Travis Apgar, former senior associate dean of students at Cornell, was recently appointed to a new position at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

February 2, 2017

Travis Apgar Heads to New Post at RPI

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Travis Apgar, former senior associate dean of students at Cornell, has recently been appointed assistant vice president and dean of students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

“Mr. Apgar has considerable experience developing vision, comprehensive strategies and implementing the objectives necessary to attain desired outcomes as it relates to student community and organizational culture change,” said RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson in a statement to the Rensselaer community.

For more than ten years, Apgar held the position of the Robert G. Engel Senior Associate Dean of Students at Cornell. Apgar additionally served as the Senior Associate Director of Campus & Community Engagement for Fraternities, Sororities and Independent Living.

Apgar was responsible for notable changes made within Cornell’s Greek system.

Involvement in Greek life has increased from 25 percent to 34 percent of the student body since Apgar began in 2006.

In 2011, Apgar changed the pledge model in the Greek system to an orientation model after a call from former President Skorton to bring an end to the pledging process.

As senior associate dean of students, Apgar was heavily involved in hazing prevention within the Greek system. Most recently, Apgar oversaw hazing investigations for seven fraternities last February.

“Mr. Apgar is considered an authority on hazing prevention, served as a representative to the National Hazing Prevention Consortium, and regularly contributes content to the resources section of HazingPrevention.org,” Jackson said.

In a statement to faculty, Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life, thanked Apgar for “his decade of leadership and dedication to promoting the wellbeing and personal growth of our students.”

Kara Miller is set to serve as interim director — assuming the leadership responsibilities for Greek life — until the end of the semester as the University conducts a search for a new director.