Reese Foxman, Special to The Denisonian

A driving force of Denison is its student involvement. Student connection and community is the beating heart of the campus – and the person who keeps the blood flowing is Liz Delaney.

Delaney is Denison’s new director of the Community Leadership and Involvement Center (CLIC). She oversees staff and student employees working with student engagement, including student organizations, the University Programming Council, community service, and the Denison Campus Governance Association (DCGA).

While she was in college, student organizations and student government played a huge role in her life. Delaney said that being involved in those groups outside the classroom is what truly shaped her experience and inspired her to use her love of student involvement in her future career.

“My dad joked that even though I had my degree in anthropology, my degree was actually student involvement,” Delaney said.

Delaney explained how growing up in a rural area motivated her to want to learn from more people during her college years. She found joining student organizations as personal growth, as she got to meet and talk to people from backgrounds as her own. Meeting new people, and hearing what they had to say helped her establish her own individual values.

“I started surrounding myself with people from different lived experiences and they challenged my understanding of the world,” Delaney said.

Delaney works directly with Emmanuel Rodriguez, the class of 2027’s student body president, as his primary advisor for DCGA. Rodriguez said how she came into her position overly prepared so she could provide as many resources as she could to him and the Denison community as a whole. 

“Before she entered the role, she read the [DCGA] constitution front to back four times, so it felt like she was [an] encyclopedia of knowledge to me,” Rodriguez said.

From her experience at Denison so far, Delaney is happy to have found great energy among the community. Both students and staff are always seeking out involvement, which is exactly what she is looking for, Delaney said.

“The students have proven to be really invested in their experience[s] at Denison,” Delaney said.

Rodriguez said that he is able to connect with Delaney on a personal level, rather than just an administrative one. He described Delaney as expressive, sometimes sassy, and a light to those she interacts with.

“I get to relax and see heart-to-heart with somebody that [is an] admin,” Rodriguez said.

Having Delaney step in as Rodriguez’s advisor made a positive change in his experience in DCGA. Delaney wants him to succeed instead of just fulfilling set expectations, allowing him room to grow throughout his presidency, Rodriguez said.

“[She] has found some weaknesses I have and instead of pointing [them] out, she helps me adjust and she is making me a better president in general,” Rodriguez said.

Delaney hopes students will take advantage of the work her and CLIC do by getting involved all over the community. She said how she can only hope that the students she works with will grow through student involvement just like she did.

“You’re getting a world class education [and] getting involved only amplifies [that],” Delaney said.