To the Emory Campus Life Community:

Tomika DePriestAfter an extensive search, I am pleased to announce that Tomika DePriest will be joining Emory Campus Life (ECL) as Senior Director for Communications. Tomika will come aboard in mid-January to lead our ECL Communications Team and serve as an advisor to and member of our Executive Leadership Team.

Reporting jointly to me and Jerry Lewis, Senior Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs, Tomika’s primary responsibilities will include developing and guiding strategy to ensure that all ECL communications consistently and accurately articulate ECL’s mission, vision, and goals. Under her leadership, the Communications Team will continue to oversee our website, social media, video, graphic design, and editorial services, as well as executive messaging and development of a range of collateral materials. Tomika will also work closely with ECL Senior Staff and Emory Communications and Public Affairs as a partner on a variety of strategic initiatives.

Serving most recently as Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives at Spelman College, Tomika draws on an extensive background in communications. She also held the position of Spelman’s Executive Director of Communications during 10 of her 13 years with the highly regarded, historically black women’s college.

In her assignments with Spelman, Tomika managed an 11-person team, oversaw a budget approaching $1 million, and provided strategic counsel to the college’s Board of Trustees, President, and Senior Team. Additional responsibilities included brand management and institutional positioning, media relations, advertising, print publications, and website and social media communications. She also supported development and fundraising, student recruitment, student life and engagement, and crisis communications.

Earlier in her career, Tomika served as a Communications Specialist and Editor with the Southern Company and as a Producer with Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc. Her communications work over the years has been recognized with an array of professional honors, and she is an active volunteer with professional associations and nonprofit organizations in the metro Atlanta community. 

Tomika earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Spelman and a master’s degree in humanities from Clark Atlanta University. She also holds a certificate from the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. 

Please join me in welcoming this talented professional to our outstanding Emory Campus Life team.

In addition, I want to thank Dave Furhman for serving as ECL’s Interim Senior Director of Communications, bringing to that role his extensive experience as a communications executive before joining Emory as our superb Senior Director of Campus Dining in 2013. Since May, Dave has worn both hats and done so exceedingly well.

 

Sincerely, 

Ajay Nair
Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life