Jaray Mazique
Jaray Mazique
Curating a Premier Experience: Dr. Jaray Mazique the New Interim Vice President of Student Affairs
Curating a Premier Experience: Dr. Jaray Mazique the New Interim Vice President of Student Affairs
Effective July 31, 2026, Spelman said goodbye to its Vice President of Student Affairs, Darryl Holloman, and welcomed a new interim Vice President, Jaray Mazique.
Prior to being the interim vice president of student affairs, Mazique served as the director for Title IX and Compliance at Spelman. Most of Mazique's career has been in higher education, and she previously worked as a research editor for a publishing company. It is through this background that Mazique created the Curating a Premier Experience (CAPE) framework for her time in student affairs.
"My baseline, the root of what I'm doing is going to be 'putting on your CAPE.' And the CAPE is an acronym for curating a premier experience,” she said. “So for me, it's identifying that when students come here they're getting a premier experience in every aspect.”
The primary goal of the Office of Student Affairs is to support students, but oftentimes that support includes working with other departments and faculty outside of student affairs.
"We are going to stay connected with every single division in the office because we know that being that hub for the campus life experience, we either have to have that resource here, or we have to be the liaison to get students to those spaces," Mazique said.
Beyond identifying and enhancing the whole student, Mazique is also working to implement more avenues for student input and collaboration. From plans that range from attending events like Camp Jaguar to holding focus groups, Mazique is committed to hearing students' voices and understanding the Spelmanite's experience.
"One of the things that we are going to have coming up is a student affairs resource fair, " Mazique said. “Imagine all of the offices within student affairs, in Upper Manley, talking with students about the services, how we stay connected, and really listening to students on what their needs are," Mazique said.
While CAPE is a stepping stone to enhance the student experience, there are lingering obstacles to consider.
"One of the things I think we could improve upon, and the institution is already working on that, is breaking down some of the silos between departments and services,” Mazique said.
Mazique plans to combat this by connecting more often with faculty and departments and using resource hubs already on campus, like student success, to expand offerings for students.
As an increasing number of students live off campus, commuter students have raised concerns about staying connected and getting the most from the extracurricular Spelman experience. The office of student affairs handles the experience of all students, whether they reside on or off campus.
"I definitely plan on working with student success on identifying a robust commuter program for those who don't live in the residence houses,” Mazique said. “And of course, overall, just leadership development. Creating a place to track those and be able to present a robust co-curricular transcript for our students so that when they are looking at jobs and looking at internships, they can say, 'I've learned all of these skills as a result of my experience in student affairs.”
Mazique takes her position seriously and plans to build on Holloman’s work while also adding offerings to students. When asked what she envisions her legacy as interim Vice President to be, she said.
"I think being able to say we've not only maintained what works well, but now have some real clear and transparent growth areas. We fill those gaps, we've identified, to allow us to create more support services for students," she said.
While only time will tell what the new office of student affairs looks like, one thing is certain: the Spelman student experience is changing.
Effective July 31, 2026, Spelman said goodbye to its Vice President of Student Affairs, Darryl Holloman, and welcomed a new interim Vice President, Jaray Mazique.
Prior to being the interim vice president of student affairs, Mazique served as the director for Title IX and Compliance at Spelman. Most of Mazique's career has been in higher education, and she previously worked as a research editor for a publishing company. It is through this background that Mazique created the Curating a Premier Experience (CAPE) framework for her time in student affairs.
"My baseline, the root of what I'm doing is going to be 'putting on your CAPE.' And the CAPE is an acronym for curating a premier experience,” she said. “So for me, it's identifying that when students come here they're getting a premier experience in every aspect.”
The primary goal of the Office of Student Affairs is to support students, but oftentimes that support includes working with other departments and faculty outside of student affairs.
"We are going to stay connected with every single division in the office because we know that being that hub for the campus life experience, we either have to have that resource here, or we have to be the liaison to get students to those spaces," Mazique said.
Beyond identifying and enhancing the whole student, Mazique is also working to implement more avenues for student input and collaboration. From plans that range from attending events like Camp Jaguar to holding focus groups, Mazique is committed to hearing students' voices and understanding the Spelmanite's experience.
"One of the things that we are going to have coming up is a student affairs resource fair, " Mazique said. “Imagine all of the offices within student affairs, in Upper Manley, talking with students about the services, how we stay connected, and really listening to students on what their needs are," Mazique said.
While CAPE is a stepping stone to enhance the student experience, there are lingering obstacles to consider.
"One of the things I think we could improve upon, and the institution is already working on that, is breaking down some of the silos between departments and services,” Mazique said.
Mazique plans to combat this by connecting more often with faculty and departments and using resource hubs already on campus, like student success, to expand offerings for students.
As an increasing number of students live off campus, commuter students have raised concerns about staying connected and getting the most from the extracurricular Spelman experience. The office of student affairs handles the experience of all students, whether they reside on or off campus.
"I definitely plan on working with student success on identifying a robust commuter program for those who don't live in the residence houses,” Mazique said. “And of course, overall, just leadership development. Creating a place to track those and be able to present a robust co-curricular transcript for our students so that when they are looking at jobs and looking at internships, they can say, 'I've learned all of these skills as a result of my experience in student affairs.”
Mazique takes her position seriously and plans to build on Holloman’s work while also adding offerings to students. When asked what she envisions her legacy as interim Vice President to be, she said.
"I think being able to say we've not only maintained what works well, but now have some real clear and transparent growth areas. We fill those gaps, we've identified, to allow us to create more support services for students," she said.
While only time will tell what the new office of student affairs looks like, one thing is certain: the Spelman student experience is changing.