Shruti Desai
she, her, hers
Shruti Desai
Associate Vice President of Student Affairs, Student EngagementShruti Desai (she, her, hers) currently serves as the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs for Student Engagement at Duke University where she leads a dynamic team committed to identity consciousness through programming and storytelling, leadership, fraternity and sorority life, professional development, and marketing and communications. Prior to that, she served as the Chief of Staff for the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to her role at WashU she served Assistant Vice President at McKendree University in Lebanon, IL where she oversaw Title IX, Counseling Services, and Residential Life. Shruti held professional roles in Residence Life at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Kansas, and Texas Tech University.
Shruti has served as adjunct faculty at the George R. Warren Brown School of Social Work and Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis and the co-chair elect of NASPA’s Asian Pacific Islander Knowledge Community. Most recently, she co-authored Identity-Conscious Supervision in Student Affairs: Building Relationship & Transforming Institutions, which was published by Routledge.
Shruti’s research examines resilience in women of color in Senior Student Affairs Officer roles. Shruti has worked to lead systemic change for LGBT and individuals of color for students and professional staff. Shruti presents regionally and nationally on identity conscious supervision, creating supportive cultures for marginalized identities, building a culture of assessment, and resilience. Shruti is an alumnus of the Social Justice Training Institute (SJTI) as well as a past faculty and intern with SJTI. Her passion lies around getting beyond the false binary of race in America, examining identity as intersections of power and privilege and data as storytelling.