Student Affairs Thursday, Feb, 23, 2022.
Davis, who has worked in Student Affairs at four universities since 2005, will be moving to Nashville, Tenn., to be close to her aunt who suffered health issues last fall. After her aunt fell ill and was placed in rehabilitation for a month, Davis says she and her family began discussing who would care for her aunt who has no children. Davis, who received her PhD in Higher Education Administration last year from Azusa Pacific University, says she decided to make the transition because she has the most flexible life of her family members.
“In thinking about it and praying about it, I just decided that I would be the one to move to Nashville and be her buddy, and just be present for her. If she needed anyone, I probably have the right personality for my aunt to be her buddy. And I have the most flexible life because I am single with no children myself,” Davis says. “I got my doctorate last year. And that's always a time of reflection to be like, ‘Well, what's next now that I finished this big thing?’ And so it's not that I wasn't thinking about it. But I certainly didn't have in mind that my aunt's health would be the reason that … pushed me forward.”
Davis will act as a “personal buddy” to her aunt as she begins her new job as the Director of the Access Office at Lipscomb University, which helps students who need accommodations.
“Whether it’s a physical disability, a mental disability, or an emotional disability, we work with them to provide the accommodations they need to get access to their education,” Davis says.
Davis will be transitioning into academics in her new role, unlike her current role in Student Affairs which is to oversee everything that is not academic or operational and affects the student experience. Davis says she and her team of directors are concerned with anything that relates to student engagement, residence life and housing, spiritual formation, athletics, the Wellness Center, retention, Career Services, Title IX, student conduct, etc.
“I [also] oversaw the pandemic response for the students,” Davis says. “Anything that touches the students’ lives, Student Affairs is involved in. [There are] five directors that report to me, and I support [and lead] them the best [that] I can as we do our work.”
Davis says she loves working in Student Affairs because she loves college students and being able to “journey” with them as they pivot into becoming independent, functioning adults. She views her position as one in which she gets to help students grow holistically.
“Oftentimes, when people outside of TFC ask me what I do for a living, and I tell them I work at a college, they inevitably ask me, ‘What do you teach?’ thinking I'm a professor, and I say, ‘I teach college students how to become responsible adults,’” Davis says. “... And I have such a great group of employees that work for me. They are fully committed, they love TFC, they love students. We all want the work we do to make this place better.”
Yet, because Davis’s position includes holding students accountable for their actions, being the VP for Student Affairs is no easy feat – particularly when it comes to being liked by the student body. Davis says being in a position where she has the responsibility to hold others accountable means being willing to live with whatever the results may be, even if that means students see her as “the bad guy.”
“I've been tasked with maintaining the community, maintaining the culture, maintaining the student body, and the policies and making sure we abide by those policies and that students are held accountable when they break them,” Davis says. “And Dr. Bob has told me that that is my job. And so I'm going to do my job, because that's what God's called me to do. And so if that means that someone doesn't like me, it's okay. Because hopefully, I'm doing my job correctly.”
TFC President Dr. Robert Myers, more affectionately known as Dr. Bob, says a nationwide search is underway to find the next Vice President who will replace Davis. Until then, Davis and Myers are confident in Thorne’s ability to take up the task as Acting VP.
“It has been a pleasure to work with Abigail over these past six years,” Dr. Bob says. “She has made many improvements in the student affairs area, and I am very grateful for her work. She will be greatly missed. We all wish Abigail great success as she follows God’s leading.”
In her first year as VP, Davis helped establish the Odyssey Coffeehouse, which is now a favorite spot for the TFC community.
“I’ve got all these really great policies but nobody really cares about that. We’ve got the coffeehouse and everybody cares about the coffeehouse,” Davis says. “So I’m very excited that I was able to help get that up and running during my time here.”
Davis says the Odyssey Coffeehouse was designed to be a “home” for the students of TFC. While her policies will remain with the next VP, including the infamous Title IX lecture during TFC orientation, the coffeehouse is a tangible reminder of Davis’s heart for TFC.
“I've loved TFC. The more I get closer to leaving, the more sad I am about leaving. But I also know that this is what is next for me,” Davis says. “Like every decision along the way, as I prayed and thought and made the decision, it has just been confirmed over and over that this is the right thing to do.”
